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Case Study-Based Learning

Enhancing learning through immediate application.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

If you've ever tried to learn a new concept, you probably appreciate that "knowing" is different from "doing." When you have an opportunity to apply your knowledge, the lesson typically becomes much more real.

Adults often learn differently from children, and we have different motivations for learning. Typically, we learn new skills because we want to. We recognize the need to learn and grow, and we usually need – or want – to apply our newfound knowledge soon after we've learned it.

A popular theory of adult learning is andragogy (the art and science of leading man, or adults), as opposed to the better-known pedagogy (the art and science of leading children). Malcolm Knowles , a professor of adult education, was considered the father of andragogy, which is based on four key observations of adult learners:

• Adults learn best if they know why they're learning something.
• Adults often learn best through experience.
• Adults tend to view learning as an opportunity to solve problems.
• Adults learn best when the topic is relevant to them and immediately applicable.

This means that you'll get the best results with adults when they're fully involved in the learning experience. Give an adult an opportunity to practice and work with a new skill, and you have a solid foundation for high-quality learning that the person will likely retain over time.

So, how can you best use these adult learning principles in your training and development efforts? Case studies provide an excellent way of practicing and applying new concepts. As such, they're very useful tools in adult learning, and it's important to understand how to get the maximum value from them.

What Is a Case Study?

Case studies are a form of problem-based learning, where you present a situation that needs a resolution. A typical business case study is a detailed account, or story, of what happened in a particular company, industry, or project over a set period of time.

The learner is given details about the situation, often in a historical context. The key players are introduced. Objectives and challenges are outlined. This is followed by specific examples and data, which the learner then uses to analyze the situation, determine what happened, and make recommendations.

The depth of a case depends on the lesson being taught. A case study can be two pages, 20 pages, or more. A good case study makes the reader think critically about the information presented, and then develop a thorough assessment of the situation, leading to a well-thought-out solution or recommendation.

Why Use a Case Study?

Case studies are a great way to improve a learning experience, because they get the learner involved, and encourage immediate use of newly acquired skills.

They differ from lectures or assigned readings because they require participation and deliberate application of a broad range of skills. For example, if you study financial analysis through straightforward learning methods, you may have to calculate and understand a long list of financial ratios (don't worry if you don't know what these are). Likewise, you may be given a set of financial statements to complete a ratio analysis. But until you put the exercise into context, you may not really know why you're doing the analysis.

With a case study, however, you might explore whether a bank should provide financing to a borrower, or whether a company is about to make a good acquisition. Suddenly, the act of calculating ratios becomes secondary – it's more important to understand what the ratios tell you. This is how case studies can make the difference between knowing what to do, and knowing how, when, and why to do it.

Then, what really separates case studies from other practical forms of learning – like scenarios and simulations – is the ability to compare the learner's recommendations with what actually happened. When you know what really happened, it's much easier to evaluate the "correctness" of the answers given.

When to Use a Case Study

As you can see, case studies are powerful and effective training tools. They also work best with practical, applied training, so make sure you use them appropriately.

Remember these tips:

• Case studies tend to focus on why and how to apply a skill or concept, not on remembering facts and details. Use case studies when understanding the concept is more important than memorizing correct responses.
• Case studies are great team-building opportunities. When a team gets together to solve a case, they'll have to work through different opinions, methods, and perspectives.
• Use case studies to build problem-solving skills, particularly those that are valuable when applied, but are likely to be used infrequently. This helps people get practice with these skills that they might not otherwise get.
• Case studies can be used to evaluate past problem solving. People can be asked what they'd do in that situation, and think about what could have been done differently.

Ensuring Maximum Value From Case Studies

The first thing to remember is that you already need to have enough theoretical knowledge to handle the questions and challenges in the case study. Otherwise, it can be like trying to solve a puzzle with some of the pieces missing.

Here are some additional tips for how to approach a case study. Depending on the exact nature of the case, some tips will be more relevant than others.

• Read the case at least three times before you start any analysis. Case studies usually have lots of details, and it's easy to miss something in your first, or even second, reading.
• Once you're thoroughly familiar with the case, note the facts. Identify which are relevant to the tasks you've been assigned. In a good case study, there are often many more facts than you need for your analysis.
• If the case contains large amounts of data, analyze this data for relevant trends. For example, have sales dropped steadily, or was there an unexpected high or low point?
• If the case involves a description of a company's history, find the key events, and consider how they may have impacted the current situation.
• Consider using techniques like SWOT analysis and Porter's Five Forces Analysis to understand the organization's strategic position.
• Stay with the facts when you draw conclusions. These include facts given in the case as well as established facts about the environmental context. Don't rely on personal opinions when you put together your answers.

Writing a Case Study

You may have to write a case study yourself. These are complex documents that take a while to research and compile. The quality of the case study influences the quality of the analysis. Here are some tips if you want to write your own:

• Write your case study as a structured story. The goal is to capture an interesting situation or challenge and then bring it to life with words and information. You want the reader to feel a part of what's happening.
• Present information so that a "right" answer isn't obvious. The goal is to develop the learner's ability to analyze and assess, not necessarily to make the same decision as the people in the actual case.
• Do background research to fully understand what happened and why. You may need to talk to key stakeholders to get their perspectives as well.
• Determine the key challenge. What needs to be resolved? The case study should focus on one main question or issue.
• Define the context. Talk about significant events leading up to the situation. What organizational factors are important for understanding the problem and assessing what should be done? Include cultural factors where possible.
• Identify key decision makers and stakeholders. Describe their roles and perspectives, as well as their motivations and interests.
• Make sure that you provide the right data to allow people to reach appropriate conclusions.
• Make sure that you have permission to use any information you include.

A typical case study structure includes these elements:

• Executive summary. Define the objective, and state the key challenge.
• Opening paragraph. Capture the reader's interest.
• Scope. Describe the background, context, approach, and issues involved.
• Presentation of facts. Develop an objective picture of what's happening.
• Description of key issues. Present viewpoints, decisions, and interests of key parties.

Because case studies have proved to be such effective teaching tools, many are already written. Some excellent sources of free cases are The Times 100 , CasePlace.org , and Schroeder & Schroeder Inc . You can often search for cases by topic or industry. These cases are expertly prepared, based mostly on real situations, and used extensively in business schools to teach management concepts.

Case studies are a great way to improve learning and training. They provide learners with an opportunity to solve a problem by applying what they know.

There are no unpleasant consequences for getting it "wrong," and cases give learners a much better understanding of what they really know and what they need to practice.

Case studies can be used in many ways, as team-building tools, and for skill development. You can write your own case study, but a large number are already prepared. Given the enormous benefits of practical learning applications like this, case studies are definitely something to consider adding to your next training session.

Knowles, M. (1973). 'The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species [online].' Available here .

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Learning and Development Case Study: Heinz - A training scheme full of beans

After identifying the need to shift its training from external suppliers to an internal programme, Heinz set up Learning Bitez, covering skills from Outlook to can-making.

The challenge

As an employer of around 3,000 people in the UK alone, Heinz has always made a significant investment in external training. However, time pressures mean that releasing staff to undertake courses is a constant challenge.

At the same time, the company has been seeking ways to make the most of the wealth of knowledge, expertise and skills from within its workforce.

The programme

Last year's graduate intake helped to identify the need for shorter-term internal training , according to Pat Rees, Heinz's talent manager. "The graduates were assigned to different sites and had short training sessions called 'Lunch and Learn' with various heads of departments," she says.

"They reported how other managers were extremely interested in what they'd learned from these. We'd already realised a dynamic workplace needs regular updates. Processes change but we knew we could be drawing more on our internal talent pool."

Diving into big business:

The FA on HR in the public eye

The wonderful everyday: HR at Ikea

Smoothie does it: HR at Innocent Drinks

These lunchtime training concepts have evolved and, since January 2009, been rebranded Learning Bitez - workshops lasting between one and four hours, not necessarily at lunchtime, run internally and led by Heinz staff. Already, 600 people have sampled one or more of the 'bitez'.

Topics range from how to get the best out of Outlook to an introduction to can-making. They are prompted by the identification of a general need or by a department volunteering.

"The finance team discovered the financial parts of the monthly reports often went over people's heads, so proposed a learning bite to explain this in more detail," says Rees. "It started at our Hayes Park site, but has since spread out to other sites."

There are 61 bitez on offer at the moment but this list is growing and some are so popular they are regularly repeated. Some are relevant to a wide range of employees, while others are more specific.

"An introduction to can-filling can be tailored to the departments that provide services to this operation," says Rees. "This can help iron out potential problems."

Staff find out about the workshops available via internal communications and then book, with the approval of their line manager, through an online system. The HR department manages the booking process and deals with preparation and post-course evaluation, leaving the course leaders to focus on content.

The results

The best measurement of short bursts of training is immediate feedback and ongoing popularity, and Rees says both demonstrate staff enthusiasm. The concept has been embraced more fully at larger sites that are better equipped and have a greater spread of expertise, but Heinz is working on wider take-up, and when the content lends itself to remote participation , the company uses technology to enable employees to join in.

The HR view

Pat Rees is Heinz's talent manager. "Learning Bitez have been around for a year but they have made such an impact it is as if they've always been there," says Rees. "There's an agility about the way the courses start and I'd like to keep this so the training is always done by someone with a passion. Internal staff know their audiences, they already know where the problems are and how they can tailor their information.

"Some courses are extremely popular - how to get the best out of Outlook, for example. We just assume people know this but our head of IT took it upon himself to develop training," Rees adds.

"He trained 35 people last month and there are 30 more signed up for the January session. The short courses allow people to sample a subject - such as coaching - before embarking on a longer course. They make our resources go further and encourage greater cross-functional engagement and interaction, while providing real business benefits."

The employee view

Val Lowe is HR administrator at Heinz. "I did the personal effectiveness learning bite in November. The course leader took us through the ways in which Outlook had been dominating our days and how we could organise our time better ," says Lowe.

"We looked at to-do lists and tasks, how to arrange diaries and get emails under control. I used to keep about 300 emails on my system and now I've got that down to about 10," Lowe adds.

"I've also learned to turn off my email alert and to take a more disciplined approach by only looking at them at set times in the day. That way, I'm able to concentrate on the task I'm doing and not get distracted. I sift through and copy them into task lists.

"I have definitely found the course really useful and would highly recommend it to anyone. I finished the course, went back to my desk and was able to use the learning almost straight away. I am now thinking of leading a session myself."

Further reading

Learning and development case study: First Group

Learning and Development Case Study: Cable & Wireless - Keeping pace with fast change

What's new in learning and development technology for 2023

How does the business partner model work for learning and development professionals?

Heinz's new training programme is proving its worth in increased staff engagement

Case study: Creating a learning culture at Airbus

International Case Study: GfK SE revamps learning platform

L&D case study: Co-operative Financial Services

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An Introduction to Human Resource Management

Student resources, case study: learning and development at choc co..

Online Case Study: Learning and Development at Choc Co.

Choc Co. is one of the world's largest confectionery businesses with significant market share in many of the world's biggest confectionery markets, including many emerging markets. It has a long and proud tradition, stretching back more than 150 years, including a long history of developing its employees, which has remained part of its ethos during its progress to becoming a global company.

Despite very positive sales figures over the last 12months, Choc Co. has prioritised streamlining the business to make it more competitive and has placed a strong emphasis on reducing cost over the next 18 months. Despite being keen to preserve its longstanding reputation as a firm that is committed to developing all its employees, in respect of learning and development, this ‘streamlining’ activity has focused on:

• ensuring a clear return on investment in training activities
• changing the way that learning programmes are delivered and being more creative in developing approaches to learning
• connecting training activities to the strategic needs of the firm.

The most important driver of the assessment of its training provision at Choc Co. is change. Whilst performing well in the marketplace, senior management continue to express discontent with levels of productivity and employee performance. Moreover, senior management has determined that the company needs to become more flexible and adaptable to respond to change in its market context, for example by an ability to adapt organisational structures to meet new business needs or through the introduction of technological innovation. However, as a traditionally minded employer, and with low levels of employee turnover at shopfloor level, Choc co. appears to have instilled in its workers a mindset of stability and steady progress, which is at odds with competition in a rapidly changing global economy. Therefore, Choc Co. wants to move towards a system of continuous improvement by creating a culture whereby workers are empowered to implement small incremental changes, rather than have substantial change imposed on them from time to time.

Identifying training needs

Traditionally, training needs analysis at Choc Co. has been ‘gap-led’. In other words, training tends to be focused where Choc Co. identifies a gap in capability – for example, where the introduction of new technology requires worker skill to be updated, company policy is changed or a key worker leaves the firm, requiring training to be provided to their replacement. Typically this gap-led identification of need is conducted at a local level, with little reference made to the wider national or international workforce.

Whilst workers can put themselves forward for training courses, including those provided by local education providers, there is no formal channel for doing this and access to such training often comes down to personal relationships and the constraints imposed by departmental budgets. The culture at Choc Co. is very much one in which training needs are typically identified  for  workers rather than  by  workers.

Delivery of training

Currently, the company runs a number of large training events each year designed to update manufacturing staff on everything from health and safety changes, business strategy and company performance to the adoption of new production technology. This is sometimes coupled with skills training for these workers as and when appropriate. This has traditionally been done at the specialist training centre at their largest production facility, which doubles as the company’s headquarters. This practice partly stems from a time when the company only operated two production facilities in the country. It now operates across six geographically dispersed locations. Workers tend to view these training events as a bit of a waste of time, particularly when they are delivered by consultants with little real understanding of working processes at Choc Co. It is not unknown for workers to claim that the training they receive is outdated and tells them nothing that they don’t already know.

The head of training and development, responding to a call to cut costs from the HR director, is now of the opinion, however, that such long training programmes, often of up to three or four days, are no longer the most cost-effective and efficient means by which to develop the staff. Such training has the dual problem of requiring regular investment and repeat sessions to cover workers on different shifts or at different plants, as well as leading to undesirable downtime of certain aspects of production. In particular, the head of L&D is keen to reduce a reliance on external training providers to design and deliver interventions to different workforce groups, from senior management to shopfloor workers.

Moreover, the company has historically not evaluated the impact of these events. In the new era of cost-cutting and added value, however, the company is keen to ensure that the impact of all training interventions, however big or small, is measured.

Employee development programmes

A major investment in L&D at Choc Co. is in its manufacturing apprenticeship scheme and graduate development programme, both of which are widely viewed as models of good practice in the industry and beyond. These programmes are, however, under significant scrutiny by senior management to better understand the extent to which this investment provides value to the firm. One particular area under review is the turnover of employees who complete these programmes and then leave to work at other firms.

Ray Barbie, the head of learning and development at Choc Co. recently attended a seminar at a local university on ‘the changing nature of workplace HRD’. He was slightly alarmed to find out that much of the company’s practice was seen as outdated. In particular, he was interested in examining how some more contemporary approaches and techniques in HRD could help the company both reduce costs and better performance through continuous improvement.

• What changes would you recommend that Choc Co. make to their current learning and development provision in order to reduce costs and improve performance?
• Discuss how e-learning, competency frameworks and improved knowledge-sharing at Choc Co. might help to cut costs and make the HRD activity at Choc Co. more strategic.
• How might the firm seek to ensure a return on investment for its learning and development activity?

• Our Mission

Making Learning Relevant With Case Studies

The open-ended problems presented in case studies give students work that feels connected to their lives.

To prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving process. It’s similar to project-based learning, but PBL is more focused on students creating a product.

Case studies have been used for years by businesses, law and medical schools, physicians on rounds, and artists critiquing work. Like other forms of problem-based learning, case studies can be accessible for every age group, both in one subject and in interdisciplinary work.

You can get started with case studies by tackling relatable questions like these with your students:

• How can we limit food waste in the cafeteria?
• How can we get our school to recycle and compost waste? (Or, if you want to be more complex, how can our school reduce its carbon footprint?)
• How can we improve school attendance?
• How can we reduce the number of people who get sick at school during cold and flu season?

Addressing questions like these leads students to identify topics they need to learn more about. In researching the first question, for example, students may see that they need to research food chains and nutrition. Students often ask, reasonably, why they need to learn something, or when they’ll use their knowledge in the future. Learning is most successful for students when the content and skills they’re studying are relevant, and case studies offer one way to create that sense of relevance.

Teaching With Case Studies

Ultimately, a case study is simply an interesting problem with many correct answers. What does case study work look like in classrooms? Teachers generally start by having students read the case or watch a video that summarizes the case. Students then work in small groups or individually to solve the case study. Teachers set milestones defining what students should accomplish to help them manage their time.

During the case study learning process, student assessment of learning should be focused on reflection. Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick’s Learning and Leading With Habits of Mind gives several examples of what this reflection can look like in a classroom: 

Journaling: At the end of each work period, have students write an entry summarizing what they worked on, what worked well, what didn’t, and why. Sentence starters and clear rubrics or guidelines will help students be successful. At the end of a case study project, as Costa and Kallick write, it’s helpful to have students “select significant learnings, envision how they could apply these learnings to future situations, and commit to an action plan to consciously modify their behaviors.”

Interviews: While working on a case study, students can interview each other about their progress and learning. Teachers can interview students individually or in small groups to assess their learning process and their progress.

Student discussion: Discussions can be unstructured—students can talk about what they worked on that day in a think-pair-share or as a full class—or structured, using Socratic seminars or fishbowl discussions. If your class is tackling a case study in small groups, create a second set of small groups with a representative from each of the case study groups so that the groups can share their learning.

4 Tips for Setting Up a Case Study

1. Identify a problem to investigate: This should be something accessible and relevant to students’ lives. The problem should also be challenging and complex enough to yield multiple solutions with many layers.

2. Give context: Think of this step as a movie preview or book summary. Hook the learners to help them understand just enough about the problem to want to learn more.

3. Have a clear rubric: Giving structure to your definition of quality group work and products will lead to stronger end products. You may be able to have your learners help build these definitions.

