Memory Anchoring: How to Maximize It in Your Professional Training?

Introduction: the question of anchoring is at the same time that of the ROI of your training

How many employees come out of a training session with a superficial sense of control and then forget everything a few weeks later? How many e-learning projects require months of instructional design, for In fine not lead to any lasting change on the ground? If you are asking yourself the question of memory anchoring, it is because you are already aware of THE key problem of training: the return on investment (ROI) and the effectiveness of your efforts.

Taking this problem head on means measuring the difference between the knowledge you want to transmit and its long-term appropriation by the learner; it is therefore taking seriously the contribution of pedagogy and cognitive sciences, which study the mechanisms by which a human brain retains information in the long term.

Anchoring cannot be reduced to a single moment and requires a holistic approach

However, addressing the problem does not guarantee its successful application, and numerous misconceptions threaten the implementation of a truly effective anchoring strategy. The term “memory anchoring”, popularized in the 2010s, has one advantage — that of being based on firmly established scientific phenomena — and a disadvantage — that of restricting too much the field of educational effectiveness. It carries with it the temptation to reduce anchoring to a moment, that of active post-training re-mobilization; and to a challenge, that of memorizing facts and knowledge, as one would cramble for an exam. In reality, a large part of the anchoring takes place before these dynamics, and takes into account many parameters other than memory alone, which requires a holistic, end-to-end approach to the training experience.

The anchoring of the formations is also played out during the training

Upstream, the motivation to learn must be present. Trainees must project themselves into the concrete benefits of the training for their work and career, which implies starting from concrete situations rather than presenting the subjects from a purely theoretical angle.

Learners' pre-existing preconceived ideas must also be deconstructed: training new managers, for example, means training individuals who may already have certain behaviors rooted in their daily lives, such as being too direct or, conversely, being too complacent. To counter this type of behavior, research shows that it is preferable to move away from a purely top-down approach and first let the learner make their own choices, in order to readjust their representations later.

Once these initial obstacles have been removed, the new information must be presented in a digestible way, while avoiding cognitive overload: this is the difference between a PowerPoint full of paragraphs of text and jargon, and a clear outline presented gradually, with concrete examples, and meaningful metaphors.

Finally, The illusion of mastery must be fought throughout the learning process: in fact, what is the point in retaining information that is in fact false, or whose practical implications would be poorly digested? To do this, it is essential to regularly confront learners with feedback, via exercises with a sufficient level of difficulty: thus, after explaining how a procedure works, it is recommended to present the learner various practical cases of applying the procedure to the learner in order to ask him how he would treat them.

Active re-mobilization, a prerequisite for long-term anchoring

Following initial training, anchoring itself comes. Conceptually, the key to anchoring is what we call active re-mobilization: neural connections are strengthened each time the brain makes an autonomous recovery effort (” What do I do to activate the machine already? ”), which makes it possible to fight against oblivion and to guarantee long-term learning. This active re-mobilization is all the more effective the more it is repeated (even if the first re-mobilization already has an impact that should not be overlooked!) and spaced out in time.

Mechanisms such as flashcards are particularly suited to this objective: I read a card with a question, try to find the answer in mind, and turn the card over to check what was expected; if I succeeded, I remove the card; if I made a mistake, I put the card back at the bottom of the pile; I continue like this until I have got rid of all the cards. Flashcards, which have the advantage of being easily automated digitally, are however not the only means of allowing re-mobilization: good MCQs, for example, can play this role, provided that the learner has to make a real effort to find the correct answer, rather than proceeding by elimination. To go further, An AI coach can also ask your learners to explain what they have learned in their own words and to give them personalized feedback.

From pure memorization to the transfer of learning in the field

Too often, active remobilization is limited to memorizing facts and figures, rote learning that is reminiscent of school. While this learning is indeed necessary, it is rarely sufficient; effective anchoring must address the more delicate issue of learning depth and transfer. Thus, a seller who strengthens his product knowledge must know how to mobilize this knowledge in front of a prospect, with his particular context, the questions he is likely to ask, etc.

To deal with this level of depth, the ideal is to propose a more complex scenario, where the learner must produce the answer by himself, for example in the face of a customer objection; then to offer him fully personalized feedback, as a tutor or a coach could do: what was treated well, what could be improved... We thus pass from theoretical memorization to the ability to apply it in the field, which is none other than the final objective of most courses.

Educational AI, or how to make memory anchoring accessible to all

All of these demonstrate the trainer's responsibility to structure an engaging and active learning experience at every stage of the training process. All this may seem time-consuming, even utopian given the efforts required. This is where AI comes in, and in particular so-called educational AI: new technologies make it possible to delegate this educational engineering effort by producing adapted learning formats based on raw content. Imagine submitting a PDF, or writing down your ideas in bulk on a subject, and seeing active remobilization exercises emerge in a few minutes with concrete scenarios, flashcards, and even an AI coach capable of providing personalized feedback on any task!

This scenario, once inconceivable, is now a reality with educational AI: there is therefore now no reason to stick to top-down courses, where the anchor dimension would be sacrificed on the altar of time and cost. Effective pedagogy is being democratized and with it, memory anchoring for all.
‍

‍