10 Best Instructional Strategies You Can Apply For The Best Learning Experience

According to the World Economic Forum, 60% of employees will require significant reskilling or upskilling by 2030.

This number is a clear wake-up call for any organization delivering training.

To stay competitive, you can’t rely on passive “sit-and-listen” training sessions anymore. You need to design programs that make learning stick.

That’s where instructional strategies come in.

​They are the deliberate, evidence-based methods that ensure training content is not only delivered but also actively absorbed, retained, and applied on the job.

In this blog, we'll share these instructional strategies in detail. Some of the strategies can be implemented immediately (within a week) to boost learner engagement and training outcomes.

Let's get started!

Key Takeaways: Instructional Strategies

• Experiential Learning: This is the most effective strategy for skill transfer and high retention. Implement methods like Job Rotations and Role Playing to minimize the gap between theory and actual job performance. 
• Scenario Based Learning (SBL):  Prioritize problem-solving relevance, which adult learners demand.  SBL immerses employees in authentic, complex workplace situations, to apply critical thinking and knowledge before facing high-stakes situations in the field.
• Sustained Engagement: Success relies on active participation. By pairing engaging Active Learning methods with swift, contextual Immediate Feedback, you correct errors in real-time and reinforce concepts. 
• Long-Term Retention: High retention requires a continuous effort against the forgetting curve. Use Microlearning to provide short, flexible bursts of content, and deploy Spaced Repetition to strategically reinforce core knowledge over time.

What Are Instructional Strategies?

Instructional strategies refer to the plans, methods, and techniques that educators or trainers use to facilitate the learning process. Their core purpose is to actively engage learners in the content, fostering a deeper and practical understanding of the subject.

​These strategies are a combination of high-level teaching methods and specific activities that together form the framework for structuring and executing a course or training program. 

For example, trainers often select from broad categories, such as direct, indirect, interactive, and experiential methods. They then employ specific techniques such as role-play or a case study to execute that plan.

​In a professional environment, instructional strategies help your employees build practical competency and improve their performance. Ultimately, the goal is to help learners achieve their professional milestones while empowering them to become self-directed, strategic thinkers.

​The 10 Instructional Strategies You Can Apply Immediately

Adult learners thrive on relevance, flexibility, and engagement. Therefore, instructional strategies for your training program must be a combination of methods and techniques that honor their experience and self-direction.

Here are 10 proven instructional strategies that you can apply this week. These are some effective teaching methods for adults that lead to successful outcomes.

1. Active Learning

The more immersed an individual is in the learning process, the greater their ability to retain the skills and lessons learned. Active learning is a hands-on approach that requires learners to engage in their education through critical thinking, discussions, and real-world applications.

​This method provides participants with multiple avenues for learning and processing new information. It also creates a sense of community where people share insights and leverage the collective knowledge and experience of the group.  

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Discussions: Design training sessions that encourage every participant to share their ideas, perspectives, and insights with the rest of the team.
• Role-Playing: Present a practical workplace problem to participants, such as handling a difficult customer call, and allow them to practice their skills in a safe environment.
• Interactive Quizzes: Implement quick checks, such as single-question polls or “exit-ticket” quizzes, that require a response from every participant.

2. Scenario-Based Learning

Scenario-Based Learning (SBL) is a powerful active learning strategy that immerses individuals in authentic, real-world work situations. Learners apply their existing knowledge and critical thinking to solve complex, job-relevant problems.

​This strategy helps them to translate theoretical knowledge directly into on-the-job capability. Research indicates that SBL has a positive impact on the core competencies of learners, including teamwork, collaboration, and ethical decision-making.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Professional Challenges: Give your team a hypothetical, high-stakes project to analyze. Encourage them to apply reverse-engineering decisions and identify the best path forward.
• Case Study Re-Design: Present a documented case study and challenge them to come up with a different and more viable solution.
• Adaptive scenarios: Utilize interactive digital modules that lead to different, realistic consequences based on user choices. This will help earners to adapt their strategy in real-time.

3. Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is the art of grouping two or more individuals to solve problems, generate insights, and achieve a common goal. It involves people in joint intellectual endeavors through active participation, discussion, and the sharing of professional experiences. 