4. Provide structures for presenting solutions: The amount of scaffolding you build in depends on your students’ skill level and development. A case study product can be something like several pieces of evidence of students collaborating to solve the case study, and ultimately presenting their solution with a detailed slide deck or an essay—you can scaffold this by providing specified headings for the sections of the essay.

Problem-Based Teaching Resources

There are many high-quality, peer-reviewed resources that are open source and easily accessible online.

• The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science at the University at Buffalo built an online collection of more than 800 cases that cover topics ranging from biochemistry to economics. There are resources for middle and high school students.
• Models of Excellence , a project maintained by EL Education and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has examples of great problem- and project-based tasks—and corresponding exemplary student work—for grades pre-K to 12.
• The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning at Purdue University is an open-source journal that publishes examples of problem-based learning in K–12 and post-secondary classrooms.
• The Tech Edvocate has a list of websites and tools related to problem-based learning.

In their book Problems as Possibilities , Linda Torp and Sara Sage write that at the elementary school level, students particularly appreciate how they feel that they are taken seriously when solving case studies. At the middle school level, “researchers stress the importance of relating middle school curriculum to issues of student concern and interest.” And high schoolers, they write, find the case study method “beneficial in preparing them for their future.”

The essential components of a successful L&D strategy

Over the past decade, the global workforce has been continually evolving because of a number of factors. An increasingly competitive business landscape, rising complexity, and the digital revolution are reshaping the mix of employees. Meanwhile, persistent uncertainty, a multigenerational workforce, and a shorter shelf life for knowledge have placed a premium on reskilling and upskilling. The shift to a digital, knowledge-based economy means that a vibrant workforce is more important than ever: research suggests that a very significant percentage of market capitalization in public companies is based on intangible assets—skilled employees, exceptional leaders, and knowledge. 1 Intangible Asset Market Value Study, Ocean Tomo.

Learning and development—From evolution to revolution

We began in 2014 by surveying 1,500 executives about capability building. In 2016, we added 120 L&D leaders at 91 organizations to our database, gathering information on their traditional training strategies and aspirations for future programs. We also interviewed 15 chief learning officers or L&D heads at major companies.

Historically, the L&D function has been relatively successful in helping employees build skills and perform well in their existing roles. The main focus of L&D has been on upskilling. However, the pace of change continues to accelerate; McKinsey research estimates that as many as 800 million jobs could be displaced by automation by 2030.

Employee roles are expected to continue evolving, and a large number of people will need to learn new skills to remain employable. Unsurprisingly, our research confirmed our initial hypothesis: corporate learning must undergo revolutionary changes over the next few years to keep pace with constant technological advances. In addition to updating training content, companies must increase their focus on blended-learning solutions, which combine digital learning, fieldwork, and highly immersive classroom sessions. With the growth of user-friendly digital-learning platforms, employees will take more ownership of their professional development, logging in to take courses when the need arises rather than waiting for a scheduled classroom session.

Such innovations will require companies to devote more resources to training: our survey revealed that 60 percent of respondents plan to increase L&D spending over the next few years, and 66 percent want to boost the number of employee-training hours. As they commit more time and money, companies must ensure that the transformation of the L&D function proceeds smoothly.

All of these trends have elevated the importance of the learning-and-development (L&D) function. We undertook several phases of research to understand trends and current priorities in L&D (see sidebar, “Learning and development—From evolution to revolution”). Our efforts highlighted how the L&D function is adapting to meet the changing needs of organizations, as well as the growing levels of investment in professional development.

To get the most out of investments in training programs and curriculum development, L&D leaders must embrace a broader role within the organization and formulate an ambitious vision for the function. An essential component of this effort is a comprehensive, coordinated strategy that engages the organization and encourages collaboration. The ACADEMIES© framework, which consists of nine dimensions of L&D, can help to strengthen the function and position it to serve the organization more effectively.

The strategic role of L&D

One of L&D’s primary responsibilities is to manage the development of people—and to do so in a way that supports other key business priorities. L&D’s strategic role spans five areas (Exhibit 1). 2 Nick van Dam, 25 Best Practices in Learning & Talent Development , second edition, Raleigh, NC: Lulu Publishing, 2008.

• Attract and retain talent. Traditionally, learning focused solely on improving productivity. Today, learning also contributes to employability. Over the past several decades, employment has shifted from staying with the same company for a lifetime to a model where workers are being retained only as long as they can add value to an enterprise. Workers are now in charge of their personal and professional growth and development—one reason that people list “opportunities for learning and development” among the top criteria for joining an organization. Conversely, a lack of L&D is one of the key reasons people cite for leaving a company.
• Develop people capabilities. Human capital requires ongoing investments in L&D to retain its value. When knowledge becomes outdated or forgotten—a more rapid occurrence today—the value of human capital declines and needs to be supplemented by new learning and relevant work experiences. 3 Gary S. Becker, “Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis,” Journal of Political Economy , 1962, Volume 70, Number 5, Part 2, pp. 9–49, jstor.org. Companies that make investments in the next generation of leaders are seeing an impressive return. Research indicates that companies in the top quartile of leadership outperform other organizations by nearly two times on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Moreover, companies that invest in developing leaders during significant transformations are 2.4 times more likely to hit their performance targets . 4 “ Economic Conditions Snapshot, June 2009: McKinsey Global Survey results ,” June 2009.
• Create a values-based culture. As the workforce in many companies becomes increasingly virtual and globally dispersed, L&D can help to build a values-based culture and a sense of community. In particular, millennials are particularly interested in working for values-based, sustainable enterprises that contribute to the welfare of society.
• Build an employer brand. An organization’s brand is one of its most important assets and conveys a great deal about the company’s success in the market, financial strengths, position in the industry, and products and services. Investments in L&D can help to enhance company’s brand and boost its reputation as an “employer of choice.” As large segments of the workforce prepare to retire, employers must work harder to compete for a shrinking talent pool. To do so, they must communicate their brand strength explicitly through an employer value proposition.
• Motivate and engage employees. The most important way to engage employees is to provide them with opportunities to learn and develop new competencies. Research suggests that lifelong learning contributes to happiness. 5 John Coleman, “Lifelong learning is good for your health, your wallet, and your social life,” Harvard Business Review , February 7, 2017, hbr.org. When highly engaged employees are challenged and given the skills to grow and develop within their chosen career path, they are more likely to be energized by new opportunities at work and satisfied with their current organization.

The L&D function in transition

Over the years, we have identified and field-tested nine dimensions that contribute to a strong L&D function. We combined these dimensions to create the ACADEMIES framework, which covers all aspects of L&D functions, from setting aspirations to measuring impact (Exhibit 2). Although many companies regularly execute on several dimensions of this framework, our recent research found that only a few companies are fully mature in all dimensions.

1. Alignment with business strategy

One of an L&D executive’s primary tasks is to develop and shape a learning strategy based on the company’s business and talent strategies. The learning strategy seeks to support professional development and build capabilities across the company, on time, and in a cost-effective manner. In addition, the learning strategy can enhance the company culture and encourage employees to live the company’s values.

For many organizations, the L&D function supports the implementation of the business strategy. For example, if one of the business strategies is a digital transformation, L&D will focus on building the necessary people capabilities to make that possible.

Every business leader would agree that L&D must align with a company’s overall priorities. Yet research has found that many L&D functions fall short on this dimension. Only 40 percent of companies say that their learning strategy is aligned with business goals. 6 Human Capital Management Excellence Conference 2018, Brandon Hall Group. For 60 percent, then, learning has no explicit connection to the company’s strategic objectives. L&D functions may be out of sync with the business because of outdated approaches or because budgets have been based on priorities from previous years rather than today’s imperatives, such as a digital transformation.

Would you like to learn more about the McKinsey Academy ?

To be effective, L&D must take a hard look at employee capabilities and determine which are most essential to support the execution of the company’s business strategy. L&D leaders should reevaluate this alignment on a yearly basis to ensure they are creating a people-capability agenda that truly reflects business priorities and strategic objectives.

2. Co-ownership between business units and HR

With new tools and technologies constantly emerging, companies must become more agile, ready to adapt their business processes and practices. L&D functions must likewise be prepared to rapidly launch capability-building programs—for example, if new business needs suddenly arise or staff members require immediate training on new technologies such as cloud-based collaboration tools.

L&D functions can enhance their partnership with business leaders by establishing a governance structure in which leadership from both groups share responsibility for defining, prioritizing, designing, and securing funds for capability-building programs. Under this governance model, a company’s chief experience officer (CXO), senior executives, and business-unit heads will develop the people-capability agenda for segments of the enterprise and ensure that it aligns with the company’s overall strategic goals. Top business executives will also help firmly embed the learning function and all L&D initiatives in the organizational culture. The involvement of senior leadership enables full commitment to the L&D function’s longer-term vision.

3. Assessment of capability gaps and estimated value

After companies identify their business priorities, they must verify that their employees can deliver on them—a task that may be more difficult than it sounds. Some companies make no effort to assess employee capabilities, while others do so only at a high level. Conversations with L&D, HR, and senior executives suggest that many companies are ineffective or indifferent at assessing capability gaps, especially when it comes to senior leaders and midlevel managers.

The most effective companies take a deliberate, systematic approach to capability assessment. At the heart of this process is a comprehensive competency or capability model based on the organization’s strategic direction. For example, a key competency for a segment of an e-commerce company’s workforce could be “deep expertise in big data and predictive analytics.”

After identifying the most essential capabilities for various functions or job descriptions, companies should then assess how employees rate in each of these areas. L&D interventions should seek to close these capability gaps.

4. Design of learning journeys

Most corporate learning is delivered through a combination of digital-learning formats and in-person sessions. While our research indicates that immersive L&D experiences in the classroom still have immense value, leaders have told us that they are incredibly busy “from eight to late,” which does not give them a lot of time to sit in a classroom. Furthermore, many said that they prefer to develop and practice new skills and behaviors in a “safe environment,” where they don’t have to worry about public failures that might affect their career paths.

Traditional L&D programs consisted of several days of classroom learning with no follow-up sessions, even though people tend to forget what they have learned without regular reinforcement. As a result, many L&D functions are moving away from stand-alone programs by designing learning journeys—continuous learning opportunities that take place over a period of time and include L&D interventions such as fieldwork, pre- and post-classroom digital learning, social learning, on-the-job coaching and mentoring, and short workshops. The main objectives of a learning journey are to help people develop the required new competencies in the most effective and efficient way and to support the transfer of learning to the job.

5. Execution and scale-up

An established L&D agenda consists of a number of strategic initiatives that support capability building and are aligned with business goals, such as helping leaders develop high-performing teams or roll out safety training. The successful execution of L&D initiatives on time and on budget is critical to build and sustain support from business leaders.

L&D functions often face an overload of initiatives and insufficient funding. L&D leadership needs to maintain an ongoing discussion with business leaders about initiatives and priorities to ensure the requisite resources and support.

Many new L&D initiatives are initially targeted to a limited audience. A successful execution of a small pilot, such as an online orientation program for a specific audience, can lead to an even bigger impact once the program is rolled out to the entire enterprise. The program’s cost per person declines as companies benefit from economies of scale.

6. Measurement of impact on business performance

A learning strategy’s execution and impact should be measured using key performance indicators (KPIs). The first indicator looks at business excellence: how closely aligned all L&D initiatives and investments are with business priorities. The second KPI looks at learning excellence: whether learning interventions change people’s behavior and performance. Last, an operational-excellence KPI measures how well investments and resources in the corporate academy are used.

Accurate measurement is not simple, and many organizations still rely on traditional impact metrics such as learning-program satisfaction and completion scores. But high-performing organizations focus on outcomes-based metrics such as impact on individual performance, employee engagement, team effectiveness, and business-process improvement.

We have identified several lenses for articulating and measuring learning impact:

• Strategic alignment: How effectively does the learning strategy support the organization’s priorities?
• Capabilities: How well does the L&D function help colleagues build the mind-sets, skills, and expertise they need most? This impact can be measured by assessing people’s capability gaps against a comprehensive competency framework.
• Organizational health: To what extent does learning strengthen the overall health and DNA of the organization? Relevant dimensions of the McKinsey Organizational Health Index can provide a baseline.
• Individual peak performance: Beyond raw capabilities, how well does the L&D function help colleagues achieve maximum impact in their role while maintaining a healthy work-life balance?

Access to big data provides L&D functions with more opportunities to assess and predict the business impact of their interventions.

7. Integration of L&D interventions into HR processes

Just as L&D corporate-learning activities need to be aligned with the business, they should also be an integral part of the HR agenda. L&D has an important role to play in recruitment, onboarding, performance management, promotion, workforce, and succession planning. Our research shows that at best, many L&D functions have only loose connections to annual performance reviews and lack a structured approach and follow-up to performance-management practices.

L&D leadership must understand major HR management practices and processes and collaborate closely with HR leaders. The best L&D functions use consolidated development feedback from performance reviews as input for their capability-building agenda. A growing number of companies are replacing annual performance appraisals with frequent, in-the-moment feedback. 7 HCM outlook 2018 , Brandon Hall Group. This is another area in which the L&D function can help managers build skills to provide development feedback effectively.

Elevating Learning & Development: Insights and Practical Guidance from the Field

Another example is onboarding. Companies that have developed high-impact onboarding processes score better on employee engagement and satisfaction and lose fewer new hires. 8 HCM outlook 2018 , Brandon Hall Group. The L&D function can play a critical role in onboarding—for example, by helping people build the skills to be successful in their role, providing new hires with access to digital-learning technologies, and connecting them with other new hires and mentors.

8. Enabling of the 70:20:10 learning framework

Many L&D functions embrace a framework known as “70:20:10,” in which 70 percent of learning takes place on the job, 20 percent through interaction and collaboration, and 10 percent through formal-learning interventions such as classroom training and digital curricula. These percentages are general guidelines and vary by industry and organization. L&D functions have traditionally focused on the formal-learning component.

Today, L&D leaders must design and implement interventions that support informal learning, including coaching and mentoring, on-the-job instruction, apprenticeships, leadership shadowing, action-based learning, on-demand access to digital learning, and lunch-and-learn sessions. Social technologies play a growing role in connecting experts and creating and sharing knowledge.

9. Systems and learning technology applications

The most significant enablers for just-in-time learning are technology platforms and applications. Examples include next-generation learning-management systems, virtual classrooms, mobile-learning apps, embedded performance-support systems, polling software, learning-video platforms, learning-assessment and -measurement platforms, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and small private online courses (SPOCs), to name just a few.

The learning-technology industry has moved entirely to cloud-based platforms, which provide L&D functions with unlimited opportunities to plug and unplug systems and access the latest functionality without having to go through lengthy and expensive implementations of an on-premises system. L&D leaders must make sure that learning technologies fit into an overall system architecture that includes functionality to support the entire talent cycle, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, L&D, real-time feedback tools, career management, succession planning, and rewards and recognition.

L&D leaders are increasingly aware of the challenges created by the fourth industrial revolution (technologies that are connecting the physical and digital worlds), but few have implemented large-scale transformation programs. Instead, most are slowly adapting their strategy and curricula as needed. However, with technology advancing at an ever-accelerating pace, L&D leaders can delay no longer: human capital is more important than ever and will be the primary factor in sustaining competitive advantage over the next few years.

The leaders of L&D functions need to revolutionize their approach by creating a learning strategy that aligns with business strategy and by identifying and enabling the capabilities needed to achieve success. This approach will result in robust curricula that employ every relevant and available learning method and technology. The most effective companies will invest in innovative L&D programs, remain flexible and agile, and build the human talent needed to master the digital age.

These changes entail some risk, and perhaps some trial and error, but the rewards are great.

A version of this chapter was published in TvOO Magazine in September 2016. It is also included in Elevating Learning & Development: Insights and Practical Guidance from the Field , August 2018.

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Jacqueline Brassey is director of Enduring Priorities Learning in McKinsey’s Amsterdam office, where Nick van Dam is an alumnus and senior adviser to the firm as well as professor and chief of the IE University (Madrid) Center for Learning Innovation; Lisa Christensen is a senior learning expert in the San Francisco office.

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Related articles.

Seven essential elements of a lifelong-learning mind-set

Putting lifelong learning on the CEO agenda

Learning and development leaders from top European companies gathered in Paris in September 2020 to share how they are managing the new world of work and to discuss challenges and new best practices.

Senior executives from Microsoft, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Uber, Thales, LinkedIn, and KPMG shared case studies about what has worked in their organisations, while academic and corporate experts revealed trends shaping the future.

Where does L&D stand in this turbulent year, and how can you prepare for the journey ahead? Here are 7 surprising tips from this unusual gathering.

#1. A teacher, not a textbook.

This year, even more learning is going digital – a trend confirmed by Makoto Miyasako, Head of Talent Management and Analytics at OECD, and Philippe Gerbelot-Barrillon, Head of LinkedIn Learning France, who both shared data from their organisations. Other reports also highlight this trend .

The accelerated shift to digital has its drawbacks. Many people miss a sense of human connection, and creating sustained engagement in fully online programmes remains difficult, according to Alexandre Glas, VP of Product and Data at online learning platform HUH Corporate.

A common design flaw of online learning programmes is that they resemble a digital textbook, said Alexandre. But, while everyone remembers their favourite teacher, who remembers their favourite textbook? – he asked. The problem is not how to build a better textbook. “ We can all have access to knowledge now, almost for free, ” Alexandre pointed out. L&D’s mission should be to fill the role of a live teacher or mentor. Programmes should be designed with engagement as the main goal.

Read: The Risks and Benefits of Emerging Technology for HR (Interview)

#2. The learning is the culture.

Alex Baggerman, Workforce of the Future Lead at KPMG Netherlands, has an unconventional idea. What if training, culture, talent management, leadership models, and other strategic policies were all covered under a single learning agenda?

