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Mentorship - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Mentorship - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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A mentoring relationship can be either formal, where organizations match less experienced employees with more experienced individuals, or informal, where two people meet regularly to discuss work-related issues over coffee or informal conversations. Both types of relationships provide guidance, support, and knowledge-sharing to help the mentee develop professionally.

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Mentorship - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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A mentoring relationship can be either formal (match less experienced with experienced) or informal (meeting regularly for coffee to discuss issues at work).

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Mentorship is a 2-way Street; Both People Benefit - Endurance Learning

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Mentorship is a 2-way Street; Both People Benefit - Endurance Learning

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The article emphasizes the significance of mentorship as a two-way relationship where both the mentor and mentee play active roles. It discusses the importance of mutual benefits and responsibilities in the mentoring process, sharing personal experiences and insights on how effective mentorship can lead to growth for both parties. Overall, the article underscores the value of active engagement and willingness to learn from one another in a successful mentorship.

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Mentorship is a 2-way Street; Both People Benefit - Endurance Learning

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Our local ATD chapter recently piloted a mentoring program. One of our members served as both a mentor and mentee, and in this post shares her thoughts about the benefits of both roles.

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The Mystery of the Mentor - Endurance Learning

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The Mystery of the Mentor - Endurance Learning

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The key piece of information in the article is the realization that mentorship can come from unexpected sources and doesn't always have to follow traditional formal structures. The author reflects on how a friend who is a professional musician became a mentor by providing guidance and support in learning to play the guitar. This experience highlights the importance of motivation, willingness to seek help, and being open to learning from others in developing a mentor-mentee relationship.

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The Mystery of the Mentor - Endurance Learning

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Having a mentor can accelerate a person's professional growth... but how does one go about finding the right mentor?

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4 Ways to Better Measure Corporate Training Results - Endurance Learning

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4 Ways to Better Measure Corporate Training Results - Endurance Learning

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The article suggests four ways to assess training effectiveness, including setting clear objectives for desired changes, utilizing Kirkpatrick's Four Levels of Evaluation, customizing evaluation measures based on the specific training content, and implementing strategies to boost learner retention and gather performance data. By evaluating training programs systematically, organizations can ensure that their training efforts are impactful and worth the investment.

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4 Ways to Better Measure Corporate Training Results - Endurance Learning

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I think results come out in lots of different ways, and some of them you measure, and some of them you feel.

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The Case for Net Promoter Score as a Measure of Presentation Effectiveness - Endurance Learning

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The Case for Net Promoter Score as a Measure of Presentation Effectiveness - Endurance Learning

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Presenters who receive high scores and recommendations are more likely to improve their delivery and have their content remembered and applied on the job. Additionally, marketing plays a crucial role in generating interest in training programs, and not being recommended by influential people can indicate a problem with the presentation.

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The Case for Net Promoter Score as a Measure of Presentation Effectiveness - Endurance Learning

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When it comes to post-training evaluation forms, the rule of thumb to which I’ve adhered is: high scores may not guarantee learning happened, but low scores

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Training Measurement Demystified - Endurance Learning

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Training Measurement Demystified - Endurance Learning

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Learning professionals should measure to demonstrate the value of their programs and ensure accountability within the organization. Despite the challenges in measuring learning, such as lack of know-how and fear, it is not inherently difficult with the right framework and guidance. Additionally, the conversation highlights that there is more to measuring learning initiatives than just the Kirkpatrick model, with a focus on efficiency measures and a holistic approach involving inputs, activities, outputs, short-term impacts, and long-term outcomes. Starting small and gradually expanding the measurement framework is recommended for those looking to begin measuring learning initiatives effectively.

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How do you measure the success of your training programs? Yeah, that is a pretty complicated question for many learning professionals. However, we all know that it is critical to our programs that we show how and why they are working. The big gaps seem to be the mystery around how exactly we get that information.

On the first Train Like You Listen podcast of 2021, Brian talks to David Vance and Peggy Parskey from the Center for Talent Reporting and authors of Measurement Demystified, Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics and Reporting Strategy to find out more about how to measure training programs.

Transcript of the Conversation with David Vance and Peggy Parskey

Brian Washburn: Welcome, everyone, to Train Like You Listen, a weekly podcast about all things learning & development in bite-sized chunks. I'm Brian Washburn, the Co-Founder and CEO of Endurance Learning and the Train Like You Listen podcast is brought to you by Soapbox, the world's first and only rapid-authoring tool for instructor-led training. It's a little bit like an instant pot for training design, so throw a few ingredients in there, the number of people who are attending, the amount of time that you have, your learning objectives - and out pops a lesson plan. If you want to check it out it's soapboxify.com.

