Many of us who work in the field of workplace learning never planned to do this work. There is a fairly high percentage who I would consider “accidental” learning professionals. While there is certainly nothing wrong with taking this path, it often means that much of the work we do is based on our intuition or what we’ve personally experienced.

That is why it is important to regularly seek out what the science says so we can either confirm or correct the strategies we’re employing and make sure we’re getting the best possible results.

It is with this thought in mind that I’d like to share this recent research on applying the science of workplace instruction to the work we do. This research from Kurt Kraiger and J. Kevin Ford delves into the intersection of instructional principles and organizational training methods. Among the findings are five core instructional principles that have empirical support and can be applied in multiple ways to facilitate learning.

I’d recommend taking a good look at Table 1 on pages 8, 9, and 10!

Source: The Science of Workplace Instruction: Learning and Development Applied to Work — Change 4 Growth