After internal research, Alex came up with a framework that includes all roles within the organisation with their respective skills and responsibilities. This creates radical transparency – it is easy to see where everyone stands and how one can rise to the next level in the organisation. That gives people ownership of their role and career, Alex said.

An added benefit is that this framework also becomes the blueprint of corporate culture, as it brings everyone together. “ We don’t need to have a culture programme. This is a culture programme. You just go to the same course and talk to each other ,” Alex said. This is what happens when L&D takes the lead: a company’s values are integral to each person’s role, and people feel united around a shared cause.

#3. Expand L&D beyond the organisation.

Laurent Hamel, CLO of Microsoft France, takes the idea of aligning L&D with company strategy to a whole new level. He proposes a shared learning experience for employees and customers.

Microsoft uses the same learning management system (LMS) for both internal and external trainings, Laurent shared. That way, the company delivers shared skills and values to all stakeholders. This is the fast track to creating a shared culture that extends even beyond the company. At the same time, it is a way to upskill more people who can fill the emerging tech jobs of the future.

With learning as a key value at the very top, Microsoft is reimagining itself as an educator, delivering skills and development for all. It is an inspiring story for how far L&D can go.

Read:  Build Technical Skills and Aim for Innovation: Microsoft CLO Advice for L&D Leaders

#4. Diversify to reach everyone.

L&D offerings need to be adapted to various audiences for maximum impact. Segmentation has been a key principle in marketing for years, and now it is shaping learning and development as well.

Makoto, from OECD, studies how the impact of programmes varies according to demographic traits like nationality or gender. He has uncovered surprising correlations: for example, in-person and online learning modalities affect men and women differently. If a course is completely face-to-face, women had higher completion rates, whereas men complete more fully online courses.

This does not imply any essential gender differences – the reason may be that women occupy different job roles, or other contextual factors not covered by Makoto’s research. What matters for L&D leaders is that they should use data to anticipate uneven impact and unintended consequences.

L&D leaders should track learning data and use it to maximise reach. They can boost inclusion by delivering solutions suitable for different audiences.

#5. Peer-to-peer on all levels: train leaders who can create other leaders.

What if executives could become coaches who spread a learning culture throughout the organisation? Victoria Feldman, former Global Leadership Development manager at Uber, achieved this by getting them to practise together in supportive learning groups.

In a leadership programme at Uber, Victoria employed the 70-20-10 learning model, in which only 10% consists of formal training. The majority, 70%, is social – learners use new strategies and behaviours in day-to-day interactions, and then discuss what they observed in “coaching pods” of 5 people.

The programme had a satisfaction score of 94% among nearly 2,000 learners in 16 countries. The takeaway: empower leaders to learn from each other, so they can use the same strategy to coach employees. This sustained momentum means that a programme’s impact only continues to grow.

#6. Resilience is a team effort.

Employees and leaders are often told that they need to build resilience. But resilience is not simply a personal quality, said Jeremie Brecheisen, Senior Managing Consultant, Gallup. It depends on the workplace conditions.

What makes for resilient employees and, consequently, organisations? Gallup identified these 5 requirements:

• Employees know what is expected of them
• They have the equipment needed to do their job
• Employees can do what they do best every day
• They feel their job’s mission or purpose is important
• They feel their co-workers are committed to quality work

These are all factors in which HR and L&D can make a difference – from allowing people to develop their strengths, to helping them connect with their purpose. Meeting these needs measurably increases organisational resilience.

#7. Make space for “uncomfortable conversations”.

For the first time since measurement began in 2000, world events are directly tied to engagement at work, Gallup’s data shows. Engagement rose when the Covid-19 pandemic started. It dipped again when the Black Lives Matter protests began, only to quickly shoot up to record levels within a few weeks, as more people engaged with these events. This shows that “ business and the things that are happening outside of that are becoming more interconnected than ever, ” Jeremie concluded.

In light of this, companies should revisit their expectations about how employees relate to work. Keeping social and personal concerns away from work is no longer relevant, according to Nicholas Hamilton-Archer, Director of Executive Education at Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University (US). The best policy for companies, Nick advised, is to make space for open and honest conversations. That may push people out of their comfort zone, but it can open up vast opportunities for growth.

Nicholas Davis, Professor of Practice at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (US), agrees that employees and leaders should bring their whole selves to work. This applies to learning, too: a “co-designed, co-learning development journey” that factors in their preferences and values is more effective, he said.

Allow employees to connect with their passions at work, and as they lean into their purpose, the benefits for both culture and productivity would be significant.

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Learning & Development - Online Learning Case Studies

The importance of Online Learning increases as companies and organizations become more global. eLearning allows organizations to train staff anywhere, any time.

Business owners  and  leaders in organizations and government provide training to staff to help them grow and become more effective team members. eLearning can also benefit the organization’s business development and sales efforts.

As a consultant I provide my clients with services in  strategy and implementation of their eLearning projects.

Check out the benefits of eLearning and case studies on this page to see a variety of projects in the Learning & Development space.

Benefits of eLearning:

24/7 availability.

Regardless of if you implement eLearning programs for your staff, partners or your distribution channel, your “students” can access the program at any time of day or night, from anywhere. This makes eLearning more flexible and accessible than any other learning options.

Improved Pedagogy

eLearning Industry points out that eLearning programs provide the ability to include gamification, which is particularly important for millennials (the generation born between 1976 and 2001). Gamification enhances learner engagement and improves retention. ( Source : eLearning Industry)

Enhanced Reach

It has become more important to reach audiences in different locations. They may be remote employees, staff in different locations or partners and distribution channels around the world. eLearning can be a cost-effective and interactive approach, especially when paired with web meetings.

No more travelling around the globe to attend training provided at a head office. eLearning comes to you, bringing an interactive workplace to any location and timezone.

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Today’s employees expect ongoing training and skill enhancement. A company that provides ongoing training to their staff will benefit from greater loyalty, improved staff integration and competence. Millennials are especially looking for work that is in line with their personal values and is personally rewarding.

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Based on 20+ years of experience in my corporate career and consulting practice, I support my clients with needs analysis, stakeholder alignment, r e quirements setting and project implementation.

Let me support you and your team to get your web-based learning off the ground. From understanding your internal needs to finding the best implementation strategy. Regardless if you contract with developers around the world or require implementation on your favourite eLearning platform.

Are you an eLearning agency looking for members to expand your team? I also work as a freelance consultant.  Contact me to discuss your needs.

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"Diversity Abroad is the leading professional consortium of educational institutions, government agencies, for-profit and non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing diversity and inclusive good practices that increase access, achieve equitable diversity and foster inclusive excellence in global education. We consulted with Petra Mayer to create a Request for Proposal for an eLearning project designed to support faculty members at US higher education institutions to more effectively plan, implement and lead inclusive education abroad programs. Petra guided us through the discovery process and documented our needs and assumptions so as to better communicate with developers. She also created a survey for our members and provided us with a short list of developers and alternative system solutions. Through the work with Petra, we gained much greater clarity on the project."

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The following case studies demonstrate a variety of projects I have been involved in over the past 20+ years. I am skilled in strategy development, needs analysis and requirements settings. I can also act as project lead for your training project or support your project during the delivery phase.

The following case studies cover the full spectrum of eLearning development.

In this example we we cover the process of taking a client through a LMS Discovery Project to better understand the organization’s business, technical and security requirements.

In this example we describe how we helped the Subject Matter Experts in a Construction Firm following a process documentation project on creating a curriculum for a high priority topic. 

In this example we took a team of Subject Matter Experts through the creation of curriculum for the courses they are tasked to develop.  After helping them to establish their course outline, we provided guidance in course creation on their LMS.

In this example we implemented an LMS for a non-profit, developed training for staff and supported the development for modular training during a 2-year client engagement. 

Feasibility study for a Learning Management System (LMS) based on a Request for Information (RFI) and 8 vendor responses. (2019)

Software Training development and LMS implementation for a US software company in conjunction with their internal SMEs (2021)

eLearning Certification Program consisting of multiple courses for a Technology Company. Implementation using Articulate Storyline 360. (2018)

eLearning Module by Rocky Mountaineer travel agents around the world to gain product knowledge. Implementation using Brainshark to accommodate resource and maintenance needs (2015)

Developing clear requirements is crucial for eLearning. This case study demonstrates the process of documenting requirements for RFP purposes (2017).

Development of an interactive game-based eLearning module for the OneWorld Alliance. The purpose was to educate airline staff and travel agents on the benefits and products of the airline alliance (2008)

Development of an interactive game-based eLearning module for the one world Alliance. The purpose was to educate airline staff and travel agents on the benefits and products of the airline alliance (2008)

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Case-based learning.

Case-based learning (CBL) is an established approach used across disciplines where students apply their knowledge to real-world scenarios, promoting higher levels of cognition (see Bloom’s Taxonomy ). In CBL classrooms, students typically work in groups on case studies, stories involving one or more characters and/or scenarios.  The cases present a disciplinary problem or problems for which students devise solutions under the guidance of the instructor. CBL has a strong history of successful implementation in medical, law, and business schools, and is increasingly used within undergraduate education, particularly within pre-professional majors and the sciences (Herreid, 1994). This method involves guided inquiry and is grounded in constructivism whereby students form new meanings by interacting with their knowledge and the environment (Lee, 2012).

There are a number of benefits to using CBL in the classroom. In a review of the literature, Williams (2005) describes how CBL: utilizes collaborative learning, facilitates the integration of learning, develops students’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to learn, encourages learner self-reflection and critical reflection, allows for scientific inquiry, integrates knowledge and practice, and supports the development of a variety of learning skills.

CBL has several defining characteristics, including versatility, storytelling power, and efficient self-guided learning.  In a systematic analysis of 104 articles in health professions education, CBL was found to be utilized in courses with less than 50 to over 1000 students (Thistlethwaite et al., 2012). In these classrooms, group sizes ranged from 1 to 30, with most consisting of 2 to 15 students.  Instructors varied in the proportion of time they implemented CBL in the classroom, ranging from one case spanning two hours of classroom time, to year-long case-based courses. These findings demonstrate that instructors use CBL in a variety of ways in their classrooms.

The stories that comprise the framework of case studies are also a key component to CBL’s effectiveness. Jonassen and Hernandez-Serrano (2002, p.66) describe how storytelling:

Is a method of negotiating and renegotiating meanings that allows us to enter into other’s realms of meaning through messages they utter in their stories,

Helps us find our place in a culture,

Allows us to explicate and to interpret, and

Facilitates the attainment of vicarious experience by helping us to distinguish the positive models to emulate from the negative model.

Neurochemically, listening to stories can activate oxytocin, a hormone that increases one’s sensitivity to social cues, resulting in more empathy, generosity, compassion and trustworthiness (Zak, 2013; Kosfeld et al., 2005). The stories within case studies serve as a means by which learners form new understandings through characters and/or scenarios.

CBL is often described in conjunction or in comparison with problem-based learning (PBL). While the lines are often confusingly blurred within the literature, in the most conservative of definitions, the features distinguishing the two approaches include that PBL involves open rather than guided inquiry, is less structured, and the instructor plays a more passive role. In PBL multiple solutions to the problem may exit, but the problem is often initially not well-defined. PBL also has a stronger emphasis on developing self-directed learning. The choice between implementing CBL versus PBL is highly dependent on the goals and context of the instruction.  For example, in a comparison of PBL and CBL approaches during a curricular shift at two medical schools, students and faculty preferred CBL to PBL (Srinivasan et al., 2007). Students perceived CBL to be a more efficient process and more clinically applicable. However, in another context, PBL might be the favored approach.

In a review of the effectiveness of CBL in health profession education, Thistlethwaite et al. (2012), found several benefits:

Students enjoyed the method and thought it enhanced their learning,

Instructors liked how CBL engaged students in learning,

CBL seemed to facilitate small group learning, but the authors could not distinguish between whether it was the case itself or the small group learning that occurred as facilitated by the case.

Other studies have also reported on the effectiveness of CBL in achieving learning outcomes (Bonney, 2015; Breslin, 2008; Herreid, 2013; Krain, 2016). These findings suggest that CBL is a vehicle of engagement for instruction, and facilitates an environment whereby students can construct knowledge.

Science – Students are given a scenario to which they apply their basic science knowledge and problem-solving skills to help them solve the case. One example within the biological sciences is two brothers who have a family history of a genetic illness. They each have mutations within a particular sequence in their DNA. Students work through the case and draw conclusions about the biological impacts of these mutations using basic science. Sample cases: You are Not the Mother of Your Children ; Organic Chemisty and Your Cellphone: Organic Light-Emitting Diodes ;   A Light on Physics: F-Number and Exposure Time

Medicine – Medical or pre-health students read about a patient presenting with specific symptoms. Students decide which questions are important to ask the patient in their medical history, how long they have experienced such symptoms, etc. The case unfolds and students use clinical reasoning, propose relevant tests, develop a differential diagnoses and a plan of treatment. Sample cases: The Case of the Crying Baby: Surgical vs. Medical Management ; The Plan: Ethics and Physician Assisted Suicide ; The Haemophilus Vaccine: A Victory for Immunologic Engineering

Public Health – A case study describes a pandemic of a deadly infectious disease. Students work through the case to identify Patient Zero, the person who was the first to spread the disease, and how that individual became infected.  Sample cases: The Protective Parent ; The Elusive Tuberculosis Case: The CDC and Andrew Speaker ; Credible Voice: WHO-Beijing and the SARS Crisis

Law – A case study presents a legal dilemma for which students use problem solving to decide the best way to advise and defend a client. Students are presented information that changes during the case.  Sample cases: Mortgage Crisis Call (abstract) ; The Case of the Unpaid Interns (abstract) ; Police-Community Dialogue (abstract)

Business – Students work on a case study that presents the history of a business success or failure. They apply business principles learned in the classroom and assess why the venture was successful or not. Sample cases: SELCO-Determining a path forward ; Project Masiluleke: Texting and Testing to Fight HIV/AIDS in South Africa ; Mayo Clinic: Design Thinking in Healthcare

Humanities - Students consider a case that presents a theater facing financial and management difficulties. They apply business and theater principles learned in the classroom to the case, working together to create solutions for the theater. Sample cases: David Geffen School of Drama

Recommendations

Finding and Writing Cases

Consider utilizing or adapting open access cases - The availability of open resources and databases containing cases that instructors can download makes this approach even more accessible in the classroom. Two examples of open databases are the Case Center on Public Leadership and Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Case Program , which focus on government, leadership and public policy case studies.

• Consider writing original cases - In the event that an instructor is unable to find open access cases relevant to their course learning objectives, they may choose to write their own. See the following resources on case writing: Cooking with Betty Crocker: A Recipe for Case Writing ; The Way of Flesch: The Art of Writing Readable Cases ;   Twixt Fact and Fiction: A Case Writer’s Dilemma ; And All That Jazz: An Essay Extolling the Virtues of Writing Case Teaching Notes .

Implementing Cases

Take baby steps if new to CBL - While entire courses and curricula may involve case-based learning, instructors who desire to implement on a smaller-scale can integrate a single case into their class, and increase the number of cases utilized over time as desired.

Use cases in classes that are small, medium or large - Cases can be scaled to any course size. In large classes with stadium seating, students can work with peers nearby, while in small classes with more flexible seating arrangements, teams can move their chairs closer together. CBL can introduce more noise (and energy) in the classroom to which an instructor often quickly becomes accustomed. Further, students can be asked to work on cases outside of class, and wrap up discussion during the next class meeting.

Encourage collaborative work - Cases present an opportunity for students to work together to solve cases which the historical literature supports as beneficial to student learning (Bruffee, 1993). Allow students to work in groups to answer case questions.

Form diverse teams as feasible - When students work within diverse teams they can be exposed to a variety of perspectives that can help them solve the case. Depending on the context of the course, priorities, and the background information gathered about the students enrolled in the class, instructors may choose to organize student groups to allow for diversity in factors such as current course grades, gender, race/ethnicity, personality, among other items.  

Use stable teams as appropriate - If CBL is a large component of the course, a research-supported practice is to keep teams together long enough to go through the stages of group development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning (Tuckman, 1965).

Walk around to guide groups - In CBL instructors serve as facilitators of student learning. Walking around allows the instructor to monitor student progress as well as identify and support any groups that may be struggling. Teaching assistants can also play a valuable role in supporting groups.

Interrupt strategically - Only every so often, for conversation in large group discussion of the case, especially when students appear confused on key concepts. An effective practice to help students meet case learning goals is to guide them as a whole group when the class is ready. This may include selecting a few student groups to present answers to discussion questions to the entire class, asking the class a question relevant to the case using polling software, and/or performing a mini-lesson on an area that appears to be confusing among students.  

Assess student learning in multiple ways - Students can be assessed informally by asking groups to report back answers to various case questions. This practice also helps students stay on task, and keeps them accountable. Cases can also be included on exams using related scenarios where students are asked to apply their knowledge.

Barrows HS. (1996). Problem-based learning in medicine and beyond: a brief overview. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 68, 3-12.  

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Home > Books > Education Annual Volume 2023

Cognitive Learning Theory and Development: Higher Education Case Study

Submitted: 30 December 2022 Reviewed: 21 February 2023 Published: 18 July 2023

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.110629

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Cognitive skills facilitate thinking, reading, and learning, as well as retaining information, reasoning, and responding. Theories of cognitive development attempt to explain how humans develop and change from infancy to old age. Cognitive control suppresses inappropriate habitual actions simultaneously by choosing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to meet task demands. This chapter is a compilation of major theories on cognitive development, both earlier and contemporary. A longitudinal study was conducted at Mazoon College, Sultanate of Oman. Six different sections of the authors’ own classes were chosen as subjects of study to include 176 students (mixed ability learners) who were taking preparatory English language courses for bachelor’s degrees. Over three semesters, 14 months of data were collected. During reading and writing exercises, learners were required to abstract, think, hypothesize, and draw conclusions. Experimental and control groups were compared in this study. The results of the research found that it is beneficial for learners to take courses that link to their cognitive abilities, as this will help them to develop more positively. Study results confirm that studying provides opportunities to develop new skills and broaden one’s knowledge base. Student thoughts on learning and achievement are evoked by English as a second language.

