Lasting Learning
A Science-Backed Guide to Retention, Application, and Business Impact
PREVIEW
The Economics of Remembering
In today’s fast-moving business environment, organizations invest millions in employee training, but most of that investment vanishes within weeks.
At the same time, executives are demanding more accountability from Learning & Development (L&D). Traditional measures such as attendance or learner satisfaction no longer suffice. Business leaders want to know whether training is improving performance, shortening time-to-competence, and delivering measurable ROI.
This eBook presents a new way forward. By combining Ebbinghaus’s foundational research on memory, the Cognitive Presence framework (e.g., how learners construct and confirm meaning) from the Community of Inquiry model, and the latest insights from learning science, we outline how organizations can move from training events to retention-focused learning journeys that produce real business impact.
What follows outlines a path to transformation, built on three core pillars: structured reinforcement, supervisor validation, and application analytics. These pillars are brought to life by elevator9, a live training retention platform that allows you to capture the value of live training moments and then extend them through structured reinforcement.
Deliver LIFTs (Learning Interventions Fueling Transformation), evidence-based prompts that help learners retain, reflect, and apply what they have learned.
Engage supervisors to validate observable improvements, ensuring training outcomes are credible and anchored in workplace performance.
Provide organizations with analytics that measure not just participation, but progression through Cognitive Presence and real-world application
Even modest gains in retention and application, 1–2% improvements in productivity or time-to-competence, can translate into millions in savings and performance growth for large enterprises. More importantly, a workforce that remembers, applies, and validates training is a workforce that is performance-ready, engaged, and positioned for long-term success.
Looking ahead, elevator9’s vision extends further. The platform is building toward AI-enabled personalization, predictive analytics, and deeper integration with organizational KPIs, ensuring training not only supports today’s workforce but anticipates tomorrow’s challenges.
Chapter 1: The Science of Memory and Learning
Live training, whether delivered in-person, virtually, or in hybrid settings, remains one of the most powerful ways to transfer knowledge, spark engagement, and shape organizational culture.
Despite its popularity, live training often suffers from a fundamental challenge: while learners may leave a session feeling energized and informed, much of what they absorb is forgotten within days or weeks. To understand why this happens and how to prevent it, we’ll look to the science of memory and learning.
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Chapter 2: The Modern Workplace Learning Challenge
Live training remains central to how organizations develop their people. Whether through leadership seminars, virtual workshops, or safety briefings, it’s one of the most trusted ways to build alignment, create momentum, and connect employees to organizational goals. Its immediacy and energy make it compelling…
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Chapter 3: Principles of Cognitive Presence
If the forgetting curve explains why learning slips away, the concept of Cognitive Presence helps explain how deeply learners actually engage with and apply what they have been taught. It moves the conversation beyond surface-level retention to examine the processes of reflection, meaning-making, and application that determine whether training translates into performance…
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Chapter 4: Applying Cognitive Science to Live Training
The science of learning tells us two critical truths. First, knowledge acquired in a single session fades quickly without reinforcement, as demonstrated by Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve. Second, the depth of engagement, not just surface-level recall, determines whether knowledge can be transferred into real-world performance, as captured in the Cognitive Presence framework…
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Chapter 5: elevator9's Live Training Retention Platform
The previous chapters established two key realities: live training is powerful in the moment but fragile afterward, and reinforcement and cognitive engagement are essential for turning knowledge into performance. Organizations don’t need more training events, but a system that extends, measures, and amplifies the impact of their existing training.
This is the mission of elevator9: to transform live training from a momentary spark into a sustained driver of retention, application, and measurable business impact…
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Chapter 6: Proven Strategies for Retention and Application
As Clark Quinn (2014, 2021) argues, learning and development must move “beyond the course” by treating training as a process rather than an event. This requires creating systems that re-engage learners over time, connect training to context, and validate its impact through performance outcomes.
To operationalize this 'training as a process' philosophy, the following six strategies are essential. They represent proven methods, supported by decades of cognitive science research and reinforced by recent empirical studies, which are integrated into elevator9’s approach to live training reinforcement…
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Chapter 7: Measuring Impact Through Cognitive Presence
One of the most persistent challenges in workplace learning is measurement. Organizations routinely spend millions on training yet often rely on metrics that reveal little about whether it worked: attendance logs, “smile sheets,” or short post-tests. While these indicators capture activity, they rarely measure whether learning is retained, applied, or has a measurable business impact…
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Chapter 8: Defining Business Value Hypotheses and Assessing Training Impact
In the rush to develop and deliver training, organizations often mistake polish for performance. An entertaining speaker, engaging visuals, or cleverly designed interactions may look impressive, but if employees don’t change their behavior, or if the business cannot point to measurable outcomes, training remains a cost rather than an investment…
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Chapter 9: The Business Case for Retention-Focused Training
Organizations face mounting pressure to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of their learning and development (L&D) initiatives. While training budgets have grown steadily, executives are demanding evidence that these investments drive performance, reduce inefficiencies, and contribute to strategic goals. Unfortunately, much of traditional training fails to meet this test: knowledge fades quickly, application is inconsistent, and measurement is limited to surface-level metrics…
