Designing Professional Learning That Sticks

Kathryn Laster
1 day ago
7 min read

A frequent topic of conversation in my work with educators is how to help learning stick. Whether we’re talking about classroom instruction or ideas introduced during a professional learning session, the hope is the same: that learning transfers into practice.

My interest in the learning sciences began in 2015 with a Twitter book study of Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. What began as professional curiosity soon influenced how I approached the design of professional learning. Since then, I have intentionally sought out research and other resources to better understand how learning happens, how the brain processes and retains information, and how ideas from the learning sciences, such as retrieval practice and cognitive load, can inform intentional design choices.

My original “Make Learning Stick” session introduced educators to the science of learning with a focus on classroom strategies. Over time, I realized these same principles apply just as powerfully to adult learners. Today, they are embedded in how I design, facilitate, and evaluate professional learning.

In this post, I’ll share design ideas to try at the beginning, middle, and end of a professional learning session to increase the likelihood that learning sticks and transfers beyond the event itself.

📝 To make this a more interactive read, you’re invited to grab a pen, open a notes app, or pull out a few sticky notes. Throughout the post, you’ll find intentional pauses to retrieve, reflect, and apply ideas as you go.

Start with Curiosity

In an earlier LFTX post about choreographing the start of a session, I share a strategy from Kendall Zoller for reinforcing the purpose of a learning experience.

Rather than simply posting outcomes or reviewing an agenda, Zoller suggests inviting participants to process the purpose of the session for themselves. His approach includes asking participants to:

read the session outcomes,
identify the ones that feel most important or relevant, and
turn and share their thinking with a neighbor.

This strategy models a culture of self-directed learning and helps participants build ownership around the topic. It also aligns with what we know from the learning sciences. In When You Wonder, You’re Learning, the authors note that when participants are later asked to recall what they learned, they more easily remember information connected to topics they were curious about.

Julie Dirksen reinforces this idea in Design for How People Learn:

Ultimately, we are all the “What can I get from this?” learner. We want to know why a learning experience is useful or interesting to us. Regardless of type, people want to have purpose and be able to do something with what they are learning.

If our goal is for learning to move into long-term memory, we need to create multiple opportunities for learners to recall and use new ideas. Starting with curiosity helps establish that foundation. When participants have already identified what matters to them, later retrieval and reflection have something meaningful to attach to.

📝 You Try

Pause and respond.

Why is this topic in this post important to you? What do you hope to gain by reading this post?

Embed Retrieval Practice Throughout

One learning strategy I intentionally incorporate into my professional learning design is retrieval practice. Dr. Pooja Agarwal describes retrieval practice as “pulling information out of your head and bringing information to mind.” Unlike rereading notes or reviewing slides, retrieval requires learners to actively recall information, which strengthens memory and supports long-term retention.

In my sessions, this often shows up as a deliberate moment to retrieve and respond. This is essentially a renamed version of think-pair-share, with a stronger emphasis on the retrieval itself. The most important instruction I give is simple and specific: without peeking at your notes.

I often establish a consistent cadence, such as 90 seconds of silent reflection, before inviting any discussion or sharing. That quiet space matters. It gives participants time to pull ideas to the surface and notice what they remember easily and what feels less solid.

Retrieval prompts can take many forms. Sometimes it is a broad brain dump, such as writing down everything you remember from the first part of the session. Other times, the prompt is more focused, like reflecting on a personal goal set earlier or recalling a key idea from a previous meeting or article. I might reference a prior session or ask participants to revisit something they recently processed.

Occasionally, I name this explicitly as a retrieval strategy. Other times, I simply call it reflection time. Either way, the learning benefit comes from the act of recalling, not from how the strategy is labeled. On more than one occasion, a participant has recognized what is happening and named it themselves, often with a chat message like, “Great retrieval question!”

After retrieval, participants may receive feedback, share with others, or simply sit with what surfaced. Some strategies I use include:

Turning to a neighbor to compare brain dumps and notice commonalities or gaps.
Adding a definition or key idea to a shared digital tool, such as Pear Deck, followed by clarification or synthesis.
Using a “waterfall” in the chat, where everyone shares one idea at the same time so patterns and missing pieces become visible.

