Eating the Elephant: Content Chunking

If you’ve ever had to enter a password or code on your device, you surely appreciate the fact that copy-and-paste functions exist. Having one less thing to remember is a convenience and time saver. Although we can’t necessarily utilize copy-and-paste in our brains, chunking techniques make learning and retaining information more accessible. Breaking up training content into small, manageable pieces makes information easier to remember and improves mastery of skills.

Humans have limits regarding short-term memory, especially if memories aren’t rehearsed or maintained. In George Miller’s paper, The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information, he describes how adults can store five to nine pieces of information in their short-term memory. Since we are bombarded with new information thanks to digital resources, retaining new information is difficult without breaking it up into smaller, more manageable segments. Examples are social security numbers (segmented into 3-2-4) and phone numbers (segmented into 3-3-4).

What is your highest priority?

Public leaderboards so everyone can see everyone else’s progress, achievements, and trophies. Create an online group (using whatever social networking tool you have available) to be a ‘water cooler’ environment to encourage student discussions. You could also divide your class into teams to encourage internal competition and avoid the shame of individuals lagging the rest of the class.

Now I've Got You!

Information overload will not get the results you desire. Carefully selecting attention-grabbing visuals, interactive activities, and reflective and relevant exercises based on your prioritized goal will maximize results. Time spent researching prior experience and exposure aids in retention as well. Connections to previous knowledge make new information relevant and more likely to be remembered. For example, suppose team members can personally work through short, interactive models of the software program they will eventually master. In that case, they will be more likely to remember the skills in the future.

Formatting Success

Research has shown that readers tend to skim instead of reading every word when presented with a wall of text. While it is possible to pick up information by reading this way, the organization of a page can improve the retention of information. Information presented in bulleted or numbered lists, short paragraphs, or outline form is often easier to remember. These chunks of information are manageable and clear. For example, when creating a reference guide to accompany your new software training, an outline format would start with the most important information as a heading and use short, concise details as bullet points, letters, or numbers to add support and examples. You could even give learners a scaffolded template to add information to as you go through your training to make the learning more active.

Storyboarding

Technology benefits training and you have endless possibilities regarding information presentation choices. Remember that if you utilize screens (slideshows, videos, etc.), keep chunks of information limited to absorb each slide. For example, if you present a slideshow as a preview activity for your new software training, each slide should have a narrow, concise focus with no more than six bullet points and six words per line. Overuse of content can overwhelm learners and reduce focus on the priority information. Chunking strategies can create connections and benefit learners by giving them small, digestible new information. By arranging prioritized information in a way that makes sense to learners, you will make the most of your training time and see improvements in skill mastery.