I'm very excited to be joined by David Vance and Peggy Parskey, who both are from the Center for Talent Reporting. They have a new book out called Measurement Demystified, Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics and Reporting Strategy. David and Peggy, thank you so much for joining me today.

Peggy Parskey: Happy to.

David Vance: Happy to be here.

6-Words on Measurement of Learning

Brian Washburn: And so as we typically do with all of our guests, we ask our guests to introduce themselves using just 6 words in a sentence. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about your story.

Today we're going to be talking about this idea of measurement demystified. If I had to introduce myself only using 6 words and this topic of measurement, you know, oftentimes I think of feedback and evaluation forms and so my 6-word biography would be "I don't like reading negative feedback". How about you, David, how would you introduce yourself in 6 words?

David Vance: Six words, I would say "I'm passionate about running learning like a business".

Brian Washburn: And, Peggy, how about you?

Peggy Parskey: I would say "I'm building sustainable measurement security for organizations".

Brian Washburn: I like it. Now this whole idea of measurement, it's a really big topic and it's a tough nut to crack. Perhaps the most fundamental question when it comes to measuring learning initiatives is why should L&D professionals measure in the first place?

Why Should Learning & Development Professionals Measure Learning Initiatives?

David Vance: Brian, I'll start. I think there are 4 basic reasons we talk about in our book. Reasons like "to inform", like to answer someone's question "how many courses did you have? how many participants?" "Monitor" which to us means you have an opinion now about how you want that measure's value to be. Like, you want to be sure that level 1 participants' satisfaction scores remain above 75%. That's your threshold. Reason #3 would be "program evaluation" which is the traditional reason for measuring. You want to see how successful the program was. But we add on another reason to measure, is to "manage". And this is the one that we think is so important. So managing means that you set specific measurable goals at the start and you want to manage throughout the program or throughout the course of the year to make sure you deliver whatever you promised to begin with.

Brian Washburn: Ok. And so, Peggy, do you have anything to add in terms of "why"? I think it's really important to set that, and we'll talk about how in a second, but "why"? Why do we need to measure?

Peggy Parskey: Yeah, I mean I would add that we're investing a lot in measurement. And it's not just the direct costs of what we're measuring but it's also the opportunity costs of people attending measurement. And it's really incumbent on us to be able to identify if it's working and if there's any return on that investment. And then, also, I think from an organizational perspective, it creates accountability and we should not get a pass on that because we're in L&D and we're in that, sort of, soft business. And so we really need to be taking that on as one of our key functions within L&D.

Brian Washburn: It goes down to value, right? So what value are we providing and how are we providing that value and how are we defining value? It is probably the holy grail of Learning & Development - measuring and showing results. It's a really tough nut to crack. It's really hard. Why? Why do you think it's so hard to measure learning?

Why Is It Difficult to Measure Learning?

Peggy Parskey: I think part of it is that for many L&D practitioners it's not something they were brought up learning about. I think they didn't necessarily have a background in math or statistics and so it's a bit foreign. And sometimes, just by virtue of the language, it feels a bit arcane. And so I think it's a bit off-putting for individuals. I think the other thing is that it also does imply, sort of back to the earlier point - it implies a level of accountability that I have found, unfortunately, that in some organizations people are a little bit loathe to take on. And so they've created, sort of, a mental barrier that it's something bad, it's something hard, it is something is that is going to make me look bad. So I think as a result there's oftentimes a view that "this is tough and I'm not going to come out looking good as a result of it". So I think it's something that we've built up in our minds, as opposed to what is really the case which is it is as much of a methodology and a step-by-step as anything else.

Brian Washburn: Yeah, so fear is one of the things that I'm hearing. And also just lack of know-how. Almost like it's one of those things where people say "oh, I know how to talk, so I can train people". It's almost one of those things where people say "oh, I know how to put together an evaluation form so I can measure", right? But there's more to it than that. David, do you have any other thoughts? Is it actually hard or are people just going about it the wrong way?

Is It Hard to Measure Learning or Are People Measuring Learning The Wrong Way?

David Vance: Well, I think most people would answer that they don't have the resource, that they don't have the staff. Peggy and I think that is a little bit of an excuse for many to be using. And the reasons Peggy gave get more to it.

No, I think if you provide people the framework, with better step-by-step guidance, that it is very doable. There are a few aspects, like isolating the impact of training from other factors which may have also led to results. That can be a little trickier. But other than that it's not inherently difficult. So it's just a matter of setting a plan to do it, and getting the support you need to do it. And unfortunately we don't have a lot of leaders role-modeling the use or importance of measures. Well, that holds us back too.

