Handling the Retention Dilemma

Presenters:Tim Adams, Chief Learning Officer

Brian Webster, VP Business DevelopmentKnowledge Factor Inc.

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Where were you … On 9/11/2001? On 9/11/2008? When the Space Shuttle Challenger

exploded? When the first Star Wars movie was

released? On Black Monday? When JFK was shot?

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Important dates When did Columbus sail to America? When was the attack on Pearl Harbor? When did Richard Nixon resign? When was MLK’s “I have a dream” speech

delivered? What is the anniversary date of when you

started your job?

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A little math… What is the formula for calculating the area

of a parallelogram?

What is the formula for calculating the volume of a sphere?

What is the definition of pi?

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Hermann Ebbinghaus - 1885100

80

60

31

20

40

151 1053

Elapsed time (days)

Rete

nti

on

(p

erc

en

t)

First retention study

Remembered less than 40%after 9 hours

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Why is this important to you? The benefits of retention reverse the costs

of

Mistakes on the job Periodic retraining Damaging social learning that infects workforce

productivity

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The forgetting curve is steepest for nonsensical material such as that studied by Ebbinghaus. On the other hand, it is nearly flat for vivid or traumatic memories.

The flatness of the curve is not necessarily evidence for the decrease in the forgetting rate, but can be taken as evidence of implicit repetition (e.g. reliving memories) that indefinitely restores memory traces.

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100

80

60

Year

20

40

MonthWeekDay

Rete

nti

on

(p

erc

en

t)

0 6 Months

We can force it: Through Repetition

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More typical forgetting curve100

80

60

36

20

40

151 1053

Rete

nti

on

(p

erc

en

t) 60-70% of knowledge is lost within2-3 weeks.

Weeks

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The information in sensory memory vanishes unless it captures our attention and enters working memory.

The question is – How does some information capture our attention?

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festinate - to accelerate; to quicken

jnana - knowledge gained through meditation

zeppole – a variety of doughnut

palingman – a seller of fish or eels

paysagist – a painter of landscapes

scaramouch – ruffian; scoundrel

Vocabulary Test

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zoomimetic

imitating an animal orpart of an animal

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palfrenier

groom

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filipendulous

filament pendulum

filipendulous

Hanging by or strung on a thread

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Retention extenders Environmental

Time of day, age, stress level, rest

Difficulty of material and its context Perceived importance of the information Emotion Repetition Mnemonic (representation)

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Curiosity

What do Robert Morris and

Benjamin Franklin have in common?

Curiosity level? (1=low, 5=high)

1 2 3 4 5

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Curiosity

What do Robert Morris and

Benjamin Franklin have in common?

Hint: They both lived at the same time

Curiosity level? (1=low, 5=high)

1 2 3 4 5

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Curiosity

What do Robert Morris and

Benjamin Franklin have in common?

Hint: They signed the same document

Curiosity level? (1=low, 5=high)

1 2 3 4 5

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Curiosity

What do Robert Morris and

Benjamin Franklin have in common?

Curiosity level? (1=low, 5=high)

1 2 3 4 5

WRONG!

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Curiosity = Emotion Curiosity is created only to be resolved Connecting learning with emotion – like

curiosity – quickens the learning process and extends retention

Retention improves recall-ability

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Consider a question in which you are forced to Consider a question in which you are forced to make a guess. What connection to you have to make a guess. What connection to you have to the knowledge?the knowledge?

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Discovery of the 55/15 Rule

The average level of confidence and correctness for employees across many

industries is 55%

15% of the knowledge employees have is actually “confidently-held misinformation”

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Retention extenders Environmental

Time of day, age, stress level, rest

Difficulty of material and its context Perceived importance of the information Emotion Repetition Mnemonic (representation)

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Now consider incorporating confidence/emotion into the question process

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Confidence in the Learning & Measurement Equation

DEMONSTRATION

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Confidence-Based Learning Methodology

Engaging the student Engaging the student through Discovery & through Discovery &

CuriosityCuriosityAllows the Learner to Explore their Curiosity through Targeted Allows the Learner to Explore their Curiosity through Targeted

LearningLearning

Engages the Learner by beginning the Learning with a Engages the Learner by beginning the Learning with a QuestionQuestion

Discovery of Gaps through the Knowledge ProfileDiscovery of Gaps through the Knowledge Profile

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Retention from CBL training

Retention Study - ACC

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Number of months since first course

% r

ete

nti

on

Knowledge loss over time1

1 Knowledge Factor, Inc.; Retention and Confidence: The Impact of Confidence-Based Learning on Knowledge Retention, 2007

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Tim Adams, CLOtadams@knowledgefactor.com

Brian Webster, Vice Presidentbwebster@knowledgefactor.com

www.KnowledgeFactor.com720-214-4874