Evidence-Based Training Methods

A Guide for Training Professionals

Recommendation
Many professionals suffer misconceptions about which training methods work and
which do not. Instructional design expert Ruth Colvin Clark explodes the myths
regarding training. To replace the practices she discredits, Clark gives instructors
numerous research-based recommendations. Learning professionals turn to Clark for
their own development, an accolade from her peers that encourages getAbstract to
recommend her heavily researched insights to teachers, training materials developers,
e-learning professionals and training managers.

Take-Aways
 Professionals rely on verifiable evidence to choose training methods that work.
 Research indicates that widely used training programs often are ineffective.
 The concept that learning styles differ is a myth. Adapting instruction to
accommodate supposed learning styles is counterproductive.
 Students’ positive course ratings rarely are reliable indicators of how much they
learned.
 Before you teach, consider how much students already know about the subject.
 Just because you present information does not mean that students learn it.
 Pay attention to how students’ brains and memories work. Use “grounded brain-
based teaching.”
 You want your students to pay attention, to be engaged with your information
and to integrate it with what they already know.
 Visuals help people learn.
 Utilize “immersive learning” to help students rapidly develop valuable work
expertise.

Summary
What’s the Evidence?

Recent, reliable scientific research findings are exploding long-held myths about
training:

 “Learning styles” – Different styles of learning simply do not exist, so don’t

organize your instruction to accommodate supposed varying kinds of learners. Instead,
 Evidence-Based Training Methods
A Guide for Training Professionals
focus on the extent of knowledge that students already have about your subject. New
students need more directed learning, while experienced students benefit more from open
teaching.
 “Media panaceas” – The “psychologically active ingredients” of your
instructional materials matter more than the technology you use. You should provide
“learner-centered” rather than “technology-centric” instruction and training.
 “The more they like it, the more they learn” – Favorable student
evaluations of courses and instructors actually are not significant. Research shows no
parallels between student course ratings and actual learning. To determine the
effectiveness of your course, test students and measure their work performance to see if
their skills have improved.
 “Stories (games or you-name-it) promote learning” – Your students’
level of knowledge matters; educational games, gimmicks or fads do not. Before
implementing a new training method, ask these questions: “What are the core features of
the latest cool trend?” And, “How can I best adapt the new practice to the culture, staff and
constraints of my organization?”

“Unlike medicine, agriculture and industrial production, the field of education

operates largely on the basis of ideology and professional consensus.” (US Department
of Education)
Look for research results that have “practical significance.” The more findings you can
gather concerning the same type of experiment, the better an analysis you can draw.
This allows you to generalize your understanding from several individual studies.
Instructors now have access to significant results from 20 years of research about what
works and what doesn’t for learning and training. Use this evidence to make informed
decisions concerning “the best instructional modes and methods to use in your
training.” However, statistical evidence is only one factor in choosing among teaching
tactics. Others include budgetary and time constraints, available technology and even
office politics.

Teaching with the Brain in Mind

Use “grounded brain-based teaching” to plan your instruction. Never mind the now-
discredited right-brain, left-brain concept. Focus on “proven mental learning
processes.” Think about working memory, which involves the “active processing” of
information. Memory has capacity limits – students can retain only “five or six chunks”
of information at once. Active processing utilizes a “dual channel” system wherein your
memory engages separate functions for “visual and auditory information.” Take
advantage of the mind’s “automaticity,” which is how long-term memory hardwires
tasks that people practice over and over. With these concepts in mind, organize your
teaching according to these four goals:
 Evidence-Based Training Methods
A Guide for Training Professionals
1. “Focus attention” – Students who are not paying attention cannot learn.

2. “Engage learners to promote processing” – Practice exercises and

informative graphics enable memory and retention.

3. “Manage mental load” – Memory can only handle so much information, so

“less is often more.” Do not overload your students.

4. “Engage learning transfer via retrieval” – This involves moving knowledge

from long-term memory to working memory via memory cues that the instructor
provides.

“Instructional Architectures”

Lecturing to students does not guarantee they will learn. Students must be actively
engaged. Consider the three basic goals of learning: “acquire knowledge, build
procedural skills” (how to do something) and “build strategic skills” (thinking creatively
about a specific problem). To maximize learning and meet these objectives, utilize these
three instructional architectures:

1. “Show-and-tell architectures” – Lectures that include PowerPoint are useful

educational tools for conveying facts and processes. They are less useful for
developing “job task proficiency” or “behavioral skills” and do not help students
think about the information presented. Such systems are the least effective way to
secure students’ attention.

2. “Stair-step architectures” – These involve explanation, followed by a

demonstration, followed by practice, followed by feedback. This method is “tell,
show, do and correct,” an effective process for helping novices develop basic job
skills. It requires maximum guidance from the instructor.

3. “Immersive architectures” – This is “problem-based” design. It is effective

for learners with advanced knowledge. According to the evidence, a relatively
hands-off approach enables students to develop strategic skills more rapidly than
they might on the job. These methodologies develop critical thinking and involve
“autonomous problem solving.”

