Area9 Lyceum Blog

How Many Questions Does Adaptive Learning Software Need?

Posted by Area9 on Dec 4, 2017 9:00:00 AM
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Formative assessment - or teaching by asking questions - sets Adaptive Learning software apart from traditional corporate learning delivery methods.

Millions of learners have gone through our adaptive engine; this and 20 years of research have shown us that checking comprehension with well-designed and executed probes (questions) improves e-learning effectiveness. When learners are asked questions they better engage with the learning content - which helps them learn - and then take what they’ve learned and put it back into your business.

How Many Questions Does Adaptive Learning Software Need to Be Effective?

The short answer: one. The long answer: It’s a bit more complicated than that.

adaptive learning software (2).jpgTechnically, the Adaptive Learning system only requires one question per learning objective. But the more important a learning objective is to the course, the more questions should be written for that learning objective in order to make sure the learner really has mastered that information. 

If a learner is moving quickly through the questions and answering correctly (and confidently) the Adaptive Learning software adapts to their knowledge. This has the added benefit of optimizing training time, ensuring they never waste time “learning” content they already thoroughly understand.

But if a learner is slow to respond, if their performance is poor, or if they are revealing themselves to be unconsciously incompetent about a specific learning objective, the Adaptive Learning software will rely on more questions to ensure understanding - and will correct instances of unconscious incompetence.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to write bad questions. Creating good questions (ones that are clear, succinct, and hard to guess) requires skill. Luckily, we have the fix. Area9 can write the questions for you and, if you like, teach your training team how to write the right questions for your future Adaptive Learning courses, too.

Get Effective Corporate Learning for Your Business

Adaptive Learning optimizes training time, improves engagement, and guarantees mastery. Learn more about adaptive questions, the data you can gather from your learners’ answers, and other benefits of Adaptive Learning: Download this free ebook.

Corporate E-learning Ebook

 

Topics: Adaptive Learning