Learning Facts and Foundational Knowledge with Stories

Synthesis:
Facts – whether foundational or advance – can be related to real-life occurrences to engage learners and help them find context while gaining required knowledge.
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Does story-based learning only apply to experienced learners?

What is common among these photos?  

I am teaching a course on interactive elearning design at the University of California, Irvine and a nagging question has surfaced. Is story-based learning only applicable to audiences who have experience on a given subject or does it also work  in teaching foundational and factual knowledge?

For our conversation here, we define factual or foundational knowledge as scientific formulas and technical processes and procedures.  We also define story-based learning as a design method using narrative and interactive stories rooted in real-life events. Click here.

In preparing for a response to the class, what comes to my mind quickly are the works of Richard Feynman – Nobel Laureate, B. Audoly and S. Neukirch – Breaking Spaghetti and teaching kids measurement units.  

What can we learn from these examples and how can we apply them to the elearning design?

How bent spaghetti breaks

In this experiment, the use of spaghetti aids the scientists to link a common day to day experience- breaking spaghetti- to the explanation of the dynamics of elastic rods.

The scientists use spaghetti all throughout the presentation and makes it as a reference point. Readers and students understand the scientific facts better because they are presented with a commonly understood representation – spaghetti.
Please see more.

Feynman Lectures – Boat Time

Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics, used real-life examples to state his problems. In this case, he used the boat’s travel time to compare two methods. Access the link, click on “Exercises” and select “Boat Time.” You may also see other examples here -

http://www.feynmanlectures.info/ .

The Little Inch Worm – Teaching Units of Measurements

From the website of Shorecrest Preparatory School, I found this interesting illustration. “While learning about the letter Ii and units of measurement, the Junior Kindergartners read "Inch by Inch" by Leo Lionni. The story is about a little inchworm that must measure different things. When threatened that he'll be eaten if he doesn't measure Nightingale's song, he uses his imagination to get himself out of a tough situation. As an extension, the children used one-inch square paper number tiles to create an inchworm. They had to find the correct numbers and glue them in order to create their useful friend.” See more.

Making facts and new knowledge familiar – challenge and solution

The above examples illustrate how factual knowledge, whether foundational (kids on measurement) or advance formulas (Feynman’s “ Boat Time” and B. Audoly/S. Neukirch’s “Spaghetti Break”) are best learned by using familiar real-life-events or stories. Selecting these stories can be approached in this manner:

1.   Understanding how stories aid our natural instincts to face challenges and find solutions

The narrative elements of stories become a form of goal-seeking device, relative to presenting  a challenge to the learner. The interactive elements of stories, on the other hand, aid in the quest for resolutions. In this pursuit for answers lie the opportunities for interaction by the learner. Natural instincts compel learners to be in Constant Readiness mode for learning.
 
The examples above show some form of a challenge and a quest for a solution. This is at the very core of the design that engages learners. Feynman always used problems and solutions to engage learners.

2.   Transforming the fact into a common or familiar real-life experience

Boats, spaghetti and worms are common or real-life occurrences. The purpose of selecting a real-life episode is to help the learner visualize and simplify the theory and fact in their minds, as it “happens in real life.”

The easiest way to achieve this is to think that all theories, facts and foundational knowledge do exist in real-life situations; that theory and fact explain real-life phenomenon.

 

I recall a quote from a scientist

“I observe nature and then I construct a theory.”

This is similar to the very familiar illustration of “Newton’s apple” on gravity.

eLearning designers can ask the question, “Facts are based on reality. Therefore, what is the reality behind the facts?” This is a good place to start connecting the real-life experiences and facts.

The “dynamics of elastic rods” do happen in spaghetti. But why use spaghetti and not rods? Well, spaghetti is obviously more familiar to many of us – it’s fun, it’s food – hmmmm.  Rods, who cares?

3.   Supplementing lack of experience with imaginary stories

In the example above on “The Little Inch Worm – Teaching Units of Measurements”, children had no prior experience of measurements. By creating or connecting a parallel story, which is anecdotal or mythical and adding the challenge and resolution (children used one-inch square paper number tiles to create an inchworm), the children learned the concepts of inches and measurements.  However, they learned the real-life meaning first and then the factual concept of inches and measurements.

