CHAPTER 3

Anatomy of Effective Learning Events

It is impossible to define the best path to traverse if you don't know where you are going. While teams select a process based on attributes of the process itself, Does it work for a small team? Is it hard to manage or learn? Does it produce products quickly enough?, the only processes to consider are those that reliably produce the desired products. The desired product—whether as characterized here or otherwise—must be defined clearly to select a basic process and to optimize it for specific requirements.

This short chapter briefly explores some contemporary notions of ideal learning experiences and instructional design—not learning theory or instructional paradigms, per se, but rather the functional components needed to construct meaningful, memorable, and motivational learning experiences.

E-LEARNING BRINGS ISSUES TO LIGHT

Unfortunately, defining good learning events is more difficult than one would expect, as evidenced by the energetic debates on the topic that arise so frequently and also by the range of learning products organizations deem appropriate to use. Because e-learning implements instructional approaches in software that can be examined more clearly than the dynamics of instructor-led learning, e-learning seems to energize debates and controversies to a new level while also adding layers of complexity to the issues.

e-Learning forces critical issues to light and makes an excellent case study and proving ground for instructional product development processes because:

• Its instructional strategy must be explicitly defined in software.
• Unanticipated learner problems cannot be addressed.
• Each instructor cannot personalize to his or her own style and experience.
• Significant time and expense is involved.
• Learners have only the options provided.
• The proper role of computers in learning triggers concerns of dehumanizing a prized tradition of personal mentoring.

To build them, we need to be clear about what good learning events are, regardless of delivery means. While nuances are important, we need declared, readily understood fundamentals as a foundation. These fundamentals are divided into characteristics of what learning events must achieve and the primary components that create a learning event.

FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS

Concise, effective learning events, whether delivered through e-learning or not, are meaningful, memorable, and motivational. And they achieve measurable results, too.

Meaningful

Meaningful learning events are those that assure learners can connect new content to their current knowledge and skills. They make sure learners recognize 1) how their current skills may not be sufficient in certain circumstances and 2) what tasks they will be able to perform after skill enhancement. Obviously, unfamiliar terms and concepts are not meaningful and impede learning, as does requiring use of skills not yet learned. We can only expect to change ineffective skills and performance by providing learners instruction that is grounded in their current understandings and abilities—preferably with a clear relationship to their real-world experiences.

Memorable

What good is instruction if it is not remembered when the need to perform arises? Good learning events provide learners the ability to perform effectively at the time of most value. Much is known amount about human memory and ways of helping people remember things, even though the complex capabilities of human memory continue to baffle scientists on many fronts. We know that distributed practice, for example, produces far greater retention than massed practice. We know that mnemonics can be useful aids, and we know that novelty can stimulate attention and make events more memorable.

Motivational

Motivated people find ways to learn what they need to learn to be successful. The hurdles they jump are proportional to their motivation, and while there may be a fair amount of time lost to trial and error and they may not learn best practices, motivated people learn. Lesser motivated people have a rougher time, since learning depends on what learners do—what they attend to, what they think about, what they practice. They may just complete the minimum of what is expected of them, if that, and move on, quickly forgetting whatever learning occurred. The good news is that motivation levels are fluid and can be nudged upward. The bad news is that they are just as easily nudged downward. To help learners learn, retain, and then apply their learning in real-world performance, effective learning events build on existing motivation and work to push it higher.

Measurable

Effective learning events produce skills that can be observed. Of course, we all have skills we don't use or don't use enough. We can't know easily if an individual has a skill and isn't applying it. But we shouldn't assume people have acquired skills when we can't observe their abilities. Learning is about performance skills, even if it's just to acquire the ability to carry out intelligent conversation on a topic. Teachers, employers, mentors, and clergy don't coach individuals so they can only know about desired performance. Their goal is to see people appraise situations accurately, determine the most effective course of action, and undertake it successfully. Therefore, good learning events stress observable behaviors, give learners sufficient practice, and provide performance feedback.

FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS OF INTERACTIVE LEARNING EVENTS

Humans have unique learning skills. One of them is our ability to learn simply from observation. Another is learning from just being told how to perform a task. Non-interactive learning events are effective when the following characteristics are met:

• The learner is familiar with most of the materials, tools, or concepts involved.
• The instructional presentation reveals steps and actions slowly and with clarity.
• The task to be learned has few steps and sequencing requirements.
• Characteristics of successful performance are understandable.
• There are no dangerous consequences of failures.

