Tip #827: Debunking L&D Myths
“Making assumptions simply means believing things are a certain way with little or no evidence that shows you are correct, and you can see at once how this can lead to terrible trouble.” Lemony Snicket
Our assumptions about how people learn has a huge impact on the training decisions we make and the approach we take. If our assumptions are correct, that’s fine. But when our assumptions are incorrect, we need to rethink our training strategies and consider whether training is even the answer.
An article published by go1 in the online Chief Learning Officer magazine looks at four prevalent myths about learning and development. Two of the myths concern perceived generational differences, one concerns women advancement and the last … Read the rest
Tip #826: Training for the AGES
“I am still learning.” Michelangelo, age 87
We all want our training to stick and for newly learned knowledge and skills to result in positively changed behaviors in the worksite. According to the NeuroLeadership Institute, if we meet four conditions: attention, generation, emotion and spacing, we can activate the hippocampus. This is important because the hippocampus is a region of the brain that is active when new information is embedded into long-term memory. The following information is drawn from an article titled: “The AGES Model can help learning stick,” by Jay Dixit, Jon Thompson and Mary Slaughter.
The first condition, attention, seems obvious. Participants in a learning program will not retain anything if they haven’t been paying attention. … Read the rest
Tip #825: My First Foray into Virtual Learning
“The first time you do a thing is always exciting.” Agatha Christie
Deborah Laurel and Peter Korynski, the founders of The Peer Learning Institute, are pleased to announce that they are offering a virtual program through UW-Platteville Corporate Learning this summer. The 6-session program is titled Peer Learning: How to Boost Management Effectiveness. It begins on June 17. Please come join us to learn how to use peer learning groups for your management development. You can learn more about the course at https://bit.ly/3cTgrbL #managementdevelopment #peerlearning #leadershipdevelopment #management
May your learning be sweet-and safe.
Deborah… Read the rest
It is Easy to Forget What We Haven’t Learned!
“Memory is the mother of all wisdom.” Aeschylus
As trainers, we are very concerned about learning transfer: that new skills learned in class transfer back to performance in the worksite. We know that transfer works most effectively when the new learning is immediately applied.
The issue is the reality of that “new learning.” According to Patti Shank in her article: “What Do You Know: Why Do People Forget What They Learn?” forgetting depends on how the information was learned- or if it was learned at all.
“Perhaps one of the main reasons for forgetting is that we never remembered in the first place. To forget something, it must first be remembered (encoded in long-term memory). That … Read the rest
Tip #821: Design in Transfer Factors
“Because we invest time, effort, and resources to create learning interventions, we hope to get a return on those investments in the form of some tangible benefit-usually some form of improved work outcome. Transfer, then, is our paramount goal.” Will Thalheimer
Will Thalheimer recently conducted research to identify the factors that support training transfer. Most of these factors are common knowledge or common sense. However, if we design our learning experiences to incorporate these factors, we will increase the likelihood of successful transfer of learned concepts and skills to their use in work situations.
Here is what he found:
- Skill Development. Learners who develop skills during training will be more successful in transfer.
- Concept Learning. Learners who learn concepts during
Tip #820: Measuring Learning Transfer
“Research suggests that learning fails to transfer, in most cases, because there is an inadequate support climate, rather than there being a failure in the learning intervention itself.” Matthew Channell
We design training with the goal that the skills learned will transfer back to the worksite. Unfortunately, research shows that less than 20% of the skills and knowledge acquired in training result in behavioral changes in the workplace. There are many factors that contribute to this dismal result.
In 2000, a group of researchers led by Elwood Holton published the Learning Transfer System Inventory (LTSI). It focused on 16 specific factors that influence the transfer of learning from a training event to the workplace. The LTSI was the first … Read the rest