In eLearning for adult situations, this is accomplished by case stories and fables.

Why worms? Why not caterpillars? Worms evoke the image of the dark side of things, the fear in us. 

Summary

Everyone has some experience of the real-life meaning of facts. Facts are rooted in real-life events and therefore are observable or relatable. Stories present challenges and need for solutions, which is a natural learning instinct. In the absence of experience, the creation of  imaginary stories allows learners to visualize facts.

Related Posts:

Engaging Technical eLearning – Tips on Design and Delivery

Making Facts Stick With Stories - Jiggling Atoms

How to instantly grab e-learners attention!

Ray Jimenez, PhD
http://VignettesLearning.com

See more eLearning stories: Story Impacts eLearning System

http://try.storyimpacts.com

Creating Learning Peaks with Scenarios

Synthesis:
Creating thought-provoking scenarios stretch the learner’s imagination and help them journey through varied emotions until they reach their learning peaks.
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When and how are learning peaks achieved?

When ideas become actual experiences for learners then it triggers a recall of a previous experience.  This, in turn, creates a connection to a new experience.

Learning also peaks when it spurs the learner to action beyond the process of thinking.  Imagine what usually happens when wood drops to the floor after it has been sawed off.  What happens when trees tumble to the ground after it loses the battle with wild, howling winds?

Learning is also achieved when learners begin to have conversations with themselves.  They ask themselves questions and also answer them along the way.

Likewise,learning peaks occur when one is overwhelmed by positive feelings of joy, ecstasy and exuberance over a new insight.

When one receives a feedback for his or her action, it usually signals the impact of that idea  on others.

All the aforementioned brings forth the essence of how learners climb the learning path of scenarios.

It is the journey of discovery that learners take when brought through well-thought scenarios – the kinds that possess the right characteristics. Learners are allowed to go through a gamut of emotions – the unknown, uncertainty and finally a sigh of relief or joy when they arrive at a discovery.

If a scenario is obvious, it does not allow the learners to imagine, contemplate or reflect. Good scenarios must be able to stretch the learner’s imagination and provoke thinking. It is as Jim Whittaker, the first American to climb Mt. Everest described it – “an ultimate burst of emotion.”

Learning peaks in real-event scenarios then become moments of emotions.

When an individual discovers something – possibly a truth, solution or answer – they spring to action.  The learner has now conquered, achieved or arrived at a learning peak.

Related Posts:

Surgical Insertion of Micro-Scenarios that Beautify and Fire Up Your eLearning

Is it spoon-feeding or discovery scenario learning?

Ray Jimenez, PhD
http://VignettesLearning.com

See more eLearning stories: Story Impacts eLearning System

http://try.storyimpacts.com

Sparks Learning Design - Igniting Learners to Think; Washing Hands Vignettes

Roger Schank , author of “Tell Me a Story” says People’s brain have incomplete stories and the brain wants to complete stories, hence, it is always story searching, making, sorting, creating, matching, adding, etc.

Jürgen Schmidhuber also essays a similar thought - ”We learn from the past; self-correct; single idea.

In essence, stories are what keep conversations going. They create sparks in our wired brains that causes us to recognize certain events we can relate back to, in our personal real-life situations. Listeners begin to share experiences and learn from one another.

In learning, I firmly believe that if the learner does not have an interpretation of the story, he or she has very low involvement or engagement with the story. Consequently, they may not discover what you want them to learn.

This is the essence of creating Vignettes - small, narrow, pockets of topics where content learning is strategically embedded.

The heart of a story in learning is to place the person in a real-life, emotionally-charged, shocking, moving experience. I call this the Sparks Learning Method of Content Design.

Please click to view enlarged and complete image

Benefits to the instructional designers and learning professionals alike:
• It saves time and effort since they do not have to spell out all the details.
• Short vignettes will cause the spark that trigger reflection/thinking through.
• It will be very relevant to the learner because it is a relatable event.
• It will be effective since learners interact with the story
• Learning is short and faster

How to get started:

(1) Select a small, narrow topic (e.g. Washing Hands for Safety)

(2) What do we know now of this topic?
- What are the learners’ complete stories about the topic?
- What are their incomplete stories about the topic ?

(3) What real-life event or story triggers, connects, relates to what we know now
of this topic?