• control functions
• cognitive development
• longitudinal study
• cognitive development in higher education
• cognitive learning

Author Information

Zaheer ahmed khan.

• Mazoon College, Muscat, Sultanate Oman

Javarria Adnan

Syed adnan raza *.

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 cognitive control functions.

Cognitive skills facilitate thinking, reading, learning, retaining information, reasoning, and paying attention as core functions of the brain. Collectively, they work to take incoming information and add it to the bank of knowledge that they use every day at school, work, and in everyday life. Cognitive skills are used in problem-solving, remembering information, and making decisions. In cognitive control, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are intentionally chosen based on task demands, circumstances, and social context to suppress inappropriate habitual actions simultaneously [ 1 ]. Three key areas have been identified in the study of cognitive control functions: working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility to accomplish certain tasks.

Working memory is the ability to retain information, and one must be able to recall information from working memory to complete academic tasks. As an example, consider a student who is reading a narrative text. If that student is unable to grasp the gist of the story as it unfolds, they will not be able to read it successfully, and they will not enjoy the reading experience. There is a possibility that they might end up losing the thread of the story altogether. This is because they have to return to the beginning of a sentence, paragraph, or page quite frequently. They must develop reading fluency to become effective readers, and in order to achieve this goal, they must have a well-functioning working memory. Conversations should be conducted in the same manner. Learners are likely to experience confusion or even a breakdown in communication if a question is asked, and then the answer is not remembered. This is because of the effort necessary to understand the response.

According to Tiego et al. [ 2 ], inhibitory control involves the suppression of stimuli and behaviors that are irrelevant to the goal’s attainment. Attention, especially in the face of distractions, and control over one’s emotional and behavioral responses to diverse stimuli are very important to accomplishing a task or achieving a goal. Consider a situation in which a student is engaged in a writing task when he or she is interrupted in their work by another student, noise, or some other disturbance from around them. Inhibitory control skills are important to deal with the irritation successfully and continue with their work by ignoring the interruptions rather than losing track of their work. Developing inhibitory control skills is essential for dealing with irritation effectively. To be able to continue working quickly, they need to be able to ignore interruptions rather than lose track of their task.

The third aspect of the cognitive control function is cognitive flexibility, which refers to the ability to solve problems effectively. This is a multifaceted approach that enables students to think outside the box, think creatively, and adapt to changing environments. To think creatively without cognitive flexibility is impossible. To effectively communicate, students must be able to use language in accordance with the circumstances of the environment instead of exchanging prefabricated phrases. They will have to create sentences that they have never heard or seen before. In responding to the conversation of another person, they will need to react flexibly, creatively, and spontaneously. Therefore, they need to use repair strategies to support the process of communication to eliminate any misunderstanding, especially if they or their converser have difficulties comprehending. They need to be able to ask their interlocutor to repeat in order to paraphrase what has been said. Therefore, one must be able to change the course of the dialog flexibly to avoid being stuck.

According to Dawson and Guare [ 3 ], cognitive control is a function developed in the brain of the learner. Under the influence of others and the environment, cognitive and linguistic skills develop over time. Therefore, the learning environment and teaching play a crucial role in the development of these skills. Unlike motor control functions, cognitive control functions appear to be interrelated rather than used in isolation. There is often a correlation between working memory and inhibitory control (teachers usually notice that students who are proficient at concentrating and do not easily get distracted tend to also have better working memory). Best and Miller [ 4 ] argue that working memory skills and the ability to control inhibitions are significant skills in cognitive flexibility.

2. Development of cognitive control

It is only through thinking, exploring, and solving problems that learners can acquire knowledge. By thinking about and understanding their surroundings, students develop knowledge, skills, problem-solving abilities, and dispositions. From a neurological perspective, brain development is part of cognitive development. Learning novel concepts and making connections between them is facilitated by building upon previous knowledge and ideas. Students can approach coursework with enthusiasm and confidence when they have a thorough understanding of topics and strong learning skills. Learning in college requires students to be able to read, understand, remember, write, think, analyze, and solve problems. To function effectively, these cognitive skills must be combined. Cognitive skills contribute to the enhancement of academic performance. Through three transactions, students gain an increasing ability to overcome habits. At first, they develop cognitive control in response to environmental stimuli. Later, cognitive control is applied both reactively and proactively. Lastly, learners become more self-directed rather than dependent on environmental cues to engage in cognitive control. The following factors, however, influence the development of cognitive control.

3. Influence of language learning

A study by Morales et al. [ 5 ] compared the performance of monolingual children and bilingual children on working memory tests. The results indicated that bilingual children performed better than monolingual children in these tasks. Bilingual children are more likely to perform these tasks successfully due to their ability to deal with “other executive function demands.” It appears that bilingual children outperformed monolingual children on these tasks. Bilingual children are more likely to perform these tasks successfully due to their ability to deal with “other executive function demands.” In the development of bilingualism, cognitive control may play a role in proficiency outcomes. It is because what we think becomes what we communicate, and what we communicate can lead to creative ideas. An immersive approach appears to improve functions, such as attention and mental alertness, in individuals who are learning a new language.

4. The influence of stress and anxiety

Stress makes students more likely to fail, make mistakes, and perform poorly on tests, especially if they fear failure and mistakes. Students may find stress to be one of the most powerful deterrents to learning, regardless of the source of the stress. Students’ self-talk while performing a task is often dominated by worries, which leads to less achievement. This is because students are involved in a process that reduces their working memory capacity and their ability to solve problems [ 6 ]. It is like what happens when students have unrealistically high expectations of themselves and strive to achieve perfection—their working memory is occupied with self-worry, limiting their ability to process information. The working memory of students in both situations is occupied either with negative self-talk or worries about possibly not being able to meet their high standards.

5. The influence of emotional engagement

Whether training in cognitive control functions will or will not be successful depends on the degree of emotional engagement. A learner’s strong belief in their own engagement, their feelings of excitement, their sense of challenge, and their sense of achievement, as well as their sense that a particular activity is meaningful to them, are essential aspects of essentials. Emotional investment is essential to ensuring that a learner feels committed to an activity. They devote a significant amount of time and effort to this endeavor. Learning activities in the classroom are exciting and fulfilling, which contribute to the development of cognitive control. An activity’s method of execution is crucial to this critical act. Therefore, the attitude of teachers is essential in making activities meaningful and engaging while allowing their students to make progress.

6. Theoretical perspective of cognitive learning

Thinking and reasoning abilities are developed through cognitive development. An understanding of human learning, socialization, and behavior is based on cognitive theory, which examines the internal workings of the brain. Information processing is an incredibly relevant topic for cognitive theorists. As children develop cognitively, they become capable of thinking about the world around them. Cognitive development can be influenced by everyday experiences. Cognitive development is initially considered through Piaget’s stages, which correspond to certain ages. The Vygotsky theory is another significant contribution. His focus was on factors affecting cognitive development. This theory emphasizes that the social environment contributes significantly to cognitive development.

7. Jean Piaget’s theory

There is always a set order for the stages.

There is never a skip in a stage.

At each stage, the stage before it undergoes a significant transformation.

It is the later stages that incorporate the earlier stages.

8. The road map of cognitive development

Learning about the world requires children to be able to anticipate how objects and people will interact with one another. Human perception and comprehension of the environment are influenced by social interaction patterns. Iterative perception leads to an increase in one’s world knowledge. A development link is the assimilation process, followed by the accommodation process. Based on Piaget’s (1936) argument, learning is related to “equilibration objects and people will interact with one another”. Human perception and comprehension of the environment are influenced by social interaction patterns. Iterative perception leads to an increase in one’s world knowledge. A development link is the assimilation process, followed by the accommodation process.

Assimilation: Children familiarize themselves with new experiences by connecting them to previous ones (i.e., schemes). They may incorporate rattles into their grasping strategy because of previous interactions with sticks or rattles. In accordance with this, when they interpret objects, they have expectations based on their past experiences with sticks.

Accommodation: Both children and adults are subject to this process of accommodation. Because every first-time experience varies, youngsters will be able to adapt to these differences and expand their knowledge. The acquisition of updated information and experiences will alter one’s existing views of the world (schemas).

9. A cognitive development model based on Piaget’s four stages

The development process follows a “staircase” pattern. According to Piaget, there are four major stages of cognitive development: (1) sensorimotor intelligence, (2) preoperational thinking, (3) concrete operational thinking, and (4) formal operational thinking. Childhood aging periods and stages are generally correlated with each stage. During these stages, ideas are generated.

9.1 The sensorimotor stage

Object permanence is visible at this stage (from birth to age 2). Based on Piaget’s theory, infants begin to “think” by using their senses and motor actions during the sensorimotor stage. Infants are constantly touching, manipulating, looking, listening, and even biting and chewing objects, as every new parent can attest. According to Piaget, the infant’s actions represent objects and events and children acquire knowledge about the world through these actions.

9.2 The preoperational stage

This is a period (from ages 2 to 7) of symbolic thoughts. As children progress through this stage, they make use of their newly acquired ability to represent objects. It is important to note that, at the present time, they do not do so in an organized or logical manner. Preschoolers, for example, engage in dramatic play or improvised pretend play as a form of cognition. Children engaged in imaginative play are thinking on two levels simultaneously: fantasy and reality. Dramatic play exemplifies metacognition, or reflecting on and monitoring the process of thinking, due to this dual processing of experience.

9.3 The concrete operational stage

This is a period (from ages 7 to 11) of logical thoughts. At this stage, children become more logical and flexible in presenting ideas and events at the elementary school level. They still act and operate unconsciously. A systematic approach to problem-solving improves children’s academic performance. The child may be following a rule unconsciously. As well as performing certain arithmetic tasks and science experiments in class, they also perform certain scientific experiments. The mind of a child focuses on concrete events. He or she tries to use logic, but objects and events cannot yet be thought of or presented systematically.

9.4 The formal operational stage

This is a stage (age 11 and beyond) of scientific reasoning. At this stage, reasoning about abstract or hypothetical objects becomes possible for the children. As they represent ideas and events in elementary school, they become logical and flexible. Still, they operate and act unconsciously. Students succeed academically when they solve problems systematically. Additionally, they perform certain arithmetic tasks and science experiments in class. Children focus on concrete events. Although they try to use logic, they are unable to describe objects or events systematically.

10. Vygotsky theory

Based on this theory, scaffolding was introduced, which is defined as “social collaboration conducive to cognitive development.” According to Vygotsky, four “elementary mental functions” are with us from birth: attention, sensation, perception, and memory. Utilization of these elementary skills enables us to acquire higher mental functions within our social and cultural environment. According to this theory, social conciliation is a process of knowledge construction, and infants are said to learn new interpersonal and cognitive skills through interactions with older people. Therefore, cognitive functions are developed because of the interaction between humans. Through collaborative dialogs with more knowledgeable members of society, children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies.

In terms of child development, Vygotsky’s approach is a form of social constructivism. Consequently, this theory has led to the development of more interactive and collaborative instructional and learning organizations. In these organizations, students and teachers are encouraged to interact socially. As Vygotsky believed, higher-order functions of the brain are shaped by parents, caregivers, peers, and the individual’s culture. According to Vygotsky, there can be differences in human development between cultures. Vygotsky’s theory discusses concepts, such as the zone of proximal development, culture-specific tools, and private speech. In the process of creating meaning, the community plays an essential role.

According to Vygotsky, social interaction plays a crucial role in cognitive development. Learning is a necessary, universal aspect of culturally organized psychological function. Unlike Piaget’s view, social learning generally precedes development, according to Vygotsky [ 8 ]. Therefore, according to this theory, constructed cognitive abilities are argued to be socially guided. Learning, memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities are formed through cultural mediation. By means of Vygotsky’s theory, teaching and learning have become interactive and collaborative. This type of organization encourages students to learn by interacting with peers and teachers.

11. Contemporary theoretical perspective

The Piaget theory has been criticized for using a small sample with rigid stage limits. Vygotsky’s work demonstrates the development of Neo-Piagetian thinking, which integrates context (family, culture, history, language, and play). Piaget’s descriptions of accommodation processes are complemented by Vygotsky’s emphasis on environmental factors. According to modern theory, children’s cognitive development follows specific principles. These principles shift and shift as a child interacts with the environment.

Many cognitive abilities are developed among children at a very early stage. Children have natural information outwardly world, and their learning is fast. Piaget was off-base about knowledge. As far as article lastingness, it was noticed that newborn children look for objects sooner than Piaget proposed. Besides, newborn children younger than one have the mental capacity to comprehend that secret items are not stowed away from sight.

Piaget and strategic issues as far as the standards of formative science, Piaget’s hypothesis has a few issues. Right off the bat, with respect to the determination of members, Piaget did not choose an extraordinary assortment of members to give a dependable outcome; for the most part, he just inspected his own youngsters. Moreover, one of the main parts of the exploration strategy is diminishing the impact of testing predisposition by choosing members cautiously. Consequently, summing up his plans for kids from various societies or nations all over the planet is absurd.

Besides, Piaget frequently used the clinical technique to gather information. This technique is more adaptable, so members are probably going to pose various inquiries. Notwithstanding, uniform materials, questions, bearings, and procedures to assess mental factors are the spine of exploratory brain research. Current analysts have been disappointed by Piaget’s reports of his investigation. Piaget did not make sense of the social-financial foundation of the kids, the quantity of members, or the member’s race or nationality, and he did not give more than adequate insight concerning his testing measures.

It is challenging to tell whether Piaget is depicting kids speculatively or testing them. Besides, as per Piaget, “clinicians over-summed up their techniques and showed up at magnificent details, especially when a multitude of researchers made an interpretation of their outcomes into numerical terms.” Besides, “intense perception, especially when made by [a great observer], beats all insights” (1936/1952, p. 72, referred to in Mill operator, 2012, 85-86). This implies that Piaget did not give factual outlines of his revelations, and he gave extensive example conventions deciphered by Piaget, from which peruses regularly do not figure out the topics.

Though Piaget has informed us about the four mental developmental stage but late examination has shown that not all teenagers arrive at the formal functional stage. Since the instructive cycle in certain social orders does not stress decisive reasoning, which is basic for arriving at the formal functional stage. Because of an absence of instructive foundation, concentrates on show that the main portion of people in certain social orders arrives at the formal functional stage. Moreover, people can show formal functional expertise in only one field; for instance, a generally excellent designer can ponder this particular region but is probably going to experience issues contemplating verse.

Modern cognitive development theory evolves as evidence is gathered and suggestions are made. Currently, researchers are studying factors affecting cognitive development. According to Taylor [ 9 ], these factors include both internal (such as sexual orientation) and external (such as the community). Kellermann et al. [ 10 ] discuss epilepsy’s effects on cognitive development.

Dadvand et al. [ 11 ] demonstrate that exposure to green and open spaces benefits cognition. A similar study by Barac et al. [ 12 ] demonstrated various effects of bilingualism on cognitive development as an internal factor conditioned by the environment. Sun & Esposito [ 13 ] indicate the specificity principle plays a role in children’s language development. As a result of extensive research, more specific factors are now being examined to provide more details and enhance our understanding of human cognitive development. Future views of this theory may result in a comprehensive understanding of human development due to the diversity of modern views. However, more research and more evidence are required before that can be achieved.

12. Cognitive development and educators as pedagogical leaders

Theories related to early development, sociocultural context, and contemporary context provide educators with theoretical scaffolding. By utilizing contemporary theories, such as Piaget’s cognitive theory for observing children’s play stages, Vygotsky’s concept of cultural tools, and ZPD in early childhood education, educators scaffold children’s play and learning. Zones of proximal development (ZPD) are key in scaffolding, allowing children to accomplish as much on their own as possible while tutoring fills in what they are unable to accomplish. Contemporary theorists point out other influences and realities educators need to be aware of. Therefore, they develop a self-understanding of how much they must be open to change and take into account children’s perspectives when employing their pedagogical approach to enhance the learning of students in the total scheme of teaching and learning.

Education as a profession requires educators to have a strong reliance on verbal cues, such as providing suggestions and instructions for children to construct their own understandings of the world. A pedagogical leader builds students’ social, academic, and intellectual capital, as well as teachers’ intellectual and professional capital. The notion of “pedagogical leadership” refers to bringing a pedagogical framework to all aspects of teaching and focusing on dialog with the learners. Children learn more when they are in an environment in which the family is engaged, the organization’s curricular philosophy is followed, data are used to measure program effectiveness, and standards are established to maximize learning. An understanding of pedagogy is rooted in a solid theoretical and practical foundation. Therefore, cultural and social values influence learning, teaching, and development.

With the modern educational system’s national priorities, teachers must develop students with the skills and knowledge necessary not only for lifelong learning but also for the knowledge economy. In the knowledge-based economy, individuals and institutions actively interact with each other to learn from one another. As a result, teachers play a crucial role in promoting student learning in a pedagogical context. Organizing lessons, facilitating interaction, and solving classroom challenges require a teacher who is capable of handling content and student learning.

To be effective in the context of the modern era, developmental theories work well when combined with contemporary approaches, such as sociocultural theory and post-structural theory. Those theories really help to question universal norms; they help to think about what it is we see in terms of children’s holistic development and not just whether they can do this or that by themselves. Sociocultural theories emphasize “the central role that families and cultural groups play in children’s learning and the importance of respectful relationships” and “provide insights into the social and cultural contexts of learning and development.” It emphasizes that cognitive development is essentially a social process. This is of great importance to educators who have to plan how to teach children with diverse social and cultural backgrounds. Post-structural theory inspires educators to “challenge traditional ways of seeing children, teaching, and learning.” It offers insights into issues of power, equity, and social justice in early childhood settings.

