Countering the Training Half Life Andrew Booth Reader

Countering the Training Half. Life Andrew Booth, Reader in Evidence Based Information Practice, University of Sheffield

The Training “Half-life? ” • How long after a training session have our trainees forgotten half of what we have told them – and how much longer to lose the other half? • “. . . at the very moment when a learning period is finished, the brain has not had enough time to integrate the new information it has assimilated…It needs a few minutes to complete and link firmly all the interconnections within the new material to let it 'sink in'. • The decline that takes place after the small rise is a steep one within 24 hours of a one-hour learning period at least 80 per cent of detailed information is lost”. (Buzan, 2005)

We all know what he means! • “Lecture: process by which the notes of a teacher become the notes of a student without passing through the minds of either – Michael O’Donnell

Partial ia Learning in • While teachers are lecturing, students are not attending to what is being said 40% of the time

Partial Recall • In the first 10 minutes of lecture, students retain 70% of the information; in the last ten minutes, 20%

Partial interest • Students lose their initial interest, and attention levels continue to drop, as a lecture proceeds

Partial education • Four months after taking an introductory course, students knew only 8% more than a control group who had never taken the course

One size does not fit all… • Training courses are designed around an “average” user (the one with 2. 4 children!) • At any point in time almost half our users are getting more than they want and the other (almost) half are getting stuff they already know • They either decide what they need (and they are notorious for not being able to self-assess their competency e. g. beginners, intermediate, advanced) OR we decide what is best for them

What do we typically evaluate? • “Was this training session a pleasurable experience for you? ” • We know this because they usually mention the biscuits! Or the heat of the room! • Compared with………. ? Blood, faeces, urine, gangrene, ……death?

Evaluation bypass • We interpret mentions of the biscuits or the heat of the room as – “at least this means that there is nothing else more important to worry about” (false positives). • Whereas it could mean – that “this is what they consider a successful outcome from the session” OR • That we have designed a good instrument for assessing their physical comfort!

Not having information skills training can be…. . • “good because you have to learn the hard way. You tend to have better skills if you have had to find your own way around but it would've been nice to have been eased into it, in a bit more structured way as well” Goodall, D. L. and P. Brophy (1997). A comparable experience? library support for franchised courses in higher education. British Library Research and Innovation Report; 33. Preston, CERLIM, University of Central Lancashire: viii, 233 p.

Solutions? • We need to encourage effective notetaking • We need to stimulate mnemonic techniques • We need to promote review, repetition and reinforcement • We need to enhance interaction • We need to use problem-based learning scenarios

Further Reading • To receive a pre-publication copy of the article on which this presentation is based send an email with the text GET FOLIOZhalf. pdf to mailtalk@mailtalk. ac. uk [With no Subject line, no signature file] • Also see: "Remember the Gin and Tonic!" : Using Alcohol to Teach Boolean Searching http: //www 3. baylor. edu/LIRT/lirtnews/1995/jgin. html