Here's a closer look at the features of self-paced, technology-based training that adults say are useful and the relationship between those course features and the learning strategies adults consistently use.

The two previous articles in this series, discuss how adults describe their learning process when taking self-paced, technology-based training. The first article presented a model, which indicated adult learning begins with and is sustained by metacognition, which is a learning strategy that consists of self-assessment and self-correction. The model also indicates that reflection, prior experiences, conversations, and authentic experiences are other learning strategies adults frequently use. The second article describes the specific learning strategies adults use when they apply metacognition, reflection, prior experiences, conversations, and authentic experiences. For example, adults use conversations in the following ways to help them learn the content of self-paced, technology-based training:

  • to ask or answer questions about the course content
  • to discuss problems the course content helped them solve
  • to teach a colleague or subordinate something they learned in the course.

Now it's time to take a look at the relationship between instructional strategies (or course features) that instructional designers use and the five learning strategies that adults use.

Useful features

Most adults find generative learning strategies useful. Generative learning strategies are activities that help learners construct their own knowledge. They can be part of the instruction, such as questions or examples. They also can be strategies learners initiate, for example, note taking or making connections between different parts of the new information.

The generative learning strategies that learners find most useful in self-paced-technology based training are

  • questions or self-checks
  • examples
  • simulations
  • diagrams and screen shots
  • sections and tables of contents.

This is pretty old news, though. Workplace learning professionals already know that questions, examples, simulations, diagrams, screen shot graphics, and sections and tables of contents are effective instructional strategies. Indeed, a multitude of articles and books describe their importance and techniques for creating them.

What it is interesting, and worth discussing, is how these course features relate to the learning strategies adults consistently use. In other words, What is the relationship between useful instructional strategies and the five learning strategies that adults frequently use (metacognition, reflection, prior experiences, conversations, and authentic experiences)?

Table 1 indicates how course features that are types of generative learning strategies relate to the five commonly used learning strategies. It also provides a brief description of how learners employ a specific learning strategy using a specific course feature.

Table 1: Useful Course Features and Learning Strategies Consistently Used By Adults

Useful course feature (instructional strategy) Learning strategy or strategies the course feature supports Discussion
Questions Facilitate metacognition Self-check and practice questions help learners assess their understanding and correct misconceptions and errors. Learners consistently say that periodic self-checks improve self-paced, technology-based training. A critical element of effective questions is to provide learners with all the answers that are acceptable or "correct" on the job.
Examples Facilitate authentic experiences (practice), metacognition, comparisons with prior experience, and reflection Like questions, learners have a voracious appetite for examples. Examples help learners understand how they can use their new skills on the job. Examples allow learners to vicariously practice and assess their new skills. Examples also help students make connections between their prior experiences and the new information. These connections are critical, as they help learners understand the big picture or the context within which they will use their new skills (reflection).
Simulations Facilitate authentic experiences (practice), metacognition, and reflection Obviously, simulations facilitate practice and enable learners to engage in authentic experiences. Simulations also help learners visualize how they can use what they learned to solve a problem or improve something (reflection). Simulations help learners self assess and self correct (metacognition) and they help learners understand the "big picture" of the new information (reflection). Simulations also provide interactivity which learners often find very useful, as well as enjoyable.
Diagrams and screen shots Facilitate reflection ("big picture") and authentic experiences. Diagrams help learners see the big picture, i.e., the system, within which they will use the new information they are learning. Diagrams that learners will use on the job and that are explained in the instruction enable students to practice using the diagrams. Diagrams also help learners dual process new information, i.e., diagrams provide information that complements the text. Screen shots help learners practice using those screens or menus and more importantly to practice using the procedure for which the screen shots are the tools.
Section headings and tables of contents Facilitate reflection ("big picture") and metacognition Section headings and tables of contents are more than navigational or organizational tools. Learners often use these course features to understand the big picture and the relationship between the various components and subcomponents. Section headings and tables of contents are therefore often used as advance organizers. Learners also use section headings as part of their metacognition, i.e., at the end of each section, learners often take a break to reflect on what they have learned, how they might use that information, and the degree to which they have understood or mastered the new information.

