HR Blog

Travel Log: Jan Mouton from Washington (5)

Brain-friendly learning

A number of sessions during the ASTD Conference dealt with Brain Friendly Teaching and Whole Brain Learning. According to Bob Pike, research shows that after 30 days, we only remember

• 10% of what read
• 20% of what hear
• 30% of what see
• 50% of what we hear and see
• But 90% of what we see and do

Keeping this in mind, Pike suggests the following structure for training sessions

1. An adult audience can listen attentively for 90 minutes. A training module should therefore last no longer than 90 minutes.
2. Because adults can only remember information for 20 minutes, a new subject should be started every 20 minutes.
3. Participants need to have time to discuss and apply what they have been taught every 8 minutes.

Pike also puts in a good word for the CPR strategy (content, process, review): teach a piece of content, organise an activity where participants have the opportunity to process that piece of content and finally review the material before going on to a second piece of content.

Another lecturer, Spencer Kagan, refers to recent research on the brain which served as a basis for distilling a number of brain friendly presentation techniques.

When we present information in a way that most closely corresponds with the way brains best learn, participants will feel more involved, will remember more and will give the training session a more positive evaluation.

When we work against the way brains best process information, participants have to work harder while performance weakens.

Frequent (inter)action and the use of kinaesthetic symbols, provides three advantages for the brain:

1. Through movement, the brain gets more oxygen. Our brains only make up 2% of our total weight but they use op 20% of our energy!
2. Something new sharpens our attention and lets our memory work better.
3. When several parts of the brain are active (i.e. taking and listening) we remember more. Note that we always remember more when we talk than when we listen.

There is a part of our brain, the amygdalae, which contains stress sensors for sending out alarm signals when we strangers, different races, fearful faces or unfriendly faces. This instinctive worry action can easily be reduced at the start of a training session by means of some short, playful social exercises. This is another way of creating a brain-friendly environment.

Brain-friendly learning also means that the balance between the routine and the new needs to be respected. This creates a type of relaxed awareness.