Brian Washburn: And sometimes it can be a question of what our mission, or are we measuring the right things. When you think of - or when I think of - measuring learning experiences, my mind always goes to Kirkpatrick and the famous "four levels of evaluation". Is there more to measuring learning initiatives than the Kirkpatrick model or is that what people should be basing their foundation on?

There Is More to Measuring Learning Initiatives Than Kirkpatrick and Phillips

David Vance: Well, we'd say there is! And we'd say to expand your thinking along those lines. Kirkpatrick is designed to help you measure a particular program. And that's great. And Phillips does the same thing and carries it a step further with ROI. But those are all program-focused. So we incorporate that into our TDRP approach in the book we wrote. But actually there are many other measures out there besides program measures. For instance, measures about your department, how many courses, what's the utilization rate of instructors and rooms, costs for your entire department. So the Kirkpatrick approach focuses just on programs, but there are many other measures and many other reasons to measure. Remember in those four broad measures I talked about a minute ago, only one of them related to program evaluation. That's where Kirkpatrick and Phillips comes in. The other three they don't address! But we need to measure the others as well.

Peggy Parskey: I would add, one of the things I do with clients is that whenever we're looking at a measurement plan, we often-times - even when it's program-related - we use a method called logic-modeling. And in logic-modeling, you're looking at inputs, activities, outputs, short-term impacts, and long-term outcomes. And so the whole range of measures of the things that Dave was talking about the need to play in. So it's not just the effectiveness measures and some of the outcome measures, which are Kirkpatrick and Phillips, but also these efficiency measures that Dave was talking about. And so even for program evaluation, those things need to be part of it and it's really critical people get that holistic view of what they're doing, and not just focus in on those effectiveness measures for these programs.

David Vance: And to Peggy's point, we have about 170 measures in our library for just L&D. Only 20 of those are the effectiveness measures that people generally think of in Kirkpatrick and Phillips. The other 150 are efficiency measures, so there's a lot more to measurement than Kirkpatrick and Phillips.

Brian Washburn: Yeah, which I think is a really great and really important point because I think that anybody who has any sort of exposure to the world of Learning & Development and has been trained in L&D immediately defaults to Kirkpatrick, those four levels. Or maybe 5, if you throw in ROI. And so, there's a lot, and I know that your book also emphasizes the idea of starting small and then growing your measurement. So if somebody's listening right now and thinking "I want to start, but I'm not sure how...and suddenly it goes beyond Kirkpatrick, so now what?" Where can somebody start? How do you start small?

How Do I Start Small With Learning Measurement?

David Vance: Well I'd say 2 places. One, if you do want to measure the success of a program, then start with one good program, hopefully strategically aligned to an important goal in your company - like increasing sales, reducing costs, something like that, where the CEO cares about it. That would be a great place to start. And put a little time into it.

But what we would emphasize is the importance of meeting with the goal-owner upfront, not at the end of your program or project. But set mutual goals for success. Upfront, set roles and responsibilities. Set the values of all of the contributing measures to that, upfront. And then manage that throughout the life of the program so it is successful and delivers the values. Then you're all on the same page throughout the entire program. And measurement isn't an add-on at the end. No, you had to do it to manage it from day one. So it's not seen as a separate thing out there.

And if you'd rather not start with a program, then talk with your CLO and find out what some of the key department measures are going to be for the coming year. "I want to reach 'so many' participants. I want to improve our utilization rate, reduce our cycle time, reduce our cost." Whatever is important to the CLO, you could start with those. But, again, follow the same methodology to get agreement upfront, on what the goal is in specific form, what it's going to take to achieve it, and then manage throughout the year, using a report which shows you that.

Peggy Parskey: I think I would add to it - I agree 100% with everything Dave just said - is that I've seen organizations who say "oh, I can do more. I can do it all." And what I find with those organizations is they get into it, they realize there's more to it than they thought, and then they abandon it because it was "too hard". So I do think it's really important for organizations that are just dipping their toe into this, or just realizing they need to do it differently, not to take on too much. And to really get some successes in very specific areas, such as the ones that Dave just mentioned.

Brian Washburn: I really appreciate you all taking some time to talk about this.

Get To Know David Vance and Peggy Parskey

Brian Washburn: Before we leave, we do have a few of the speed-round questions. Are you ready for being on the hotseat of the speed-round?

David Vance: Ready!