We learn many things from observation and imitation. We also learn many things from guidance, written and voiced instructions, and trial and error. One may well discover in the process of popping corn that preheating the oil produces a slightly crisper, better coated kernel and fewer unpopped kernels. Such unguided discovery is clearly a learning event.

When the goal is efficient learning of complex or challenging tasks, however, then a series of constructed learning events is often the best solution. And when many people need to reach the same or a minimum level of proficiency as quickly as possible, then instructional product development is in order.

A learning event occurs whenever learning happens, but for the purposes of this book, we are addressing those events that are created for the express purpose of helping others learn. We will address the creation of events for which materials are prepared, organized, and presented to help learners acquire skills efficiently.

Again, while nuances make huge differences, the foundational components of interactive learning events are context, challenge, activity, and feedback. The nature of these components and the ways in which they are interwoven define specific learning events. While not all of these components may be present in a specific learning event, we have observed that learning events are strongest when all four components are not only present, but also used in support of each other.

Context

Context is the relevant situation and conditions a learner must take into account when performing a task. It partially corresponds to the conditions of performance component of behavioral objectives as set forth by Mager (2004, p. 4). In implementation, we look not so much for a concise statement for learners to read as a situation to be presented, visualized if not illustrated, and perhaps explored. We want the context to become as vivid in the learner's mind as possible. Context can be portrayed by an instructor, augmented with media, or conveyed solely through e-learning media.

Examples of instructional context:

• A team of coworkers is reporting inability to complete a task because Sue refuses to compromise.
• An engine won't start after complete cool down.
• A remote railroad crossing has a high incident of fatal crashes.

Contexts are strong when they have relationships to real situations the learner will encounter, have fascinating attributes in them, and invite exploration for important but not so obvious details. The instructor can respond to questions to encourage such exploration, perhaps dropping hints, if necessary. Interactivity in e-learning can provide the means for learners to explore the context in as much depth as is relevant and productive.

In many ways, context is both the most foundational component and the most frequently neglected. When missing, it is much more difficult for learners to understand and remember the situations in which they should perform a task and why. As a result, learners can easily fail to recognize situations that require one response instead of another. They don't transfer their training into new situations or move to action unless familiar choices are presented. Without context, learners can be unsure of the personal relevance of the training to themselves. Enthusiasm and motivation decrease.

Context is critical for meaningfulness. It's why we say to a person who is not understanding us, Let me put that in context for you.

Challenge

Challenges spur learners to action and provide a wonderfully effective way of heightening motivation. Although distant challenges, such as end-of-course tests or even end-of-week quizzes can have some positive effects, it's unfortunate that challenges sit in wait while passive presentation activities consume so much of the time available for learning. Additionally, delayed and infrequent challenges can become unnecessarily frightening events, producing anxiety-fettered results.

Classroom settings hamper the ability to provide frequent challenges, especially when using a lecture format. Individuals can be called on to answer questions, of course, but this has the negative aspects of potential embarrassment. It is difficult, also, to challenge all individuals simultaneously, let alone at their individual levels of need. e-Learning has the advantage here, but only if the design avoids imitating the lecture format of presenting volumes of information followed by post-tests.

Effective challenges spur learners to re-examine the context and consider fully the probable outcomes of various responses. Just as in real life, we choose our responses based on previous experience and knowledge. We use the skills we presently have and, as we learn, modify them in hopes of achieving better results. Making mistakes and observing the consequences is a fundamental learning cycle, and by building challenges on relevant and authentic contexts, we enable this effective process.

Challenges must not be too difficult for learners, but neither is it effective to force learners through challenges that are boring because they are too simple. Good instruction adjusts challenges to match the individual's current level of progress. It also offers assistance to learners who request help or obviously need it.

Activity

If we're teaching our learners to do things, they need to be doing things while they are learning. In one-on-one mentorship, learners can swing a golf club, cut hair, or evaluate a subordinate's performance under close supervision. Experienced mentors give only a small amount of advice at first and then let learners try their hand while closely observing. They correct and advise with hesitation in hopes learners will fully apply themselves to the task rather than blankly waiting for direction. It's an effective approach when mentorship is practical, and it allows learners to approximate actual performance activity at the earliest possible moment.

