How does learning happen? Part 1

From Nick Harvey Smith’s animated series on learning science. Click the image to see the complete GIF.

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A client recently asked me to redesign the end of a 90-minute session.

“I would really love for people to discuss their full team results in the last 15 or 20 minutes,” she said.

“I don’t recommend that,” I replied, and explained that the session would already push participants’ working memories to the limit. Adding more content without extending the time of the session or cutting something would be futile.

This short animation on working memory from medical educator Nick Harvey Smith illustrates a fundamental principle about how learning happens.

Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, staff member, coach, or moderator, you probably have an audience who needs to learn something. So…

How do you account for the limits of their working memory?

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