Before you read this article, stop and open up a window on your laptop or take a piece of paper and briefly describe in 200 words or less your worst, most boring, mind-numbing learning experience. Go ahead, I’ ll wait.
Unfortunately, most of us have a story to tell. Many of us have been trapped in a boring virtual classroom session or stuck in a mind-numbing lecture by a well-meaning, well-informed subject matter expert who doesn’t have a clue about engaging the learner.
Providing learners with passive learning experiences does little to foster engagement, spark creative thinking, or motivate. In the coming years, learning designs that lean toward passive, uninspired presentations of content soon will be replaced by various forms of artificial intelligence (AI). At the same time, organizations and employees will value richer, more inspiring learning designs from humans who transfer knowledge, teach and reinforce soft skills, change behavior, and add meaning and purpose to learning experiences. Not to mention helping to build culture and connections within the organization.
As Learning and Development (L&D) professionals, it’s up to us to flip the script. Instead of opening our sessions or eLearning modules with lengthy explanations about the importance of the subject or a long list of learning objectives written in a format only understood by our fellow instructional designers, we need to start our instruction with action and activity. We need to focus on Action-First Learning.
DEFINITION
What is Action-First Learning? It is a practical, philosophical approach to designing meaningful instruction that highlights the need for learning experiences that require learners to take immediate or initial actions that gain their attention, activate their senses, and encourage them to think critically and carry that orientation toward action throughout an entire learning experience, culminating in active reflection.
Instead of thinking first and primarily about what learners need to know, the thinking with Action-First learning is what learners need to do. How can we engage the learner at the beginning of an instructional experience?
AN ACTION-FIRST LEARNING EXPERIENCE
For example, in a sales training workshop, at the beginning of the session, before learning objectives are even discussed or mentioned, the learners discover they must create a mock customer pitch scenario from scratch within 30 minutes. At each table is a product brief, which they are instructed to review. No discussion of learning objectives, theory of sales pitches, or even “why you are here.” The learners just jump in.
Then they have to meet with the “client” played by the trainer who opens the conversation by indicating they are not impressed with several features of the product. The teams of learners then must handle objections and try to move the conversation forward, engaging in a live, unscripted interaction. Following this initial pitch, the trainer debriefs the learners, asking them what went well and where they felt challenged.
In this Action-First approach, rather than opening with a lecture about the sales model or the attributes of a good sales call, the learners are asked to put their skills to the test right away. The writings of Malcolm Knowle, an American educator who developed the theory of adult learning known as andragogy, has stated that adult learners learn best when they know they don’t know something.
An Action-First Learning approach points out to learners what they don’t know almost immediately as they start and then complete the opening action. In this example, the learners may not know how to overcome objections or what product features should be used in their sales pitch. The excitement, buzz, and conversations in the room when an Action-First approach is used are palatable—you can feel the energy. The same approach can be used in virtual classrooms and in online learning design.
3 ACTION-FIRST TIPS
Here are three ways to ensure your learning designs are Action-First:
1. Engage learners with manipulatives. Provide learners with something tangible or conceptual to actively engage with at the beginning of the instruction. This can be applying concepts to a high-stakes scenario, debating ideas, or even using cards to sort ideas or features and functions. Asking learners to manipulate objects or information, rather than passively listen, helps to promote critical thinking, deepen understanding, and encourage knowledge creation.
2. Focus on action and activity, not telling. Replace lengthy explanations with exercises where learners make decisions, solve a dilemma, or create a sales pitch. Emphasize what learners need to do rather than what they need to know.
3. Provide immediate feedback and reflection opportunities. Focused, constructive feedback after each activity reinforces learning. After learners receive feedback, you’ll need to allow time for them to reflect on their performance. You can encourage reflection with guided exercises, focused instruction, or key questions. An effective technique is to ask them to visualize how they’ll apply what they learned to an actual on-the-job situation.
ENGAGE FROM MINUTE ONE
Action-First learning engages learners from the beginning. If you can grab their attention early, you can maintain and keep it. Interestingly, learners who are used to passive learning experiences sometimes will “moan and groan” when they are forced to act right away. But once they start on the activity (provided it’s meaningful to them), they usually have a wonderful, memorable, and impactful learning experience. Consider making all your learning designs Action-First.