Three additional course features that aren't generative learning strategies but adults find helpful are

  • being able to use the course as a job aid
  • good navigation
  • audio that can be turned off.

Being able to use the course as a job aid is an important course feature because it facilitates metacognition and authentic experiences. Adult learners continue to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of their new skills once they complete a course. When they're uncertain or confused about their new skills, they often return to the course to refresh their skills. Courses that are designed to also serve as job aids, such as courses with good navigation or those that learners can easily print, support self-assessment and self-correction on the job.

Good navigation also is important because learners typically like to focus solely on what they need to learn. In doing so, they may want to move around in the course rather than take a linear approach to the instruction. Good navigation often isn't noticed by learners but cumbersome, inadequate, or ineffective navigation is so debilitating that it can completely shut down the learning process.

Finally, audio can be an asset and learners often enjoy it, but they're quick to criticize audio if they don't have the option of turning it off. Typically, adult learners can read the text quicker than their PC can play the audio file. Even though it's sometimes effective to have learners watch a procedure or process while listening to a companion audio explanation, many adult learners prefer reading the text and become impatient with instruction that doesn't offer text-only versions.

Ineffective features

Two common features that adult learners consistently find ineffective are clip art and descriptions of software features. Clip art typically looks cheap and takes up valuable screen space that might better be left blank. Blank space, which is sometimes referred to as white space or negative space, can be beneficial because it gives a sense of openness, which in turn implies that the content is accessible and easy to read. Blank space also can help learners identify important information because it makes it easy for them to identify and separate specific groups of instructional information.

Descriptions of software features is useless information unless there are a lot of examples or simulations that demonstrate how to use the feature. Simply being made aware of a feature, without knowing how to use it, is worthless to most learners. Learners frequently indicate that without examples or simulations of a software tool, they''re left asking, "So, why would I ever do this?" or "Why would I want to do it?"

End result

Adults teach themselves how to use the following learning strategies: metacognition, reflection, prior experiences, conversations, and authentic experiences. Instructional designers can support and enhance the effectiveness of these five learning strategies by using appropriate instructional strategies. Accordingly, it's important for designers to know the relationship between instructional strategies and learning strategies. They need to know not only how to apply various effective instructional strategies but also why those strategies are effective. For example,

  • questions facilitate metacognition
  • examples facilitate authentic experiences (practice), metacognition, comparisons with prior experience, and reflection
  • simulations facilitate authentic experiences, metacognition, and reflection
  • diagrams and screen shots facilitate reflection ("big picture") and authentic experiences
  • section headings and tables of contents facilitate reflection and metacognition.

Final recommendations

Effective training includes the following instructional strategies:

  • frequent opportunities for learners to self-assess and self-correct
  • table of contents, searchable index, site or content map, section summaries, headings, search capabilities, and a glossary so learners can use the course both as a training intervention and as a job aid, reference, or EPSS
  • print features so learners can make paper copies of some or all of the course
  • numerous and relevant examples
  • reflection questions to help learners create personal relevancy
  • definitions of all acronyms and technical terminology
  • an advance organizer that addresses both the big picture of the content and the structure of the course
  • support for the preferred learning strategies typically used by the target audience
  • clearly defined course goals or objectives in both the course description and at the beginning of the course
  • rhetorical questions that ask learners to think about the implications or consequences of the course content and examples of how they might use the content on the job
  • different approaches to a process or different opinions about a topic
  • visual aids that show how the various pieces of content fit together to create a whole; use this visual as part of section and course summaries, a printable job aid, and practice exercises
  • recommendations to learners that they discuss the course content with anyone who will listen to them. It's particularly important for learners to discuss the course with their supervisors both before and after they take a self-paced, technology-based course.

Two additional recommendations:

  1. It's sometimes effective to provide historical information about the course content with timelines showing other relevant historical events.
  2. As part of the analysis task, be sure to identify the range and type of prior experiences the target audience brings to the training and then use this information to develop examples, analogies, practice questions, and definitions that are relevant to the learners.