(4) What is the new version of the story on this topic?
- What is the new discovery and new learning?

Below is a concrete example for you:

In the vignette “Washing Hands”, we look at a simple requirement not diligently followed. Handwashing is so common that people take them for granted – whether at home or in the work environment. Oftentimes, we witness “little” issues at work such as skipping protocols and standard operating procedures, or when teaching new employees the expected routines, pulling the old staff back to good work habits and so on. All these small transgressions may seem negligible but can spell dangerous consequences and create critical problems for the entire company or even in our personal lives.

Reflect on the scenario from various angles—as a problem concerning standard operating procedures, discipline, ethics, safety, or other matters you can think of—and answer the question at the end. Click here and watch the vignette for “Washing Hands”.

How to Use the Vignette

Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE.
Vignettes are captivating and highly effective learning tools that can power up your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view “Washing Your Hands".

Join us and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you have had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.



Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

eLearning Micro-Scenario - What to Do When Employees Pump Up Resumes

Here’s another dose of our weekly vignette, free, as always, for you to use. These vignettes are short, real- life depictions that learners can readily relate to. Vignettes are proven effective and worthy additions to your learning programs. They not only help learners focus but also deepen their understanding and retention of significant context immediately applicable to job performance.

This week, the vignette “ Pumping Up the Resume” will take us through a situation where Paula, a company manager, faces a dilemma when one of her direct reports, Jeff, admits to pumping up his resume. Though he had quite an impressive college record, he decided to include a last-minute tweak in his resume indicating that he was a member of an Honor Society even though he really wasn’t.

Paula’s decision in this predicament could greatly affect both the company and Jeff’s career, therefore, it is crucial that she makes the right choice. How should Paula deal with Jeff’s dishonesty? Should she consider it as a grave offense, or weigh it against Jeff’s other contributions to the company? What consequences are involved? Click here and watch the vignette for “Pumping Up the Resume”.

How to Use the Vignette

Although the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This vignette is very useful for eLearning sessions that require your learners’ undivided attention, especially those that deal with specific situations that need to be resolved in a timely manner. Use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE.

Vignettes are powerful and hi-impact learning tools that add depth and enhance your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view “Pumping Up the Resume".

Join us and tell us what you think about the vignettes and share with us if you’ve had similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are highly valued. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.


Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Learners are in a State of Readiness - Avoid Rigid Learning Objectives

Synthesis:
Keeping to a rigid sequence in the implementation of the learning process is not a guarantee of a learner’s full attention or comprehension. Learners’ minds constantly wander to seek out discovery points that hold meaning for them in the real world. Find out how you can leverage this to maximize learning that greatly benefit learners.
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In designing learning objectives, it is helpful to understand that learners are in a constant STATE OF READINESS. They constantly seek out Discovery Points.

Discovery points are similar to the ideas postulated in Contextual Learning.
According to Hull’s (1993) definition of contextual learning, learning occurs only when learners connect information to their own frame of reference:

“According to contextual learning theory, learning occurs only when learners process new information or knowledge in such a way that it makes sense to them in their frame of reference (their own inner world of memory, experience, and response). This approach to learning and teaching assumes that the mind naturally seeks meaning in context--that is, in the environment where the person is located--and that it does so through searching for relationships that make sense and appear useful.” (p. 41)

Furthermore, Karweit (1993) defines contextual learning as learning that is designed so that learners can carry out activities and solve problems in a way that reflects the nature of such tasks in the real world. Research supports the effectiveness of learning in meaningful contexts (Carraher,Carraher & Schleimer, 1985; Lave, Smith & Butler, 1988).

In the illustration below, learners constantly seek out discovery points. The discovery points are topic areas that are of interest to the learner at that one point in time:
• Learner surrounded by many topics – he/she focus on his/her own interests
• Learner surrounded by one topic – he/she searches on his/her own interests
• Learner surrounded by no topic – he/she fills his/her own interests

The specificity of objective or following a rigid sequence of learning does not guarantee that the learner’s attention is focused on the content. The learner will always pay attention to his own interests regardless of the different topic conditions.

Elliot Massie shared in one of his presentations in Learning 2010 how he discovered that learners, specially, the nomadic or new generation learners, prefer to have more control over the way they study content. The following was his experience with a new team member:

“I was conducting an orientation program for a new team member and it was a face to face orientation. The new team member asked me if I can provide her instead a CD with the information I was covering during the orientation.”

