Employ Learning Boosters to “Reset” the Forgetting Curve

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve suggests that we easily forget 70% of the content we learned with 24 hours of learning it. The “mental noise” that learners return to back on the job and in their personal lives crowds out the things they just learned to help them do their jobs better. Consider that fact within a conference setting where learners might attend 9-12 sessions in a three-day period and you have even more “noise” to contend with.

Enter the learning booster. A booster is a short interaction used to nudge the learner’s memory of the learning experience and “rest” the forgetting curve. A booster could take the form of:

1.  A knowledge check with a single multiple choice question
2. A poll question designed to require the learner to think about an application of the learning and give an opinion
3. An open-ended question asking the learner to give an example of how they applied a concept covered in the training. 

A series of three boosters on a set cadence of 2-2-2 (2 days, 2 weeks, and 2 months after the learning event)  is powerful enough to “reset” the forgetting curve.  The examples in the previous paragraph illustrate, respectively, how each question requires the participant to apply higher-level thinking skills to respond to the boosters over time. Studies showed that a five second interaction with a booster was just as affective as a 30 second or five minute review at negating the forgetting curve.

How does it work? (Cue the brain science!) When we ask someone to remember a single fact about an experience, it nudges the brain to also recall adjacent facts that were part of that experience. Give it a try: Think about the last purchase you made, in person, in a retail establishment. What was one item that you bought? Now, what other memories sprang into your mind by just recalling that one item? Other items you bought? That one item you forgot to pick up? Seeing some one you know at the store? Something you decided not to buy and now you regret it? What the store looked like, smelled like? We just negated the memory curve and reinforced that memory for you. That memory will now be more accessible to you for the next two weeks.

Boosters should always be an opt-in opportunity. Even so, I’ve encountered multiple challenges providing opportunities for boosters in a large, global, corporate environment. For privacy reasons, and the fact that not everyone has a work-sponsored cell phone, we couldn’t get permission for opt-in texting. Email is a dead zone, and would only be used as a last resort. LinkedIn private groups weren’t an option because our audience (~900 employees) was too large to constantly monitor and validate membership requests.
The one tool that IT finally approved was Kahoot!. Kahoot! is a tool our kids have been using in school for years. It’s a gamified quiz that includes a leaderboard, displaying standings after every question. I facilitate mine like I’m calling a horse race, making note of who has moved up and who got knocked down, challenging everyone else to try to make it into the top five. I use our corporate recognition tool to reward points (that translate to local currency on a debit card) to the top three finishers.

I include a live five-question Kahoot! at the end of every session of our weekly virtual sales training. Topics are different every week, but there is always a “Pub Quiz” at the end of the training. It started out as an engagement strategy to keep learners engaged and prevent “Zoom Fatigue”. It’s been incredibly popular so I’ve found ways to leverage it as a booster:

1. Virtual Sales Kickoff–we scheduled a follow up “happy hour” Zoom session happening 1-2 days after each training session. This gave our learners time to digest the content, think about the key learnings, and formulate more questions to continue their learning. The happy hour was structured as an open forum so participants could ask their questions and explore ideas. We ended every happy hour with a pub quiz to reinforce the learning from the previous day. We plan to replicate this strategy when we return to in-person learning conferences.
2. Virtual Technical Sales Training–we built virtual showcase booths with video demos and downloadable resources. Each booth had an associated “Pub Quiz with Prizes” linking to a on-demand Kahoot! quiz. Participants could explore the booth, then show off what they learned by playing the pub quiz. The “prizes” were points sent through the recognition tool.

Here is an example of an on-demand Kahoot! quiz. It’s available until Oct 18, 2021, 11PM US Pacific time.

My next experiment will be to to allow participants to sign up for a 2-2-2 booster, delivered via email (because we still can’t text) for our top three critical topics covered in our 2022 sales kickoff conference, which will hopefully be held in person. I’m hoping to use a QR code they can scan, then enter their email address to produce a report for me. I’ll let you know how it goes.