Considering theoretical understandings, educators may consider how different theories can assist them in looking holistically at children’s capacities to participate at different ages. Because it is impossible to separate children from their interactions with others around them, educators must use more than one theory to observe learning. To establish a framework of what is acceptable and fair for students, educators should consider contemporary theories along with earlier theories of cognitive development. Learning takes place within the context of a learner’s cognitive processes. To promote social, emotional, and cognitive development in children, educators should provide them with interesting and stimulating materials to use in their environments. Five types of educational approaches (constructivist, collaborative, integrative, reflective, and inquiry-based) are incorporated into a cognitive development theory. Classroom environmental, mental, and cultural realities are integrated into these pedagogical and cognitive approaches.

Thus, theoretical and pedagogical orientations support the distinction of cognitive strategies from metacognitive strategies (learning organization) and social/affective strategies (interaction base). In language teaching, educators utilize strategies, such as repetition, organizing new language, summarizing meaning, guessing meaning based on context, and using imagery for memorization. The purpose of these strategies is to improve learning by deliberately manipulating language.

13. Criticism on cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology focuses on interior data cycles, such as discernment, consideration, language, and memory. The psychology profession is concerned with these interior cycles and their impact on our behavior and feelings. As a result of cognitive psychology research, new speculations have been developed, and more insight into how the mind works has been gained. Researchers have found that cognitive development is difficult to identify. According to another interpretation of this methodology, it ignores other factors besides cognitive ones that can influence behavior. The social and cognitive environments are two factors that may influence a person’s behavior. There are some limitations to this approach.

Psychology researchers usually carry out their studies in false environments or ignore the current situation. For instance, participants in a memory study could feel pressure to perform well in a study hall setting, resulting in worse memory performance than if they were evaluated at home. Since the focus lacks natural legitimacy, its effects are less applicable to daily life and may even be irrelevant outside the review environment. In many cases, students feel confident and well-prepared before an exam, but when they enter the exam hall, everything vanishes. A lack of cognitive development can be caused by nervousness or hypertension.

In most instances, Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development respond to misconceptions or insignificant details that do not contradict the central principles of his theory. Some people have complained that his tests were too difficult for children. A variety of skills can be tested by altering the process so that younger students can pass the tests. In other studies, the ages associated with the stages have been examined, and the diversity of children has been highlighted. Rather than focusing on the age at which a child reaches a particular milestone, Piaget emphasized succession.

When it comes to specific errands, children use various types of reasoning and are conflictual at every stage. In another study, it was found that children use specific types of reasoning when solving specific errands and that they are conflictual throughout the process, indicating that they will use functional reasoning. That is, “level decal age” refers to the fact that a child may not always use concrete functional reasoning on such errands. Although it was acknowledged that this went against Piaget’s hypothesis, it does so assuming that children are believed to be in a phase. Piaget predicted this outcome based on a thorough understanding of his hypothesis.

Looking closer at his hypothesis, it appears that children develop different types of reasoning based on their experiences. The degree to which a child is involved with the project materials will determine how well they use concrete and functional reasoning.

Furthermore, Piaget’s conception of cognitive progression has been criticized for misinterpreting social factors. In some instances, he departs from Vygotsky’s belief that social connections are so important. Anyhow, it surprised Vygotsky when he reviewed Piaget’s original work and found it to be too dependent on friendly variables! According to Piaget, social elements are clearly significant and important, but they do not fully explain progress on their own. According to him, equilibrium is also a constant, ever-changing interaction. A key foundation for current research on the formative brain remains Piaget’s hypothesis of cognitive development. The primary point of his argument is affirmed rather than challenged by subsequent revelations.

On the other hand, “reductionism” is a term only used to describe theories that alter how people behave. Many brain science research approaches fail to take into account all of the different factors that affect the human psyche and how we behave. Instead, they focus on just one aspect of understanding how the brain works. Individual differences are typically ignored in cognitive psychology, where it is assumed that all inner processing is consistent across individuals. This is reductionist because it ignores the influences of nature, the environment, or genetics on cognitive capacity.

Cognitive psychology studies cognitive cycles with a restricted focus. Because of the PC analogy, data handling specialists tend to focus primarily on the coherent components of information handling. They also tend to focus less on the deeper, innovative, and social facets that can also influence thinking. The field of cognitive psychology has often relied on correlations between the functioning of computers and the functioning of the human mind. Does the cerebrum function in this manner? In comparison to the most advanced computer, the human mind is infinitely more remarkable and adaptable.

Criticizing the cognitive approach, Burruhus Frederic Skinner [ 14 ] argues that only external stimulus-response behavior can be measured scientifically. Due to their inability to be observed and measured, mediation processes between stimulus and response cannot be observed. The mediation processes between stimulus and response cannot be observed or measured because they do not exist. He continues to explore problems with cognitive exploration techniques, especially thoughtfulness, due to its abstract and informal nature.

Behaviorists believe that children’s brains are like a blank slate (tabula rasa) and are born without cognitive functions, such as schemas, memories, or perceptions. In determining behavior, the cognitive approach often overlooks physical (biological psychology) and environmental (behaviorism) factors. In addition to cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) have been influenced by and integrated with cognitive psychology.

14. Cognitive development of students in higher education

In higher education institutions (HEIs), stakeholders perceive cognitive development in relation to intellectual capital (IC) and sustainable development (SD). In HEIs, two constructs (IC and SD) are related, especially through relational capital and structural capital [ 15 ]. Therefore, intellectual growth is influenced by the study environment, which is conducive to the development of intellectual ability.

Cognitive development is correlated with student learning approaches, but learners may develop cognitively differently in different environments. According to Zhang & Watkins [ 16 ], there was a reported difference in cognitive development among American and Chinese students. The study also demonstrated that extracurricular activities were positively related to cognitive development for both American and Chinese students. A stimulating learning environment and a focus on cognitive abilities result in improved academic performance. Among other factors, academic achievement is influenced by a student’s ability to process information quickly, function in a visual-spatial environment, and calculate.

A key goal of education is to engage students with educational plans and encourage them to work intellectually. Engagement in cognitive activities involves working beyond the minimum requirements by putting thoughtful energy into the comprehension of complex ideas. In it, psychological investment is focused on learning, understanding, and mastering knowledge. An engaged student is capable of exceeding expectations and prefers challenges over requirements. Through this, students can expand their knowledge frontiers and develop meaningful and enduring academic commitments. Students’ social and cognitive development is enhanced by engagement in the classroom. A student’s engagement in higher education requires consideration of their potential to grow and motivation for development as distinctive characteristics. The development process is driven by the potential of an individual as a motivating value. To achieve creativity, a learner must develop, grow continuously, and engage in motivational-creative activities [ 17 ]. According to the five-dimensional model [ 18 ], five areas must be considered: (1) academic engagement, (2) cognitive engagement, (3) social engagement with peers, (4) social engagement with teachers, and (5) effective engagement. All these dimensions have high consistency. An undergraduate degree in pedagogical education has three components: (1) a value-based motivation component, (2) a cognitive component, and (3) a practical component. Therefore, by working on cognitive development through these engagements, a sufficient level of knowledge and skills can be developed in students of higher education institutions. A bachelor’s degree is generally associated with competitiveness. This belief holds that knowledge (cognition) is the only competitive advantage that remains over time. For cognitive learning to take place, students’ creativity must be developed. The perception of difficulty increases with the level of subjective memory dysfunction [ 19 ]. Further, speed and perceived difficulty correlate when a task is perceived as difficult. An individual’s task and metacognition must be considered to examine the integrity of their information processing speed.

Besides other factors, students’ cognitive development is also affected by dimensions of teaching effectiveness in higher education institutions [ 20 ]. There are two fundamental perceptions of students regarding instructors: clarity and organization. A combination of both aspects of learning is associated with enhanced outcomes. These outcomes include students’ critical thinking skills, their propensity for lifelong learning, their academic motivation, their likelihood of completing their bachelor’s degree, and their use of deep learning techniques [ 21 ]. From a pedagogical perspective, student-directed learning [ 22 , 23 ] involves students in the processes of collaboration, testing, creation, and directing their own learning. Students engage in active learning by writing, reading, discussing, evaluating, and creating. Therefore, students develop skills in cooperation and communication with peers in addition to participating in content development and knowledge building. The most efficient way to provide students with opportunities for cognitive development is through a student-directed learning strategy. Student-centered learning refers to the efforts of teachers to facilitate and design the learning process to engage students in their learning. Student-centered education focuses on developing problem-solving skills using complex and open-ended problems. Unlike traditional learning, problem-based learning involves students presenting their knowledge based on their understanding of course content and class participation.

15. Glossary

15.1 assimilation.

Assimilation is the process by which a learner relates newly acquired information to older cognitive structures. Thus, assimilation occurs when a learner encounters a novel idea and must “fit” it into what they already know.

15.2 Accommodation

Accommodation is a substantial process that requires the learner to reshape existing knowledge due to the acquisition of recent information. An adaptation occurs when preexisting knowledge is altered to accommodate newly learned information. Thus, accommodation involves creating new schemas.

15.3 Cognitive learning

Cognitive learning emphasizes helping learners learn how to use their brains to their full potential, where experience leads to changes in knowledge. The formation of insights and latent learning are both components of cognitive learning. The cognitive theory asserts that emotions and behavior are largely influenced by thoughts. Several factors influence learning, such as problem-solving skills, memory retention, thinking skills, and the perception of what is learned.

15.4 Cognitive development

An individual’s cognitive development is the development of his or her ability to reason and think. Cognitive information development includes four stages: reasoning, intelligence, language, and memory. Through cognitive development, children learn to think critically about the world around them. The cognitive development of a child is influenced by everyday experiences.

15.5 Cognitive skills

Cognitive skills are brain-based skills necessary for acquiring knowledge, manipulating information, and reasoning. Cognitive skills refer to cognitive capacities. These skills include thinking, reading, learning, remembering, reasoning, and paying attention. Learners organize newly acquired information into the repository of knowledge they use every day in class, at work, and in their personal lives.

15.6 Jean Piaget’s theory

According to Jean Piaget, children’s intelligence changes throughout their growth. Children need to develop a mental model of the world around them as part of their cognitive development. Children pass through stages in their development of intelligence in terms of their formal thought processes.

15.7 Problem-solving strategies

Learners can find the most appropriate solution to their problems by looking beyond the obvious answers and using problem-solving strategies. Learners develop problem-solving skills by identifying problems, analyzing them, generating alternative solutions, and evaluating them. Common problem-solving techniques used in education are computing, simplifying, illustrating, and summarizing information and ideas.

15.8 Vygotsky’s theory

Social interactions can guide and mediate a person’s learning ability. The theory suggests that socialization contributes significantly to learning. Essentially, this theory outlines three core concepts related to cognitive development: (1) culture plays an influential role in learning, (2) language is the root of culture, and (3) individuals learn and develop within their communities.

15.9 Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

A learner is traveling between two terminals: the known and the unknown. Guidance and encouragement from a knowledgeable person can help a learner who is having difficulty mastering certain skills. A skilled partner can guide and encourage a learner to achieve greater results than he or she could on their own. In other words, those skills the learner is “close” to acquiring are considered.

16. Case in point

The teaching environment in Oman involves three main factors: learners, teachers, and obstacles. Therefore, the comparison of students’ results after certain methodical interventions with a control group reflected the difference in achievement. Omani colleges’ English classes, for example, provide students with both basic language skills and a foundation for advanced language abilities that will be crucial to completing their degrees. The process of learning a second language requires more than just language skills. For our learners to be successful at learning a new language, they must be in control of their own learning and self-management.

A longitudinal study was conducted at Mazoon College, Sultanate of Oman. A total of 176 students (mixed ability learners) taking preparatory English language courses for a bachelor’s degree were chosen as the subject of study from six different sections of the authors’ own classes. The data were collected over a period of 14 months (three semesters). Learners were given reading and writing exercises that focused on abstraction, thinking, hypothesizing, and drawing conclusions. The study was conducted on an experimental group of 93 students and compared with a control group of 83 students.

16.1 Theoretical perspective

Guided by the theory of cognitive development to understand the interplay between teaching strategy and cognition in education, students use a certain amount of working memory, which is explained by cognitive load theory. Observing and recording the assessments that how stress and emotion alter the cognitive processes that support performance our study concluded from findings in the preview of cognitive psychology and education point of view.

16.2 Methodology

Verbal and written English language skills

Thinking skills

Developing knowledge

Memory development

Perceptual skills

Emotional control

Outcomes ( Table 1 ) are based on the assessment of students’ data on given tasks. A tendency investigation of summative assessments and behavioral outcomes assessment measured the following: verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, response to challenging situations, processing speed, number of mistakes, and willingness to accept a challenge ( Figure 1 ).

Descriptive.

Marks average.

There was a significant difference in variance ( Table 2 ) between the control group and the experimental group.

Hypothesis test summary.

The significance level is 0.05.

Asymptotic significances are displayed.

17. Conclusion

Based on research on cognitive development among students of English as a second language in higher education, this chapter examines cognitive development’s theoretical grounds and criticisms, as well as its value and contribution. Additionally, the chapter illustrates how pedagogical approaches are guided by the dimensions of student learning. The outcomes of the study highlight the study process as a chance to develop new skills in students through cognitive engagement. Attending English as a second language class evokes thoughts of learning and achievement in students. Examination of given situations revealed that study engagements may lead to feelings of tension, apprehension, or fear about performing up to the expectations set for learners by teachers and curriculum. Therefore, learners of English as a second language feel under pressure from anxiety and stress. The acquisition and demonstration of knowledge cannot simply sum up what students learn in class. Memory, attention, cognitive control, motivation, and emotions all play a role in academic performance. Providing students with close supervision, assistance, and interaction opportunities enhanced the performance outcomes of the experimental group. Pedagogical interventions integrated with cognitive development perspectives applied to the experimental group resulted in improvements in learning and a reduction of anxiety and stress compared to the control group. The following categories of activities and strategies are presented based on assessments (e.g., formative and summative) aimed at developing cognitive control functions in the language classroom (ages 18–25) or combinations of those activities.

17.1 Determine the level of the learners and assign appropriate activities

Based on the description above, it is evident that these activities provide a dual benefit by developing language skills and improving cognitive control functions simultaneously. Taking part in these activities enhances one’s ability to control cognitive processes. Stress and positive emotional engagement play an influential role in the development of cognitive control.

It is likely that the activities will be repeated over time and that the challenges will become increasingly challenging.

17.2 Learning from mistakes

Ensure that your learners understand that making mistakes is natural and that you do not grade them according to how they perform these tasks. Remind them that these activities will be performed on a regular basis. If they spend more time focusing on and enjoying the activities, their performance will improve.

17.3 Teaching English as a second language: methods of improving cognitive control

The use of self-talk to improve cognitive control skills improves a student’s ability to set and achieve goals, and plan and carry out plans.

It is imperative to monitor and analyze a process when it is taught to people rather than expecting that they are already familiar with it.

A script can be used to support this process, which includes model questions, templates, and checklists. It is critical that students repeat these language routines over time in order to gradually internalize them and use them in their own self-talk.

This process can also facilitate the acquisition of a high level of proficiency in the target language. It can be taught to students individually or in groups.

The development of self-control strategies in the classroom is intended to create a culture of can-do in the classroom.

It is critical to encourage students to develop further by replacing negative beliefs about their abilities. This phase can be challenging in terms of establishing a positive classroom culture. Furthermore, negative beliefs about students’ abilities may adversely affect teachers’ attitudes toward their students.

Develop metacognition and study strategies for young adults. The importance of recognizing that any concerns teachers may have regarding cognitive control functions may not be about the core skills themselves cannot be overstated. They may choose to combine these skills in a more sophisticated manner.

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Action Research in Agricultural Development Projects: Case Study of a Dairy Project in Ethiopia

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• Published: 13 April 2024

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• Augustine A. Ayantunde 1 ,
• Abule Ebro 1   nAff2 ,
• Tinsae Berhanu 1   nAff3 ,
• Demewez Moges 1   nAff3 &
• Jan van der Lee 1  

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For development projects, an action research approach is often encouraged to enhance participation of end-users or beneficiaries at various stages of the project to realize the desired social transformation in the target communities. The project under consideration in this study adopted action research for some of its activities. A review of the project action research activities was conducted as part of the strategic reflection for lesson learning and to inform modification where necessary. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the relevance of action research approach to implementation of project activities and, (ii) to draw lessons for agricultural development projects applying participatory approaches. Fifty-one participants involved in the project action research activities were interviewed on their understanding of action research, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and level of participation in action research activities. The perception of the participants interviewed regarding action research approach was that it is relevant and important for the project, and that it has provided a good platform for learning by all participants. Some key lessons from this study for development projects when applying action research approach include the need to focus on a limited number of issues or activities that can produce social transformation in the target communities, and the necessity of adequate planning for monitoring and documentation of learning by participants. From our study, action research is a pertinent approach in community development projects, but it should be well-planned to achieve the desired objective of social transformation in the target communities.

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

In view of the action-oriented feature of action research and the necessity of participation of the potential beneficiaries for any development project to achieve social change in the target communities, a dairy project in Ethiopia entitled, “Building Rural Income through Inclusive Dairy Business Growth in Ethiopia” with the acronym “BRIDGE”, adopted action research as one of its main approaches. Action research approach was applied to the project components on forage development and feeding, dairy products marketing and value addition, and consumption of milk by school children. The project had a duration of 5 years (September 2018 – October 2023) with the overall goal of improved well-being for dairy farmer households and improved dairy sector performance in Ethiopia. By adopting an action research approach for the above-mentioned components, the emphasis of the project is on co-learning, capacity building and empowerment of the target communities. This implies that issues being addressed by the project come from and are of importance to the target communities.

