LEARNERS THAT CAN 'JUST DO IT' don't always 'get it' in the practical sense. One element sometimes overlooked by instructional designers is learner fluency. Fluency is defined as accuracy and speed, also known as an automatic response.

Instructors and designers often aim for learner accomplishment measured in test scores. It is gratifying when test scores come back as '100%' or 'all correct' etc., however, this linear assessment may miss an important element for performance; that of quality within a time period.


The functional context of learning often has a time constraint that is intuitively known but rarely defined. Test-takers have to be finished within a reasonable, or formally defined time. 

On-the-job workers must finish tasks or risk financial impact. Task performance is not done in a vacuum. Sales can be going on while the perfect quote is still being assembled!

Fluency incorporates a range of performance (count per minute, pace of quality performance) to be used as goals in learning. Once these performance goals are mastered, and verified through retention, new learning is optimized through learning sequences. The learning curve is then never maximized at 100%, since each new set of sequences builds on the past performance. To summarize the elements of fluency learning: core fundamentals must become fluent responses, the next progression can consist of 'need-to-know' which can first be obtained through fluent use of lookup material, and 'nice-to-know' which can encompass real world experience. 

The concept of fluency has its roots with research by B.F. Skinner and Ogden Lindsley in the late 1960's; R.F. Mager and Peter Pine in the 1980's; and continues through the late 1990's through individuals such as Carl Binder and Cynthia Riha. As the field of criterion referenced instruction developed, these and other researchers concluded that fluency was an outcome that must be considered. 

Every learning event can be divided into small units, called chunks. Introduce the chunks, as shown in Step 1 in the chart below, and then allow the learners to practice with the chunks. Step 2 should be at least 50% of your training time and effort. 

Practice is the key to transform chunks into fluent behavior.

The exciting learning comes at Step 3, combining and creating new components, or chunks, to start a new cognitive or performance level. At this point, a learner can be well into self-directed learning. The smart instructional designer will document these new components to create an ever-expanding knowledge base and performance level. From a corporate perspective, this is the portion of measurable return-on-training investment (ROI).

Increasing learner skill set and knowledge

points lead to measurable returns.

For instructional designers to be successful in integrating fluency measurement criteria, according to Carl Binder (1993), requires the inclusion of five critical categories:

                       measurement (masterful versus merely accurate)

                       instructional procedures (clump information, practice in sprints)

                       instructional materials (ergonomically functional, i.e. no paper job aids for swimming instruction)

                       skill elements (fluency in core steps allows building to complex combinations)

                       knowledge elements (becoming automatic response units, reducing short-term memory load, reinforcing long-term memory)

As every athlete knows, the mind can first comprehend an activity much more completely than the body can respond. The way to bridge this knowledge to performance gap is through small incrementally more challenging practice until the result is a fluent performance.

Microsoft Animated Clip Art

Peggy Collins, EdTec561 Fall 2003