Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Spotify | Podchaser | Email | iTunes
Are you using outdated research when you design learning experiences? In this podcast, Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., uncovers some of the mysteries surrounding learning and the brain.
Susan has a knack for explaining complex processes in simple everyday language. She helps people and organizations learn about and apply research in psychology and brain science to understand, predict, and direct human behavior.
Her most recent book is, How to Get People to Do Stuff. She is also the author of these other books (see links in RESOURCES below):
- 100 Things Every Presenter Needs to Know About People
- 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
- Neuro Web Design
We discuss:
- How many chunks of information can learners hold in mind?
- Do you need to understand your audience’s mental models and schemas?
- Is there such a thing as a learning style?
- Why is it important to organize information?
- What are memory traces and how do they work?
- What are the best ways to help learners retain information?
- Why do people remember anecdotes better than data?
- How important is visual design to the learning experience?
- Why are people addicted to seeking information?
TIME: Around 30 minutes
TRANSCRIPT: Download the ELC 007 Podcast Transcript .
RESOURCES:
You’re right! Thanks. Sometimes I don’t have time to review the entire transcriptionist’s work, so I just skim it. I appreciate you letting me know, Becca.
Best,
Connie
On the transcript please change the use of “antidote” to anecdote. This error was made several times and it is very distracting, as well as completely changing the meaning of what was said!
Hi Peggy,
It’s great to see someone who is so open to rethinking when appropriate. You’re right, it is our obligation to stay up with the research and it’s not easy to get your hands on professional journals and then to interpret what academicians are saying in practical terms. But personally, I do enjoy it 🙂 Thank you for your kind words.
Best,
Connie
Great discussion! I especially appreciate the reminder that as learning professionals, we have an obligation to stay current on the latest thinking. Our profession is loaded with urban legends (like 7 bits +/-) that we need to be open to rethinking. Connie, thanks for all you do to help up stay connected with great ideas, interesting thinkers and practical wisdom.
Thanks, Pam. I agree–many of us are doing the best we can within the constraints of human cognitive architecture and based on what the research says. Spread the word!
Loved this discussion! I’d like to see it shared with lots of learning professionals and with the Subject Matter Experts we work with in developing content. They need to know that there’s science and research behind our design decisions.