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Kyle Schmidt, Instructional Design Specialist, Alchemy

Adult Learning Principles:

The How-To’s and Don’t Do’s

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Today’s Speaker

Kyle SchmidtInstructional Design Specialist

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The Plan

• We will go through the basic steps of typical instructional design process.

• I will offer you tips throughout.

• At the end, we’ll have a 20-minute Q&A.

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My Goal

• To make you hungry to learn more

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The Basics

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What is Instructional Design?

• Audience

• Something you want to communicate

• A space where it will happen

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Problems in Instructional Design

• Commitment

• Engagement

• Limitations

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The Goal of Instructional Design

• To change behavior

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What you need to build a course?

• Audience profile

– Who are you teaching?

• Learning objectives

– Why are you teaching it?

• Content

– What are you teaching?

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Who is your audience?

Ask questions:

– Educational level?

– Literacy?

– Age range?

– Native speaking language?

– Do they have experience with the material?

– What training has been successful in the past?

– What does your audience relate to?

Pro TipWhen figuring out who your learners are, go talk to them. And observe them. If you can’t, talk to someone who knows them.

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Why are you teaching it?

• Learning objectives tell learners what they’ll be doing and what’s expected of them

• Learning objectives provide guideposts to make decisions throughout the instructional design process

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Tips for Writing Objectives

1. Make it learner-centric

2. Make it observable

3. Make it measurable

4. Use strong action verbs

Example: After this section, learners will be able to implement the four tips into their own learning objectives.

Bonus Pro TipIf you don’t know what “Bloom’s Taxonomy” is, look it up!

Pro Tip Google “Bloom’s Taxonomy Action Verbs” to get a great list of verbs to use.

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Learning Objectives Activity

Example 1

• This course will show learners how to wash their hands.

Learner-centric?Observable?Measurable?Strong action verb?

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Learning Objectives Activity

Example 2

• Learners will understand how to wash their hands.

Learner-centric?Observable?Measurable?Strong action verb?

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Learning Objective Activity

Example 3

• Learners will demonstrate each of the seven handwashing steps.

Learner-centric?Observable?Measurable?Strong action verb?

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What are you teaching?

• Separate source content into “need-to-know” and “nice-to-know”

• Only teach “need-to-know” and make the “nice-to-know” available for people when they need it

17Game of Thrones

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Basics Conclusion

• Audience

• Learning Objectives

• Content

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Considerations

1. How do I make sure my learners complete their objectives?

2. How do I get my learners interested?

3. How will I make sure learners retain what they’ve learned?

Pro Tip The answers to these questions will determine your learning solution.

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Decide How to Teach the Material

• Look at the material and figure out the best way to teach it

– Direct instruction

– Create a game

– Problem-based

– Choose-your-own adventure

– Poster campaign

– Storytelling!

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Why Story?

Stories are powerful mnemonic devices that have been used throughout history and across all cultures to help people retain information.

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What Makes a Good Story?

• A good story:

– Is an active experience for the brain

– Causes you to ask yourself “What happens next?”

– Creates a physiological reaction

– Teaches us how to watch them

– Holds attention

– Makes us care

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Story-based Learning

In story-based learning, we marry our content with a story in order to teach our learners.

It

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Pro TipYou-ser centric: put the learner into the content.

You forgot to fix my hours from last

week again and now my check is

$150 short!

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Pro Tip: Create Real Challenges

• Keeps people interested and engaged

• Helps people retain information

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Bonus Pro Tip: Show Consequences

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I’ll wear a beard net…when someone with eyebrows has to wear one too!

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Fun Conclusion

• Your learning solution will be determined by:

– Assessment

– Engagement

– Retention

• Storytelling is an awesome and powerful teaching tool

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Alchemy Drives Safety, Quality, & Productivity

Training• Train up to 150 employees at once

• Multilingual course libraries

• Easily customizable content

Reinforcement• App for on-the-floor observations

• Training-coordinated signage

• Supervisor guides for consistency

Compliance• Automated recordkeeping

• Paperless documentation

• Audit-ready reporting

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THANK YOU