Another Example of the Bogus Percentages. Now by Qube Learning.

Below is another example of the misuse of the now-infamous bogus percentages by a speaker at a prominent international conference in the workplace learning field, this time in an online session in January 2009.

I have documented this problem starting in 2002. The following posts illustrate this problem.

• Original Post (Read this First):  People remember 10%, 20%...Oh Really?

• More Bogus Research Cited. This time at HRDQ
• Excellent Review of Dale's Cone and its Bastardizations
• More Bogus Percentages. This time on Wikipedia
• NTL continues its Delusions
  

A manager at Qube Learning joins the list of folks who have been fooled, and who foolishly and irresponsibly re-gift this faulty information. Point: If you can't verify the credibility of the so-called "research" you come across, don't share it.

And this follow-up slide:

It's a shame we have to keep revisiting this bogus information. I truly wish I didn't have to do this.

Of course, even if you and I wipe this bogus-information example off the face of the earth, there will be more misinformation we'll have to deal with. It's okay. It's the nature of living I think. The learning point here is that all of us in the learning-and-performance field must be vigilant. We must be skeptical of claims. We must build structures where we can test these bogus claims in the crucible of an evidence-based marketplace. It is only then that we will be able to build a fully-worthy profession.

Keep sending me your examples. Thanks to the helpful soul who sent me this example.

Interestingly, just today a major player in our field asked me permission to publish the original blog post (the one debunking the bogus-percentage myth) in their company newsletter (which goes out to over 100,000 people). They too had been using this misinformation in their work and now wanted to correct their mistake. I salute their action.

Comments

[CR Geissler]

Hey Will, In 2002 at the AECT conference there was a presentation about the abuse and contortion of Dale's Cone of Experience. Enjoy...

www2.potsdam.edu/betrusak/AECT2002/dalescone_files/dalescone.html.ppt

[Will Thalheimer]

Yes, I've noted this fine presentation before in a blog post on this.

What's interesting is that the misconceptions still exist even though many people are out there debunking the myth.

How many of us still believe that going outside causes colds?

[Will Thalheimer]

And, here's another thought that I've had about this:

What is it about the way we have structured our learning-and-performance institutions that the myth persists?

What are we doing wrong, what can we do better?

One of my conclusions after having worked for over a decade translating research into practice is that the system of having academic researchers in one silo and learning professionals in another silo simply isn't working.

We need a better basic education on learning fundamentals. We need more bridges between research and practice. We need to teach learning professionals how to evaluate research claims (all claims really). We need measurement, so we stop fooling ourselves. We need lots more stuff too.

[Jim Mitchell]

I read your articles recently and was amazed when I came across this reference while doing some research. Although there was alot of good information for students starting their college life, a university academic support web site listed the following table:

Know the percentages! We retain:
10% of what we read
20% of what you hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we talk about with others
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach to others
http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/AS/203.HTM

As you can see the mis-information is still going strong and they are teaching it to whole generations of new college students.