L&D Book Reviews: Design for How People Learn (Repost from LinkedIn)

This week, I want to talk about Design for How People Learn by Julie Dirksen. Many folks may already know about this book, but it's definitely worth all the attention it gets. I'm going to go into some less "common" books probably over the next few weeks, but this is another book that's really useful for beginners. Though I think it's another good "re-read this frequently" for all of us, or at least touch base with it piece, to just remember all the things about the human brain and learning we absolutely know but sometimes lose touch with in the daily grind.

What I learned:
*How folks in ID/adult learning talk about cognitive science (I already knew a lot of the cognitive science personally, but I have a bunch of teaching books on that which I read for "fun" because I'm a total brain nerd)
*How to break down cognitive science for training purposes in practical situations
*How to visualize or explain cognitive science to other people who don't have the background knowledge (knowing it is one thing, but being able to advocate requires this piece!)

What I like about it:
*The pictures! I am not actually one for pictures just for the sake of pictures, like they don't energize or attract me, but I love the ones here because they really do give me meaningful "hooks" and "shelves"
*The real world situations and application -- examples woven in constantly
*Well, I'm a cognitive science nerd, so I love this, and I love the way it gives you metaphors to explain it that people will really get
*How utterly comprehensive it feels in many ways (on its topic, not everything in L&D)
*So many citations! Oh, the research is glorious, I found and followed up on a few studies (again, nerd here)

Who I would recommend it to: Anyone in L&D! Understanding learners and how our brains work is so crucial to designing and delivering learning. Though the focus here is on designing, I think it would help folks interested in corporate training as well. I have seen teachers complain it's "review" and they already know this, but that doesn't mean it's not helpful to learn scenarios and how to translate and talk about cognitive science in a new setting.

This content is from my LinkedIn post, originally written in September, 2022. Those reviews will be originating here from now on.