Blog posts

Does learning science play a role in our work, and, just how <em>much</em> of an impact does it have on our profession?

We must be able to see the gaps in our instructional design, which learning science helps to <a href="https://blog.learnlets.com/2020/08/the-case-for-learning-science/">support</a>. It also gives us a basis to infer how to use new technologies. If we want to avoid doing slide presentations, we have to know what cognitive (and emotional) advantages these technologies have so we can leverage them for success.

However, I’ve argued strongly that what’s most critical is the ability to make better decisions. The decisions we make determine our success. We make better decisions <em>about</em> learning when we know how learning works. It may not be all the time, but they will be the most impactful decisions when leveraging evidence-based approaches to our work. If we don’t have the foundation for learning-grounded decisions, the important ones not be made on a solid basis.

Regardless of its latest terminology, we need to be able to see past the hype and be able to evaluate the claims.

<strong><a href="https://www.christytuckerlearning.com/how-research-informs-my-work/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How Research Informs My Work</a><br></strong><em>Research plays an important role in the work of learning professionals. While our work often serves organizational performance goals, educational research forms the foundations upon which we can build programs that can effectively target those goals. It’s not about one being more important than the other; as Christy Tucker explains in this inciteful post, research informs the work we do in L&amp;D.</em>

Finally, version with dialogue-based choices (see screenshot above) was perceived as more personal and engaging, “lively” and helpful for making a selection (“made me feel like I was talking out loud in my head”).

The findings from this pilot questionnaire seem to indicate that providing framing in the options themselves has more effect on the learner than providing it in an introductory text.

Additionally, options written as dialogue were experienced as more personal and elicited higher emotional reactions of the learner towards the characters. This may be of use in courses about soft skills.

The most important aspect of branching scenarios and interactive stories are the choices presented to the player/learner. Choices are what make interactive stories different from other creative writing outputs such as novels, plays and movies.

Choices can feel totally different to a player depending on how they are written, even if they seem to have the same outcome.

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">In a Mastery Loop, every time you make a poor decision, you see the poor consequence play out, then you automatically get to make the decision again. Once you make the right decision, the story continues. There’s really only one way to get to the ending, and it’s always the best ending.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Some people discourage the use of Mastery Loops because they feel it’s overly controlling to “force” people to eventually choose the right path.&nbsp;</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">But if your business problem is relatively simple, and doesn’t require a lot of nuanced decisions, a Mastery Loop might be the best format to use.&nbsp;</p>