Action research as a methodology can be applied in many contexts, such as community development, professional education, health education, organizational transformation, biodiversity conservation, and agricultural development (McNiff 2013 ; Reason and Bradbury 2008 ). For development projects, an action research approach is often encouraged to enhance participation of end-users or beneficiaries at various stages of the project (planning, implementation, evaluation and closure) to realize the desired social transformation in the target communities (Aragón and Glenzer 2017 ). Besides, action research is commonly advocated to ensure the integration of the knowledge and expertise of community members into local development projects (Kindon et al. 2007 ) based on the epistemological premise of existence of plurality of knowledge in a variety of institutions and locations. Applying an action research approach also ensures focus on the pursuit of practical issues that are of concern to the project target communities (Kindon et al. 2007 ).

Since the 1990s, action research has been on the rise as a leading paradigm within the social and environmental sciences to promote participation and working together of different stakeholders (McNiff 2013 ). In sub-Saharan African contexts, action research has been applied to various projects, such as a soil fertility management project in Tanzania (Mponela et al. 2023 ) as an approach to foster transformation of knowledge systems and learning among smallholder farmers; a tourism development project in Kenya as a vehicle to engage people in interactive learning processes to facilitate individual and societal change (Jernsand 2017 ); and a project on local forms of child protection in Ethiopia to reflect on the learnings from women in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) region (Lackovich-Van Gorp 2017 ; Martinez 2017 ). Rasheli ( 2017 ) also reported using an action research approach to address problems related to procurement management in two local government authorities in Tanzania, while Omondi ( 2020 ) highlighted the potential presented by participatory rural appraisal techniques, an offshoot of action research, to enhance collaborative learning and improve community knowledge for climate change adaptation in Kenya. Action research approach was also used in projects on AIDS prevention among school youth in Jinja, Uganda (Walakira 2010 ) and in Kajiado, Kenya (Ahlberg et al. 2016 ). Isobell et al. ( 2016 ) also reported using participatory action research in two community-based projects on violence prevention and peace promotion in South Africa. These publications show the relevance of action research to different research and development projects in sub-Saharan Africa, its action-oriented feature, and the broad contexts it can be applied to (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ). The guiding principles for action research in these development projects include inclusivity of relevant stakeholders, joint ownership of co-produced knowledge, participatory planning and effective facilitation of the action research process (Khan et al. 2013 ).

In this paper, action research is used as a family of approaches that pursue both action and research outcomes as reported by some authors (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ; Reason and Bradbury 2008 ; Beylefeld 2010 ; McNiff 2013 ). This implies that action research covers different hybrid approaches that have emerged in the past two decades including participative action research, practitioner action research, collaborative action research, participatory learning and action, and emancipatory action research (Kindon et al. 2007 ; McNiff 2013 ; Fahy 2015 ). Differences among these approaches are largely based on different level of commitment and influence of participants, and in the research process (Fahy 2015 ). Some similarities among these approaches are active participation, open-ended objectives, and commitment from the researchers and the participants to the research problem and active learning (Fahy 2015 ). In addition, it can be argued that the above mentioned action research hybrid approaches are part of a continuum of naturalistic, post-positivist, and systemic research methodology (McNiff 2013 ). This position of seeing action research as a family of approaches is consistent with the trend of many action researchers who are increasingly focusing on the points of convergence of these approaches (Fahy 2015 ). Regarding the emergence of different action research hybrid approaches, McNiff ( 2013 ) raised concern on an increasing tendency to compartmentalise action research with the perhaps inevitable consequences of territorialism. The associated danger with this, according to the author, is “losing touch with the voices of people in the streets and workplaces, which is what action research should be all about”. In the context of the BRIDGE project, action research approach is applied based on the principles of participation, inclusion and shared learning to enhance collaboration, empower participants, advance knowledge acquisition, and social change (Fahy 2015 ).

As reflection is a key and distinctive element of action research (McNiff 2013 ), a review of the BRIDGE project action research activities was conducted as part of the strategic reflection to inform lesson learning, modification or redesign of participatory action research approaches where necessary, and to facilitate proper alignment of the action research to the project implementation. The review of the action research activities of BRIDGE forms the core of this paper. The objectives of this study were to: (i) Assess the relevance of the action research approach to implementation of BRIDGE project activities by identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the various action research approaches applied. (ii) To draw lessons from this case study for agricultural development projects applying the action research approach, based on its strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the present study aims at contributing to the limited literature about perception of participants on action research (Niyobuhungiro and Schenck 2022 ) with focus on agricultural development projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology

Action research approach as applied by bridge.

The action research approach as applied by BRIDGE followed the classic cycle of action to reflection as articulated by Lewin ( 1946 ), which entails a cycle of planning, acting, observing and reflecting. The action research process followed by the project for some specific activities listed in Table  1 is presented in Fig.  1 . In addition to the action research approach, the BRIDGE project also used value chain development approach to strengthen the nodes in the dairy value chain, a pluriform extension approach involving both public and private extension services for engagement with dairy farmers, and policy dialogue and influencing approach for engagement with policy makers.

Action research cycle as applied to BRIDGE project activities

As presented in Fig.  1 , the action research process of the BRIDGE project began with the planning phase, which entailed stakeholders’ meetings involving development practitioners, extension services at district and regional levels, researchers, partners from Ethiopian universities and research institutes in the project areas, dairy farmers, and agro-input dealers to explain the overall goal of the project and to conduct participatory situation analysis regarding dairy production in the project areas. This phase led to joint identification of key issues for the project to focus on regarding feed and forage, silage making, access to forage seed, milk collection, conservation and consumption, milk quality and safety, and input and output markets. For some of these activities, there was participatory design of the on-farm demonstration trials, for example improved forage cultivation.

The acting phase focused on implementation of the jointly agreed activities to address the key issues identified in the planning phase, such as training of the farmers on planting of the improved forage seed, on-farm demonstration of improved forage species, and interviewing of the participating farmers. In addition, assessments or studies were conducted on some jointly identified key issues, such as milk quality along the value chain, milk cooling facilities, and a consumer insight study on the potential of probiotic yoghurt. The observing phase involved monitoring of the activities being implemented, including data collection and analysis, and organization of the farmers’ field day and visits to show the improved forage demonstration plots to a wide array of stakeholders. The reflecting phase entailed reporting, sharing and disseminating main findings from the action research activities, and revisiting certain activities. Learning by the stakeholders occurred at all phases of the action research cycle. The project activities to which the action research approach was applied are presented in Table  1 .

Conceptual Framework of the Study

As part of the reflection on the BRIDGE action research activities, a review was conducted between October and December 2022 by the first author who was new to the project to ensure a non-biased investigation. This was necessary to ensure validity and reliability of the findings about the action research activities. The review started with the planning phase, which included reading of the relevant project documents and publications on action research, particularly in the context of development projects (Table  2 ). This was followed by development of terms of reference for the review and drafting of guide questions for the interviewing of project participants. The investigating phase of the study consisted largely of individual interviews of the project participants and field visits to project sites in Oromia and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. Fifty-one participants were interviewed consisting of project staff, government extension officials, Ethiopian university partners, dairy cooperative members, agro-input dealers and dairy farmers (Table  3 ).

The participants who were interviewed had varied professional backgrounds, such as research, project management, advisory service, commerce, and mixed crop-livestock farming. The interview was semi-structured based on guide questions that were developed in advance (Table  4 ). Some of the questions asked focused on description of the action research, activities conducted using an action research approach, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of different participatory action research techniques, and lessons learnt from application of action research. Notes were taken during the interviews and pictures were taken during the field visits. For the farmers and dairy cooperatives, the questions focused mainly on their perception of the benefits and disadvantages of using an action research approach for the implementation of certain project activities. The analysis phase entailed reviewing the notes taken and seeking clarifications where necessary, and analysis of data collected. The last phase of the review was to draft a report and share the main findings through a presentation and discussion. Recommendations from the review were also shared with the BRIDGE project management.

Results and Discussion

Description of action research by the interviewees.

As action research tends to be defined differently based on the discipline of the individual (Reason and Bradbury 2008 ), the individual interview started by asking the respondent’s understanding of action research. From the discussions with BRIDGE project staff and partners, action research was described as follows:

A research conducted involving the end-users with purpose of providing practical information for implementation of project activities.

The emphasis from this description is on participation of the end-users in implementation of research activities. As participation of different stakeholders is a critical element of action research, this description is consistent with definitions in the literature by McNiff ( 2013 ), and Lebesby and Benders ( 2020 ). Participation of different stakeholders is necessary in giving voice to the end-users and to enhance ownership of both the process and the outcomes (Loo 2014 ; Schulz et al. 2021 ). In stressing the importance of participation in action research, Brydon-Miller et al. ( 2003 ) observed that research conducted without a collaborative relationship with the relevant stakeholders is likely to be incompetent. Another key point from this definition by the project participants is action, that the research should be action-oriented to address practical issues of importance to the stakeholders. This is consistent with one of the tenets of action research, that is, it is research that leads to action (practice) and effects change or leads to innovation (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ). The “action” in “action research” is critical to testing knowledge in action or putting theory into practice (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ). The action to be undertaken by the relevant stakeholders may be both remedial and developmental (Kenefick and Kirrane 2022 ).

Action research is a learning platform to inform implementation or specific action by the stakeholders.

The emphasis of this description of action research is on learning that takes place along the action research cycle. This learning is by all stakeholders including researchers. The emphasis on learning in this description by the BRIDGE participants is consistent with observations in the literature on action research that learning is a fundamental element (McNiff 2013 ; Kindon et al. 2007 ). With involvement of different participants in a project, diverse opportunities for learning exist through interactions among the stakeholders, based on the premise that multiple types knowledge are available. This implies that researchers are not the only source of knowledge in action research. In BRIDGE, the researchers in the team brought their technical or propositional knowledge to action research activities, such as knowledge on forage agronomy for cultivation of improved forage species, feed resource management and ration formulation for silage making, knowledge on post-harvest management for milk conservation and processing, and knowledge on human nutrition for the school milk programme. The extension services used their practical knowledge on improved dairy husbandry, particularly on forage cultivation and feed conservation, to translate research findings into extension messages for dairy farmers. The indigenous knowledge of dairy farmers was useful in joint identification of constraints to dairy production in their communities and strategies to address the problems, like use of locally available feed resources. The dairy farmers also contributed to action research on crop residue treatment through use of locally available tools for physical treatment of crop residues. In addition, the farmers used their local knowledge in identification of a local brewery by-product called “atela” as a source of fermenting sugar for silage making instead of molasses which has become expensive and unavailable. So, different kinds of knowledge are used in BRIDGE with emphasis on transformation knowledge which produces practical solutions to the pressing concerns of the people (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ). For co-learning to take place, it is therefore necessary that issues that need to be addressed are jointly identified and co-implemented by all stakeholders, rather than being imposed by the researchers as in conventional research. In support of the “action” in action research, one of the respondents observed that: “There is a research fatigue among farmers, where researchers just come to collect data and disappear. Hence, there is need for research that translates into practical action, thereby contributing to improvement of the livelihood of farmers.” (Respondent PS 5).

From the above descriptions, it is obvious that many of the BRIDGE staff and partners have a good understanding of the action research approach, although the emphasis may differ from joint planning to participatory learning. This is not surprising, as development assistance agencies and non-governmental organizations have been good at applying the values and practices of action research to development projects, though they may not be able to articulate quite well the underlying theories, as observed by Mead ( 2002 ). One important element of action research that was missing from above descriptions is that of reflection, which may suggest that the reflection part of action research was weak in the action research activities of the project. From the discussion on the general understanding of the action research approach by the respondents, the most frequent keywords or phrases used were “learning platform”, “co-implementation”, and “technology demonstration” (Fig.  2 .). Action research was also described as a linkage between research and extension. Again in the keywords/phrases used, there was nothing on reflection or participatory evaluation. This is not unexpected for a development project, where project monitoring and evaluation is often top-down and extractive. In this regard, participatory evaluation may not be included as element of action research activities.

Perception of Action Research Approach by the Participants

The perception of the respondents regarding the action research approach of the project in our study was that it is relevant and important for implementation of project activities. It was also observed by most respondents that some of the action research activities are visible and widely adopted by farmers, for example, forage cultivation and silage making. Another impression of the action research approach was that it has brought different disciplines together to work on project activities. One of the respondents put this clearly: “Action research has removed working in silos and has bridged the disciplinary gap in the project” (Respondent PS 2). This observation is consistent with the interdisciplinary nature of action research (Brydon-Miller 2003).

Key words or phrases used in describing action research by the respondents

Another common observation by the respondents was that action research has provided a good platform for learning by BRIDGE project staff, university partners, extension services and farmers. Through BRIDGE action research activities, knowledge was generated through processes of observation, inquiry, reflection and engagement by the participants. For example, through participants’ observation of and inquiry on improved forage demonstration plots, the dairy farmers learnt agronomic practices on cultivation of forage species which led to establishment of their own forage plots to address the problem of feed scarcity for their cows. Through demonstration of how to make silage, the farmers not only gained knowledge on how to make silage, but also learnt how to substitute molasses, the fermenting sugar for silage, with a local brewery by-product called “atela”. From the assessment of school milk programme, results showed that parents’ attitude towards consumption of dairy products changed positively within 6 months when they learnt about benefits of milk consumption to children and saw the effects on their children. For example, a parent said: “My daughter’s appetite for dairy products was very low, and we believed that milk would make her feel sick, but this was not the case when she joined the school milk programme. In fact, my daughter’s health has improved, her skin and hair are shining, and she has a lot more energy. Her performance at school has also improved” (Respondent PP6). The participants from extension service also reported that they have learnt skills on how to facilitate group discussion and collective action by the community through action research on improved forage cultivation. The researchers also gained knowledge on farmers’ innovation in forage cultivation. For example, in addition to technical advice from the researchers and extension service on forage cultivation, the farmers modified the guidelines by planting fruit trees, particularly avocado and vegetables (for example, hot pepper), along with the improved forage in one of the project locations in Amhara region. The rationale for this was to optimize land use (which is scarce), thereby maximizing returns, according to the farmers interviewed.

The observation that action research has provided a platform for learning is consistent with one of the descriptions of action research presented above. Nearly all the external partners of BRIDGE who were interviewed, acknowledged that they learnt about an action research approach for the first time through the project. One of the project partners said that: “Action research has put focus on research that addresses practical issues of the dairy farmers” (Respondent PP 5). This observation again re-emphasizes the “action” pillar of action research, as it is not a basic theoretical research, but applied, with focus on practical issues. In this regard, the action research activities in BRIDGE focused on addressing constraints to dairy production in the project locations. For example, the action research on forage cultivation, silage making and crop residue treatment was to address problem of feed scarcity for dairy cows. The school milk programme was in line with the Ethiopian Government policy on human nutrition to reduce malnutrition among children due to low consumption of animal source protein. The assessment of milk cooling facilities addressed the challenge of post-harvest losses through poor conservation of fresh milk. However, by focusing on practical issues affecting the target communities there is the danger that action research may become “all action” and “no research”, especially when applied to development projects. So, it is important that action research practices should be informed by theory (Reason and Bradbury 2008 ).

The perception of the participants that BRIDGE action research activities provide a good platform for learning, bridges disciplinary gaps and puts a focus on the practical issues affecting the participants is consistent with reported findings from applying an action research approach to development projects in sub-Saharan Africa (Wood and Govender 2013 ; Niyobuhungiro and Schenck 2022 ; Pittalis et al. 2023 ). Wood and Govender ( 2013 ) observed that there is learning through the action research process, as already discussed above. According to Pittalis et al. ( 2023 ), feedback from the action research participants based on their perception could provide support for the design of a locally relevant and contextualized intervention. In addition, this can contribute to co-development of knowledge, which requires collaboration of different groups of stakeholders, and this gives voice to the concerned communities on issues that affect them. However, the challenge from making use of the perception on action research of the participants is that there can be differences in the way individuals interpret and understand action research process, which may sometimes be difficult to synthesize for action planning for contextualized intervention (Niyobuhungiro and Schenck 2022 ).

Common Action Research Methods Used by BRIDGE

The most common methods or techniques used in action research activities by BRIDGE were Farmers’ Field Days (FFDs), on-farm demonstrations, and training (Fig.  3 ). FFDs and demonstrations were commonly used for cultivation of improved forage varieties and silage making in all the four project clusters. The Farmers’ Field Days and on-farm demonstrations for forage cultivation were based on four to eight forage plots of 0.25 ha each per project community, established and managed by dairy farmers with advisory support from extension service to serve as a learning platform for other farmers. Through these FFDs and on-farm demonstrations, improved forage species such as Napier grass, Desho grass, Panicum, oat, vetch and alfalfa have been cultivated on 4,733 ha of land by about 35,000 dairy farmers as at the end of 2022 in Amhara, Oromia, and Sidama regions of Ethiopia where BRIDGE activities were carried out, according to the project 2022 annual report (Unpublished). These techniques have been reported as common elements of participatory action research (Kindon et al. 2007 ) and they may enhance co-production of knowledge according to Omondi ( 2020 ). Other action research methods used by the project included training on different project related subjects, farmer to farmer learning, and campaigns, for example on milk safety. The least common techniques used in action research activities were laboratory analysis for feed and milk, rapid field tests for milk adulteration, and on-farm experimentation. Some of these methods are context-specific, such as campaign on milk safety, rapid field testing of milk quality, messaging to farmers, and sharing of extension packages, while others included adaptation of traditional social science methods like interviewing and surveying.

Common action research methods used by the project

Participation in BRIDGE Action Research Activities by Stakeholders

Participation at all stages is fundamental for any action research project, as this is essential for fostering learning and achieving social transformation (Omondi 2020 ). Using the participation continuum proposed by Pretty et al. ( 1995 ), different action research activities by the BRIDGE project were mapped (Fig.  4 ). Another conceptual framework for participation that could be used in this study is the “ladder of stakeholder participation” developed by Arnstein ( 1969 ) based on examples from three US Federal social programmes for citizens. We used the participation continuum by Pretty et al. ( 1995 ), as it is more suitable for action research in development projects. As expected, the level of participation by different stakeholders varied for different action research activities. The level of participation ranged from passive participation for on-farm experimentation on crop residue treatment to self-mobilization for improved forage cultivation and silage making, which dairy farmers adopted and carried out on their own. The high degree of participation in forage cultivation and silage making shows that when the benefit to stakeholders, in this case dairy farmers, is obvious and immediate, the level of participation in action research can be high.

