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Organizations invest a significant amount of money in employee training every year to improve job performance. However, providing training alone is not enough. It is crucial to ensure that learners can effectively process and retain the information presented to them. Many factors contribute to a learner’s ability to process and retain information, including the spacing and sequencing of the content. Instructional designers can use spacing and sequencing to optimize learning outcomes and maximize the impact on job performance.
Spacing refers to how blocks of instruction are organized. If a course is not properly spaced, learners can experience cognitive overload, which can overwhelm their memory capacity. This is known as Cognitive Load Theory, proposed by John Sweller, which emphasizes the importance of managing the amount of information presented to learners at any given time.
Here are four strategies for effectively spacing content in the design of your courses:
Diversify Content Delivery
It is essential to introduce terminology and knowledge-based information during a course, but it is critical to space it out between blocks of instruction. Use memory triggers such as mnemonics, games, and puzzles to make learning these concepts fun and engaging and to avoid cognitive strain.
As an example, a mnemonic device used to help learners remember the names of the notes on the lines of the treble clef staff in music notation is “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge.” The first letter of each word corresponds to a note, making it easier for beginners to memorize the sequence (E, G, B, D, F) and associate it with the correct notes and lines on the musical staff.
Tailor Content to the Lower 25% of Experience
The lower 25% of learners are typically those with less than two years of job experience. If content is not targeted to their level, they may not be able to grasp the concepts. Targeting information to their level of understanding ensures optimal retention.
When you are unsure if your content is targeted to this group, validate it with someone who has that level of experience. This step will help prevent learners from feeling overwhelmed by the content. Include standards and conditions within the step-by-step procedure to help target the information to the novices. For example, if you’re documenting how to plant a lawn, you would document the names of the tools used and specific standards for soil preparation.
Simplify Delivery Formats
Learners often shut down when there is too much content on a page or when it is presented in paragraph format. Use concise language and consistent formatting with bulleted lists or visual diagrams to deliver the content. By simplifying the delivery format, learners can grasp the key points more easily and retain the information more effectively. Spread the technical and complex information out and tie in relevant activities to make retention easier.
Distribute Learning Over Time
Break content into smaller, manageable chunks spread out over time to prevent information overload and facilitate better retention. This could mean over several weeks or intervals between different learning modules. For example, instead of cramming all their language study into one day for an upcoming trip, the learner would schedule shorter study sessions spread out over several weeks, like 30 minutes every day or 1 hour three times a week.
While spacing lays the groundwork, sequencing dictates the flow and structure of course content. This structure impacts the overall learning experience. Effective sequencing aligns the objectives and ensures learners can sort the information in a way that helps them retain and retrieve it when they need it.
While there are many ways to sequence information, here are four guidelines to follow for the effective sequencing of your courses:
Follow Real-World Sequences
Align course sequencing with the typical flow of tasks performed on the job, making training as realistic as possible. For example, in our design workshop, we teach the 12 phases of instructional design (the long way) and then the learners get the “shortcuts” at the end of the training. These “shortcuts” wouldn’t be meaningful without the full instruction.
Build on Prior Knowledge
Start with what learners already know and progressively introduce more complex concepts to build confidence and encourage participation. Group practice followed by individual practice exercises is one way to build on prior knowledge and support learners’ retention and application. For example, consider when students need to learn the concept of multiplication. First, you’d review the basic concept of addition. Then, you’d introduce the concept of multiplication as repeated addition.
Increase Difficulty Gradually
Slowly increase the complexity of tasks or concepts as learners move through the course. This helps prevent cognitive overload while challenging learners to apply their knowledge and skills in increasingly complex scenarios. To continue with the multiplication example, once the learner grasps the concept of multiplication, introduce larger numbers and more complex problems.
Prioritize Tasks
Start with tasks that require extensive practice and provide learners with many opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills in relevant scenarios. When you provide immediate feedback on performance, this will reinforce learning and enhance retention.
In our delivery-focused workshops, we give learners many opportunities to present content using their new delivery framework. This repetitive practice helps them prepare for the “BIG” practice at the end rather than simply giving them that final practice opportunity.
By incorporating both spacing and sequencing into your course design, you can create learning experiences that facilitate optimal retention and transfer of knowledge and skills to the workplace. Ultimately, this approach maximizes the impact on job performance, making training investments more effective and worthwhile.
This topic is covered in depth in our Instructional Design for New Designers workshop. Be sure to check it out!
What experience can you share about the use of spacing and sequencing in your training? I’d love to hear from you!
This article was first published April 16, 2018.