Graphics

Most training professionals rely more on words than on graphics. They might benefit
from reversing that ratio. Research shows that properly used visuals enhance learning.
This is particularly true for students who are unfamiliar with the lesson content.
“Decorative visuals” are graphic items that have no relevance to the text and interfere
with learning. The best types of graphics to aid learning are:
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A Guide for Training Professionals
 “Organizational” – These depict qualitative topic relationships, as seen on an
organizational chart.
 “Relational” – These depict quantitative topic relationships, like on a pie chart.
 “Transformational” – These depict “changes in time or space,” such as a chart
showing different stages of an operation.
 “Interpretive” – These depict “unseeable relationships,” and include images
that make “abstract concepts tangible,” such as “a graphic of molecules.”

“When you go to the doctor, you expect her to be well-informed, versed in the latest
medical research and current best practices. As training professionals, our customers
expect and deserve the same.” (Frank Nguyen, American Express)
While visuals can enhance learning, the majority of images require explanation. That is
the trainer’s job and art. Research demonstrates that an audio (speech) form of
explanation is more effective than a text (print) form. Keep your explanations short.
Explaining visuals with both text and audio impedes learning. As with most things, this
recommendation has notable exceptions. Text explanations for visuals work better for
non-native speakers, for students with strong experience and for unusual terms and
reference content.

Get Social

Humans are social beings. Always include a “social presence” in your instruction to
promote increased mental processing. This involves personalization, such as including
avatars in all of your e-learning activities. Assume the role of host when you teach. You
will achieve better results if you speak conversationally and in a friendly manner (for
example, using first- and second-person references). Use this approach for all
instructional activities. Use social media in a deliberate manner. Such tools are helpful,
but you do not want them to become a distraction or to divert the attention of your
students.

“Because everyone has been to school, everyone considers themselves an expert in

training.”
The brain can only handle so much, hence this central rule of training: “Material
covered is not material learned.” Do not present too much information during training.
People’s brains work best when they are not overloaded. Don’t include factoids and
other material that relates to your subject but has little to do with your educational
goals. Research shows that anecdotes distract and thus inhibit learning. Keep your
explanations concise. The simpler your visuals, the better. If you want students to learn
procedures, dynamic visuals are best. Music in the background detracts from learning.

Make Use of Examples

 Evidence-Based Training Methods
A Guide for Training Professionals
What teaches more effectively: more practice or more examples? Involving students in
practice exercises takes more time than providing examples. Counterintuitively,
researchers have determined that the error rate for students doing more practice was
double that of students who received more examples. To engage students, always
include questions in any “worked-out examples.” One caveat: Evidence demonstrates
that while examples aid information assimilation for “novice learners,” experienced
learners do better with “practice assignments.” When it comes to teaching standard
tasks, develop demonstrations that simulate the workplace as closely as possible.
Examples presented as computer-animated demonstrations help students learn how to
handle “strategic tasks” which involve social skills like management or teaching.

“All learning benefits from feedback.”

When used appropriately, practice exercises improve performance. Practice always
involves some form of overt learner response. The best practice is deliberate and focuses
on particular gaps in students’ skills. Effective practice exercises require students to use
their acquired knowledge to handle work tasks. Extensive practice can help learners
develop “automaticity” in performing a job – for example, landing an airplane. How
much practice is enough? That depends on the consequences that ensue if the student
makes mistakes. If consequences are heavy, a maximum of practice becomes necessary.
Students also need extended practice for highly complex work tasks.

“We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
On the other hand, students need less practice if they have job aids – like handout
sheets – to boost their performance. Research indicates that you should break up
lessons with numerous practice sessions instead of saving practice exercises for students
to attempt all at once, such as at the end of the class. Mix up your practice exercises by
type. Always offer feedback so students will know why their practice responses are right
or wrong.

“We teach the way we were taught.”

Many PowerPoint training presentations offer minimal returns for the time spent
showing them. As an alternative, create audio format “principled presentations” to
deliver information in a physical or virtual classroom. Present engaging, visual, “concise
and focused” material. Work to foster the students’ “psychological processing” and
engagement with “social presence” and relevant examples. When you present, use a
checklist. Arrive early, test your technology, arrange your handouts and give your
students a friendly greeting. Have a backup plan in case something goes wrong.

Creating “Stair-Step” Lessons

Stair-step lessons work best for novice learners. Behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner
explained how to institute a stair-step lesson: Start out with simple tasks and move to
complex ones; divide tasks into discrete steps; offer directions as often as necessary and
 Evidence-Based Training Methods
A Guide for Training Professionals
give students direct feedback and positive reinforcement. Include practice exercises for
each topic. Offer these three steps:

1. “Introduction” – Discuss the class’s desired outcome, the lesson road map and
the relevance of the information. Prompt students to engage (subconsciously) with
knowledge that already is in their long-term memory by, for example, including
questions about prior lessons.

2. “Support topics” – Refer to your themes as you explain the steps in each task.

3. “Lesson task” – Present topics in discrete portions with a tell, show and try
approach.

Immersive Learning Environments

One study determined that spending 25 practice hours with an “immersive computer-
based troubleshooting simulation” increased the expertise of technicians with two years’
experience to equal that of technicians with 10 years’ experience. Multimedia
presentations enhance “immersive lessons.” These lessons have four elements:

1. Specific “work-authentic” problems that provide a context for learning.

2. Guidance to help students solve the issue at hand. The need for this diminishes
with student experience.

3. Feedback to students about the solutions they develop.

4. Opportunity for students to reflect, not only on their solutions, but also on their
mistakes. Avoid overloading students with too much information.