This Tip explains that learning and retention are different unless we take steps to increase the probability they will both occur.
Learning Does Not Necessary Equate to Retention
We define learning” as “Knowledge or skill acquisition.” We define retention as “the preservation of a learning in such a way that it can be identified and recalled quickly and accurately.” Just because we “learn” something does not automatically mean that we will retain it.
We Can Learn Something for Just a Few Minutes and Then Lose It Forever
As anyone who has ever crammed for a test knows, it is possible to acquire knowledge and (hopefully) retain it just long enough to take the test. However, we will forget what we learned almost immediately unless we:
- have a reason to continue to access that knowledge or
- can associate it with something very meaningful to us.
According to David Sousa in How the Brain Learns, learning can be neurologically distinquished from retention:
“Learning involves the:
-
- brain,
- nervous system,
- environment, and
- how their interplay acquires information and skills.”
“Retention, however, requires that the learner:
- give conscious attention and also
- build conceptual frameworks that have sense and meaning for eventual consolidation into the long-term storage networks (of the brain).”
Training Design and Facilitation Increase the Probability of Learning Retention
There are many training design and facilitation techniques that can increase the probability that retention of learning will occur. The more understanding and meaning the learner can attach to new learning, the more likely it is that the learner will be able to retain the new learning and retrieve it when needed.
We have discussed some of these retention-enhancing techniques in past Tips.
The key point to remember now is that learning, or the acquisition of knowledge or skill, does not automatically equate to retention of that knowledge or skill.
Note: The Ebbinghaus Effect has shown that spaced repetition can improve retention.
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