“Learning Engineering”: The Art and Science of Improving Learning Performance

June 2015

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We know a lot about how expertise works

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We know how expertise gets acquired with practice

Stage Implications for Instructional Design

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We know how expertise gets acquired with practice

Stage Implications for Instructional Design

DeclarativeClear information displays, e.g., job aids, examples, reference material

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We know how expertise gets acquired with practice

Stage Implications for Instructional Design

DeclarativeClear information displays, e.g., job aids, examples, reference material

ProceduralBuild varied Practice tasks, and rich feedback/coaching

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We know how expertise gets acquired with practice

Stage Implications for Instructional Design

DeclarativeClear information displays, e.g., job aids, examples, reference material

ProceduralBuild varied Practice tasks, and rich feedback/coaching

AutomatedRepeated frequent practice to build speed and accuracy

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Supportive Knowledge

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Procedure Decide when to use; perform the steps

Supportive Knowledge

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Procedure Decide when to use; perform the steps

Supportive Knowledge

Fact Recall fact in task context

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Procedure Decide when to use; perform the steps

Supportive Knowledge

Fact Recall fact in task context

Concept Classify, identify or generate examples and non-examples

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Procedure Decide when to use; perform the steps

Supportive Knowledge

Fact Recall fact in task context

Concept Classify, identify or generate examples and non-examples

ProcessIdentify causes of faults in a process; predict events in a process

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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Knowledge Component

Practice/Assessment

Procedure Decide when to use; perform the steps

Supportive Knowledge

Fact Recall fact in task context

Concept Classify, identify or generate examples and non-examples

ProcessIdentify causes of faults in a process; predict events in a process

Principle Decide if principle applies; predict an effect; apply principle to solve a problem, explain a phenomenon or make a decision

Research gives us clearer guides to help with hard outcomes

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And about specific ways to make lessons work better

Principle Description Effect size (s.d. units)

Multimedia Use relevant graphics and text to communicate content 1.5

Contiguity Integrate the text nearby the graphics on the screen – avoid covering or separating integrated information 1.1

Coherence Avoid irrelevant graphics, stories, videos, media, and lengthy text 1.3

Modality Include audio narration where possible to explain graphic presentation 1.0

Redundancy Do not present words as both on-screen text and narration when graphics are present .7

Personalization Script audio in a conversational style using first and second person 1.3

Segmenting Break content down into small topic chunks that can be accessed at the learner’s preferred rate 1.0

Pre-training Teach important concepts and facts prior to procedures or processes 1.3

Etc. Worked examples, self-explanation questions, varied-context examples and comparisons, etc. ??

Source: E-learning and the Science of Instruction, Clark and Mayer, 3rd ed., 201113

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The impact is not small!

50%1 sd

84%!

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The evidence also shows our intuitions aren’t the best guides LSAT Logical Reasoning example

N 153* 148* 107 84 Time (mins) 8.15 12.8 99.32 NA

* Significant difference from “No Instruction”

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This is why a “learning engineering” approach matters

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April 20, 2015

Why We Need Learning EngineersChronicle of Higher Education