Learning is not Linear it's Cyclical

Imagine if learning occurred in a tidy line:

• We hear a lecture
• We understand it
• We perform it
• We ace it

That’s streamlined!

But the reality is…

We need time and repetition to learn

Our inherent need for practice and reinforcement are critical to learning.  Through time and repetition, we encounter trials, resolve errors, and then – ace it!  

Effective teaching designed to foster deep learning is based upon this fact:  

Learning occurs cyclically

Across the arc of a learning experience, the learning cycle provides the framework for the practice and reinforcement we all need.  It is the critical pattern behind effective learning activities:

• Motivation: Motivate learners to contextualize a course within their personal and professional ambitions.  Capture their attention and provide a more rewarding learning experience.

• Comprehension: Provide necessary information for performing course competencies and meeting performance expectations.  The activities facilitate encoding in working memory.

• Practice: Simulate real-world application through two components: guided practice and constructive feedback. Together, they facilitate encoding to long-term memory.

• Application: Design assessments for learners to apply material to real-world scenarios. This fosters retrieval from long-term memory to enable working memory processing.
 

Apply the learning cycle with WIDS software

The learning cycle is so foundational that we embedded it in our learning and teaching plan development section of our software:

• Use our learning activity libraries to create learning plans that address each phase.
• Prefer different names for each phase of the cycle? Customize them in our software.
• Develop teaching and learning plans for each learning phase cycle - simultaneously!

Plan ahead to address the learning cycle

Whether you:

• Develop a course or program
• Revise a learning experience  

Plan ahead for the learning cycle to benefit your curriculum design:  

• Chunk content into manageable pieces by phase - "a big bunch of information" won't help.
• Target facilities, materials, and equipment for practice activity planning.
• Recognize that learners oscillate between Comprehension and Practice to progress.

Consider your motivations for reading this blog.  Contact us to explore how we can help you practice and apply the learning cycle to meet your instructional design needs.  

WIDS (Worldwide Instructional Design System) is a nonprofit organization that provides curriculum design software, consulting, and training services.