24 Learning PrinciplesLearning+Principles.pdf · 10. USE SPACED PRACTICE TO LEARN ... Listen to music to increase your cognition. Learning environments can benefit from appropriately

LEARNING PRINCIPLES FOR TRAINERS

BY KATRINA KENNEDY

© 2017 Katrina Kennedy | www.katrinakennedy.com | [email protected]

1. CONNECT TO LEARN

When we can draw connections from our existing knowledge to what we are learning we are better equipped to let old ideas go and replace them with new.

Connecting ideas also provides us context and structure for learning.

“How is this like something from your experience.”

Source: Make It Stick


2. EXPEND EFFORT TO LEARN“When learning is harder, it’s stronger and lasts longer.”

Learning takes work. We must expend effort for learning to occur.

If learning is easy it is less meaningful and will be forgotten.

When we engage in more difficult tasks, the learning is more permanent.



3. LEARN TO LEARNLearning is an acquired skill that requires active psychological and behavioral effort. Learning requires us to experience more than mere exposure to ideas and information.

Mastery is a gradual process that is aided by:

q Recalling informationq Spaced and varied practiceq Simulationq Problem solvingq Low stakes testing

We are challenged to change our thinking in order to most effectively learn.

Source: MAKE IT STICK


4. SLEEP TO LEARNSleep is needed in order for our brains to consolidate and to sort learning

“Unconscious downtime clarifies memory and sharpens skills.”

Brain scientists believe we replay our learning from the day to determine what stays and what goes.

Soundly sleeping for the two nights after training increases our retention.

Source: How We Learn


5. REPEAT TO LEARNRepetition is necessary to learn. Repetition in the form of retrieval practice is most effective.

Retrieval practice challenges us to keep the connection to our learning active.

Retrieval practice needs to be challenging, including both the difficult and easy elements we are trying to learn.

We can incorporate repetition by using

q tests, q spaced practiceq reflection, andq flash cards.

Sources: How We Learn, Brain Rules


6. KNOW YOUR BRAIN TO LEARNAll brains are wired differently. Our lifetime of experiences creates our unique set of neural connections. Learning rewires our brain. No two individuals store information in exactly the same place.The variety of brains suggests learning should be q customized to the individual, q delivered in smaller classes,q varied in pace, andq Provided in a flipped classroom so

learners are driving the process more.

Source: Brain Rules


7. CHANGE THINGS TO LEARNBoring is boring.

We need to change things to learn, otherwise we disengage.

Variety can be achieved through

q different learning activities,

q adding movement,

q changing groups,

q talking versus listening,

q writing, and

q practicing in differing ways.

Source: Brain Rules


8. USE YOUR SENSES TO LEARNWe learn best in a multisensory method. Including hearing, vision, and touch in activities we create a more elaborate learning environment, engaging the brain more fully.

Richard Mayer has found that:

• We learn better from words and pictures than words alone

• We learn best when words and pictures appear together

• We learn best when words are close to pictures

• We learn best when extraneous material is excluded

• We learn better from animation and narration than from animation and on screen text.

Source: Brain Rules© 2017 Katrina Kennedy | www.katrinakennedy.com | [email protected]

9. USE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE TO LEARN

Prior knowledge impacts new knowledge. ”we interpret and remember events by building connections to what we already know.”What we know informs what we can learn. Draw upon learners past experiences to help them learn new concepts. Knowing how they learned difficult concepts in the past can help them handle new learning challenges.



10. USE SPACED PRACTICE TO LEARN

We all need practice to learn. Space your practice to get the most from your learning. Spaced practice provides “habit strength” which lasts longer than “momentary strength.” Practice. Take a break. Practice. Sleep. Practice.

How much space do we need? Enough to avoid mindless repetition. A little forgetting needs to occur.

Provide spaced practice when learning by practicing skills more than once after delivery. Flashcards are an example of spaced practice.



11. INTERLEAVE PRACTICE TO LEARN

Interleaving is a fancy word for practice one skill, practice another, then return to the first. Think of it as distributed practice, switching before practicing one skill is complete. Learning feels slower, but long term retention and mastery are better.

Source: How We Learn


12. VARY PRACTICE TO LEARNVaried practice lets learners move beyond simple memorization. Variety requires the brain to work harder.

Practice a task in one way today and in another way tomorrow. Add spacing and interleaving to increase the effectiveness of your varied practice. Avoid routine practice to avoid habituation, which tricks our brain into believing we are more skilled than we are.



