You will be surprised how many people do not know what instructional design is. And even those who do often underestimate its value. If I ask you why we need instructionally sound training courses, you will probably respond by saying that training helps people acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully perform their jobs. However, the true reason for training goes beyond that. A person can certainly acquire new knowledge and skills by reading a book on the topic or spending a day or two doing Internet search, gathering data, and acquainting his or herself with the content. Nowadays, people can learn almost anything without ever leaving their houses. They can download books, print articles, take free courses, and even watch videos completely free of charge. Informal learning is becoming a popular training solution for many organizations because it is cheap, can be done in people’s free time, and does not require many resources. Managers often assume their employees need training and assign numerous courses to them. After realizing that employees’ performance did not improve, they make another incorrect assumption that training does not work. These managers never even consider the possibility that the training was not necessary in the first place, or that it was poorly designed.
Let’s take a look at the following situation. After graduating from medical school, Frederic started working in a local hospital. The employer was very excited to hire such a talented young man. However, Frederic’s on-the job performance did not reflect his school grades. Not only did he make many critical mistakes when diagnosing his patients, but he also lacked the knowledge needed to answer patients’ questions. Does this sound familiar to you? Have you ever heard of a doctor who misdiagnosed his patients or provided incorrect information? This does not only apply to doctors but also to other professionals, including pharmacists, nurses, engineers, project managers, programmers, and lawyers who can make very costly mistakes. When hiring managers encounter these individuals, they often become frustrated. After all, they hired hard working college graduates with great potential. What these hiring managers do not realize is that most schools only make an attempt to equip students with relevant knowledge and skills. How much information do these students have to learn or memorize? A lot. And, how much information can the human brain really take? If at the end of the course students do not remember a single thing, then learning has not taken place, performance has not improved, and ultimately, the course design was ineffective. According to George Miller’s magical number, “seven, plus or minus two,” short-term memory is only able to hold about seven bits of information. To ensure better retention, it is best to break lessons up so that they contain fewer bits of information to ensure better retention. The exact amount of information provided in the course should depend on the content and complexity. Each time new information is presented, it is temporarily stored in the short-term memory. Thereafter, it can either be encoded into long-term memory or completely disappear from the memory.
Whether or not learners retain the content depends on the lesson design. Experienced instructional designers always aim to avoid cognitive overload and create interactive and memorable learning experiences. Let’s get back to our college students. Instead of appropriately breaking the information into short but meaningful segments to avoid cognitive overload, instructors make students cram insane amount of information just to pass the test. As a result, that information does not go anywhere beyond short-term memory and leaves students’ heads immediately after the exam. This is where good instructional design comes into play. Not only do professional and experienced instructional designers and curriculum developers know how to logically organize and present the content, but they also know how to convey it to the learners in a way that would promote retention. Instructional designers know when to offer a study guide, a job aid, or a video, and they always choose the optimal solution to the problem.
But let’s assume that the college course was properly designed, and students obtain all the required knowledge. Will they be successful in their jobs? Not necessarily. Each job has its own set of requirements and needs. There is no college course that can accommodate the needs of every single job. That’s because each organization does things differently. The college only teaches the basics. It provides students with the core knowledge in their field. With proper on-the job training, they can become a successful employee. This is why training is important. Whenever a new employee comes in, he should receive a complete training course as well as be assigned a mentor and work under his direct supervision for a certain period of time or until he comfortably performs all the duties. This will provide the necessary hands-on practice that most colleges and universities do not offer. Additionally, to be successful, employees must always have go-to resources readily available to them. These resources include refresher trainings, job mentoring, and job aids and flow charts. Instructional designers know exactly what solution to offer to help employees find that missing link in their knowledge without making any assumptions about their prior knowledge.
Because most employers are not familiar with training and development, they do not know all the nuances that can truly improve their employees’ performance. Obviously, there are many other reasons that account for poor on-the job performance such as low motivation, environmental, or health issues that require other performance interventions. However, when it comes to lack of knowledge or skills, organizations should hire professional instructional designers who can lead them, their employees, and the company in the right direction.
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