Stats show that a company's collaboration index increases sales by 27% and improves customer satisfaction ratings by 41%. This highlights that collaborative learning not only broadens a learner's perspective but is also highly beneficial and profitable for your organization.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Think-Pair-Share: It is an active learning strategy where students first think individually about a question, then pair up with a partner to discuss their ideas, and finally share their combined insights with the larger group.
• Jigsaw Method: Assign each professional a unique sub-topic of expertise, and make them responsible for teaching that content to others.
• Job Shadowing: Pair different team members with varying observations and learn from each other's day-to-day experiences, such as client negotiations or complex technical troubleshooting.

4. Microlearning

With a busy workforce and shrinking attention spans, microlearning emerges as a highly effective adult learning strategy. Instead of long lectures or multi-hour courses, provide your employees with digestible and bite-sized learning content. 

It improves learners’ engagement levels and helps them retain knowledge by 80%. You can design “micro-units” or modules of information that they can access and complete on the go in small bursts.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Short Videos: Create brief video snippets, typically 2 to 3 minutes long, to introduce a new concept, system update, or soft skill technique.
• Gamification: Incorporate quick challenges, points, or leaderboards into mobile-friendly quizzes.  
• Infographics: Develop readily available reference tools for immediate use on the job, so employees don’t need to search through large documents.

5. Immediate Feedback

According to Gallup, 80% of employees who receive meaningful feedback are found to be more engaged in their work. Instant feedback is when a learner's action is met with a direct, real-time evaluation. 

In a training initiative, an immediate response helps correct mistakes, solidify understanding of concepts, and build confidence. It also reinforces what has been learned before the information fades from memory.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Quizzes/Polls: As soon as a participant submits an answer, the system should display whether it is correct, along with a brief explanation.
• Scenario-Based Response: In adaptive scenarios, immediately display the consequence of a choice, whether positive or negative, to highlight the impact of a decision.
• Limit Public Feedback: Deliver critical feedback privately to each learner to maintain their psychological safety.

6. Use of Multimedia

Gone are the days of static, text-heavy learning modules. Initiatives for adults should incorporate text, images, audio, video, and interactive elements to create more engaging and memorable learning experiences. 

The use of multimedia appeals to different learning styles and improves the brain's ability to process information through both visual and auditory channels.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Show, Don’t Just Tell: Create short but professional videos that visually demonstrate a skill or process, accompanied by a voiceover that explains the steps.
• Engaging Videographics: Convert complex data or workflows into click-and-reveal infographics. It will help the learners explore information at their own pace.
• Graphic-Text Pairing: Always pair key textual concepts with relevant visuals, diagrams, or charts to reduce cognitive load and enhance recall.

7. Metacognitive Strategies

Metacognition refers to thinking about thinking or reflecting on the process of learning itself. Metacognitive strategies are methods that improve the learning process of individuals. It allows them to become self-aware of their cognitive processes and how they best absorb and retain information.

This approach is highly valuable in employee learning and training because it helps people develop transferable skills. Reflecting on how they mastered a concept in one situation helps employees successfully apply that skill or knowledge to multiple work scenarios. 

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Self Questioning: Encourage learners to pause and ask, “What is the main takeaway?” or “How can I use this on my next project?”
• Write Down Difficulties: Participants should identify the “muddiest point” or the concept they found most confusing.
• Reflective Journaling: Regular documentation of the strategies used to resolve different issues at work and whether they were efficient enough.

8. Spaced Repetition

As the name suggests, spaced repetition is a learning technique that involves reviewing material at increasingly longer time intervals. This approach directly counters the fact that humans rapidly lose memory of newly acquired information over time unless they actively engage in reviewing it.

​For employee learning, spaced repetition helps solidify knowledge into long-term memory. It prevents the negative effects of the forgetting curve and keeps the skillset sharp and readily accessible when needed on the job.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Automated Flashcards: Use an adaptive system to deliver automated digital flashcards or quick quizzes to employees at scheduled intervals.
• Weekly Knowledge Checks: Follow up formal training with brief, high-level knowledge checks one week later, then two weeks later, and then monthly.  
• Micro-Refresher Modules: Deploy 90-second video refreshers on critical procedures whenever an employee logs into a relevant system. This will reinforce learning at the right moment of application.

9. Experiential Learning

What is a better way of learning than actually doing the job? Experiential learning is exactly what you need to learn complex skills. Simply, it is a method of learning through first-hand experience, often by “doing” rather than just reading or listening.

​Experiential learning takes place through a cycle of practice and review that transforms experience into actionable knowledge for the real world. This approach can lead to retention rates of up to 90%. 

