Have you ever struggled with having learners remember and apply what they learned in training? There are of course a wide array of possible reasons for training not “sticking”, including learner motivation, quality of delivery, learner readiness, or that perhaps training wasn’t the right solution to the problem. Another possibility is that the instructional design is at fault.
This article briefly describes a model that can help you design training that is built to facilitate retention and transfer.
Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction
Robert Gagne was an educational psychologist who made many significant contributions to the world of instructional technology; one of the most pragmatic ones is his “Nine Events.” I call it “pragmatic” because whether you have a degree in instructional design or got talked into training because you know a lot about a certain topic, you can easily understand and apply the Events to create effective training:
- Gain attention – Just as I discussed in my post on the ARCS Model, you can’t teach them if you don’t have their attention. Get them interested in you and what you have to say.
- Inform learners of objectives – Tell them what you’re going to tell them. A classic mistake trainers make is to think that because they tell learners something once, they’ll remember it. By sharing objectives, you are facilitating retention of what comes later.
- Stimulate recall of prior learning – Another mistake trainers make is to jump right into a topic. This can be analogous to doing a sprint without first warming up. Help learners use the “muscles” they’re going to be using by connecting what they already know with what they don’t know. This is also known as creating “semantic scaffolding” – building new knowledge based on existing knowledge.
- Present content – Now they’re primed for what you have to share, so go ahead and share it. Just remember that this doesn’t mean you get to do the “data dump.” Engage different learning modalities by telling, showing, and using hands-on as appropriate.
- Provide “learning guidance” – This is where you help learners “encode” (remember and attach meaning to) what you’ve shared. This means doing things like providing examples and non-examples, analogies, anecdotes, illustrations, diagrams, and so on.
- Elicit performance – This is training, right? So make sure they’re doing something. Have them practice what they’re learning, whether it’s filling out a form, doing a behavioral interview, or closing the sale. It all comes down to performance.
- Provide feedback – An early mentor of mine used to be found of saying that “Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent.” She would elaborate that “Perfect practice makes perfect.” And the way you get perfect practice is by providing feedback. Remember that with feedback, telling them what they’re doing right is as important as what they’re doing wrong.
- Assess performance – If you want to make sure they’re learning, then test them. Testing can be formal (written/performance) or more informal (verbally quiz them). Just bear in mind that the more rigorous the assessment, the better they will retain.
- Enhance retention & transfer – As you wrap up, you can employ simple strategies like, “Tell them what you told them,” i.e. summarize; and/or you can have them do things like describe how they will apply this back on the job, write letters to themselves that you pop in the mail a month later, or fill out “performance contracts” that get signed by their supervisors.
In Action
As part of a self-paced course on performing various customer service procedures, I developed a module that taught the process for helping a customer return an item. Here is a quick look at what the module looks like from a “Nine Events” perspective:
- Gain attention – The module started by asking rhetorically if the learner has had to help a customer return an item before. Did they know what to do? Were there any problems? Did the process go as well as it could have?
- Inform learners of objectives – The objectives displayed. Nothing fancy required in terms of design.
- Stimulate recall of prior learning – The learner was asked if they had been on the other side of the desk – if they had ever returned an item. How were they feeling? What did they want from the interaction? How did it go? Why?
- Present content – The module taught the process from both customer service (“Say this…ask that…”) and technological (“Click here…type this…) standpoints.
- Provide “learning guidance” – A screen displayed with tips that included a downloadable job aid with the technological steps.
- Elicit performance – A scenario unfolded where the learner was forced to make choices as a virtual customer returned an item.
- Provide feedback – At each choice, the learner received feedback about the consequences and efficacy of the choice.
- Assess performance – A similar scenario unfolded, but this time responses were scored. We elected to also provide feedback similar to the practice activity. The assessment could be retaken immediately until the learner passed.
- Enhance retention & transfer – A summary screen displayed with the key points and another link to the job aid.
Your Turn
If you would like to apply the Nine Events of Instruction to a current or planned course, try my Nine Events of Instruction Planning Guide for your analysis/design.
Now What?
There really is a plethora of information out there about this model, because it is just that useful. I have been a fan of Don Clark’s site for many years, and he has a nice synopsis of the Nine Events.
Please contact me if you would like to discuss the ideas in this article, or how I can help your organization’s training CLIQ.
This post is one in a series that highlights different instructional and performance technology theories — concisely explaining them in a way that can help you put them to work immediately or just enhance your credibility when speaking with colleagues or clients.