The Power of Representation

“A whole set of possibilities, dreams, and realities are just not present unless we are equally represented… And that means we don’t see solutions to problems, we don’t see connections among solutions. It deprives everybody.” Gloria Steinem

I work for a traditionally male-dominated, global tech company. We’ve recently made great strides in parity, including leadership roles. Our leaders all have personalized email “stationery” with their headshot, title, etc. When they send out a business announcement, the first thing you notice it their picture. Occasionally they will send a joint announcement, picturing both leaders. You can imagine that we see a lot of male faces on these announcements.

A few months ago, a joint announcement was sent by three business leaders–all of them women. I’ve worked for this company for 23 years and I’d never seen such a thing. It literally gave me goosebumps see these three Badass Bossladies in my inbox, making an extremely important product launch announcement. For the first time in my career, I could *really* picture myself up there.

That is the power of representation.

Now, imagine how you can make your learners feel when they see someone who looks like them or hear someone who sounds like them when you design a learning experience. Try these out:
1. Actively recruit facilitators from underrepresented populations
2. Ask your vendors to use “characters” in your eLearning products with different skin tones, body types, ability types, genders (including non-binary), and pronouns. And please name them appropriately. Bob and Sue need a rest. Introduce Javier and Pujitha to the world.
3. Challenge your vendors to find diverse voices for narration. Clear speaking is definitely a requirement, but push the boundaries to include voices that sound like your employees. If you work for a global company, the narrators should not all sound like male radio DJs from Missouri. I had another “goosebump moment” when I heard the final narration for one of my classes done by an African American man. I’d never heard a voice like that in an eLearning product before. It was wonderful.
4. Request your vendors use non-traditional stock photos. How often have you gone to one of the “Big Three” stock image services and you find the same thing? Different color people, but the white male always seems to be in charge. Don’t get me wrong. Often he’s the right one for the job and should be in charge, but does it have to be *every* time? At my company, we have a difficult time recruiting people to be managers. Part of the problem might be that they never see someone like them *depicted* as a manager, so they’ve never seen themselves that way? My colleague and mentor had this issue, so she decided to hire a photographer to shoot the kind of images she was trying to find for her website. Here are a few more interesting options: 25 Culturally Diverse Stock Photo Websites (free and paid).

I imagine male nurses get really tired of their trainings showing predominantly female nurses. I know female engineers don’t like male-only depictions. It makes them feel invisible.

We have the power to make them feel seen in our little corner of the world. I challenge you to take one of the four actions above on your current project. Share which one you chose in the comments.

Don’t Punish the Learner

Jane Bozarth posted a great piece on her Bozarthzone blog called Punish the Learner. Don’t worry, she isn’t advocating punishment. She speaks of the crippling power of a single bad learning experience and how it sometimes takes decades to recover. In particular, she gives the example of a six-year-old girl at her first piano recital. High expectations have been placed on her to perform in an unfamiliar environment, before a large audience, and with no sheet music. The result was so devastating that she didn’t touch another musical instrument for more than 50 years-

I’m a huge fan of providing a safe place to practice new learning within the Learning experiences I design. I model this on step 4 of Raymond Woldkowsi’s Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching. Step 4 focuses on Engendering Competence. This means providing the learner a supportive environment to practice application of the new skill, receive feedback, and try again.

I think it’s also important to have performance support tools in place once the learner has walked onto the “stage” of the workplace to perform with peers and the boss watching. Some refer to this as a supportive scaffolding. I like to call it the Life Line. If you’ve ever watched the program Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? you might remember the available “life lines” a contestant may use if they get stuck answering a question. The original three life lines were:

• Fifty-Fifty–remove two incorrect answers
• Phone-a-Friend–a thrity second phone call to a smarty pants friend for help
• Ask the Audience–audience members use feedback remotes to tell the contestant which answer they think is correct.

What if workplace learning had life lines? What if every learner was given permission to call the instructor for help if they got stuck? What if former students joined an alumni group and answered questions from those who just completed the class and were trying things out back at their desk? What if every learner had the equivalent of sheet music to get them through the performance?

