It is time to "knock down the wall" in our training methods.

For the last 4 years, I have had the fortunate opportunity to do teaching sessions for the apprenticeship training industry all over North America. I have gotten to see first hand the wonderful training facilities used to prepare our workforce, from Toronto to Vancouver in Canada, from Hollywood to New York City and Boston, from Seattle to Atlanta and more than 20 cities in between. Throughout my travels, however, I have noticed a very strong similarity in all of those centers and in the way we teach our apprentices. It was during one of my recent visits that it suddenly occurred to me the challenge facing the training industry.

I was walking through a facility and noticed that as I went down the hall and entered a classroom, the door opened into the "theory classroom". It had tables and chairs, a white board, a computer and projector with a screen to show PowerPoint presentations and videos. There were charts and graphs along the wall. Then, as I walked through the classroom, I had to physically go through a door in the wall to the "lab". In the lab, there was a spacious area where the equipment and materials were laid out and constructed. That is when it hit me, WHAM, like a smack across the forehead. We have architecturally constructed learning latency into the learning process!

In a previous article, you may recall that I mentioned that in the 1930's Edward Tolman conducted research regarding the Latency Effect. Simply put, he noted that in the learning process, as people acquire information, it lays dormant (or latent) in the mind until the person is motivated to do something with it. That is why a student might hear something in class but then not fully understand it until later when they actually apply the information in real life situations. For example, when I was in a high school Algebra class I heard of the Pythagorean Theorem, however it wasn't until two weeks later in a shop class did I fully understand it as I was using rise, run, and pitch to build a rafter for a shed. That is why that teachers and trainers have to repeat what was taught two or three times before ALL of the students understand the material.

In nearly every educational facility across the continent, we have built classrooms to teach the knowledge content and then built a separate room or area to have the students apply that knowledge in a lab setting. We do it for biology, chemistry, physics, for tech labs, etc. This fit the methods of teaching we all learned in college, You Show, They Show, We evaluate. While nearly everyone has taken this for granted as a naturally occurring phenomenon, I respectfully disagree.

The example I have given to the industry points out this erroneous assumption quite simply. In a class room full of people, I show them how to follow a 7 step process in making a simple paper airplane. As I demonstrate, I do it the way we do it in apprenticeship and employee training. I show how to do each step one at a time, then I take a couple of minutes to pass out the paper to everyone and then have them make the same airplane. In every session, the average is 70% performance, meaning that in the two to three minutes it took me to pass out the paper, only 7 out of ten participants were able to recall what they just saw and replicate the procedure.

Think about it, only 70% can perform what was just shown in less than 2 to 3 minutes later. Consider your training class in which you have covered the material in the classroom, sent them on break and then had them meet in the lab ten minutes later to apply what they learned. Same results. Then you had to repeat that demonstration two or three times before before most of the students could get it right. All this time, we blamed the STUDENT for not getting it right, when all along it was our methodology.

What would happen if we knocked down the wall and starting teaching the theory and knowledge content right there in the lab? Some of my friends in the utilities, carpentry, and the entertainment industry have begun to consider the possibilities. They are considering moving the PowerPoint screen along the lab wall, and as a concept is shown, turn immediately to the lab and have the student begin to apply the concept. By doing so, it will increase retention, increase speed of initial learning, and ultimately increase the productivity of our workers.

As I have shown, the only way to eliminate the gap in learning is to have the students apply what they have learned IMMEDIATELY after it is taught. When we do, we can actually get 100% performance the first time, with every student, every time. The procedure is quite simple:

Step 1: You demonstrate the step.

Step 2 The students demonstrate the step back to you

Step 3: You check for understanding by observing everyone's work

Step 4: For those that need correction, you coach for improvement

Step 5: The student makes the necessary adjustment

Step 6: Once all have successfully demonstrated the step, move on to Step 2 and repeat the process.

By doing it this way, and only this way, EVERY student gets it right the first time. Then to make sure they continue to do it correctly, I have them demonstrate it for me again, this time without me showing them as we go. Again, I check for understanding and make corrections as necessary. I then have them do it a third time, but this time in pairs and have the other students check their work and coach as I did. Finally, I have them do it again for a summative assessment. Notice that in the process, I didn't have to go to a lab to apply the concept. It was immediate. No latency. No gap in learning.

As Albert Einstein stated: "To do the same thing over and over again and expect better results is insanity". We have been using the same methodology for nearly 100 years in training and getting the same results (70%). Isn't time we consider doing something different?