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• On-the-Job Training: Teach new processes and systems to employees as they perform their actual job.
• Job Rotations: Temporarily move  an employee into a different role to gain a broader understanding of the organization and acquire new, diverse skills.
• Role Playing: Assign specific roles to different participants, such as making one a customer and one a sales agent, to simulate a real-world, high-stakes situation.

10. Scaffolding

Scaffolding is an instructional strategy in which a more experienced professional provides temporary support to a novice or junior. The purpose is to help a learner acquire a new skill or master a complex task in a safe and supervised environment. Just like construction scaffolding, once the learner masters the skill, the expert can gradually remove their support.

Ways to Bring This Strategy to Life 

• Guided Practice: The instructor models the task and the learner performs the first few steps with direct supervision and immediate feedback.
• Resource Curation: Provide the beginner with only the most essential resources and remove all unnecessary complexities and decision points.
• Think-Aloud Protocols: The experienced professional verbalizes their decision-making process and allows the novice to internalize their thought process.

How to Measure the Success of Instructional Strategies?

Measuring the true impact of any training program requires both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the Return on Investment (ROI) accurately. This may include interviews, test scores, and different metrics.

​Here are four methods to evaluate whether your instructional strategies are successful:

1. Learner Engagement

A learner’s engagement level is the biggest predictor of success and retention. To measure it, track quantitative metrics like completion rates, time spent on interactive modules, and participation frequency in live discussions or polls. High engagement indicates the strategy is relevant and well-designed.

2. Employee Retention

Employee retention is a crucial long-term metric. Look at staff turnover rates in the months following comprehensive training, particularly for targeted teams. Successful instructional strategies reduce turnover by ensuring employees feel competent and valued. You can also track the retention of core knowledge via post-training quizzes.

3. Skill Application on the Job

The ultimate goal of any instructional strategy is to transfer skills. This means that learned knowledge must translate into observable changes in workplace behavior. You can gauge this by monitoring performance data and key business metrics (KPIs). For example, after sales training, track conversion rates and follow compliance training to monitor the reduction in errors.

​Direct observation of employees using the new skills provides necessary qualitative validation of the training's success. Furthermore, collecting 360-degree feedback is also essential for assessing the impact on soft skills, such as leadership and communication.

4. Participant Feedback

Collect direct feedback from the participants on the relevance, clarity, and success of your instructional strategies. This can be done immediately after the session using quick satisfaction surveys (Smile Sheets) to gauge initial reaction. 

Alternatively, conduct in-depth follow-up interviews weeks later. These methods will give you insights into which strategies led to the most significant breakthroughs and changes.

Take the Next Step to Transform Your Adult Learning Strategy

Instructional strategies are the foundation of your learning and development initiatives, which upskill your employees and drive business growth. However, it is essential to be intentional and choose strategies that align with your organizational goals and learners' needs.

​The scenarios you design should encompass diverse experiences and learning levels. You must tailor content to respect their prior knowledge, align with their career trajectory, and acknowledge their varying learning styles to maximize the potential of every employee.

​To integrate these digital strategies into your workflow, choose a platform such as Coursebox that helps you design and measure successfully. Its AI-powered features empower you to transform data into online courses, create multimedia assignments, and design interactive activities in seconds.

​Sign up for a free trial today and transform adult learning!

FAQs

1. What are the best tools for implementing adult learning strategies?

The best tools are those that support flexibility, multimedia, and immediate feedback. For a seamless implementation of these techniques, consider a platform like Coursebox. It is designed to help instructional designers by automating content creation, facilitating interactive assignments, and providing the necessary analytics to measure the impact of their work.

2. How is adult learning different from teaching younger students?

Adult learning focuses on self-direction, experience, and relevance. Adults need to understand why they’re learning something and how it applies to real-life goals or work situations. In contrast, teaching younger students is often subject-centered and teacher-led, with learners depending more on external structure and motivation.

​3. Which instructional strategies work best for online training programs?

Online programs thrive on strategies that promote learners' engagement. Microlearning is well-suited for flexibility, while Immediate Feedback in quizzes and simulations helps sustain motivation. Furthermore, online learning also benefits greatly from collaborative learning activities and metacognitive strategies to maintain accountability and self-awareness.

4. What are common challenges when teaching adults?

Common challenges that educators face while teaching adults include overcoming resistance to new learning methods, managing diverse prior knowledge and skill gaps, and respecting their limited time. Adults also have high expectations for the practical application of training. Overcoming these challenges requires highly relevant content and flexible, experiential learning techniques.