Curious of this request, Massie asked, to paraphrase:

“Why do you need a CD?”

“The CD would be valuable so I can flip through the different sections and check out areas I want to review, just in case I need it while on the job”, the new team member responded.

In many of my workshops, when discussing learning objectives, I ask participants,

“How many percent are you mentally present and follow the discussions during the workshop?”

Majority tell me, that they are mentally present in the session for only around 5% to 15% of the time. Their minds wander around and often do not follow the goings-on in the workshop. Incidentally, the wandering minds is one measure that the learner is learning.

The learners’ wandering around is a natural inclination to pursue his/her own discovery points. So instead of sabotaging the state of readiness and pursuits of personal discovery points, we need to present or state learning objectives in a manner akin to the nature of learners.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Leverage eLearning Scenarios – “Wrong Send-Bad Message” Interactive Vignette

We deliver to you another weekly vignette, still absolutely free for you to use. These short, succinct , highly effective presentations create the high-impact approach needed in your learning programs and enhance the contextual dimension of each session.

The vignette, "Wrong Send-Bad Message", describes how Paul, a young manager, vents his anger and frustration about Doug, his boss, by sending a text message to a friend. Alas, the message ends up in Doug’s mobile. To his surprise, Paul calls him a “slug” who “never listens”. Imagine how Paul’s boss feels about this.

How should Doug respond to this situation? Are there imperative steps that Doug must take to address what Paul has done? Does Doug have the prerogative to confront Paul about his apparent “name-calling”? Click here to view “Wrong Send- Bad Message”

How to Use the Vignette

While the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics, including conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. This is a great vignette to use for eLearning sessions that focus on certain issues, especially those that require learners to deal with situations that demand immediate attention. You can use it as part of your lessons or as a post-training test. Face-to-face, eLearning or webinar, this vignette is a sure way to push your learners to the EDGE.

Vignettes are powerful and hi-impact learning tools that enliven and definitely enhance your classroom training, eLearning activities and social learning communities. Click here to view “Wrong Send- Bad Message”

Join us and tell us how you like the vignettes or how you resolved similar experiences. Your feedback and insights are valuable to other people. Also feel free to send in your suggestions, comments, improvements or topics that are of interest to you. This can help us greatly in coming up with better vignettes, especially on topics that are of great relevance to you.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning

"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Making Facts Stick With Stories - Jiggling Atoms

Synthesis:
Even technical, software and scientific information can be made engaging and fun for learners because everything and everyone carries a story within themselves. Crafting story development is crucial to the success of emotionally fertilized content integral to learning.
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Oftentimes, I hear workshop participants and clients say,
“Scientific fact, software and technical content do not have stories in them.”

Richard Feynman, the renowned Nobel Laureate who has worked in Caltech for many years, has proven otherwise. Feynman has a knack for making complex scientific discoveries and explanations very easy to understand by using day to day experiences. For example, he explains the nature and characteristics of atoms and molecules by using the boiling water illustration. The hot plate and boiling water atoms and molecules jiggle and transfer their heat to other atoms and molecules. They are constantly bouncing, dancing and colliding. This is what happens in boiling water. The behavior of atoms is a fact, while the boiling water is a real-life phenomenon.

Boiling Water

One might think of the boiling water as an illustration. But in actuality, it is a real-life event and told as a story. Look at this example below. Which statement grabs you instantly?

Life is full of trials and tribulations
or
I started work at 3:00 am and finished at 11:00 pm, totally exhausted.

The first statement is a fact and a technical content, whereas, the second statement is a story.

Many experts agree that stories work to instantly grab learners’ attention and help them relate the content to real-life situations, hence, helping them to retain and apply the content. Stories carry with them the real-life and emotional aspects of learning. When we use stories, there is no need to grab learners’ attention. Learners are naturally drawn to stories, the characters and their experiences, and will automatically lend their attention.

Emotions as Integral to Learning

According to Rosenfield (1988), emotions have important connections to memory. Caine and Caine (1991) said stories add and help in storing information, thus triggering its recall.

