Abstract:

Compliance rules in a rapidly increasing number of industry demand that companies can show at any given time what the actual knowledge levels are of their staff. Whether it concerns knowledge on safety, security, integrity, products, services or procedures, top-of-mind knowledge has to ensure that people can properly do their jobs.
But how can companies ensure that the right people have the right knowledge and that this knowledge remains up to date throughout the year?

Scientific research that is based on spaced repetition is has been combined with the latest online and mobile technology and this has lead to an innovative learning platform. The online and mobile service is called Drillster. Assessment based learning is used to continuously measures the knowledge of an employee or student. Questions that are incorrectly answered, are repeated more frequently than questions that are correctly answered. A unique algorithm determines the order and frequency of the questions. This results in up to 40% faster learning. This has been proven in a scientific research done by the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands in 2013.

Also, the research of the University of Utrecht showed that students that prepared their tests using the Drillster adaptive learning platform, had on average 10% higher notes for the tests that they prepared using Drillster.

Based on the learning history of a student, Drillster can calculate the decline of knowledge when it is now maintained. When the knowledge levels fall below a level as set by a company or school, the student receives a mail or app notification so he can brush up on his knowledge. Updating the knowledge also works in an adaptive way and the research of the University of Utrecht confirmed that the calculations that Drillster makes on the decline of knowledge, represent the real knowledge level that would also be proven by an independent test. This innovative approach on permanent education is valuable for both business and school training.

At the EduLearn Conference we would like to show how the combination of scientific research and technology leads to efficient learning and better retention. Reference cases can provide further evidence of this innovative approach on permanent education.

Keywords:

Knowledge, retention, memorization, assessment based learning, spaced repetition, adaptive learning, adaptive testing, permanent education, retention.