Brian Washburn: (CHUCKLING) Excellent. So, Peggy, what is your go-to pre-presentation food?

Peggy Parskey: This is going to sound super boring but it's usually tea, because if I eat too much before I present, I always regret it.

Brian Washburn: I'm with you. A lot of times people will say coffee, but I like it, you threw a little curveball in there and go with tea. How about you, Dave?

David Vance: Mountain Dew.

Brian Washburn: Mountain Dew (LAUGHING) I love that answer. What's a piece of training tech that you can't live without?

David Vance: Well in our business it would be something like a learning management system or it's equivalent in a company, where you're going to find a lot of the data.

Brian Washburn: Mm-hmm. How about you, Peggy?

Peggy Parskey: Well I took it at a more personal level, so I do a lot of facilitating with groups and in facilitating I couldn't do without my mind-mapping software. And I find it absolutely invaluable for engaging everybody and really getting some really good output from group interaction.

Brian Washburn: Is there a specific mind-mapping tool that you use?

Peggy Parskey: Yeah, I use Mind Jet and I just upgraded to it's latest version and it's fabulous.

Brian Washburn: Nice, nice. I know that listeners are always looking for tools like that so that's really helpful. When you think of a book or a podcast that learning folks should be paying attention to what comes to mind?

Peggy Parskey: I'm going to go to a blast from the past, which is a book that I have been recommending to people for a long time. It's called Understanding Variation by Don Wheeler. And I think it's really important for people to understand this concept of variation within organizations and it should be on everybody's bookshelf.

Brian Washburn: Nice. How about you, Dave?

David Vance: Well, Brian, I would say our book Measurement Demystified. That's what you should read right now. And if that's too self-serving, I just saw that Tamar Elkeles came out with a book 2 days ago called Forward-Focused Learning and it looks really good. So if you've already finished reading our book, then take a look at hers.

Brian Washburn: (CHUCKLING) I like it. And that was going to be my final question. Do you have any shameless plugs? You know, Measurement Demystified, Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics and Reporting Strategy, is out now. You can find it at TD.org or on Amazon. Peggy, do you have any other shameless plugs that might be helpful for people to hear?

Peggy Parskey: Yeah, I mean I think it's really a book that should be accessible to everybody in the L&D field and so it isn't geared towards just beginners or to more senior people so it's got a really wide range. So we'd encourage everybody in the profession to read it and I think they'll walk away with new "ah-ha's" regardless of how long they've been doing this.

Brian Washburn: And I think that's so important. It's a serious topic that's accessible for people. So I think that's a really, really helpful way to end this conversation.

So, Dave, Peggy, thank you so much for joining me and thank you all for listening to this episode of Train Like You Listen. It's a weekly podcast of all things L&D in bite-sized chunks. If you'd like to subscribe you can find us on Spotify, on Apple, on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like what you hear, go ahead and give us a rating, and that's how other people will hear as well. So, until next time, happy training everyone.
This week's podcast is sponsored by Soapbox. Sign up today for a free demo at soapboxify.com.

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Training Measurement Demystified - Endurance Learning

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Happy new year and welcome to 2021!!! How do you measure the success of your training programs? Yeah, that is a pretty complicated question for many learning professionals. However, we all know that it is critical to our programs that we show how and why they are working.

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How To Keep Learning Going After Training - Endurance Learning

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How To Keep Learning Going After Training - Endurance Learning

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It is crucial to identify the information, tools, and support that learners need to apply the training effectively. The trainer should have a clear idea of what the learners should be able to do after the training and should plan the training experience accordingly. By doing so, trainers can ensure that learners have the necessary resources and support to apply the training effectively.

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How To Keep Learning Going After Training - Endurance Learning

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A lot of magic can happen during a training, conference, or webinar, but what happens after the session ends? Keeping the learning going after a session

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Follow Up - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Follow Up - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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The follow-up element involves holding learners accountable for applying the knowledge and skills gained during training. This can be achieved through various methods such as post-training communication, assignments, and transfer support. Examples include completing action plans during sessions to be shared with supervisors, receiving email reminders about key content, and submitting homework assignments before obtaining a certificate of completion. Follow-up ensures that the investment made in professional development is put into action in the real world.

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Follow Up - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Follow up is the practice of ensuring learners have an opportunity to revisit what they have learned through post-training contact. This could include information sent by the trainer, conversations with a supervisor, peer learning groups, or communities of practice.

