But this kind of teaching is actually at odds with how our brains learn and retain information.

So today I thought we’d dive into the science behind game-based learning — specifically how it improves knowledge comprehension, retention, and application.

4 Cognitive Psychology Techniques Used In Game-Based Learning

1. Distributed Practice

Distributed practice essentially means spreading your learning sessions out over time. So instead of holding a full day training session, you’d break your training content up into shorter chunks and have employees take courses over a couple days, or even weeks. That’s it.

Here’s why it works.

For starters, our brains can’t handle a lot of new information at once. That’s why after a full day of learning, you often can’t remember everything that was covered. It’s just too much to process.

When you decrease the amount you learn in one session, and increase the time between learning sessions your brain is able to absorb more information. Then you have to work harder to remember that information in the next learning session. That act of recall actually helps encode information in your brain, leading to higher retention rates.

In Figure 1 you can see the extent to which distributed practice can affect retention. While scores are initially higher for users who learned en-masse, after 30 days retention dropped to just 65% — while users who learned via distributed practice had retention rates of over 90%. ^[1]

Distributed practice is used a lot in microlearning platforms, but we also use it in game-based learning. Game-based learning programs break learning content up into smaller sections (i.e. levels), reducing the amount of information consumed in one learning session.

Users are also encouraged to take training in short daily sessions of about 5 minutes — spreading learning out over time and improving knowledge retention.

2. Practice Testing

Most of us grew up hating tests, but they can actually be incredibly useful learning tactics — as long as you’re not being graded on them.

Practice testing is essentially a test with low-to no-stakes on the outcome.

Think more flashcards, than pop-quiz.

Practice testing works because it forces our brains to practice recalling information — keeping information at our fingertips — and helping to encode it in our long term memory.

You can see in Figure 2 the impact of practice testing on retention rates. In this study learners who used practice testing consistently remembered 10-20% more information than their peers. ^[2]

At its core, most game-based learning is a practice test — it just doesn’t feel like it because it’s fun. Regardless of the game type, learners always need to recall information, and select the correct answer in order to progress. The game elements just hide the quiz structure from the user.

Game-based learning’s practice test structure increases retention by forcing users to recall the information — then providing immediate feedback about whether their recollection was correct or not. Immediate feedback is critical so employees don’t accidentally encode incorrect information.

3. Interleaved Practice

This last technique is essentially the practice of mixing topics together. So instead of taking a deep dive about topic A, you’d learn about Topic A and Topic B at the same time.

Psychologists have found that mixing topics together helps us comprehend and apply information better — even though it can take us longer to learn in the first place.

That’s because when you learn about multiple topics, your brain has to decide which information applies to which situation — improving the organization of knowledge in your brain and making it easier to apply the right information to the right situation in the future.

You can see in Figure 3 that while blocked practice (where users just learn about one topic) showed initial scores of 80% and higher, in the follow up test accuracy fell to just over 20%, while interleaved practice learners maintained their level of accuracy. ^[3]

We use this technique in game-based learning in two ways. First by letting users have free access to different topics within a level. Learners can jump between courses, which helps them organize information and apply it correctly.

Second, we use multiple game types within courses. A game-based course might have a spot-the-error round, and a scenario round, then a trivia round. Using different styles of games forces learners to apply information in different ways, which also helps improve application of learning after training.

4. Active Learning

Encouraging active participation instead of just passive engagement with training materials can also help encode knowledge. Studies have shown that our ability to remember things we hear is significantly less compared to our ability to remember things we see and touch. ^[4]

As one study found, “organized psychomotor participation increases the learning of a given technological concept. It can be generalized that hands-on activities are effective learning experiences for any applicable concept.” ^[5]

Game-based learning uses active learning almost exclusively. By taking passive content (like videos and PDFs) and making them into interactive games, game-based learning forces users to stay actively engaged with course content.

Employees can’t doze off or zone out because they’ll lose points or miss questions. They need to pay attention and stay engaged to max out their scores and master the content.

The Bottom Line

Game-based learning doesn’t just make learning fun.

It uses cognitive psychology techniques like distributed practice, practice testing, interleaved practice, and active learning to ensure your employees learn, remember, and apply more of the information covered in training.

Sources:

How Does Game-Based Learning Work?

Traditional training techniques often mirror how we learned in school. We use techniques like lecture-style classroom training, PDFs, and evaluative tests to train our employees.