Participation continuum of project action research activities

For meaningful and effective participation in action research activities, Kindon et al. ( 2007 ) proposed three core ethical principles to be adhered to, namely respect for participants, beneficence, and justice or equity. Respect for participants implies that people are treated as autonomous agents and that vulnerable participants are protected. Participation should not lead to domination by the community elites or to reinforcement of the pre-existing power hierarchies, which has not been beneficial to the community (Kindon et al. 2007 ). For many development projects, this is always a challenge, i.e., how to handle the existing power hierarchies in the community to prevent domination by the elites (Aragón and Glenzer 2017 ). The principle of beneficence, according to Kindon et al. ( 2007 ), should go beyond ‘doing no harm’, but maximize beneficial outcomes for participants and the community. Action research activities by BRIDGE, such as forage cultivation and silage making, were beneficial to dairy farmers in the project sites, as these led to significant increase in milk yield and consequently household income. The respondents also observed that the level of participation varied at different stages of the action research cycle for the project activities. For example, co-implementation of the action research activities generally tended to involve more and diverse participants, whereas design of specific interventions from jointly identified problem(s) tended to have fewer participants. The danger inherent in a low level of participation at any stage of the action research cycle is retention of researchers’ control, which can adversely affect ownership of the process and the outcomes (Brydon-Miller et al. 2003 ).

To ensure effective participation of stakeholders in environmental management, Reed ( 2008 ) proposed eight best practices, which are also valid for stakeholder participation in action research. These best practices include having an underpinning philosophy of participation that emphasizes empowerment, equity, trust and learning; embedding participation in the action research activities right from the onset, adequate representation of different groups of relevant stakeholders, and having clear objectives for the participatory process. Other best practices according to Reed ( 2008 ) are appropriate methods tailored to the local context, effective facilitation, integration of local and scientific knowledge, and institutionalization of participation. These best practices were applied to BRIDGE action research activities, though to a varying degree. For example, all relevant groups of stakeholders were adequately represented in BRIDGE action research activities (see Fig.  5 . with a picture of participants at Farmers’ Field Day) and the methods were tailored to the local context. However, the institutionalization of participation needs to be strengthened.

Farmers’ Field days on improved forage at Mecha, West Gojam district, Amhara Region, Ethiopia (Photo credit: Abule Ebro)

SWOT Analysis of BRIDGE Action Research Activities

The action research activities covered in this SWOT analysis included forage cultivation, silage making, crop residue treatment, design of milk quality and safety programme, assessment of milk cooling facilities, assessment of dairy farm benchmarking, assessment of forage seed smart subsidy model, school milk programme, and consumer insight study on the potential of probiotic yoghurt (Table  5 ). Again, the common strength of the action research approach as mentioned by the interviewees for these activities was that of providing a platform for learning by different stakeholders. Learning by all participants in action research activities is essential for knowledge development, which could lead to purposeful individual and community action for socio-economic transformation (McNiff 2013 ). Lebesby and Benders ( 2020 ) observed that the primary purpose of action research is to produce practical knowledge for everyday life of the participants. The importance of learning by participants through action research was also reported by Omondi ( 2020 ) as essential for co-production of knowledge on climate change adaptation in the Mara River Basin in Kenya. The other reported strengths of BRIDGE action research activities were activity-specific. For example, strong participation was reported as one of the strengths of action research activities for forage cultivation and silage making (Table  5 ). This suggests that the degree of participation in an action research project or activity depends on its type or nature, potential benefit and cost, and socio-cultural contexts (Kindon et al. 2007 ).

The common weakness of BRIDGE action research activities mentioned by the respondents was the absence of systematic monitoring and documentation of learning by participants (Table  5 ). The challenge with such monitoring and documentation is a common issue when action research activities are led by researchers whose preoccupation about data collection is on technical parameters at the expense of collecting data on processes. Omondi ( 2020 ) observed this challenge in her study that most researchers may not be familiar with the elements of self-critique and reflection, which are fundamental for monitoring and documentation of learning while collecting data in an action research project. In addressing this challenge of the competence of researchers in conducting action research, Brydon-Miller et al. ( 2003 ) suggested that there should be changes in researchers’ practices. For example, the traditional epistemological methods of research, which tend to be extractive in nature, may be inadequate to capture the processes of learning by participants in an action research project. Other reported weaknesses of BRIDGE action research activities tended to be activity-specific.

Some opportunities of using an action research approach for the BRIDGE project activities, as reported by the respondents, included enhancement of farmers’ innovation, awareness raising, and strong interest in the action research approach by public extension services and research partners. The project research partners acknowledged during the interview that they learnt about action research through the project and that their capacity in participatory action research techniques has been enhanced. This response by project partners on enhanced capacity is consistent with the observation by McNiff ( 2013 ) that action research projects often leave behind enhanced capacities of the participants in view of the emphasis on collaboration and learning. The enhancement of farmers’ innovation through participatory action research reported by the respondents has also been reported by Mponela et al. ( 2023 ) for a project on soil fertility management in Tanzania. For example in BRIDGE, farmers’ innovations in forage cultivation included planting of fruit trees and vegetables along with improved forage cultivars on the demonstration plot. According to the farmers, these innovations were to optimize land use in view of land shortage. In general, opportunities of action research activities were also activity-specific.

The main threat to action research activities by the project as reported by the respondents is government policy, particularly on land use, which generally tends to favour crop farming. This can undermine forage cultivation. One of the participants put it clearly: “Government officials see the grazing land for livestock as a waste, especially near Addis Ababa, the capital, and would rather prefer that it is used for cropping” (Respondent PS 6). The increasing competition for land is driven partly by demographic pressure, leading to expansion of crop fields into grazing areas in order to produce more food to feed the rapidly growing population (Balehegn et al. 2020 ). Other threats mentioned by the respondents were specific to different action research activities. For example, the reported potential threats to the school milk programme were volatility of price and quality of milk supplied to the school.

The results of the SWOT analysis of the action research activities of BRIDGE are generally as expected for a development project. Maximizing the strengths, minimizing the weaknesses and utilizing the opportunities of these action research activities are critical to social transformation and developmental changes in the project target communities. Generally, these results on strengths and weaknesses of, and opportunities and threats for action research as applied by BRIDGE are context-specific, depending on the activity and location. These findings are consistent with the observation of Brydon-Miller (2003) that one of the weaknesses of action research is its localism, which makes it difficult in intervening in large-scale social change efforts. This implies that action research may produce a great good in a local situation, but may sometimes be difficult to extend beyond that local context. To enhance scaling of action research, a good documentation of the processes and the outcomes of action research activities is indispensable. Martin ( 2008 ) opined that two key challenges to be addressed to apply action research on a larger scale are sensemaking of the suitability to the project or project activities, and project design and implementation processes. For sensemaking, Martin ( 2008 ) proposed a number of questions to address, such as: Who are the players? Where is the power? What will motivate the larger public to take interest in any change? The author further elaborated on the second challenge that the design and implementation processes should allow for engagement of multiple perspectives and support inquiry and learning. For large development projects applying action research, these two challenges enumerated by Martin ( 2008 ) must be adequately addressed.

Lessons for Applying Action Research Approach to Agricultural Development Projects

Generally, the use of an action research approach by BRIDGE has contributed significantly to implementation of some project activities and has produced visible results, which are widely appreciated and adopted. These include for example cultivation of improved forage varieties and silage making. However, there was the impression from some of the respondents that the action research activities by the project are rather many, and that there should be focus on fewer key issues or activities that can produce social transformation in the target communities. Given that the action research approach can be applied to a wide array of issues and fields, the danger is always that it may be applied even where other research methods may be more suitable. The romanticization of action research as a participatory approach may lead to de-legitimization of other research methods that are not participatory, which is one of the criticisms of action research (Kindon et al. 2007 ). On the issue of suitability of an action research approach to different project issues, one of the interviewees said: “Action research is suitable in addressing practical issues at farm and community levels, but at higher scale (regional, national) another approach is needed” (Respondent PS 7). For community development projects where stakeholders’ participation is paramount, action research is not only relevant, but necessary to achieve the desired goal of community empowerment and social change. However, when it comes to issues such as policy dialogue and influencing, and development planning, other approaches may be necessary, as these require data aggregation at higher levels.

Action research requires patience from the researchers and other participants as it often takes significant time (Kindon et al. 2007 ). This was pointed out by some of the respondents during the interview. One of them said: “Action research activities tend to take too much time as the pace of implementation is slow” (Respondent PS 3). One of the interviewees asked rhetorically: “When do we exit the action research cycle as we cannot continue in the cycle perpetually?” (Respondent PP 4). This observation underscores the importance of a clear exit strategy for action research activities. Though the need for participation of all relevant stakeholders in action research activities is obvious, there should be some guiding rules or principles for stakeholders’ participation to avoid a tedious travelling through a winding alley during the action research process. This raises the need for necessary skills by the facilitators of the action research activities to achieve the jointly pre-defined objectives within the stipulated time. The length of time for action research activities should also be aligned with the project duration.

Another lesson from this study is the necessity of keeping focus on the bigger picture of the project. Following an action research approach may sometimes lead to new cycles of activities, which in principle is good, but has the danger that multiplied activities can lead to loss of focus on the bigger picture of the project. For example, in our study action research activities on farm-level demonstrations of improved forage cultivation may be difficult to communicate in terms of the bigger picture of dairy sector transformation in Ethiopia for the BRIDGE project. The need for focus on the bigger picture of the project necessitates prioritization of action research activities, as this will facilitate communication with policy makers.

As part of lesson learning from this study, it is important to emphasize the need for adequate planning for monitoring and documentation of learning from the action research activities. It should be clarified that monitoring of learning by the action research participants is not the same as monitoring or tracking progress of the project activities in relation to the defined milestones, which is often well-planned by the project management. Generally, the development agencies and non-governmental organizations are good in the conventional monitoring and evaluation in the context of project performance-based accountability in response to growing demand by donors for demonstrated success of development projects (Estrella and Gaventa 1998 ). The focus here is on monitoring and systematic documentation of learning at different phases of action research cycle, for example farmers’ innovations to introduced technology. This monitoring and documentation of learning is one of the major weaknesses reported by the respondents in this study. Therefore, there should be a clear plan right from the onset of the action research on how to monitor and document learning by the participants, as this is necessary for critical reflection and participatory evaluation of the activities being carried out. Lack of documentation of learning during the different phases of action research cycle can be an obstacle to innovative and wider use of all that action research can offer (Kindon et al. 2007 ). To aid planning of monitoring and documentation of learning, a few guide questions should be addressed. First, what monitoring and learning activities should be done? Second, who should do what? Third, how should it be done? Fourth, when should it be done? Fifth, how much will it cost per activity? Besides, participatory monitoring and evaluation of action research activities is necessary to enhance participation of stakeholders, to share experience among the stakeholders through systematic documentation of processes and outcomes, and to empower the local people to initiate, control and take collective action (Estrella and Gaventa 1998 ; Dodd et al. 2023 ). Dodd et al. ( 2023 ) suggested that participatory monitoring and evaluation should be built on the foundational elements of local cultures and trust-based relationships among the stakeholders.

For many development projects in sub-Saharan Africa, action research activities are donor-driven and often face funding problems at the expiration of the project (Isobell et al. 2016 ). Therefore, building capacity of key stakeholders in participatory action research approaches is necessary to be able to continue with essential activities in the target communities after the end of the project, and it is a form of empowering them which will facilitate institutionalization of the action research approach. The capacity building should include both the theory and practice of action research; it is important that the trainees have a conceptual understanding of action research, so that activities are not carried out haphazardly (Khan et al. 2013 ).

From the results of this study, our advice for developing similar action research projects is that there should be a good planning to ensure having right mix of stakeholders and for effective implementation of action research activities to achieve the objective of social transformation in the target communities. A clear exit strategy for action research activities, adequate budgeting as well as ensuring that the activities are informed by theory, should be part of the planning. However, there should be room for flexibility to adapt the plan to accommodate necessary emerging issues in the course of project implementation.

For development projects, an action research approach is often encouraged to enhance participation of end-users or beneficiaries at various stages of the project, and participatory learning and co-production of knowledge to realize the desired social changes in the target communities. In this regard, the project under consideration in this study adopted action research for some of its activities. The perception of the participants interviewed regarding the action research approach under the project was that it is relevant and important for implementation of project activities. Besides, the respondents reported that the action research approach has brought different disciplines together to work on project activities and that it has provided a good platform for learning by project staff, university partners, extension services, and farmers. Other strengths of action research reported by the respondents were activity-specific. The major weakness of action research as applied by the project is absence of systematic monitoring and documentation of learning by participants at all stages of the action research cycle. Some opportunities of using an action research approach for the BRIDGE project activities, as reported by the respondents, included enhancement of farmers’ innovations, awareness raising, and strong interest in action research approach by public extension services and research partners. Some key lessons from this study for development projects for applying an action research approach include: the need for focus on a few key issues and/or on activities that can produce desired socio-economic changes in the target communities; the importance of a clear exit strategy for action research activities to avoid a non-ending cycle of activities; the necessity of staying focused on the bigger picture of the project; the need for adequate planning for monitoring and documentation of learning from the action research activities; and building capacity of key local stakeholders in action research to ensure sustainability of project interventions. Action research is a pertinent approach in community development projects, but it should be well planned to ensure effective implementation to achieve the objective of social transformation in the target communities.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Ayantunde, upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the staff and partners of the BRIDGE project who participated in the interviews on the action research activities during the review.

This work was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands through its embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors alone.

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Ayantunde designed the study, conducted the interview on action research activities of the project and prepared the first draft of the manuscript. Ebro, Berhanu and Moges provided logistical support for the interview and the field visits, and contributed to the review of the manuscript while van der Lee provided critical review of the study design and contributed to the review of the manuscript.

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Ayantunde, A.A., Ebro, A., Berhanu, T. et al. Action Research in Agricultural Development Projects: Case Study of a Dairy Project in Ethiopia. Syst Pract Action Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-024-09673-3

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• 05 April 2024

After the genocide: what scientists are learning from Rwanda

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A 1994 photograph shows the altar in Ntarama Church, where more than 5,000 people were murdered during the genocide against the Tutsi. Credit: Lane Montgomery/Getty

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Kigali, Rwanda

The church at Ntarama, a 45-minute drive south of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, is a red-brick building about 20 metres long by 5 metres wide. Inside are features seen in Catholic churches around the world: pews for congregation members, an altar, stained-glass windows and a cross adorning the entrance. Then there are the scars of the unimaginable: piles of blood-stained clothing hanging along the walls and glass cabinets containing more than 260 human skulls, many fractured or shattered, some with rusted weapons still penetrating them. Nearby, wooden sticks and roughly carved clubs lean against the altar.

Ntarama is the site of one of the many massacres that occurred during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda — one of the worst atrocities of the late twentieth century. Starting on 7 April that year, in 100 days of horrifying violence, members of the Hutu ethnic group systematically killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsi — or more than one million, according to the Rwandan government and other sources. The killers ranged from militias to ordinary citizens, with neighbours turning on neighbours. Many moderate Hutu and some of the Twa minority group were also killed.

Rwanda: From killing fields to technopolis

More than 5,000 Tutsi were murdered at Ntarama, among them babies, children and pregnant women, many of whom were raped before they were killed, says Evode Ngombwa, site manager at the Ntarama Genocide Memorial, one of six sites in Rwanda that commemorate the atrocity. “People used money to bribe the perpetrators so that they could choose the way of being eliminated. Instead of killing them with machetes, they could choose to be shot,” says Ngombwa as he walks me through the church. With more remains being found each year, about 6,000 people are now buried there in mass graves.

This month, Rwanda and the world begin commemorations to mark 30 years since the start of this atrocity. The genocide is now one of the most studied of its kind. Researchers from social and political scientists to mental-health specialists, geneticists and neuroscientists have investigated the event and its aftermath in a way that hadn’t been possible for previous atrocities.

This work is especially important now in light of violent crises in several parts of the world, including in Ukraine , Israel and Gaza , Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although there is debate about whether these conflicts meet the definition of genocide, some share similar characteristics. Research conducted into atrocities such as the genocide in Rwanda can help to inform responses and longer-term approaches to healing.

Despite the difficulties of these studies, researchers say that they are working towards developing a theory of genocide and the conditions that spur mass violence. They are providing guidance for first responders, as well as those involved in peacebuilding and supporting survivors of other systematic mass murders and of war. Some of their approaches have been used in other conflicts. And the research on Rwanda is offering lessons for how scholars can improve studies of similar events.

At a vigil in April 2019, young Rwandans commemorate the 25th anniversary of the genocide. Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty

“Genocide studies are important,” says Phil Clark, an international-politics researcher at SOAS, part of the University of London, who has studied Rwanda for more than two decades. “If we can start to understand why and how genocides happen, and especially if we can compare genocides across the world, we should ideally be able to build a general theory of how these terrible events are even possible.”

One of the lessons emerging from Rwanda is the importance of involving — and supporting — local researchers, whose work, language skills and access to traumatized communities can be essential for understanding the roots of violence and the best techniques for reconciliation. This can be difficult — in Rwanda’s case because the genocide wiped out almost its entire academic community. Now, through programmes aimed at elevating local scholars’ voices, their work is finally reaching a wider audience.

Patterns of violence

Before 1994, the field of genocide studies was dominated by the Holocaust — the systematic killing of 6 million Jewish people by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. “It’s only in the last 20 years that other genocides have entered the discussion,” says Clark. But research on Rwanda didn’t start immediately. “It was only maybe 10–15 years after the genocide that scholars started to really interrogate this question of what drove hundreds of thousands of everyday civilians to participate in mass violence.”