If we're teaching our learners to do things, they need to be doing things while they are learning.

Multiple-choice questions in the traditional “select a, b, c, or d” format contrast sharply from most authentic activities and nearly always focus on facts. What part of the brain does…? Who was the first president to…? Even when directed toward knowledge of processes, multiple-choice questions hardly assess any authentic activity because they provide a finite set of options to compare—options the learner might not have considered at all:

To make stiff but fluffy egg white peaks, you should (check all that apply):

• a. Use a copper bowl
• b. Be sure eggs are chilled
• c. Beat quickly at first and slow down as peaks begin to form
• d. Add an acid ingredient, such as cream of tartar

Multiple-choice questions are practical in terms of administration and scoring and are unfortunately commonplace in nearly all forms of instructional delivery except mentoring. The exception is revealing.

Reading about how to perform well is a preparatory activity, but answering a multiple-choice question about it is not an authentic activity. In contrast, facing a customer—simulated or real—who is expecting a stylish haircut, presents a performance challenge and activity that elevate the importance of the reading material to a critical level. The challenge motivates the learner. What did it say about cutting tight curly hair?

It's important to consider not only what activities are appropriate in an instructional event, but also where they best fit in the sequence. In many weakly designed learning events, listening or reading is the primary “activity,” placed at the beginning of the event and consuming a high percentage of the total time. There are better places for this material. Effective activities look and feel to learners similar to the real tasks they expect to actually be performing post training.

Feedback

There are two primary types of feedback: consequences and judgments. Consequences reveal to learners what would really happen in response to their actions or inactions. Feedback in the form of consequences complements authentic activities to make the event as a whole feel realistic. If actual damages due to poor actions on the part of a learner are acceptable, the learning experience can move closer to the quality experience one might get with a good mentor who recognizes the value of mistakes and lets the learner witness the consequences of both correct and incorrect actions. Beginning learners need more support to avoid pointless floundering, but as they progress, corrective feedback should give way to feedback provided only through consequences (real or simulated).

Judgments appear in many forms, such as: “Correct.” “No, you should chill the bowl before adding egg whites.” “The correct answer is b.” Judgments have their place, but in general they are more effective if delayed, so that learners have a chance to assess consequences and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions themselves. Judgments offered too quickly cheat learners of the opportunity to determine for themselves if they are making good choices and can lead to learner dependency on external assessment. In general, good instructional events offer consequences in the most realistic ways possible and put forth judgments only after it has become apparent that the learner needs direction.

Some learners will ask for help much more readily than others. Help should usually be given when requested, especially for beginning learners. In conjunction with consequences and judgments, challenge-based events should offer learners the comfort of ready access to relevant information and guidance. This doesn't mean that correct answers should be instantly available for the asking. When correct answers are easily exposed, many learners will instantly ask for them instead of fully engaging the challenge. Instead of revealing correct answers, support materials that lead to effective actions should be available, such as definitions, concepts, and worked examples.

CCAF Talk

Context, challenge, activity, feedback—CCAF. Discussing an instructional design in terms of CCAF helps to more clearly communicate an instructional paradigm. It's a functional way of talking with each other about instructional design that we have been so sorely lacking.

Infinite possibilities in instructional design arise from the countless combinations of variables and elements. While we have extraordinary flexibility and opportunities to invent new instructional paradigms, the number of considerations makes creating effective learning events a daunting challenge. And with such variability, it's been difficult to compare various approaches or even clearly define, understand, and communicate the nature of a single design.

While ADDIE has been shaped and reshaped into something of a cookbook recipe for developing instructional products, it has not firmly grappled with the challenge of defining instructional designs to be developed, implemented, and evaluated. Rather, it has sidestepped this difficult requirement that is actually prerequisite to the sequence of steps following its design phase (see Figure 2-1) and has focused on process details. Without clear communication of instructional designs, the success of the overall process is put at risk. The process too often misses the mark.

Viewing learning programs as a combination of contexts, challenges, activities, and feedback gives us a way of talking meaningfully about instructional products. Striving toward meaningful, memorable, and motivational learning events that produce measurable performance outcomes gives us the means of assessing the effectiveness of both products and the processes used to produce them.

With defined product components and desired product characteristics in hand, we are now ready to talk about process. What do we do when? How do we perform specific tasks?