"The emotional depth and range that learners have, affected their actual capacity to grasp ideas and procedures. Similarly, content that is emotionally sterile is made more difficult to understand. ... To teach someone any subject adequately, the subject must be embedded in all the elements that give its meaning. People must have a way to relate to the subject in terms of what is personally important, and this means acknowledging both the emotional impact and their deeply held needs and drives. Our emotions are integral to learning. When we ignore the emotional components of any subject we teach, we actually deprive learners of meaningfulness."

Stories and Storytelling Carry Learning Ideas

Stories and experiences are the carriers of emotional content. Stories, which I call organics, have different forms: narrative stories, anecdote, example, metaphor, demo, illustration, meme, and other forms that bring the emotional and real-life aspects of content.

Two Types of Content – Stories and Facts

There are two types of content: (1) the Technical which are factual, objective, mechanical content and (2) the Emotional which are real-life situations, personal context and understanding of the content.

The technical and emotional content work hand in hand. However, we discover that in designing presentations, e-Learning, mobile learning and social learning, there is even a greater need to magnify the emotional side. There is practical reason to this. In classroom or facilitated sessions, the good instructor or facilitator can successfully relate the technical and emotional content by sharing their own stories and experiences. Unfortunately, in much technology delivered learning, the facilitators and stories are absent and we oftentimes find the lessons to consist more of technical or mechanical content. Something is lost in the conversion. The emotional content is “lost in the translation”.

We need to make our learning content more emotionally fertile, not sterile.

Craft in Story Development

The underutilization of stories as a learning design tool is caused by the inherent nature of how most developers receive the source of the content today and the leadership culture that frowns on the “softer and touchy feely” preconceptions of stories.

Most professionals involved in design learning – designers, developers, subject matter experts and leaders - lack the experience that go along with the content: The lesser the experience of professionals with the content, the more removed they are from real-life context and meaning of the content. It is not surprising that we have a deluge of PowerPoint presentations in eLearning and other learning approaches. On the other hand, the more the experience with the content, the more the professional can create stories to help learners learn.

Nonetheless, there is a craft in plucking stories representing the meaning of logic and fact to help learners. By carefully selecting stories to explain the data and technical information, the more we discover and are able to practice our craft better.

Test your craft

The “jiggling atom” example tells us that we can make our learning more fun, engaging and easy for the learner by using stories.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Igniting Learning with a Story: Compliment – Can’t a person compliment a woman anymore?!

We continue to create Vignettes – short, succinct, micro-scenarios – to help you with an example on how you can use stories to ignite and provoke learners to interact and learn.

The Vignette “Compliment” revolves around officemates, Roxanne and Tim. Roxanne has been , oftentimes, uncomfortable to the point of feeling violated whenever Tim compliments her. Tim contends that his remarks are completely devoid of malice.

When is a compliment not just a compliment? Is Tim guilty of sexual harassment? Is Roxanne simply paranoid? Listen to their conversation and let us know your thoughts.

How to Use the Vignette

While the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics to include conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. Use this vignette to spark learner interest in your training session, show it as part of your lessons or utilize it as a post-training test. Face-to-face or online, this vignette is intended to push your learners to the EDGE!

Vignettes have proven to be powerful stimuli in classroom training, eLearning activities and even in social learning communities. Click here to preview “Compliment – Can’t any person even compliment a woman anymore?!”

This is part of our continuing new series of Vignettes designed for Story Impacts.

These provocative vignettes are for your use, with our compliments.

In next week’s vignette, "Do You Think Age is a Problem?" – A case of age discrimination, a company production manager investigates if a supervisor is guilty of age discrimination. When does a remark or question amount to discrimination? In day-to-day decision making and selection of the right person for a job can be tricky business especially in the hands of inexperienced or new managers - even for existing ones with possible biases. Where does one draw the fine line between the ability of someone to perform job requirements and age? What dangers are posed by certain assumptions about job requirements and possibly ignoring basic employee rights?

Join us and let us know how you like the vignettes. We sincerely appreciate your thoughts. If you have any suggestions , improvements or topics of interest to you, please let us know.




Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

How Do You Handle a Star? – Provocative Learning Vignette 2

This week’s vignette , The Star, is a story of John who is a star performer, but who causes problems as he repeatedly refuses to cooperate with his team members. How do you deal with a person like John? If he was your team member, how will you handle the situation? How prepared will you be to handle John’s possible adverse reaction? How will you resolve this conflict if you were Terry – John’s superior?

