Retrieval Practice and Deep Smarts

A book that has profoundly influenced my view of training is Deep Smarts by Swap and Leonard (2005). According to Swap and Leonard, knowledge that we develop on the job follows a bell curve. In the middle of the curve are the knowledge and skills we use most frequently. Toward the ends of the curve are knowledge and skills we use less frequently because, the further we move toward the tails of the curve, the rarer are the work situations. According to Swap and Leonard (2005), it takes around 10 to 25 years for a person to fully gain the knowledge and skills of their job. For example, it may take 10 years for an electrical power line worker to fully learn the job because some work situations may only occur once in the 10 years.

To help speed up the process of learning and knowledge transfer, Swap and Leonard (2005) advocate the following model of training:

When you compare the diagram to the quote from Make it Stick (2014), you can see the similarities.

"Retrieval practice that you perform at different times and in different contexts and that interleaves different learning material has the benefit of linking new associations to the material. This process builds interconnected networks of knowledge that bolster and support mastery of your field. It also multiplies the cues of retrieving and knowledge, increasing the versatility with which you can later apply it."


The "Learning by Doing" section of the diagram describes the four practices of "Guided Experience." These four practices rely on using retrieval practice to help learners develop cues for different work situations. The key is that the retrieval practice is tied to experiences that are guided. Swap and Leonard (2005) discuss a training simulation that helps the electrical power line worker acquire knowledge and skills in two years when undirected, learning-on-the-job would have taken ten years.

Now, Leonard and Swap (2005) do not discuss the interleaving process but the other concept of building interconnected networks of knowledge is a major part of Guided Experience. Leonard and Swap (2005) also describe how the four Guided Experience practices helps the student build versatility by having the student apply knowledge to novel situations and adapting the knowledge as needed.

Thus, I agree with the instructor's assertion that the quote from Make it Stick (2014) is apt summary of the book and a reinforcement of a key method in knowledge transfer and training.

References

Brown, P.C., Roediger III, H.L., & McDaniel, M.A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press.

Leonard, D., & Swap, W.C. (2005). Deep smarts: How to cultivate and transfer enduring business wisdom. Harvard Business Review Press.