Quantcast
Channel: Rapid Learning Institute » Rapid Learning Insights
Browsing all 113 articles
Browse latest View live

Delayed feedback may lock in mistakes

If you don’t provide immediate feedback on a mistake – whether it’s the wrong answer on a quiz or a skill that’s being practiced incorrectly – it will be much harder for trainees to “unlearn” the...

View Article



Recall, Compare, Apply: Give learners 3 ways to remember

In training, it seems that variety helps learners do a better job retaining and applying what they’ve learned. Reason: Changing things up builds multiple neural pathways to the information, so trainees...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Finding Your Secret Sauce: The Training Challenge for SMBs

One thing RLI salespeople notice is that learning professionals at large companies insist that training be highly customized. One CLO said she loved our “off-the-shelf” (i.e., non-customized) safety...

View Article

Don’t underestimate role of tech problems

Regularly ask trainees if they are having any problems with online learning software and if their computers are set up properly to handle it. A recent study showed that when people feel blocked by...

View Article

Vindicating the multiple-choice test as a reinforcement tool

Memory researchers have long known that it’s better for trainees to retrieve an answer than to recognize it. So if you’re using tests to reinforce learning and not just to assess it, the good old...

View Article


When the going gets tough, make sure you end on a strong note

If material you plan to present is difficult, you might want to mix in stuff that’s a little easier and present it at the end of a training session. Here’s why: Researchers say there’s real science...

View Article

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Why Informal Learning is Crowding Out Formal Learning

I saw an interesting graphic (the one on the right) from a presentation by Professional Development Group. It shows that as we become more experienced, we’re less likely to engage in formal learning....

View Article

Learners think ‘I got it’ just a little too soon

There’s an old rule of thumb when cooking a steak: Just when you think you should cook it a little more, stop cooking it. When it comes to learning, it’s the opposite: When learners think they’ve “got...

View Article


‘Desirable difficulties’: Too easy accelerates Forgetting Curve

If you’re getting high evaluations but low long-term learning retention rates, consider looking at how challenging the training was. Training that includes “desirable difficulties” – obstacles that...

View Article


Spacing: Precise scheduling not needed

Yes, you want to space follow-up retrieval events such as quizzes and scenarios, because these “spacing effects” can dramatically improve long-term retention. The question becomes the schedule. Work...

View Article

Research: Training sticks better when trainees ‘self-explain’ it

Trainer: Is 90 decibels half again as loud as 60 decibels, or 1,000 times as loud? Trainee: It’s 1,000 times as loud. Trainer: Why? Trainee: Because decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale. This...

View Article

Testing effect works with silent answers

You know about testing effects: that quizzing trainees will help them recall answers better on future tests. One set of researchers wondered: Does it matter if trainees just think of an answer, or do...

View Article

E-mail follow-up engages learners

Go ahead – send out follow-up e-mails giving trainees a couple of questions. If your trainees are like those in a recent study, they’ll react positively to the electronic nudge, and engage the learning...

View Article


Don’t be too quick to abandon traditional training methods

Many managers and employees are deeply skeptical of traditional training, such as lectures, reading assignments and training videos. Too theoretical. Not relevant. B-o-r-i-n-g. The best way to learn...

View Article

Long-term, meaningful learning is more likely with ‘active retrieval’

Don’t Google it. Don’t reread source material. Don’t ask someone. Just try to remember. If you must, struggle with it for a while. Why? Because actively attempting to dig something out of your memory...

View Article


The right way and the wrong way: When to use negative examples

During training, do you want to show how to do it wrong as well as how to do it right? It depends on the trainees. Training that uses negative examples can be effective if the trainees are already on...

View Article

Testing: Review material from previous sessions

Trainees who are struggling may not like cumulative testing, but they’ll learn more. That’s the takeaway from a recent study of psychology students. Researchers split a classroom into two groups. Both...

View Article


This simple technique can double how much trainees learn

How would it feel to have trainees come away with twice as much learning and much higher levels of engagement? It’s not a dream. Recent research shows that a simple teaching technique can double the...

View Article

Emotional stress helps trainees remember

We’ve mentioned before the power of “desirable difficulties” – that learning sticks better when learners have to struggle to acquire it. Here’s evidence that some emotional stress during learning...

View Article

Older workers learn better when material is practical and relevant

Can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Not so, according to results from two studies on learning among older adults. But, the studies concluded, older people learn differently from young adults, and it...

View Article
Browsing all 113 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images