A study titled “The Impact of Image Position on Reading Comprehension: A Comparison Between Right and Left Aligned Images” conducted by researchers from the University of Haifa compared the impact of image position on reading comprehension. The study was published in the Journal of Educational Psychology in 2017. The researchers conducted two experiments using eye-tracking…

We all know that quizzes are a common tool used by educators to assess student learning. But quizzes can also be an incredibly powerful tool for enhancing learning outcomes. When designed properly, quizzes can promote deep learning, help students retain information, and even increase motivation. So, what makes a quiz well-designed? First and foremost, a…

Here is a step-by-step guide to changing formal language to a personalized, casual tone for an online course: By following these steps, you can make your online course materials more personalized and engaging, which can help improve student motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes.

Bullet points are a common way to organize information in a clear and concise manner. However, they can often be dry and unengaging, making it difficult for readers to stay focused and retain the information presented. In this article, we’ll explore how to replace bullet points with a narrative story, graphics, and animations to make…

When you design learning it’s never just a course. It’s a pre-test. It’s a post test. It’s a job aid. It’s everything that we can do to improve retention. Pretests can be a valuable tool for both instructors and students in a course. They provide a way to assess students’ knowledge before beginning a new…

I’ll also add that learners are motivated by risk; so taking points, levels, goods, badges, is also a way.

Like any skill, it requires practice.

Ask questions, instead of answers.

Are you facilitating or doing live sessions? Be sure to add time for active participation to increase scores.

Do you create workbooks for your courses? A study for young adults measured brain activity during typing and writing was the most effective to encode new information. Even with digital writing. So, help your learners write good notes with a workbook.

Memorization is useful. It’s not always about creating or evaluating.

By allowing learners a chance to pause and reflect before submitting an answer, allows time to decide on the right answer, not the first answer.

ADDIE, Bloom’s Taxonomy. I’ve always loosely followed these. ADDIE is how I set up project work and Bloom’s is really what I used to design interactions. In reality, I use Dick and Carey to design my courses. It turns “Identify relevant article to follow” to “In a call center enviroment, a help desk agent will…

Shake things up to help learners master skills, and not just repetition.

Learning is more than repetition. You need to have a challenge retrieval process to make things more sticky. In training, I like to use activities where the learner doesn’t have access to the tools or resources – what will they remember? Recalling information in a new environment is challenging. Introducing confusing or irrelevant information also…

Solid instructional design can be movitating. I use micro-learning to build confidence and help learners feel like they can do it. Usually, these courses are the teaser to a full course or curriculum. A precheck or a small interaction in the course will do the same. And building compentency? Putting in a real effort to…

Flashcards are a good study tool. But if you are looking for retention, is self-made or pre-made flash cards better? It turns out self-made flashcards that paraphrase resulted in better performance vs self-made with definitions or pre-made. The Study

How do you incorporate questions with a video training? A small study showed: 88% prefer the video and questions on the same screen, not in the video 55% wanted to answer the question during, not after, the video Make It Yours Add the video and questions on the same slide, at the same time. It…