How to Use the Vignette

While the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics to include conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. Use this vignette to spark learner interest in your training session, show it as part of your lessons or utilize it as a post-training test. Face-to-face or online, this vignette is intended to push your learners to the EDGE!

Vignettes provide exciting stimuli during classroom training, eLearning activities and in social learning communities. Click here to preview “The Star”



We continue with our new series of Vignettes designed for Story Impacts.

These provocative vignettes can be used by you, with our compliments.

Next week , our vignette “ Compliment” - Can’t a person even compliment a woman anymore?! , will revolve around two officemates: Roxanne and Tim. Roxanne feels violated whenever Tim compliments her. Tim thinks there is nothing wrong with his gestures. When is a compliment not just a compliment? Is Tim guilty of sexual harassment? Is Roxanne simply paranoid? Listen to their conversation. This time it’s his word against hers. We’d like to know what’s yours.

Join us and let us know how you like the vignettes. We sincerely appreciate your thoughts. If you have any suggestions , improvements or topics of interest to you, please let us know.



Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

"Can you tell me if my job is safe?" A Provocative Learning Vignette

The Little Secret presents the story of Maria, a dutiful office manager. Maria's management capability is put to the test when she is caught in between adhering to office policy and addressing employee needs. What should Maria do? Can you help her think of a way out?

How to Use the Vignette

While the situation presented is specific, this vignette covers a wide range of topics to include conflict-resolution, work ethics and other management-related issues. Use this vignette to spark learner interest in your training session, show it as part of your lessons or utilize it as a post-training test. Face-to-face or online, this vignette is intended to push your learners to the EDGE!

Use it for your classroom training, eLearning and social learning communities. Click here to preview "The Little Secret."

We are proud to introduce the new series of Vignettes designed for Story Impacts.

On a regular basis, we will send you provocative vignettes which you can use with our compliments.

Next week, we are sharing with you the vignette on "The Star" - a story of John who is a star performer, but causes problems because he refuses to cooperate with his team members. How do you deal with a person like John? Stay tuned. This will be fun.

Join us and let us know how you like the vignettes. If you have any suggestions , improvements or topics of interest to you, please let us know.



Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Vague Stories Help Learners to Discover

 

Synthesis:
Uncovering parallel tracks is essential in contextual learning – where the need is to help learners find applications of an idea in a story or feedback. Precision oftentimes kills the ability of the learner to discover multiple real-life applications. 

In In Praise of Vagueness (Wired Magazine July 21, 2011), Jonah Lehrer writes about studies on the benefits of vagueness versus precision.

According to article:

And yet, as William James pointed out, vagueness is not without virtues. Sometimes, precision is dangerous, a closed door keeping us from imagining new possibilities. Vagueness is that door flung wide open, a reminder that we don’t yet know the answer, that we might still get better, that we have yet to fail.

The article reported that experiments in weight control suggest that the more people know precise outcomes or specific feedback, the more likely they get discouraged.

The fuzziness of the facts kept them motivated. The same logic, of course, should apply to any long-term goal (saving for retirement, studying for a difficult test, etc.) that provides us with plenty of feedback along the way.

The practical takeaway is that the weight scales of the future should focus on giving us vague feedback. Forget those decimal points – we need error bars and imprecise estimates. Nothing keeps us motivated like not knowing better.

Furthermore,

Bonus benefit of vagueness: According to an experiment led by Catherine Clement at Eastern Kentucky University, one way to consistently increase our problem-solving ability is to rely on vague verbs when describing the problem. That’s because domain-specific verbs – actions which we only perform in particular contexts – inhibit analogical reasoning, making us less likely to discover useful comparisons. However, when the same problem is recast with more generic verbs – when we describe someone as “moving” instead of “sprinting,” for instance – people are suddenly more likely to uncover unexpected parallels. In some instances, Clement found that the simple act of rewriting the problem led to impressive improvements in the performance of her subjects.

Vague stories and feedback intrigue me. In creating micro-scenarios and interactive stories, I often observe what Catherine Clement mentions that "specific action verbs tend to inhibit analogical thinking while generic verbs allow people to uncover parallel tracks."

