Thanks for the clarification on the Confucius quote – Paul missed this when he wrote it and I missed it in editing

It’s also one of my favourite quotes about learning and I’m amazed that both Paul and I missed the error – just goes to show how we skip over things that are familiar to us and make assumptions!!

The goal of learning, in the corporate and voluntary sectors that Paul and I are involved in, is to help people change their behaviour and context is really important.

In a recent programme, we found an increase in exam pass rte by taking the test in the same room (under exam conditions) as the training had taken place. This seems to confirm that recalling the new information while in the same room that the information was experienced and practiced helps recall.

Thanks again for your comments

Interesting thoughts. What I remember of the Confucius quote is that it goes, What I hear I forget, what I see I remember, what I do I understand.

I think this would fit in with what you say about context being key rather than conflicting – when we learn involving doing, we know more of the context, have better understanding and end up with better long term retention, i.e. ‘just knowing stuff’. I think this also means that what has been learnt is more likely to be used.

The quote is one that I value the most as a learning and development professional and in helping other trainers.

Cheers

Richard