The LDA Podcast: An Exploration of Evidence-Informed Approaches to Learning and Development

Learning Development Accelerator, Inc.

Originally spearheaded by noted learning scientists and consultants, Will Thalheimer and Matt Richter, and originally called Truth In Learning, the updated, upgraded, and rebooted LDA Podcast explores all aspects of the Learning and Development field- validated tools and resources for better training, debunked learning models, controversies in the industry, and so much more. Now hosted by Matt and Clark Quinn (another noted scientist and consultant, the podcast will dive deeply into what makes learning and development more effective and beneficial for its end-users, stakeholders, and practitioners. Along with our monthly and general episodes, we will also offer a monthly series on AI, hosted by AI expert, Markus Bernhardt. Over the upcoming season, The LDA Podcast will: -- Keep you current with L&D research and innovations -- Unpack complex ideas and concepts -- Sharpen your critical thinking skills -- Stimulate your L&D grey cells (although this objective may not be evidence-based) N...

  1. JUL 23

    The "My Generative" Episode

    Welcome back! Sorry for our long hiatus. In this episode, Clark and Matt explore GENERATIVE LEARNING. Early on, Clark brings up Craik and Lockhart's research about how information is processed on different levels (Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal behavior, 11, 671-684.) The paper can be found here. Throughout the podcast we talk about our colleagues and friends, John Sweller and Paul Kirschner several times. Some of the references we allude to are: LDA Podcast. (2024, January 25). The “What the Skills” Episode. Interview with Paul Kirschner by Matthew Richter. https://ldaccelerator.com/podcast. Sweller, J. (2016). Cognitive Load Theory: What We Learn and How We Learn. In M. Spector, B. Lockee, & M. Childress (Eds.), Learning, design, and technology (pp. 1–28). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17727-4_50-1 Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J.J.G., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10(3), 251–296. Another hero of ours is Richard Mayer. A favorite source from Rich, along with his long-time colleague and our LDA friend, Ruth Clark, is: Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2024). E‑Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning (5th ed.). Wiley. Clark relays a story of working with Kathy Fisher during his time as a graduate student, discussing her use of semantic networking with biology students to help them represent their understandings: Fisher, K. (1992). Semantic networking: the new kid on the block. In P. A. M. Kommers, D. H. Jonassen, & J. T. Mayes (Eds.) Mindtools: Cognitive Technologies for Modelling Knowledge. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. At one point we discuss the human information processing loop. While Sweller (and Kirschner) are super explainers of the Loop– as John refers to it, a part of the cognitive architecture, others have come before... Atkinson, R.C.; Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human Memory: A Proposed System and its Control Processes. Psychology of Learning and Motivation. Vol. 2. pp. 89–195. doi:10.1016/S0079-7421(08)60422-3 Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. (1974). Working Memory. In G. A. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47-89). New York: Academic Press.  Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0043158  Sweller and Kishner soon come up again, but this time with their co-author, Richard Clark, during a heated discussion of their groundbreaking (and Matt favorite) paper about the issues with constructivist learning called “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching” which can be found here: Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: An analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problem-based, experiential, and inquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1 Next, we discuss how to confirm whether the learners are able to retrieve the information being conveyed to them. Clark shares the work of teacher and cognitive scientist, Pooja Aggerwal: Agarwal, P.K. (2019). Retrieval Practice & Bloom’s Taxonomy: Do Students Need Fact Knowledge Before Higher Order Learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 111 (2), 189–209. We hope you enjoy!

    55 min
  2. MAY 5

    SHOW ME HOW YOU DO IT WITH SOFIE WILLOX: Charles-Louis de Maere

    SHOW ME HOW YOU DO IT is the new LDA VLOG and podcast brought to you by our friend, Sofie Willox. In each episode Sofie will interview an expert. These experts come from various domains within and surrounding L&D. Sofie interviews them on video. The videos will reside within the LDA community, but we wanted to nonetheless still share them and decided to post them here in the podcast feed. We hope you enjoy! This first interview is with another LDA friend, Charles-Louis de Maere.  The following are his own words about his work. "Bringing people together is something that lives on through my workshops and training. Whether they take place online or on-premise, I facilitate workshops and learning experiences that focus on high participation, on learning by doing and verifying that the concepts are integrated. I use Live Online Learning Activities to ensure people get a chance to practice their understanding of the new concepts.   "What better way is there to give meaning to what we say than to draw to make our thoughts explicit? When we add visual information to what we’re saying, suddenly our intention becomes much more precise, and we can begin to work on shared understanding. This is why I love bringing people in contact with the power of Visual Thinking, of getting back to our roots and using pen and paper to bring people closer together." The best place to find Charles-Louis is LinkedIn. He is prolific there and always finding ways to add value. https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleslouisdemaere/

