Use AGES to make learning stick

Have you ever run a workshop that went brilliantly on the day, only to follow up with participants a few months later and discover that almost nothing had changed? The feedback might have been excellent, the energy in the room was fantastic, and yet very little of what was covered made it into practice. If that sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone! In this episode we’re going to explore the AGES model and find out how we can improve the learning experiences we design as extension practitioners.

The AGES model was first outlined in 2010 by Davachi and colleagues, drawing together four principles from the neuroscience of learning: Attention, Generation, Emotion, and Spacing. The argument is that when all four conditions are present in a learning experience, learners activate the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for converting short-term experience into long-term memory. If we want people to remember and actually use what they learn, we need to design for all four of these principles.

The model has since been updated and refined (Davis et al., 2017). We haven’t come across it being formally applied in agricultural extension, but we think it could be really useful! So let’s go through each of the principles. The first principle is A for Attention. Research suggests that the brain can only sustain deep focus for around 20 minutes before attention starts to drift, even when someone is trying to concentrate. And multitasking is absolutely no help to us when it comes to learning! Every time we divide our attention between two things, we pay a cognitive penalty, and that penalty undermines the formation of new memories.

Let’s pause and think about this in practice. A one-day field day packed with information, or a workshop where participants are half-listening while quietly checking their phones, is unlikely to produce the kind of focused attention that leads to lasting learning. Building in pauses, anchoring each session to one key idea, and designing activities that require people to engage rather than passively receive, are all ways of working with this principle, rather than against it.

Next is G for Generation. This is where learners actively explain or connect ideas rather than simply absorbing information. In the process they build far stronger neural pathways and learn. Our own learning occurs when we are motivated to understand, contextualise, retain, and apply knowledge in our own way, that is, we personalise the information. 

Think about the difference between telling a group of growers about a new soil health practice versus having them work through a case study in small groups, discuss how it might apply on their own properties, and then explain their thinking back to the rest of the room. The second approach takes more time and requires more careful facilitation, but it’s supporting growers to apply what they’re learning to their own situation. And we know this works! Farmer peer-to-peer groups and discussion groups often produce far better outcomes than information sessions. 

Next is E for Emotion. We tend to think of emotion as separate from serious learning, or even as a distraction from it. However, emotions function as a kind of alert system for flagging what’s important enough to remember. Positive emotions and personal connections trigger priority storage signals in the brain, making information far more likely to be retained and recalled later. This isn’t about a performance or manipulating people, but it does mean that learning experiences with no emotional texture, nothing surprising, nothing that connects to what people actually care about, are likely to be forgotten. When a farmer shares a story about how a practice change worked, and other farmers recognise something of their own situation in that story, their emotional response is helping with the cognitive work. Novelty, positive anticipation, and the warmth of peer connections all help to create the moderate level of positive emotion that enhances retention. Curiosity and even the discomfort of a well-designed challenge can be worth thinking about.

Finally we have S for Spacing. We’ve actually mentioned this before in an earlier episode on learning research. A lot of extension events are one-offs (like a field day, a workshop, or a webinar). We design them, deliver them, and move on to the next thing. But these sessions don’t do much for long-term retention of information, even when participants leave feeling energised and the satisfaction ratings are high.

Our brains need time to consolidate and strengthen the neural connections that form when we learn something new. Revisiting the material after a while helps us reinforce those connections and prevents us from forgetting. We grow memories over time, so a step-by-step approach, where learners return to key ideas on multiple occasions is far more likely to result in knowledge retention than binging on content! We think this is where some of Ruth Nettle’s work on stacking, linking and networking comes in to build on extension activities and methods. It means thinking more broadly than just one activity at a time but thinking in terms of a program or journey. 

We think the AGES model is a useful framework for us as enablers of change. Here are some key questions we could ask ourselves. When we’re thinking about learning design are we making space for focused attention, or are we trying to cover too much ground in too little time? Are participants generating their own insights and connections, or just receiving ours? Is there emotional texture in the experience, with stories to react to and connect with? And is there a plan for returning to key ideas over time, spacing it out, or does the learning begin and end on the day?

We wanted to give our friend and colleague Lab Wilson a shout out as he reminded us of the AGES model and we thought it was worth an episode. Thanks Lab! Have you come across it before? And do any of the four principles match your experience of what makes learning stick? Add a comment below and tell us your thoughts! We don’t want this to be just a one-way conversation—join in by sharing your thoughts and ideas with us! 

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Resources

Davachi, L., Kiefer, T., Rock, D., & Rock, L. (2010). Learning that lasts through AGES. NeuroLeadership Journal, 3, 53-63. Available online 

Davis, J., Balda, M., Rock, D., McGinniss, P., & Davachi, L. (2014). The science of making learning stick: An update to the AGES model. NeuroLeadership Journal, 5, 1-15.