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Post-Training Review Checklist: Don’t Let Your Trainers Sink - Endurance Learning

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Post-Training Review Checklist: Don’t Let Your Trainers Sink - Endurance Learning

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To speed up learning, learners need immediate feedback and support both before and after training programs. Using the example of a swimmer and coach, the coach would provide feedback on the swimmer's technique, so they can learn and improve quickly. Similarly, learners need feedback and support to apply their new skills or knowledge in a real-world setting. Although trainers may not always be able to observe learners in real-world settings, they can design tools and checklists to help supervisors provide necessary support after training sessions.

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Post-Training Review Checklist: Don’t Let Your Trainers Sink - Endurance Learning

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Sink or swim is a terrible learning strategy... but it’s the approach that too many instructional designers and trainers take by not providing post-session follow-up tools.

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The Baseline, Spaced Practice, and Reward Structure - Endurance Learning

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The Baseline, Spaced Practice, and Reward Structure - Endurance Learning

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Dr. Thalheimer's paper discusses the benefits of spaced practice, which involves distributing practice sessions over time, leading to improved learning outcomes. In Crossfit, regular distributed practice is used to enhance athletic ability by familiarizing athletes with movements and increasing confidence. Each day at Crossfit involves different workouts that encourage athletes to improve incrementally through procedural learning sessions. With a variety of movements and exercises, athletes have ample opportunities to develop skills and strength. The deliberate spacing of practice sessions allows for physical recovery and cognitive rest, leading to rapid improvement. This approach can also be applied in learning and development settings to see quick improvement and create lasting change by engaging in daily or weekly activities that build skills over time.

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The Baseline, Spaced Practice, and Reward Structure - Endurance Learning

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If you talk to anyone who attends Crossfit for more than a few minutes, they will likely try to convince you to join. Despite the incessant need for its

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Designing Milestones - Endurance Learning

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Designing Milestones - Endurance Learning

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Certain training programs utilize spaced learning to acquire all necessary skills for developing a new skill. It is beneficial to periodically evaluate the learner's progress by assessing their knowledge and determining when they are ready to advance to the next level. Regular pre-tests can serve as indicators of progress, enabling educators to place learners in the appropriate learning track each time they enter the classroom. This approach is particularly useful in eLearning or Microlearning environments, where learners can be assessed through pre-tests upon entering the classroom to determine their placement.

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Designing Milestones - Endurance Learning

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It’s graduation season. While kids are tossing caps in the air and determining their next steps, I am reflecting on why and how we celebrate milestones in the

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What Is Spaced Practice (And How To Use It) | Oxford Learning

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What Is Spaced Practice (And How To Use It) | Oxford Learning

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The key to using the spaced learning method is to have short and frequent review sessions throughout the year, as opposed to cramming all the material into a few study sessions. It is recommended to review over an extended period, dividing the material into topics and revisiting them at intervals. Starting with an initial study session, revisiting the material the next day, after 3 days, after 1 week, and after 2 weeks is a typical spaced repetition schedule. It is important to review older material before studying new information, as forgetting and then restudying helps in effective retention. Incorporating old material with new information helps children understand how topics are interconnected. Creating summaries and checklists during study sessions can aid in memory recall and the integration of new information with previously learned material.

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With the amount of new information students learn every day, remembering-and understanding-it all can be tough. Making sure your child develops the most effective study skills is the first step toward success.

One of the most effective study techniques students of every age can use is called spaced practice.

What Is Spaced Practice?

Spaced practice is a study technique where students review material over a long period of time. This gives their minds time to form connections between the ideas and concepts so knowledge can be built upon and easily recalled later.

Understanding The Spaced Practice Method

Before you understand how the spacing study method works, there's another important part of the equation: the forgetting curve.

The forgetting curve is how much knowledge is lost over time when our brains don't put in any effort to remember it. Just learning something once isn't enough. Your child needs to revisit that material and review it over time in order for it to really stick. Unless your child works to review the material he or she has learned, most of that material will be forgotten in a matter of days or weeks.
This is where spaced practice comes in.
How Does Spaced Practice Work?

The purpose of the spaced repetition method is to give your child a chance to (almost) forget before he or she revists the material. It sounds backwards, but it's actually important to forget in order to remember!

When our brains have almost forgotten something, it makes them work harder to recall that information. Spaced learning gives your child's brain a workout each time he or she revisits the material.

In a cram session, all the information is stored in your child's short-term memory (and quickly forgotten). When your child uses spaced learning, the material is able to make its way into his or her long-term memory instead.

That's why spaced learning works. Eventually, your child won't need to work to remember-he or she will be able to recall the information quickly from his or her long-term memory.

The first couple sessions, your child's brain will be working hard to recall the material. As your child revisits the material, it will become easier to remember and build upon.

