The learning styles revelation - research from cognitive science
Summary of research debunking learning styles and recommends following multimedia learning principles based on cognitive science instead. This is a text-heavy Slideshare presentation.
No Clarity Around Growth Mindset…Yet | Slate Star Codex
A rare criticism of Dweck's growth mindset research, largely centered around the idea that the results are so dramatic for such small interventions that they can't be real. No proof for falsification is provided (although the author says he looked). There are some more legitimate concerns raised about the social psychology and alternate research showing that yes, innate ability does matter.
A rare point of agreement between hard biodeterminists and hard socialists is that telling kids that they’re failing because they just don’t have the right work ethic is a <i>crappy thing to do</i>. It’s usually false and it will make them feel terrible. Behavioral genetics studies show pretty clearly that at least 50% of success at academics and <a href="slatestarcodex.com/2015/02/01/talents-part-2-attitude-vs-altitude/">sports</a> is genetic; various sociologists have put a lot of work into proving that your position in a biased society covers a pretty big portion of the remainder. If somebody who was born with the dice stacked against them works very hard, then they might find themselves at A2 above. To deny this in favor of a “everything is about how hard you work” is to offend the sensibilities of sensible people on the left and right alike.
So basically, you take the most vulnerable people, set them tasks you know they’ll fail at, then lecture them about how they only failed because of insufficient effort.
The Problem With Having a 'Growth Mindset' - Finding Common Ground - Education Week
Growth mindset doesn't seem to work as well in classrooms as it does in the research environments, partly because it gets oversimplified as simply "more effort" rather than providing useful feedback and rewarding trying new strategies.
The Growth Mindset : Telling Penguins to Flap Harder ? | Disappointed Idealist
Lengthy criticism of growth mindset, looking at both Dweck's research and the way it is misinterpreted and applied in educational policy
To a certain extent, I feel the growth mindset is the equivalent of putting a penguin next to an eagle and inviting them to both take off. When the eagle is a speck in the sky, the observer then tells the penguin that the only reason it isn’t also flying is that it isn’t putting enough effort in. If only it flaps its wings harder, it’ll be chasing the eagle in no time.
Learnlets » Deeper Learning Reading List
A book and resource list for learning about going beyond the superficial and supporting "deeper learning"
Secrets of Star Training Consultants | Training Magazine
Preliminary findings from Saul Carliner and John Murray's research and interviews with "star consultants" in the field of learning
<p>Participants also indicated the types of assignment they feel are inappropriate for them. Most of the assignments refused could be characterized as “conventional.” Several participants specifically mentioned that they distance themselves from training about products and software to focus on more strategic projects.</p>
<p>One participant avoids “order-taker projects.” </p>
How Relearning Old Concepts Alongside New Ones Makes It All Stick | MindShift | KQED News
Rather than studying and practicing a single skill in blocks, it's more effective to use "interleaved" or variable practice of multiple skills. You remember better this way. It's the opposite of cramming where you might do well on a test but forget it all soon after.
Work From Home Survey Data | ProEdit
38% of US employees in the survey can work from home at least one day a week. Those who work from home have higher job satisfaction and may be more productive.
Are Consumers More Responsive to Male or Female Voices in Advertisements?
This survey is about advertising, not elearning, but the results might be applicable in some situations. A male voice is viewed as more forceful, and a female voice is perceived as more soothing. Half of those surveyed said it made no difference though, and other results were mixed.
Parkin's Lot: Gender of voice-over and e-learning effectiveness
Some gender stereotypes affect the perception of voice over, but gender is likely not the most important characteristic for retention. This post is older and not all the links to citations work
But most <a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/lablouin/psych200/project_fall01/narrator.htm">studies</a> that I have seen indicate no statistically significant difference between retention by an audience of one gender of content delivered by a voice of another, or the same, gender.
<br>
<br>In my experience there are characteristics other than gender that play a much bigger role in engaging a learner audience. Things like dynamism, clarity, 'emotional bonding' with the content, enthusiasm, and perceived subject matter expertise are more important than whether it is a male or a female voice.
This study examines whether auditory narrator gender (male or female) and presence of a visual image of a woman described in the narrated description (visual image or no visual image) affects the number of extrinsic (appearance related) words recalled
This research found a slight benefit to recall when using male narrators, but it's a small study and the difference wasn't large
There was a marginal difference in percentage of
extrinsic words recalled in female vs. male narrator. There was no difference
in number of extrinsic words recalled in male-visual, male-no visual, female-visual,
female-no visual.
