Whatever happened to inductive learning?

When it comes to writing interactive learning materials, I've always preferred a particular approach and have used this almost without thinking for the past twenty years. Rather than 'tell and test', where you present information and then follow this up with a knowledge test, I prefer an inductive approach, where you build on the learner's prior knowledge and help them to connect with new concepts, principles, rules, etc. Rather than starting with the general (the new ideas) and moving to specifics (the examples, the test items), you start with the specific (the learner's experience, stories, examples) and move to the general (the ideas). Now I know this approach probably has to be modified a little when you're working with complete novices, who maybe don't have much in the way of specific experience to build on, but this is rarely the case with adults. And after all, doesn't all new knowledge have to connect with what's already there - that's how it works!

The trouble is, inductive learning doesn't seem to have been what the developers had in mind when they designed the latest generation of  rapid e-learning authoring tools. Over the past few days, I've been testing out a number of tools trying to implement a short section from the script for the 30-minute masters. I got to screen 2 before giving up.

Here's screen 1. This was no problem:

Graphic/animation: Justin sitting at his desk looking perplexed.

Narration or text: Meet Justin. He's a product manager for a multinational electronics manufacturer and he needs your help. In just ten days, Justin will be launching a new product onto the market. Now normally he gets more lead time, but this one just has to go out quickly to take advantage of a window of opportunity before competitive products are launched. This product is not run-of-the-mill - it has some unique features and benefits that are tricky to convey. But convey them he must, to 900 salespeople around the world. They in turn have to be able to identify when the new product is the right solution for the customer, and be able to clearly communicate the new product's benefits. Nothing can be left to chance - Justin simply has to be sure they're up to it.

OK, simple text and graphics or audio and graphics. The problem comes with screen 2 (the feedback to each option is shown in square brackets):

Graphic/animation: As screen 1.

Multi-choice question: What would you advise Justin to do?

Options and feedback:

• Run a series of face-to-face seminars [Great idea if he had the time. There's absolutely no way that Justin can run seminars for 1500 people in 10 days. First he has to prepare the seminar. Then somebody has to travel - he to them or them to him. This isn't realistic - pick another option.]
• Post a full product specification on to the company's intranet [Not a bad idea, because this is practical in the time available. The trouble is that, although a document on the intranet may be a useful reference source, it's not really training. There's a chance they'll never access it and that, even if they do, none of it will stick. Either way, Justin will never know, because there's no tracking. Pick another option.]
• Create a short e-learning module [I know, this is bound to be our favourite option - after all, that's what this course is all about. Nevertheless, it does make sense. Justin has to reach a large, geographically dispersed audience very quickly and he needs to be sure that his message gets across. No other option here can achieve that.]
• Bring in the managers for training and then let them in turn train their direct reports locally [OK, reasonable idea, but with two snags. First, it's highly unlikely that this process could be completed in two weeks. Secondly, there's a risk that the message will be diluted as it is cascaded through the ranks. I'd pick another option.]
• Do nothing - let them pick it up of their own accord [Could work, but we know that this product has some features and benefits that are tricky to convey - Justin really can't take the risk. Pick another option.]

In my mind this is an absolutely routine question format: whichever option the learner chooses, they receive some feedback which will hopefully provide them with an alternative perspective and cause them to reflect a little; if they want, they can then choose further options, not only to hunt down the 'right answer' but maybe just to see what sort of feedback they would get. This is not an assessment, it is an exploration, a discussion. It's the sort of activity that a classroom teacher uses routinely.

Try implementing this in a modern authoring tool! The assumption seems to be that questions are for assessment, they come in a batch, probably at the end, and they save a score to an LMS. Fine, but that's not the only use for questions, in fact it's often a rather poor one. A template for an assessment question needs to pin down issues such as the number of attempts allowed, the scoring, the ways to prevent cheating. An inductive question is much simpler; all that's required is (1) a way to present the question using a variety of media (text, images, audio, video), (2) a variety of input formats (multi-choice, multiple answer, free text input, drag and drop, etc.) and (3) ways to provide helpful feedback for each possible input - and in a simple multiple-choice question, that means for every possible choice. It's easy; I have programmed this sort of question in no time at all in umpteen different languages (BASIC, Pascal, HTML/JavaScript, Flash ActionScript) over the years. But I don't want to do this because it's far too much hassle; I want to use a simple, off-the-shelf authoring tool.

If all we can achieve with rapid tools is tell and test, then I am going to go off the idea in a big way, at least so far as it's used as a means to deliver interactive material. On the other hand, if there are any authoring tool vendors out there, you could quickly sort this out. How about starting right now?