I constantly challenge myself to think of ways to support learners well after the initial Learning Event is over. I currently own a sales excellence program with the goal of shifting seller mindset and behavior away from transactional engagements where they lead with the product to a strategic, consultative model where they lead with the customer challenges and strive to deliver bottom-line business results. This is a huge change to shift an entire organization in this way. Training alone is not enough. We provide simulations to practice new behavior in a safe environment. To advance to new levels i the program, sellers must complete a learning reflection (shared with a manger at Bronze level) or a portfolio (reviewed by Regional Ambassadors at Silver and Gold levels). The sponsorship and coaching provided at the upper levels expands the seller’s network while getting feedback and encouragement from employees who have successfully made the switch.

What are the most successful “Life Lines” you have provided to learners?

See Yourself Learning

Learning only rarely looks like sitting in a real or virtual classroom. We learn every day as we observe others, ask for coaching, or dive in and try things for ourselves. We enjoy taking an active role in our learning. Adults are most motivated to learn in the “moment of need,” and most readily succeed when they can apply what we learn right away. Yet, a lot of workplace learning programs still feel like sitting in a desk and being lectured to for an hour or more, whether in person or virtual.

I highly recommend Jennifer Hoffmann’s Making Virtual and Blended Learning Work for Adult Learners. She modeled the session after Malcolm Knowles’ six principles of adult learning, which promotes collaborative learning over lecture. The principles encourage us to remember the following as we design learning experiences:

1. Adults are internally motivated and self-directed
2. Adults bring life experiences and knowledge to learning experiences
3. Adults are goal oriented
4. Adults are relevancy oriented
5. Adults are practical
6. Adult learners like to be respected

I heartily agree with all of these principles. As we design for and facilitate sessions in the live or virtual classroom, they should guide our treatment of adult learners. They don’t want to be treated like novices or children. We can leverage more experienced employees in our classroom and “deputize” them to help us teach their peers by sharing their wisdom.

Additionally, I always use Wlodkowski and Ginsberg’s Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching  as a rubric to make sure I have built in activities that address learner needs,  increasing the likelihood that they will apply the learning. The framework suggests fulfilling these four criteria:

1. Establish Inclusion– Create an environment of mutual respect and connection. This can be done by posting participant and instructor bios, allowing participants to choose their own work groups, and creating a quick orientation to help students learn how to learn in the VC. An excellent example of an orientation by Insync Training: Learn How to Learn Online  I’ve personally made it my mission to include representation of diverse live facilitators, “characters” in scenarios, and voices in narration. This harkens back to my mantra: If I can see myself *in* the learning, I can see myself learning.
2. Develop a Learning Attitude– Invite the participants  to set ground rules and mutual expectations as a class. Facilitators can gauge the needs of the participants using annotation tools to involve everyone.
3. Enhance Meaning– Meet learner needs by making the content relevant and personally meaningful. Use polling and annotation tools to help participants provide feedback. Find out why they chose this class. Are they trying to solve a problem? How do they plan to use what they learn? If you teach the class more than once, the dynamics change with each session. Find out what is important to the people in the room right now.
4. Engender Competence– Create experiences where participants can perform–>receive feedback–>make adjustments–>perform. Provide simulations and simple performance assessments in the live or virtual classroom. Better yet, utilized augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) to provide the most realistic experience. If it is impractical to perform in the classroom, then give an assignment to perform back on the job with criteria that a peer or manager can use to give feedback or work with an agency to build an augmented reality simulation with live actors. The key is to provide a safe space to practice new skills with limited consequences for making mistakes. Remember that lessons learned by mistakes are better teachers than getting it right on the first try. They literally form new neural connections in our brains. (And yes, I’m using the term literally, literally.)

If you keep these principles in mind as you create new learning experiences, you increase the likelihood of learner application and success. So now, as we say at Intel Corporation:

“Go off and do something wonderful!”—Robert Noyce