Planning A Spaced Repetition Schedule

Creating a study schedule for spaced repetition can help your child better remember what he or she has learned. This will prepare him or her to build upon the information being learned so your child has a solid foundation for tests and future learning.

How To Use The Spaced Learning Method:

1. Plan short and frequent review sessions.

Short and frequent study sessions are better than long, infrequent ones. This gives your child a chance to recall what he or she has learned and make new connections, rather than trying to study everything at once. Make these study sessions ongoing throughout the year, not just something happens only when there is an upcoming test.

2. Review over an extended period of time.

Instead of trying to cram all of the material into a study session or two, set aside time each day to review. Divide the material into topics and tackle each over the course of a couple weeks. Alternate between topics, with longer periods of time between each session that focuses on a particular topic.

For example, if your child is starting a new unit in science class, devote a study session to it. Then, go back the next day to review again. After that, wait 3 days and review again. This pattern may look a bit different for each student, but a typical spaced repetition schedule might look like this:

Day 1: Initial study session
Next day: Revisit & Review
After 3 days: Revisit & Review
After 1 week: Revisit & Review
After 2 weeks: Revisit & Review

3. Review older material first.

As your child studies information from the most recent class, make sure to go back and study important older information to keep it fresh. With spaced practice, it's actually good to forget a little. In order to make studying effective, your child needs to study, almost forget, and then restudy. The point is to make the brain work to remember what was studied in the last session. The harder the brain is challenged to recall past material, the better your child will be able to remember it in the future.

4. Incorporate old material with new information.

As your child revisits previous material, he or she will also be learning new material. This is a chance for him or her to understand how old and new topics fit together. While your child is revising and reviewing past material, encourage him or her to think about how it connects to other things he or she is learning.

5. Create summaries and checklists.

During each study session, create brief summaries or lists. Each time your child revisits the material, use these summaries to jog his or her memory. This will make it easier for your child to incorporate new material into old information he or she has learned. It will also help keep him or her on track with the material being studied in each session.

Mastering Study Skills Is All About Practice

As your child gets into the habit of using spaced practice, he or she will be able to build a strong foundation for better performance in class and on tests. And if your child needs some extra help mastering study techniques, our Study Skills tutoring program can help!

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What Is Spaced Practice (And How To Use It) | Oxford Learning

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With the amount of new information students learn every day, remembering-and understanding-it all can be tough. Making sure your child develops the most effective study skills is the first step toward success. One of the most effective study techniques students of every age can use is called spaced practice.

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Learning Boosts - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Learning Boosts - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Learning boosts are a strategy in learning programs where learners receive brief pieces of information, activities, or quiz questions to enhance their retention of a specific topic or subject. This requires the learner to recall the information learned.

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Learning Boosts - What's your formula? by Brian Washburn

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Learning boosts are a learning program strategy in which learners are sent short pieces of information, activities, or quiz questions to boost retention of a particular topic or subject.

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Want to Boost Learner Retention? - Endurance Learning

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Want to Boost Learner Retention? - Endurance Learning

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Kohn emphasized that small follow-up quizzes, known as "learning boosts," have a significant impact on learner retention compared to methods like reviewing notes or highlighting passages. Learning boosts are rooted in neuroscience and research, with Kohn's model involving sending multiple-choice quizzes after two days, short answer quizzes after two weeks, and questionnaires after two months of a learning event. The author encourages readers to test their memory with quizzes and explains that spacing out learning and testing improves retention.

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Want to Boost Learner Retention? - Endurance Learning

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At DevLearn 2014, I attended a workshop entitled "Building Online Training to Promote Learning Transfer and Behavior Change," presented by Art Kohn. It

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12 Types of Classroom Activities for Adult leaners and Examples

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12 Types of Classroom Activities for Adult leaners and Examples

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Buzz groups are small discussions involving pairs or groups of three people where participants engage in conversation generating a buzzing noise in the class. They are prompted with a question or task, such as solving a problem or discussing opinions, with the goal of promoting engagement and active participation. The discussions should be brief, typically lasting up to 5 minutes, and participants are encouraged to share their findings with the rest of the class afterward.

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Symonds Research Training Course Materials

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Page Updated on July 17, 2023

Activities you can run during your training sessions should NOT be restricted just to the classic team-building games and icebreakers! There are 12 other types of classroom activities for adults that you can also use and these activities each have a different purpose and benefit.

So let's take a look below at the types of classroom activities you can use and let's look at some examples.

What Kind of Activities Can You Run to Engage your Learners?