    16 min
  3. JAN 26

    The "Desirable Difficulties" Episode

    NOTE: This podcast was recording in November, 2024. Today, Clark and Matt are joined once again by our dear friend, Nidhi Sachdeva.  We talk about Desirable Difficulties, originally coined by Robert Bjork and further explored with him and his wife, Elizabeth Bjork. A great overview paper can be found here: https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/04/EBjork_RBjork_2011.pdf Of course, we talk about the five strategies to foster desirable difficulties: Spaced Learning/ Distributed Practice Retrieval Practice/ The Testing Effect Interleaving Contextual Interference Reduced Feedback We even take a brief detour on whether note taking is effective. And of course, the answer is nuanced... see more here, from Paul Kirschner: https://3starlearningexperiences.wordpress.com/2023/05/09/longhand-notetaking-is-worth-using/ Clark references Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi's Flow... and frankly, the wiki page on it is pretty darn good. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)#:~:text=Flow%20state%20theory%20suggests%20that,key%20determinant%20of%20learning%20success. He also mentions Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development Matt references Thiagi's jolt called THE DAYS OF THE WEEK. Here is a video of the short activity: https://ldaccelerator.com/days-of-the-week-jolt Clark references MAKE IT STICK, by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel: https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/B0DG1195CM, as well as their colleague, Pooja Argawal, and her book, POWER TEACHING: https://www.amazon.com/Powerful-Teaching-Unleash-Science-Learning/dp/111952184X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?keywords=powerful+teaching&qid=1572929667&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sr=8-3&linkCode=sl1&tag=retrievalprac-20&linkId=a877fbf2e13704463c6402641571742c&language=en_US We do mention the LDA Learning Science Conference 2024... and how Nidhi will be there presenting about Desirable Difficulties... However, the conference is now past. But, Nidhi will be at the upcoming LDA The Evidence-Informed Practitioner Conference in April, 2025 and repeating her work in the 2025 Learning Science Conference. ________________________________________________ More about Nidhi… Nidhi Sachdeva is an evidence-informed learning designer, post-secondary educator, researcher, and educational technology specialist. She is interested in designing and integrating evidence-informed instructional practices using various educational technology tools, including GenAI. Recently, she has been researching this through microlearning and cognitive science. Nidhi is the co-author of a newsletter called The Science of Learning, which aims to reduce gaps between educational research and instructional practice. She also chaired the ResearchEd Toronto conference 2024, ' Discovering the Science of Learning.'  With almost 20 years of experience developing and facilitating learning content for both face-to-face and online courses within formal higher education, Nidhi is extremely passionate about integrating the Science of Learning into her pedagogical practice. She is currently teaching in the Teacher Education program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).

    51 min

Ratings & Reviews

4.6
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Originally spearheaded by noted learning scientists and consultants, Will Thalheimer and Matt Richter, and originally called Truth In Learning, the updated, upgraded, and rebooted LDA Podcast explores all aspects of the Learning and Development field- validated tools and resources for better training, debunked learning models, controversies in the industry, and so much more. Now hosted by Matt and Clark Quinn (another noted scientist and consultant, the podcast will dive deeply into what makes learning and development more effective and beneficial for its end-users, stakeholders, and practitioners. Along with our monthly and general episodes, we will also offer a monthly series on AI, hosted by AI expert, Markus Bernhardt. Over the upcoming season, The LDA Podcast will: -- Keep you current with L&D research and innovations -- Unpack complex ideas and concepts -- Sharpen your critical thinking skills -- Stimulate your L&D grey cells (although this objective may not be evidence-based) N...

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