Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning
Digital learning is becoming the most commonly used portal for workplace learning, but its effectiveness is not clearly understood. We studied 99 employees on-site in a large company as they watched an already used and required training video. Employees were randomly assigned to one of four conditio...
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| Format: | Article |
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Public Library of Science
2019
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120481 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 |
| _version_ | 1811098030136360960 |
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| author | Okano, Kana Kaczmarzyk, Jakub Gabrieli, John D. E. |
| author2 | Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology |
| author_facet | Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Okano, Kana Kaczmarzyk, Jakub Gabrieli, John D. E. |
| author_sort | Okano, Kana |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Digital learning is becoming the most commonly used portal for workplace learning, but its effectiveness is not clearly understood. We studied 99 employees on-site in a large company as they watched an already used and required training video. Employees were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) a baseline condition of watching the video as in current practice; (2) a spontaneous discussion condition in which participants discussed the video with colleagues immediately after the video without any guidelines; (3) a structured discussion condition in which participants discussed the video with colleagues immediately after the video with an instructor guiding discussion topics; and (4) a testing condition in which test questions were interpolated throughout the video. Memory for the content of the video was measured on a recognition memory test completed 20-35 hours after watching the video. Employees who were in the interpolated-testing or structured discussion conditions had significantly superior memory for the video content (26% and 25% better respectively) relative to typical video viewing; spontaneous discussion did not enhance memory for content. These findings demonstrate that interpolated testing and structured discussion enhance information retention in the workplace and point to how learning science may accelerate workplace learning more generally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:08:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/120481 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:08:51Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1204812022-09-30T00:01:33Z Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning Okano, Kana Kaczmarzyk, Jakub Gabrieli, John D. E. Harvard University--MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Clinical Research Center Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Office of Digital Learning McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT Okano, Kana Kaczmarzyk, Jakub Gabrieli, John D. E. Digital learning is becoming the most commonly used portal for workplace learning, but its effectiveness is not clearly understood. We studied 99 employees on-site in a large company as they watched an already used and required training video. Employees were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) a baseline condition of watching the video as in current practice; (2) a spontaneous discussion condition in which participants discussed the video with colleagues immediately after the video without any guidelines; (3) a structured discussion condition in which participants discussed the video with colleagues immediately after the video with an instructor guiding discussion topics; and (4) a testing condition in which test questions were interpolated throughout the video. Memory for the content of the video was measured on a recognition memory test completed 20-35 hours after watching the video. Employees who were in the interpolated-testing or structured discussion conditions had significantly superior memory for the video content (26% and 25% better respectively) relative to typical video viewing; spontaneous discussion did not enhance memory for content. These findings demonstrate that interpolated testing and structured discussion enhance information retention in the workplace and point to how learning science may accelerate workplace learning more generally. Accenture (Firm) 2019-02-19T18:00:11Z 2019-02-19T18:00:11Z 2018-10 2018-06 2019-02-19T14:14:32Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1932-6203 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120481 Okano, Kana, Jakub R. Kaczmarzyk, and John D. E. Gabrieli. “Enhancing Workplace Digital Learning by Use of the Science of Learning.” Edited by Etsuro Ito. PLOS ONE 13, no. 10 (October 24, 2018): e0206250. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206250 PLOS ONE Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf Public Library of Science PLoS |
| spellingShingle | Okano, Kana Kaczmarzyk, Jakub Gabrieli, John D. E. Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title | Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title_full | Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title_short | Enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| title_sort | enhancing workplace digital learning by use of the science of learning |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/120481 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1158-5692 |
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