One might argue that learning transfer of relevant material is perhaps a good gauge of job security for any trainer. While you can’t make your trainees learn, you are the one responsible for crafting an environment in which content is most easily absorbed.
Just because you’ve said it doesn’t mean your “learners” learned it. One validated teaching philosophy shows that content must be revisited at least six times for the information to be moved from short term into long term memory. Of course this is critical if you want your learners to actually transfer what they learned back to the job!
Another classroom technique that can increase retention significantly is the use of interactive learning activities. When I was a child, I learned much more through “games” and playing with the “soft/hard” or “coarse/fuzzy” toys than from any lecture. So I’m not sure why so many trainers continue to lecture at their learners who are busy checking Facebook and texting. ILAs get learners working together to solve problems, create solutions and brainstorm resources. The group itself becomes a great resource after training is over. Some ILAs can be found here.
If you would like information on how to incorporate these and 15 other techniques into your training to increase understanding, retention and application of your training material, check out our one-day Capture the Content workshop.