13. SOLVE PROBLEMS TO LEARN“It’s better to solve a problem than to memorize a solution.”We know this best through life lessons. We are tested in some way and from that experience we have gives us deep, meaningful learning. We can mimic this in training by providing a problem that learners solve before they have been presented the skills or knowledge.Generative learning requires the learner to actively construct meaning from their existing knowledge.



14. REFLECT TO LEARNThinking back on your learning helps to deepen your learning.

Reflection involves:

q retrieval (recalling what you’ve recently stored),

q connecting new knowledge to existing, and

q generating (rephrasing key concepts).

Learners can reflect by

q answering key questions after a learning module,

q writing answers to questions, writing about what they recall,

q discussing their learning with peers,

q or thinking about what they’ve covered.



15. LISTEN TO MUSIC TO LEARNMusic alters your mood and changes your behavior. It is suspected that music alters our brains on a hormonal level.Listen to music to increase your cognition. Learning environments can benefit from appropriately placed music. Music isn’t appropriate when learners are working to understand a concept.



16. WRITE TO LEARNWriting boosts our retention as an act of reflection and repetition.

Writing taps into our

q retrieval,

q elaboration (connecting new learning to old), and

q generation process (rephrasing key ideas)

as we take concepts and ideas and synthesize them into our own ideas.

Writing activities can be short – less than 5 minutes– and interspersed throughout training.



17. MOVE TO LEARNThere is a relationship between mental alertness and movement. We must move to learn. Our brains require 20% of our body’s energy to function. We get that energy through oxygen. We get that oxygen through movement. The blood flow to the brain is increased with exercise, increasing our cognitive function. We were not built to sit for long periods of time. q Get up. q Change groups. q Stand for activities. q Get people moving.

Source: Brain Rules


18. FAIL TO LEARNOur best learning comes from the mistakes we make. We must fail in order to learn. Perfect practice doesn’t translate to perfect performance.

Errors in learning coupled with corrective feedback lead to deeper learning, longer retention, and improved job performance.Fear of failure can poison the learning process and make people resistant to attempting new tasks.



19. MAKE IT HARD TO LEARNWe don’t remember what’s easy. We remember what’s hard.“Desirable difficulties” that mimic our real world scenarios increase our performance. Make learning more difficult, and increase retention through:q Spaced practice, q interleaving (mixing related but

different material during study), and q varied practice

Source: Make It Stick, How We Learn


20. 3 STEPS TO LEARNIn order to learn new information must go through three steps: 1. Encoding – moving information

from short term to long term memory

2. Consolidation – finding meaning and connecting new information with old

3. Retrieval – updating learning and applying when necessary.

Trainers can provide a structure to facilitate these three steps.



21. TEST TO LEARN When we are tested, our retention and retrieval increase.Testing needs to be low stakes and interleaved (distributed within other subjects).Tests are most effective when a learner must q fill in the blank, q write an explanation, q or perform a task. Have learners self test, create tests, and test each other.



22. FEEDBACK TO LEARN“At the root of our effectiveness is our ability to grasp the world around us and to take measure of our own performance.”Learners need corrective feedback to challenge their learning. Feedback provides a gauge of what they think they know and what they don’t know. Without feedback we risk having ”an illusion of competence,” the feeling of knowing when we are simply familiar with a subject.Feedback can be throughq peer reviewq testingq trainer review orq natural consequences.



23. BUILD STRUCTURE TO LEARN

When we understand the underlying principles and rules to a process or system we build a structure to aid learning. Placing ideas into a structure helps move knowledge to know-how. This ability to sort what matters from what doesn’t enables learners to deepen their understanding and application.Trainers can provide structure through:

q mind mapping, q advanced organizers, q stories, andq mind mapping.



24. MAKE IT VISUAL TO LEARN“The more visual the input becomes, the more likely it is to be recognized – and recalled.”

Vision is our strongest sense. We pay attention to:

• Color

• Orientation

• Size

• Objects in motion

We learn and remember best through pictures, not words.

Make examples, instructions, and concepts VISUAL to help learners learn.

Source: Brain Rules© 2017 Katrina Kennedy | www.katrinakennedy.com | [email protected]

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24 Learning PrinciplesLearning+Principles.pdf · 10. USE SPACED PRACTICE TO LEARN ... Listen to music to increase your cognition. Learning environments can benefit from appropriately