However, when percentage
of extrinsic words recalled was analyzed between male and female voice
conditions, there was marginal significance, where subjects in the male
voice condition recalled a greater percentage of extrinsic words than subjects
in the female voice condition. This marginal significance is not enough
to definitively conclude that there is a relationship between gender of
narrator and recall of extrinsic words.
Should You Go With a Male or Female Voice Over?
Whether male or female voices are better for elearning narration may depend on what tone you're trying to achieve, although the research results are a bit weak. Breaking tradition and stereotypes can sometimes be effective.
“Men’s voices are associated with neutrality, with authoritative, factual information,” explains <a href="http://arthur-chu.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Arthur Chu</a>, a Cleveland-based artist who’s done voice over work for brands like Safeway and Intel. “The voiceover you want for some kind of authoritative instructional video, or something asserting dry historical fact, is going to be that baritone, somewhat monotone, slightly stern voice.”
“Because females tend to be the more nurturing gender by nature, their voices are often perceived as a helper, more compassionate, understanding, and non-threatening,” says <a href="http://www.debbiegrattan.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Debbie Grattan</a>, a veteran voice over artist for brands like Apple, Samsung, and Wal-Mart. “This can be important in instructional videos, (sense of patience and compassion in teaching a new skill), corporate/web narration, as well as commercial spots (conveying a less aggressive, more persuasive approach.)”
The Big Voice-Over Decision: Male vs. Female Voice-Over Talent | LinkedIn
Summary of a few studies on voice over and gender in advertising. One interesting point: female voices were rated the most trustworthy in one study, especially higher pitched voices.
Learning through storytelling | Higher Education Academy
Why storytelling works for learning
Stories are effective tools for learning due to their ability to facilitate the following cognitive processes: i) concretizing, ii) assimilation, and iii) structurizing (Evans and Evans 1989).
Scenario-based-learning.pdf
"Scenario-based learning is based on the principles of situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), which argues that learning best takes place in the context in which it is going to be used, and situated cognition, the idea that knowledge is best acquired and more fully understood when situated within its context (Kindley, 2002)."
"SBL usually works best when applied to tasks requiring decision-making and critical thinking in complex situations. Tasks that are routine to the students will require little critical thinking or decision-making, and may be better assessed using other methods. "
"Checklist: Is SBL the right option? (Clark, 2009)
- Are the outcomes based on skills development or problem-solving?
- Is it difficult or unsafe to provide real-world experience of the skills?
- Do your students already have some relevant knowledge to aid decision-making?
- Do you have time and resources to design, develop, and test an SBL approach?
- Will the content and skills remain relevant for long enough to justify the development of SBL?"
Accelerating Expertise with Scenario-Based e-Learning - The Watercooler Newsletter : The Watercooler Newsletter
Ruth Clark on how scenario-based elearning accelerates expertise and when to use it
What is Scenario-Based e-Learning?
<em>A. The learner assumes the role of an actor responding to a job realistic situation.</em>
<em>B. The learning environment is preplanned</em>.
<em>C. Learning is inductive rather than instructive.</em>
<em>D. The instruction is guided</em>.
<em>E. Scenario lessons incorporate instructional resources.</em>
<em>F. The goal is to accelerate workplace expertise.</em>
As you consider incorporating scenario-based e-Learning into your instructional mix, consider whether the acceleration of expertise will give you a return on investment. For example, interviews with subject matter experts indicated that automotive technicians must complete about 100 work orders to reach a reasonable competency level in any given troubleshooting domain. Comparing delivery alternatives, OJT would require around 200+ hours, instructor-led training would require around 100 hours, and scenario-based e-Learning simulations require approximately 33–66 hours.
Finally, many learners find scenario-based e-Learning more motivating than traditional instructional formats. Solving a work-related problem makes the instruction immediately relevant.
The eLearning Guild : Women in eLearning: Continuing the Conversation : Research Insights Library
White paper from the eLearning Guild with research and ideas on how we can reduce gender bias in eLearning
Why a 30-Hour Workweek Is Good for Business - Quiet Revolution
How do you measure productivity in your work? Is it by how many hours you spend working? Is it by the volume of your output? Do you measure the quality of your work? Productivity falls with long work weeks, but too many organizations value 60 hour weeks over better quality and innovative work.
The Research Is Clear: Long Hours Backfire for People and for Companies
Working long hours can decrease your total output, not just your hourly productivity rates. Overwork leads to stress, mistakes, and other problems that have real consequences for businesses.