The best way to engage learners and help them remember and understand information is to make sure that they actively participate.

So, you do not want to talk at them all the time but you want them to actively contribute in some way.

To do so, there are many types of classroom activities you can use in your classes or training workshops that are perfect for adult learning.

The trick is using the activities that are most suited to the learning objective you are trying to achieve and using a variety of activities, in order to engage as many learning styles as possible. So what are these 12 activity types?

1. Quizzes

Quizzes are a fun way to engage learners and there are many types of quizzes you can devise, such as multiple-choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank quizzes.

You can ask participants to do quizzes on their own, or you can ask them to work in groups and even set a quiz up as a competition, whereby the group that gets the most questions right wins.

When designing a quiz, it is important to keep it simple. A quiz should lighten the mood, rather than feel like a test.

When to use quizzes: Quizzes are useful when you want your learners to revise a topic and also when you want to check their understanding.

2. Buzz Groups

Buzz groups are short discussions that are done in pairs or groups of three people at the most. They are called buzz groups because, as participants start talking, they will generate a buzzing noise in the class with their chat.

Ask your participants a question; ask them to solve a problem or to agree on a definition.

Other good types of questions for buzz groups include asking participants to find similarities and differences between concepts; discussing pros and cons or discussing the participants' opinions on something.

The question needs to be simple and to the point. Write the question somewhere where the participants can easily see it, such as on a board, a PowerPoint ppt slid e, or a handout.

Buzz groups are best when they are kept short, so give your participants up to 5 minutes and try to limit it to that timeframe.

At the end, ask each pair to report their answers to the rest of the class and then you summarize them.

When to use Buzz groups: Buzz groups are useful to engage participants who are shy and are not comfortable working with big groups. They are also good for participants to start reflecting on a topic.

3. Snowballing

This is a follow-up from buzz groups and it consists in combining small groups into bigger groups.

So, for example, after a buzz group, ask pairs to combine into groups of four and do a follow-up activity from the discussion they had in the buzz group. You can then ask the groups of four to combine into a group of eight for another subsequent activity.

When to Use Snowballing: Snowballing works best when the activities are connected and expand on each other. You can use snowballing when you want to guide your participants into developing a project, for example.

4. Brainstorming

Brainstorming consists in encouraging participants to come up with ideas to solve a problem or answer a question.

Brainstorming is done quickly as participants are encouraged to say whatever first comes to their minds. The aim here is not quality but quantity. The ideas will be analyzed and discussed later.

During brainstorming, ideas are not judged and the flow of new ideas is instead preferred. All ideas are welcome.

You can run a brainstorming session with the whole class at once, as you write down the answers, or in groups, so each group writes down their answers and then they present them to the rest of the class so the ideas can be combined or improved.

At the end, the most useful ideas are chosen.

When to use brainstorming: Brainstorming is very useful for problem-solving. Also, you can use a quick brainstorming session to introduce a new topic, so that participants come up with their own solution first before you explain the topic to them.

5. Discussions and Group Learning

When introducing a discussion, make sure that the topic meets one of the learning objectives of the course.

In order to be useful, a discussion needs to be structured and very focused.

You start a discussion with one question, and then you can have a series of follow-up questions if it is useful to delve deeper into a topic, whilst maintaining focus. For instance, as you facilitate the discussion, you can ask probing questions, such as 'Can you say a little bit more about that?'

The question needs to be clear and concise and always use open questions. A closed question only requires a yes or no answer and does not lead to any interesting discussions.

For example, if you ask 'Is team-work important?' participants may just answer yes or no and that is the end of the discussion. If, instead, you ask, 'Why is teamwork important?' they will elaborate.
Dr Valeria Lo iacono

Also, good questions are personal and/or controversial. A personal question requires the participants to express their personal opinion or to tell something that they experienced.

If you are looking for an in-depth discussion, ask participants to work in small groups as smaller groups encourage everyone to participate.

At the end of the activity, ask each group to summarize their discussion to the rest of the class (they can nominate one person to present) and then reflect with the whole class to summarize everything that all the groups have discussed.

When to use discussions: Discussions are useful when you want participants to reflect on something in-depth and for topics that involve attitudes and awareness, rather than factual information.

6. Debates

Whereas a discussion encourages participants to cooperate and to explore a topic, debates are competitive. Groups or individuals are pitched against one another to put their argument forward.

There are many ways for you to organize a debate but, just like a discussion, a debate needs to be well structured. Unless participants are already well informed about the arguments on a specific topic, give them a scenario or a case study to debate.