The key design move is this: invite participants to pull information from their own memory while relying on as few external supports as possible. Each retrieval opportunity strengthens the likelihood that the learning will stick.

📝 You Try

Pause and respond.

Think back to a recent classroom lesson or professional learning session you’ve experienced or designed.

Where did learners pause to recall ideas, make meaning, or bring prior learning to mind, even if it was not labeled as retrieval practice?

End With Intention

The ultimate goal of any professional learning experience is not what happens during the session itself, but what happens afterward. We want ideas to transfer into practice and lead to meaningful changes in behavior.

In my previous organization, I was introduced to the work of Dr. Will Thalheimer and his learning transfer evaluation model. One strategy he shares to support transfer is triggered action planning, which involves setting a clear goal and identifying specific situation–action triggers that prompt follow-through.

For example, one of my goals is to include at least two retrieval opportunities in every webinar I facilitate.

Goal: Include at least two retrieval opportunities in each webinar.
Situation: I open a new slide deck for an upcoming webinar.
Action: I immediately create two slides titled “Retrieve and Respond” to complete later.

This creates an IF–THEN plan: IF I open a new slide deck for a webinar, THEN I create two retrieval slides.

As Dr. Thalheimer points out, action planning at the end of a training often looks like setting aside time to write down next steps. While reflection is valuable, it does not always account for the moment when action needs to occur. Triggered action planning shifts the focus from intention alone to the specific context that signals when to act.

When I create space at the end of a session for participants to develop their own triggered action plans, tied back to what sparked their curiosity and what they retrieved throughout the experience, the likelihood of transfer increases. This is time well spent and one of the most reliable ways I know to help learning stick.

📝 You Try

Pause and respond.

Identify one key idea or design move from this article that you want to carry into your work. Write it as a goal.

Next, create a trigger using an IF–THEN statement.

IF ____________________, THEN I will ____________________.

Designing for Learning That Sticks

Professional learning does not stick simply because it is engaging, well-paced, or thoughtfully facilitated, though those things matter. It sticks when learning is intentionally designed to support how people actually learn.

The Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning, specifically the Learning Designs standard, remind us that effective professional learning is grounded in research and theories about learning and implemented through evidence-based design. When we design with curiosity at the beginning, embed retrieval throughout, and end with intention and actionable next steps, we move learning beyond the event itself.

As Sharon Boller and Laura Fletcher remind us, “Learning is not an event that happens once and is done. It is a journey. A learner travels with a defined starting point and ending point and requires multiple opportunities to retrieve and practice use of learning along the way.”

When professional learning is designed as a journey rather than a moment, we increase the likelihood that ideas transfer into practice and that the learning truly sticks.

References and Further Reading:

Agarwal, P., Bain, P. (2024). Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass.
Agarwal, Pooja. (2025). Smart Teaching Stronger Learning: Practical Tips From 10 Cognitive Scientists. Unleash Learning Press.
Behr, G., Rydzewski, R. (2021). When You Wonder, You’re Learning. Balance.
Boller, S., & Fletcher, L. (2020). Design Thinking for Training and Development. ATD Press.
Brown, P., McDaniel, M., Roediger, H. (2014). Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Belknap Press.
Cooney Horvath, Jared. (2019). Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights From Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick. Unleash Learning Press.
Dirksen, Julie. (2015). Design For How People Learn. New Riders.
Harvard, Blake. (2025). Do I Have Your Attention? Understanding Memory Constraints and Maximizing Learning. Routledge.

Kathryn Laster brings over 30 years of education expertise as a math teacher, instructional coach, and digital learning consultant. Now, as an independent consultant, Kathryn creates and facilitates transformative learning experiences through intentional, human-centered, tech-infused design.

Kathryn regularly explores ideas from the learning sciences in her writing, including posts such as When More Becomes Too Much, which examines cognitive load, and Design to Spark Curiosity, which focuses on designing purposeful beginnings for learning. (She also reflects on retrieval practice in an early post from 2018, written when she was first applying these ideas.)