Uncovering parallel tracks is essential in contextual learning – where the need is to help learners find applications of an idea in a story or feedback. In learning situations where the real-world applications are imprecise due to multiple variables or ever changing content, it is helpful to remind ourselves of parallel track applications.

Precision oftentimes kills the ability of the learner to discover multiple applications.

References:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/07/in-praise-of-vagueness/

Himanshu Mishra
http://himanshumishra.com/publication_files/Malleable%20information_Psych%20Science%202011.pdf

Catherine Clement
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1423287

Ray Jimenez, PhD 

Vignettes Learning 

"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

How to keep your sanity in the “Learning Vortex”?

Synthesis
The learning industry is in turmoil - like in a twister. There is constant push and pull which results to changes and adjustments. The “Learning Vortex” is an effective way of maintaining focus and keeping one's “sanity” in the midst of the “ twister” in learning. The core of the vortex represents the impact and result of the changes – which can be clearly categorized and identified by the three other parts of the vortex

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Recent events have reminded everyone of the catastrophic impacts of hurricanes, and tornado or twisters.

A twister is a phenomenon in our atmosphere where cold and hot air collide to create massive turbulence. In many respects, our learning world appears to be caught up in a twister. There is an abundance of change, innovation, and technologies, as well as dislocations and realignments. There is constant push and pull, as well as impacts.

As a learning professional, I most often find myself in the center of a twister. There is so much to learn. Too many changes, too much risks and adjustments confront me. To make sense of rapid changes, I developed a framework called the “Learning Vortex.” This helps me to take a “fly over” when I need to take a breather and see the overview. I especially need the “Learning Vortex” when I begin to feel sucked into the core and feel like I am losing my balance because of what’s going on around me.

The “Learning Vortex” has four parts: The Core; Learning Strategy; Implementation; and Organizational influences.

Let me share with you a few of my thoughts on each area.

The Core
The Core is the heart of the vortex. This is the strongest area where the twister creates new values and impacts the way we do things. The main impacts in today’s changes in learning are more pronounced in cutting costs and increasing speed, and refocusing the attention of trainers and learners on what is important. Preview the video of Sal Kahn and Bill Gates about Kahn Academy and you will see the inroads to creating new values. We are redefining our roles by being agnostics in our approaches.

Part 1 – Learning Strategy

Regardless of whether one starts from Part - 3 Organizational Influences or Part 1 - Learning Strategy, the learning professionals now realize that they must change their roles, skills, tools, and objectives to meet the shifting needs of learners.

1. Skills – we are becoming “Collaborative Learning Anthropologists” where we focus on using different skills sets to become catalysts of change.
2. Objectives – the focus of our efforts is how to bring learning closer to work.
3. Learners – we are seeing learners more as contributors who actively pursue their own learning interests.
4. Trainers – we are seeing more of us in the role of Network Weavers.
5. Tools – the abundance and large scale adoption of Web 2.0 tools in learning suggest our growing versatility to choose and pick the right tools for a given problem.

Part 2 – Implementation

The design, development, and delivery of learning has been redefined by technology. Both classroom and course development are undergoing remakes that make them accessible and flexible. From mobile learning to video streaming, the focus is to provide newer experiences in learning and more opportunities to cut costs and increase speed.

6. Design – we see more Microlearning programs, courses and delivery.
7. Develop – rapid development enables trainers to get training delivered, fast.
8. Deliver – more of our learning initiatives are delivered through diverse forms of collaborative and social networking tools and methods. We also see the practical learning values of tools like Twitter and micro-widgets.

Part 3 –Influences

The “Learning Vortex” takes place in the larger context of our organizations and societies. How much change we experience and the speed at which it happens are always influenced by the nature of the business, leadership and the goals and strategies of the business. This is part of the push and pull of the “Learning Vortex”. Organizations that are seemingly slow in adapting to change often create environments where the learning professional is caught in a flux. Businesses want to reduce the costs and increase the speed of change that create new learning values, but are not prepared to embrace solutions that demand transformation in their culture and leadership. So, we see learning professionals doing guerrilla warfare – using unauthorized and unorthodox learning methods and deliveries outside of the corporate structures.