You can ask participants to debate in pairs or in groups. After a pair or two groups of participants debate, the other participants listen and make a decision at the end as to which argument was stronger.

Another way to run a debate is to ask each person or group at the opposite sides of the debate to switch sides at the end of the debate.

When to use debates: A debate is useful when you want learners to understand alternative viewpoints.

7. Presentations

Presentations consist in dividing participants into small groups and asking them to design a short presentation together and deliver it in front of the class.

The presentation can be produced as a result of research, or simply as a result of a short group discussion.

The difference between asking participants to just share their discussion with the rest of the class and doing a presentation is that the latter is more formal.

For a presentation, participants come to the front of the room and each person in the group takes turns delivering a part of the presentation.

Depending on the resources and time available, they can use visuals such as PowerPoint slides or a sheet of A1 paper or simply speak in front of the rest of the class.

When to use presentations: They are very useful, of course, if you are teaching presentation skills, as a way for participants to practice. They are also good for teaching other topics though, as another way to involve students actively.

To do a presentation, participants really need to focus on the topic; they need to work well together and it is a good way for them to take ownership of their learning.

8. Role-play

With role-play, you give your participants a scenario and they act it out with each participant playing a different role.

Commonly, you run role-plays in groups of three, where two participants play a role each and one participant acts as an observer (if the class is not divisible by three, there can be two observers). You can run the role-play more than once for the same group so that participants can rotate roles.

When to use role-play: Role-play is very useful for any type of training that involves interpersonal skills. For example, it is good for teaching how to give feedback, how to handle conflict, and communication skills.

Alternatively, you can have just one performance, with one group of participants acting out the roles, while the rest of the class observes.

9. Training Games for Learners

There are many games that you can do for your training sessions, too many to list here. We have listed some games in our '25 Corporate Training Activities' eBook, which you can refer to.

Games are usually fun activities that can involve the use of props; they can be competitive or at least present a challenge, and are usually done in groups. Some games can be done sitting down and others standing up or moving around.

When to use games for Classroom Training: You can use games at the start of a training session to allow participants to become familiar with each other (the so-called ice-breakers), or during the session when you want to re-energize your participants.

There are a couple of things you need to be aware of though when it comes to using games for training.

Firstly, every game must be connected to a learning objective. Asking participants to do random games that have no connection with the topic can be counterproductive (as participants will wonder what the point is) and a waste of time.

Secondly, make sure you use games that all your participants are comfortable with, based on variables such as their age, gender, culture of belonging, and job role.

10. Problem-solving Activities for Learners

Problem-solving consists in giving participants a problem to solve such as a scenario that poses a problem, a practical task to solve, a puzzle or an enigma.

When to use problem-solving: Problem-solving is useful when you want to encourage creativity; for practical topics that require hands-on involvement or for scientific subjects.

11. Case Studies in Lesson Plans

Case studies consist in practical scenarios, which reflect a real-life situation involving people (they do not have to be situations that really happened but they need to be believable and realistic).

Rather than being an activity in itself, a case study is something that can be used as material for another activity.

When to use case studies: Case studies are useful for presenting participants with scenarios that can be used for discussions, debates, problem-solving, or role-play.

The beauty of case studies is that they give participants real-life examples, which are relatable and bring a topic to life, making it relevant.

12. Asking Questions

Asking questions is not an activity as such, but it is a very important tool for a trainer to engage participants.

Instead of explaining an idea straight away to your participants, lead them to that idea by asking questions. It does not matter if they give wrong answers as you will guide them and explain the concept later.

The important thing is that the emphasis is on understanding rather than simply knowing something.

So, for example, if you are teaching presentation skills, instead of just explaining straight away what the main qualities of a good presentation are, ask your participants 'What do you think the three best qualities of a good presenter are?'.

You can also ask a series of questions to delve deeper into a topic.

You can also ask your participants questions after you have covered a topic, as a way of checking if they understood.

When to use questions: Every time you are introducing a new topic and whenever you want to reinforce the participants' learning or test their understanding.

Bonus Idea: Using Visuals

You can use visuals as a starting point for another activity. For example, you can use pictures or videos to start a conversation. Likewise, you can ask participants to produce visuals as an activity.

For instance, you can ask them to draw a picture to express a concept, to draw a diagram, or to take a photo (depending on the situation).

Another type of visual you can ask participants to draw is a mind map. Mind maps are a useful way to separate a topic into sub-topics or to look at the same topic from different points of view.

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12 Types of Classroom Activities for Adult leaners and Examples

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Free classroom activities you can use as a teacher or freelance trainer for teaching and training adults. Examples to engage learners.