Designing Learning Experiences That Stick, with Megan Sumeracki

Re-thinking The Human Factor with Bruce Hallas

DESIGNING LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT STICK, WITH MEGAN SUMERACKI

Megan Sumeracki joins us for Series 3, Episode 5 of the Re-Thinking the Human Factor Podcast.

Megan Sumeracki is an Assistant Professor at Rhode Island College. She co-founded the Learning Scientists in January 2016 with Yana Weinstein. Megan received her Master’s in Experimental Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis and her PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Purdue University. Her area of expertise is in human learning and memory, and applying the science of learning in educational contexts.

WHAT'S THIS EPISODE ABOUT?

As cyber security practitioners, we often ask ourselves the question of how we get people to remember to do the things we tell them to do. How do we get them to retain what we teach them in our trainings?

Well, you’re in luck. This conversation is full of treasures to do with how our brains work when learning and strategies (based on scientific evidence) that can help you create training situations where the information will be more likely to stick.

Side Note -- We touch a lot on something called Retrieval Practice. Retrieval practice is simply a strategy in which bringing information to mind enhances and boosts learning. It’s about deliberately pulling what we’ve learned back out of our heads to examine it.

Megan addresses empirical questions such as: What retrieval practice formats promote student learning? What retrieval practice activities work well for different types of learners? And, why does retrieval increase learning?

AS YOU LISTEN TO THE EPISODE, IF YOU FIND YOURSELF WANTING TO IMPLEMENT SOME OF THE INSIGHTS YOU’RE GAINING BUT YOU FEEL YOU NEED A LITTLE HELP, PLEASE DO GET IN TOUCH WITH ME AT: [e-mail]

BELOW IS A MORE DETAILED OUTLINE OF WHAT MEGAN AND I DISCUSSED:

• Understanding how we learn information and how we apply and remember it.
• The goal of education is to teach students how to learn and retain information so they can use it in the future.
  • The key words: Learn, memory, retain, apply.
  • Even though a student needs to pass exams and get grades, it is more useful to retain information and are able to apply it in the future.
  • Standardised testing could be improved as education needs to create a new behaviour rather then just stored information.
  • Creating tests that mimic the real world can help people retain and then use new information.

• Data driven approach.
• • Just because we enjoy certain methods of learning does it mean it will help me retain any new information?
  • Challenging the way we learn can push us towards more durable learning processes.
  • Instinct and intuition do not answer the question of education necessarily.
  • Building effective strategies.

• Why cramming does not relate to long term memory of a topic.
• Understand what it is that helps people learn and retain information over a longer period of time.
• Retrieval practice bringing things to mind, spacing practice, spreading learning over a period of time.
• It is difficult to predict an individual way of learning rather then a larger group on average.

• Confirmation bias can muddy research waters.
  • Expecting to see something can create patterns.
  • Finding ways to remove bias such as breaking a theory down to disprove it.
  • Results free of bias lead to stronger data.

• Spacing and retrieval.
  • Spacing and retrieval have been around since the 1800s and used repeatedly.
  • How the true value of all knowledge and understanding is application.
  • The art of communication.
  • Student driven research into learning through accessibility.

• What other misunderstandings do people have around learning?
  • Designing with the human in mind.
  • The cognitive process.
  • Getting the information in is only one step, you have to be able to get the information back out and apply it.
  • Retrieval cues and how they help.

• The importance of finding ways to bring back to mind recently learned information to help it stick.

• Bridging the gap from study to new awareness and understanding.
• Situational awareness building can help develop new behaviours.
• Encoding information does not necessarily lead to retrieval.
• Storytelling as a way to help retrieve new information. Holding interest to hold attention.

• Does interest really govern retention?
• • If a person likes engaging they will likely engage more with a topic or action.
  • Attention span can often be affected by external influence like eating breakfast and rest.
  • Bite sized learning spread out over a longer period can aid retention.
  • Sometimes ’seductive details’ can be distracting even if entertaining.

RESOURCES AND TOPICS FOR FURTHER STUDY

• Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide
• Elizabeth Loftus
• More on Retrieval Practice

FIND MEGAN SUMERACKI ONLINE:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Learning Scientists Website

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Thanks for listening and sharing.

Bruce & The Re-thinking the Human Factor Podcast Team