Eminence-Based Education or the Terror of Famous & Shameless Eduquacks – 3-Star learning experiences
Education often becomes enamored with the ideas of people who have little or no research support for their theories. Rather than falling for the "appeal to authority" (especially those "authorities" with no background in education or science to back them up), we can reject what's trendy and popular in favor of evidence-based education practice.
Will at Work Learning: Major Research Review on eLearning Effectiveness
Will Thalheimer reviews the research on workplace learning to answer the question, "Does eLearning work?" He concludes that elearning does work, and blended learning works even better. The difference is based mostly on the instructional methods used, not the media.
What Do You Know: About Brain Science and Adult Learning
When people claim they are designing learning based on "neuroscience" or "brain science," be skeptical. Sometimes it's real cognitive psychology research mislabeled as neuroscience. Sometimes it's fake research.
Cognitive science has to do with the mind and mental processes, such as thinking, learning, and problem solving at the human (or other organism) level.<em> </em>Neuroscience has to do with the biology of the nervous system, including how the brain works, at the anatomical level such as neurons.
Bottom line: When you hear claims about <em>neuro</em> or <em>brain</em> related to training, you should ask: Is it cognitive science or is it made up?
How Much Do People Forget? – Work-Learning Research
This is the link I send people to debunk the blanket claims about "people forget X% after Y time." The reality is that how much people forget depends on who your audience is, what they're learning, and how you train them.
The amount a learner will forget varies depending on many things. We as learning professionals will be more effective if we make decisions based on a deep understanding of how to minimize forgetting and enhance remembering.
To be specific, when we hear statements like, “People will forget 60% of what they learned within 7 days,” we should ignore such advice and instead reflect on our own superiority and good looks until we are decidedly pleased with ourselves.
Many of the experiments reviewed in this report showed clearly that learning methods matter. For example, in the Bahrick 1979 study, the best learning methods produced an average forgetting score of -29% forgetting, whereas the worst learning methods produced forgetting at 47%, a swing of 76% points.
Understanding Attention and eLearning: A Primer on the Science of Eye-Tracking - ArcheMedX
I asked in Julie Dirksen's Facebook group if there was any eye tracking research specific to elearning. I've read research related to general web reading and usability, but I wondered if there are any differences in attention when people are reading to deliberately and consciously learn. Brian McGowan helpfully pulled together this list of resources as a starting point for research.
Moms Who Work from Home Are More Successful than Moms Who Don't | Working Mother
Companies with more remote workers have more women in leadership roles because the focus is on productivity and results, not office politics or "face time."
<p>The study's authors speculate that the reason the numbers are so high is because women at remote or mostly remote companies are more likely to be fairly evaluated.</p>
<p>“It’s because remote work requires companies to focus on the most important aspects of work—<a href="https://www.workingmother.com/show-this-to-your-manager-people-who-work-from-home-have-been-proven-to-be-more-productive" class="linkTargets-processed">productivity</a>, progress, results—rather than less important things like face time in the office, office politics, traditional notions of what leadership ‘looks like,’ popularity or likability, or hours spent at your desk,” they write.</p>
The Backfire Effect is NOT Prevalent: Good News for Debunkers, Humans, and Learning Professionals! – Work-Learning Research
The "backfire effect" is when sharing facts to correct misconceptions results in people holding onto that belief more strongly, rather than changing their opinion. Newer research, summarized here, finds that the backfire effect is uncommon and mostly related to attitudes which are strongly tied to the person's identity.
Does Humor Enhance Learning?
A summary of research on humor in learning. Most of the research seems to be in academic environments rather than workplace ones. Non-aggressive humor can be effective in some instances.
A Habit-based Approach to Racial Bias | Usable Learning
Summary of research that successfully reduced implicit bias by helping people recognize their bias and establish new habits for behavior. Several strategies are described, including taking others' perspective and using positive counter examples.
Does Gamification Actually Work? Yes, and Here's Why | BLP
Gamification works when it's designed thoughtfully and stays focused on learning goals. Sharon Boller shares guidelines and picks apart some questionable research.
1. Keep game complexity simple, particularly when you are using a game to support relatively short lessons.
<strong>2. Reward players for performance, not completion</strong>.
<strong>3. Be cautious with leaderboards</strong>.
4. As much as possible, align the game element choices you use to the learner’s actual job context.
<strong>5. Make the in-game goal align with the learning goal in a reasonable way that “makes sense” for the learners who will play your game or complete your gamified lesson</strong>.
6. Stop thinking you have to make the game super “fun.”
A Look Back At The Years Best From Learning Science And Instructional Design – Mike Taylor
Curated list of research and summaries of research related to learning. Cognitive load, spacing effect, forgetting effect, worked examples, and more.