For learning to occur—and stick—one part of the equation is the contribution designers can make to encouraging mental engagement. So Many Elements to Make Engagement Happen As we put a training program together (when training is the right answer), designers can do more (than is commonly done) to promote engagement. We should remember not only… Continue Reading
Want to remember something? Want to give your learners a fun way to study on their own to enhance their memories? Maybe add a little gamification to an otherwise boring pursuit? Want to Remember? Try Repetition with Variety Memorization usually takes time. When it’s required, one way to encourage studying for memory is to use… Continue Reading
If we want to design a program that helps people to learn, we talk about many things, including… Providing the right kind of practice I recently reviewed an elearning program, and I was struck by how difficult it can be to provide the appropriate practice. An Easy Example For concepts, it’s generally not enough to… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too (Show How)—Practice, Practice, Practice—(Add Feedback) Psychomotor Skills. This is the physical stuff. Coordinated muscle movements. There are “fine” motor skills, like typing, suturing a wound, or filling a cavity and “gross” motor skills, like swinging a golf club, making gestures during… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too Dusty Shows Her Attitude Attitudes. We can help our learners to form or change their approach toward something. We call this “affective learning.” We can usually infer that people have a particular attitude by certain choices that they make. For example, students show… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too
Sometimes Napping Is the Best Learning Strategy Cognitive Strategies. With this content type, we help our learners to manage their own learning. For example, we teach study skills. We show students how to organize their thoughts, or good ways to memorize,… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too
Things Are Looking Up Problem Solving (or “Processes”). With this content type, the learner must select from multiple potentially-relevant principles and then apply them to make something better. Instructional design, performance technology, medical diagnoses, planning a complicated trip to Timbuktu, or creating… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too If It’s Late Afternoon, Then the Light Will Be Lovely Principles. Rules that help us to predict, explain, or control things. Principles can be natural laws or rules that people define. Why Learning Principles Matters We love to explain, predict, and control… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too Procedures. A series of steps we take to complete a task. Something we do “step-by-step. Make coffee. Assemble a widget. File a report. For this post we’ll look at well-defined procedures: those where the steps are well known. For more ambiguous… Continue Reading
Part of a Series: Here’s Why I Love Content Types: And You Should, Too Concepts. Sets of objects, ideas, or events that have characteristics in common and share a common name. They can be concrete (discernable by our senses—car, truck, motorcycle) or abstract (defined by somebody—holiday, conference, leadership). Clear Example of a Kitten Why Concepts Are… Continue Reading