9. Culture – enterprises are complex structures and the “Learning Vortex” is most visible mainly in how enterprises use knowledge – as a central repository of information or as a living and growing knowledge base to be built and shared freely within the organization.
10. IT Structure – we see IT departments starting to adopt collaborative systems and becoming more tolerant and accepting of multiple requests from learning professionals in deploying social networks and high and rich media content delivery.
11. Organizational Impacts – convergence of technologies makes it possible to link learning to actual performance metrics in business impacts.
12. Feedback – although feedback from a traditional view suggests that trainers provide feedback on learning progress, learners are taking more and more responsibility upon themselves when it comes to their own learning. .

Conclusion

There is always rapid and constant change, especially in the things that influence learning and the learners’ needs. All the different strategies, ways of implementations, and influences change along with time and innovations in technology. The “Learning Vortex” can help us take these things into consideration and understand their effects on the core of learning. It helps strike a balance when things go out of hand. As clearly pointed out in each element, these changes are inevitable and are therefore greatly impacting the core of every learning experience, and learning need.

Ray Jimenez, PhD
Vignettes Learning
"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"

Adding Tension to eLearning Stories to Engage Learners

Synthesis

Using eLearning stories with varied elements of tension is an effective way of helping learners focus their attention on learning what they need to learn. Events that stimulate certain tension levels are more likely to imprint in the minds of learners, thus helping them learn the subject and retain what they have learned.

Adding tension to eLearning stories focuses the learners’ attention on response and reaction. With the overloaded learners struggling with competing content, stories with varying levels of tension raise their value and hence help the learners retain and learn the subject.

What situations often call immediate reaction?

Pick one from the list: hope to gain money; paying taxes; fear of death; failure; loss of a loved one; conflict with another person; frustration; absolute boredom; and many others.

In work situations, what might be in the list? Disagreeable boss; hard to manage people; risk of losing a job; being challenged to take action; commitment to goals; unfair treatment and many others.

What is common in the above list is tension. These events or issues cause emotional and mental anguish or excitement. Tension can either be bad or good. And in learning design, particularly in the use of stories, tension serves as a lever, fulcrum or a tourniquet that can be tightened to get the desired action or reaction from learners. People tend to respond to a stimulus that raises their tension level, be it positive or negative. And we can take advantage of this basic human instinct.

The tourniquet is an illustration of how we may increase or decrease tension. The tourniquet controls blood flow. As we tighten the tourniquet, we restrict the blood circulation. Lack of blood supply causes discomfort, death to the cells and will eventually incapacitate the arm.

Tourniquet

Watching your blood pressure

Adding tension is like monitoring a person’s blood pressure. While learning becomes our prime focus for each of the learner, our goal is to design our programs to allow variations in tension levels. It helps your learning design to focus the learner's attention. Hence a better chance of teaching and helping the learners learn.

Opportunities to add tension in your eLearning design are abundant. The following are good examples.

Introducing conflicts and using first person voice

Which one works better: before or after?

The before and after example above shows us that by changing the voice from that of someone explaining a scene to a character, Trump, who is speaking directly to the audience, the tension level of the event dramatically changes.

Inspiring tension

Tension can be also an uplifting experience. In this photo Paraore is shown with a satisfied smile while Mt. Everest is in the background. An image that shows some ways of overcoming difficulties or challenges adds some level of positive tension into a story.

Adding a text 

Simply adding a text to an image helps define emotional expression and adds tension.

Exaggerated metaphors

In the drawing below, exaggeration of a frustrated character shows the extent of emotion, creating more tension. Illustrated graphics may also be used to add tension in a message. Exaggeration is accomplished by creating extreme illustrations of a condition. For example, the person strapped for time is hanging on a clock, or a person is banging on the table and loudly complaining “Why.”

Tension by varying expressions

The different facial expressions of an irritated person suggest their varying moods and how they effectively communicate tension in our story.

Conclusion

Learners respond better to eLearning that has elements of tension. It is human nature and instinct to respond or react to stimulus that raises tension, anxiety and pleasure.

Adding tension helps the learner to focus on the subject and will likely learn the content materials.

Related blogs:

Instant learning:

eLearning Design for Short Attention Span and Overloaded Learners

Ray Jimenez, PhD
3Minute Worlds - Learning Community Social Learning,
Work and Performance 3Minute eLearning Games

"Helping Learners Learn Their Way"