Rwanda 30 years on: understanding the horror of genocide

Scholars say that it’s important not to forget the genocide’s strong link to colonialism in Rwanda. In the early 1900s, Belgian colonizers began formally dividing Rwandan people into social classes: Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. Designations were often based on pseudoscientific ideas, including phrenology and arbitrary observations, such as how many cattle a person owned. Ethnic tensions between Hutu and Tutsi intensified over the decades and several massacres of Tutsi occurred in the period leading up to 1994. This set the stage for a descent into genocide — a legal term that is defined by the perpetration of certain crimes that are intended to destroy a particular group, and is codified by the United Nations’ 1948 Genocide Convention.

Each genocide is unique, says Timothy Longman, a political scientist at Boston University in Massachusetts, who first went to Rwanda in 1992 and returned in 1995 as a researcher with Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization that was one of the first to investigate the event. “But there also are some common patterns,” he says. Researchers can learn a lot from studying cases such as Rwanda, the Holocaust and other genocides, he says. “It helps you to prevent violence from happening elsewhere.”

One of the main scientific contributions of studies so far are the insights from mental-health researchers, many of whom were on the ground in the immediate aftermath. Over the past three decades, they have documented the initial trauma of an entire country and the slow recovery of survivors and their children, many of whom are prone to being retraumatized. With few available resources, Rwanda had to build up its mental-health services and it has gained unique experience in responding to the atrocity’s aftermath.

Source: Y. Kayiteshonga et al. Rwanda Mental Health Survey 2018 (Govt of Rwanda, 2021).

At the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) in Kigali, the nation’s main health organization, Jean Damascène Iyamuremye recalls his experience of 1994. “I witnessed everything that happened.” Iyamuremye was a 28-year-old training to be a medical assistant, but the genocide spurred him to specialize in mental health. He was among the first medical staff supporting survivors. “We were like firefighters,” says Iyamuremye, who is now director of the psychiatric unit in the RBC’s mental-health division, which oversees countrywide services.

The first care came mostly from outsiders. Non-governmental organizations provided psychological interventions such as counselling for the survivors, most of whom had experienced physical violence as well as unimaginable emotional trauma from the mass killings they’d witnessed. After the genocide, 96% of Rwandans experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the extreme violence 1 .

It took time for the country to develop its own mental-health resources. In 1994, Rwanda had only one psychiatrist, Naasson Munyandamutsa, who was living in Switzerland at the time and lost most of his family in the violence. Munyandamutsa returned quickly to Rwanda to work at the country’s sole psychiatric hospital, where he began training mental-health responders and psychiatrists.

While Munyandamutsa, who died in 2016, led the training of practitioners in Rwanda, many Rwandans went overseas to train. But about half didn’t return, says Iyamuremye.

It wasn’t until 2014 that Rwanda had its own school of psychiatry, at the University of Rwanda in Kigali. Even now, the country has only 16 psychiatrists, 13 of whom graduated from that facility, to serve a fast-growing population of 13.5 million.

Evidence-based interventions for survivors, such as counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and medication, have continued — but people still bear significant mental scars from their experiences (see ‘Complex consequences’). In Rwanda’s most comprehensive mental-health survey yet, conducted by the RBC in 2018, about 28% of genocide survivors reported PTSD symptoms, compared with 3.6% of the general population (see ‘Trauma’s long shadow’).

Sources: Ref. 1; A. Eytan et al. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatr. 61 , 363–372 (2015); Y. Kayiteshonga et al . Rwanda Mental Health Survey 2018 (Govt of Rwanda, 2021).

Long-term support for survivors is important, because many can become retraumatized. For example, media reports about violence in nearby parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo can bring back memories, says Iyamuremye. And yearly commemorations that last from April to July, called kwibuka in the national language, Kinyarwanda, bring challenges. “You will see people who fall, who are agitated, who cry” because what they experience triggers a memory, says Iyamuremye.

For this year’s commemorations, the RBC and other organizations have trained 5,000 responders around Rwanda to support distressed people. But Iyamuremye and his colleagues have learnt that the commemorations themselves can be therapeutic: they give people the opportunity to talk about their trauma and support each other.

And researchers have found that even people who weren’t alive during the genocide are suffering. “Intergenerational trauma is a challenge and a reality in Rwanda. This needs to be targeted with strong, strong interventions,” says Iyamuremye.

Trauma across generations

At the Rwanda Military Hospital on Kigali’s outskirts, Léon Mutesa , a physician and, for a long time, the nation’s only geneticist, is seeing mothers and babies at his paediatric clinic. Mutesa, who directs the Center for Human Genetics at the University of Rwanda, was the first to explore the effects of Rwandans’ trauma at the genetic level. As an undergraduate in the early 2000s, Mutesa saw that children born to women who had been pregnant in 1994 also exhibited signs of trauma. During commemorations, the children expressed symptoms such as PTSD, depression, anxiety and hallucinations from an event that they hadn’t experienced.

Inspired by studies of Holocaust survivors 2 , Mutesa devised a small study to investigate whether the trauma from the genocide had left epigenetic marks on individuals’ DNA through the addition of methyl groups to certain regions.

In that study 3 , conducted in 2012, Mutesa’s team sampled blood from women who were pregnant in 1994 and their children, as well as control participants who weren’t exposed to the genocide. The team found evidence that genocide survivors and their children bore similar epigenetic marks on certain sections of DNA.

Geneticist Léon Mutesa has studied DNA markings in genocide survivors and their children. Credit: AP Photo

Hoping to start a larger study, Mutesa collaborated with Stefan Jansen, a Belgian neuroscientist who had been at the University of Rwanda since 2011. In 2017, the pair, with US partners, won funding from the US National Institutes of Health to extend their investigations.

“We found that those mothers who were exposed had around 24 differentially methylated regions, which is really high compared to the control group,” says Clarisse Musanabaganwa, a medical research analyst at the RBC who was part of Mutesa and Jansen’s team. The team found that many of the methylated regions were the same in mothers and in the children that they were pregnant with during the genocide 4 , 5 . The research indicates a way in which trauma can transcend at least one generation, and the researchers suggest that lasting effects could be passed down through multiple generations through a mechanism of epigenetic inheritance.

But the idea of multigenerational epigenetic inheritance is controversial . Many scientists are sceptical about whether methylation marks on DNA in humans can be inherited.

“I’m not aware of any really convincing case where the transgenerational inheritance — inheritance of methylation patterns — has been demonstrated,” says Timothy Bestor, a molecular biologist in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, who holds an emeritus position at Columbia University in New York City.

But Mutesa and Jansen are seeing some practical benefits of their work. When the scientists discussed with study participants that their trauma could influence their children, they saw the participants’ resilience increase. For instance, if survivors’ children were performing poorly in school, parents now saw a possible reason. The researchers could support children with psychotherapy. “They could now understand why this is happening to their children,” says Mutesa.

Biological studies also have a broader importance, says Jansen. “We want to evidence that, and have that recorded for history: this is what happened.” The evidence helps to fight genocide denial, he says.

Beyond the epigenetic analyses, Jansen and his colleagues have strengthened methodological approaches to studying community mental health in Rwanda. These studies have informed research on conflicts elsewhere, such as in Iraq, says Jansen.

Lessons from Rwanda

The bulk of the research on the genocide in Rwanda has been in the social sciences and humanities — studying topics from reconciliation, peacebuilding and justice to the role of ethnic designations in a society after conflict. For instance, neighbouring Burundi, which experienced ethnic violence in a roughly decade-long civil war that started in 1993, chose to recognize ethnicities, whereas the Rwandan government eradicated formal ethnic distinctions after the genocide. In a global study 6 that compared countries that had taken either approach after war, those that chose to recognize ethnic groups scored better on societal markers such as peace, democracy and economics.

Some of the skulls of people who were killed while seeking refuge at Ntarama in April 1994 are on display in the church. Credit: Nichole Sobecki/VII/Redux/eyevine

The growing literature on genocides has revealed that they have huge ramifications that extend well beyond the borders of the countries where they happen, say researchers.

“In terms of the scale of violence, the scale of disruption, the scale of suffering, they are enormously important events,” says Scott Straus, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.

Studies had been conducted almost exclusively by Western scholars — although that’s starting to change . In the past decade, as discussions of decolonizing research began in academia, Clark started working with the UK-based Aegis Trust, which runs the Kigali Genocide Memorial. An analysis by Clark and his colleagues of 12 relevant journals showed that from 1994 to 2019, just 3.3% of studies on post-genocide Rwanda had been done by scholars from the nation (see go.nature.com/3qapae7 ). In 2014, with funding from the Swedish and UK development agencies, the Aegis Trust launched the Research, Policy and Higher Education (RPHE) programme, an effort to invite Rwandan scholars to submit research proposals.

“There are cultural nuances that have to be told by the very people that go through those experiences,” says Sandra Shenge, who is director of programmes at the Aegis Trust based at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and former RPHE manager. The grants were modest — just £2,500 (US$3,150) each. But the response to the programme was amazing, says Shenge. The first call received more than 500 applications.

The aim was for Rwandan scholars to share their stories and for external researchers to provide support with advice on methodology, publishing and how best to disseminate results. These studies are collected in a resource called the Genocide Research Hub .

“The RPHE was the best thing that happened to Rwandan researchers,” says Munyurangabo Benda, a philosopher of religion at the Queen’s Foundation, an ecumenical college in Birmingham, UK. “It is the only space where Rwandan research has begun to have impact on policy.”

Photos of lives cut short by the 1994 killings are on display at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Credit: Chris Jackson/Getty

Benda’s research 7 , 8 ,supported by the RPHE, has already influenced policy. His project examined a state programme on reconciliation that had grown from a grassroots effort. His work exploring the guilt felt by children of Hutu people was inspired by the experience of his young nephew in Denmark, whose father was a Hutu. One day, his nephew’s class was studying the genocide in Rwanda and classmates asked him: “Were your family killers or survivors?” His nephew was traumatized.

The research helped to shape programmes that the Rwandan government offers for students of various ages, says Benda.

The RPHE programme also holds lessons for making the broader academic community more inclusive. According to Clark, “the problem is with journal editors and peer reviewers”, who often dismiss work from Rwanda and other countries because of preconceived ideas of quality based on where the work has been produced.

A theory of genocides

Another author whose work has been published through the Genocide Research Hub is sociologist Assumpta Mugiraneza 9 . From a hilltop office with views over Kigali, Mugiraneza runs an organization called the IRIBA Centre for Multimedia Heritage. Iriba means ‘source’ in Kinyarwanda, and the centre collects audio-visual archives of testimonies from the genocide and of life before 1994.

Mugiraneza says she started this work to capture Rwanda’s heritage, which was in danger of disappearing. The country’s historic oral traditions were eroded by colonization, which imposed reading and writing. As a result, Rwanda’s history is written without this richer heritage, says Mugiraneza. “Let’s go back to what we have in common: sound and image.”

Sociologist Assumpta Mugiraneza runs the IRIBA Centre for Multimedia Heritage. Credit: Carl De Keyzer/Magnum Photos

The centre, she says, is designed “to support the process of reappropriating the past”. To think about genocide, “we must dare to seek humanity where humanity has been denied”.

IRIBA’s work is extraordinary, says Zoe Norridge, who studies African literature and culture at King’s College London. “That’s the kind of work that can be done by Rwandan scholars in depth in a way that I think outsiders never really reach.”

Researchers agree that studying atrocities is a difficult undertaking. “Research involves talking to survivors who have endured unimaginable horror and putting yourself in the position to listen and hear and be empathetic,” says David Simon, who directs the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Still, scholars say that, through these studies, they are developing a broader understanding by identifying similarities among different genocides. These include what happened in Rwanda and the Holocaust, as well as in the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915 and of the Herero and Nama people in what is now Namibia, starting in 1904.

All of them shared common ingredients, according to researchers. The first is racializing members of society and identifying an ‘inferior’ segment of the population to be eliminated. Other factors include planning organized massacres and spreading an ideology across a whole society. The last component is the involvement of the state and its institutions, such as religious establishments and schools, as participants in the killings, says historian Vincent Duclert, who is France’s leading scholar on the 1994 genocide.

Studies in Rwanda helped to solidify the theory, says Duclert. “This pattern was really reinforced by the genocide of the Tutsi.”

Another lesson from Rwanda, say researchers, is the need to seek multiple narratives — from people inside and outside the region, and from perpetrators as well as survivors. “In 1994, and in the years immediately after, there was a very simple narrative about the Rwandan genocide being driven by ancient tribal hatreds, and that it almost explained itself away,” says Elisabeth King, who studies peace, conflict and education at New York University. Scholars, says King, have a crucial part to play in developing nuanced accounts of the complex political and social factors that underlie these events. Those explanations, in turn, can help researchers and others to understand why people commit atrocities, and could ultimately contribute to developing approaches that help to stop them.

Belongings of people killed at Ntarama, including identity cards, which showed people’s ethnicities. Credit: Ben Curtis/AP Photo/Alamy

Straus is also studying causal factors shared by different genocides, and why some conflicts that have the ingredients of genocide do not escalate into them — violence in Mali in the 1990s and Côte d’Ivoire in the early 2010s are two examples 10 .

Some scholars say that studying genocides can yield many benefits, but that stopping them from happening is ultimately a political matter decided by nations and international bodies.

Aggée Shyaka Mugabe, acting director of the Centre for Conflict Management at the University of Rwanda, is pessimistic about the extent to which studying genocides can ultimately stop them. “What we publish informs public policies,” says Mugabe, who studies transitional justice and peacebuilding 11 . But that doesn’t translate into something everyday people can understand, he adds.

Some have also raised concerns that it can be difficult for Rwandan researchers to study topics related to genocide freely, because of pressure from the government to follow a certain narrative on politically sensitive issues. But Mugabe rejects the idea that research done inside Rwanda isn’t useful because of the perceived political pressure. “Some of my papers have a critical aspect,” he says. “There is no police trying to tell me what to write or what not to write.”

Survivors’ stories

One concern among scholars is that there has been less focus on elevating the voices of survivors, given that judicial inquiries focused so much on perpetrators.

Jean Pierre Sagahutu is one of those survivors. “I can’t tell you everything that happened in 1994 because it’s too hard,” he says. “I remember everything as if it were yesterday,” he says. “It’s as if I’m seeing it now.” Sagahutu survived by hiding in a septic tank for more than two months. In that time, his father and mother were killed. Originally trained as an accountant, Sagahutu began driving taxis after the genocide and worked as a ‘fixer’ for people visiting the country for projects, often interviewing génocidaires , the perpetrators of the violence against the Tutsi. “Sometimes my ears hurt, but it made me understand what the people had really done. And in the end, it became therapy.”

In 2019, he met Duclert, whom French President Emmanuel Macron had commissioned to conduct a study on France’s role in the genocide, owing in part to the French government’s support of Rwanda’s pre-genocide Hutu government. In 2021, Duclert presented his 1,000-page report 12 , which concluded that French authorities saw evidence of a coming genocide as early as 1990 but didn’t take enough measures to stop it.

Sagahutu takes positives from Duclert’s report, but says that scholars have more work to do: “I’d like researchers to try to learn, to really dig and find out what the real causes of the genocide were,” he says. “Because the genocide was not a game of chance, it was something that had been well prepared for a long time.”

One of the most important tools for researchers is recording the testimony of survivors, says Yolande Mukagasana, who wrote the first comprehensive survivor’s account of the genocide, which was published in French in 1997 13 . Mukagasana, now 69, has remained a writer and activist, and is determined to keep the memory of the genocide against the Tutsi alive. As part of her work, she has talked to survivors of other genocides and mass killings and she sees similarities in these events, regardless of where in the world they happened. “The ideology of hate is the same,” she says, adding that survivors experience “exactly the same suffering”.

Yolande Mukagasana wrote the first comprehensive account of the genocide by a survivor. Credit: Chris Schwagga

In 1994, Mukagasana was a nurse and a successful Tutsi woman who ran her own health clinic. When the killings started, Mukagasana and her husband separated, hoping that their three children would be safer with him. During the months of the genocide, in which she was protected by Hutu people, she began writing her testimony on scraps such as cigarette packets.

Mukagasana’s husband and children were killed. When she reached safety at the Hôtel des Mille Collines — featured in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda — one of the first things she wanted was a pen and paper to record what had happened.

At IRIBA, Mugiraneza knows the importance of documenting the events of 1994. But she also strives to collect evidence of life before. “The marriages. The love songs. The buildings, the proverbs, the stories — all those things that are so magnificent but are seen as trivial.”

“People negotiate a space for thinking, for giving meaning to life — which allows us to better understand what extermination and death are.”

Nature 628 , 250-254 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00997-7

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Statistical learning and mathematics knowledge: the case of arithmetic principles provisionally accepted.

• 1 Lynch School of Education, Boston College, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Statistical learning-an unconscious cognitive process used to extract regularities-is well-established as a fundamental mechanism underlying learning. Yet, despite the prominence of patterns in the number system and operations, little is known about the relation between statistical learning and mathematics knowledge. This study examined the associations among statistical learning, executive control, and arithmetic knowledge among first graders (N = 54).The relations varied by operation. For addition, children with greater statistical learning capacity responded more quickly to problems that were part of a principle (i.e., commutativity) pair than to unrelated problems, even after accounting for baseline performance, executive control, and age. For subtraction, results indicated an interaction between children's baseline subtraction performance and their statistical learning on accuracy. These findings provide an impetus for testing new models of mathematics learning that include statistical learning as a potentially important mechanism.

Keywords: statistical learning, Arithmetic principles, Level of experience, math cognition, Children's Learning

Received: 13 Jan 2024; Accepted: 12 Apr 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Cho, Vasilyeva and Laski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Hyun Young Cho, Lynch School of Education, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, 02467, Massachusetts, United States

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