Hard isn’t Bad, the Science of Desirable Difficulties

It’s common in instructional design to hear advice about making training easier, more attractive, more fun. In fact, a quick Google search will turn up plenty of advice on how to “think like a marketer” in L&D. There’s a lot competing for learners’ attention. But could this focus work against sustained learning?

Robert and Elizabeth Bjork have written extensively on what they term “desirable difficulties” in learning. According to this body of research, some learning conditions will result in more frustration and even less immediate success but better long-term retention (Bjork & Bjork 2011, Bjork & Bjork 2020). Desirable difficulties, as strategies, are fairly straightforward. Consider:

1. Varying Conditions of Practice

Learning in a specific, narrow context can enhance memory if you recreate the same conditions. Think of students going to an exam in the same clothes they wore when studying. The trouble with this kind of context-dependent memory is that it doesn’t last. It’s more effective (in the long run) to deliberately learn and practice in multiple contexts. If you’re designing learning experiences, even deliberately scheduling practice sessions in two different rooms could enhance recall (Smith, Glenberg & Bjork, 1978, cited in Bjork & Bjork, 2011).

2. Spacing Study Sessions

Cramming is less effective than periodic review. This is, of course, one reason why day-long training events with no follow-up fail to bring about changed behavior at work. Spaced microlearning (released as a “subscription”) is one example of a different approach more consistent with the science of desirable difficulties.

3. Interleaving Instruction

Interleaving is kind of like multitasking’s not-evil cousin. Multitasking, i.e., doing two things at once or frequently changing attention, has long been shown to cause reduced performance (APA, 2006). Interleaving also involves switching between tasks, but with a goal of long-term learning, not immediate performance gains. For example, if you are building a training program to teach three new procedures, you might have participants practice one for 20 or 30 minutes, then switch and practice a different one, then go back.

4. Generating Information and Using Tests as Learning Events

Once a new concept or piece of information has been learned, performance depends on retrieving it. Interestingly, in the age of Google, we don’t practice retrieval as much, but we should. Self-quizzing works better than simple review to improve what you’ll remember later. Frequent built-in knowledge checks can serve a similar function.

You can download a poster summarizing these four strategies from The Effortful Educator, or hear Dr. Richard Bjork recap them in a 4-minute YouTube video on Using Desirable Difficulties to Enhance Learning.

Of course, knowing what works isn’t the same as getting people to do it. Zepeda et al. (2020) acknowledge this challenge and outline many options to address motivation. It’s worth pointing out that one of those options is still to increase a learning activity’s perceived value by making it more “enjoyable, fun, or interesting” (Zepeda et al., p. 5).

So yes, you can integrate humour, gamification, snazzy graphics, and so on into learning activities, and you should! Aside from enhancing motivation to participate, these design elements can help explain concepts, show different perspectives, reinforce behaviours, and so on. But if long-term skill performance or information recall is important for a given training activity, then desirable difficulties should also be built into your design.

References

APA (2006). Multitasking: Switching costs. Webpage available at Multitasking: Switching costs (apa.org) . Bjork, R. A., & Bjork, E. L. (2020). Desirable difficulties in theory and practice. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9 (4), 475-479. Available at https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2021/01/RABjorkELBjorkJARMAC2020ForPostingSingleSpaced.pdf

Bjork, E.L. & Bjork, R.A. (2011). Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way: Creating desirable difficulties to enhance learning. Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental contributions to society, 2(59-68). Available at https://bjorklab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/04/
EBjork_RBjork_2011.pdf

Zepeda, C. D., Martin, R. S. & Butler, A. C.  (2020). Motivational strategies to engage learners in desirable difficulties. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 9(4), 464-470. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347530816_Motivational_Strategies_to_
Engage_Learners_in_Desirable_Difficulties

Tags:  content development  course development  designing learning experiences  motivation