Behind every effective training program is one essential question: what makes learning stick? Instructional design is not just a creative craft; it is rooted in decades of science across neuroscience, psychology, and education.
In this post, we highlight seven leading experts whose insights reveal why people learn the way they do, and how organizations can design training that leads to lasting performance.
Andrew Huberman: Neuroplasticity and Error-Driven Learning
Dr. Andrew Huberman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and host of the Huberman Lab Podcast, has popularized the science of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself through experience. Far from being limited to childhood, Huberman emphasizes that adults can change their brains too, if the right conditions are met. A key trigger for such a change is making errors.
“Errors are the basis for neuroplasticity and for learning.” — Huberman Lab Podcast, Learn Faster Using Failures, Movement & Balance
In training design, this means we need to rethink the role of mistakes. Too often, training is designed to avoid errors, giving learners “safe” right answers in polished modules. But from a neuroscience perspective, struggle is the feature, not the bug. Scenarios, roleplays, and problem-solving exercises that allow for mistakes create the very conditions the brain needs to change.
Focus is equally critical. Huberman notes that when people are deeply attentive, the brain releases acetylcholine, which marks neural circuits for change. Workplace learning that relies on long, unfocused lectures or passive video content misses this key lever. Instead, learning should engage focus through challenges, stories, and active participation.
For industries like hospitality and tourism, this is especially powerful. Training staff to handle unpredictable guest interactions works best when practice includes errors, corrections, and repetition. Neuroplasticity explains why these experiences don’t just transfer knowledge; they rewire staff to respond differently under pressure.
John Sweller: Reducing Cognitive Overload
While Huberman’s work explains the biology of brain change, Dr. John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) explains the practical limits of how much learners can handle at once. His research shows that working memory has strict capacity, and when training overwhelms it, learning breaks down.
Cognitive load comes in three forms:
Intrinsic load: the complexity of the material itself
Extraneous load: distractions that don’t contribute to learning
Germane load: the mental effort devoted to making sense of the material
Effective learning design reduces extraneous load and manages intrinsic load so that germane load can do its work. In other words, training should strip away clutter, simplify where possible, and sequence learning in digestible steps.
For example, a new hotel front desk agent might need to learn both guest service etiquette and the booking software system. Training both at once overloads working memory. Sweller’s theory suggests sequencing: master one, then scaffold the other.
For e-learning, CLT means avoiding busy slides with walls of text, stock images, and background music. Less is more. As Sweller’s work shows, clean design is a cognitive necessity, not just an aesthetic.
Richard Mayer: Making Multimedia Work for the Brain
Dr. Richard Mayer developed Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML), which focuses specifically on how learners process words and visuals. His experiments show that people learn best when visuals and narration are combined carefully, but poorly designed multimedia can overwhelm rather than aid learning.
Some of Mayer’s principles include:
The modality principle: People learn better from graphics plus narration than from graphics plus on-screen text.
The coherence principle: Removing unnecessary words, pictures, and sounds improves learning.
The signaling principle: Highlighting essential information directs focus and reduces cognitive load.
For workplace learning, this means flashy slides and overproduced e-learning can backfire. The science shows that pairing simple graphics with clear narration is far more effective.
In hospitality training, a module teaching restaurant staff about food safety could present a step-by-step visual of handwashing paired with audio narration. Adding text, background music, and animations would actually reduce retention. Mayer’s work reminds us: clarity beats decoration.
For course creators, especially those designing online learning programs, CTML offers a research-based framework to evaluate every design choice. It’s about working with how the brain processes multimedia rather than looking impressive.
Anders Ericsson: The Power of Deliberate Practice
The late Dr. Anders Ericsson, psychologist and author of Peak, changed how we think about expertise. He showed that mastery does not come from experience alone but from deliberate practice: highly structured, purposeful practice at the edge of one’s ability, combined with feedback.
This contrasts with naive practice, where people repeat what they already know without stretching. Ericsson’s research on musicians, athletes, and professionals demonstrates that expertise is built when learners repeatedly attempt challenging tasks, make errors, and receive targeted corrections.
“With deliberate practice, however, the goal is not just to reach your potential but to build it, to make things possible that were not possible before. This requires challenging homeostasis—getting out of your comfort zone—and forcing your brain or your body to adapt.”— Anders Ericsson, Peak: Secrets From the New Science of Expertise
For training design, this has clear implications:
Build repeated opportunities for practice, not just content delivery
Set challenges that push learners slightly beyond their current ability
Provide specific feedback to guide improvement
In tourism training, this might mean role playing challenging customer interactions multiple times, each time adding complexity and feedback. For leadership development, it could involve repeated coaching conversations where managers practice new behaviors, reflect, and refine.
Ericsson’s work complements Huberman’s: the psychological structure of deliberate practice aligns with the neurobiology of plasticity. Together, they show why practice, error, and feedback are not add-ons; they are the engine of expertise.
Carol Dweck: Growth Mindset and Persistence
Dr. Carol Dweck, psychologist at Stanford University, is best known for her research on growth mindset: the belief that abilities can be developed through effort. Her work demonstrates that learners who adopt a growth mindset are more resilient, more willing to embrace challenges, and more persistent when they encounter setbacks.
This insight has profound implications for training. If errors and struggle are necessary for learning, as Huberman and Ericsson state, then learners must also believe that they can improve through effort. Without a growth mindset, errors feel like proof of failure, and learners disengage.
For facilitators and course creators, this means framing matters. Training should explicitly position mistakes as opportunities, not deficiencies. Leaders can reinforce this by modeling growth-oriented language: “This is tough, but with practice, you’ll get it,” instead of “You should already know this.”
In hospitality, where turnover is often linked to employees feeling overwhelmed or unsupported, building a culture of growth mindset can reduce attrition. Staff who believe they can improve with practice are more likely to stay engaged and invested.
Will Thalheimer: The Case for Spaced Learning
Dr. Will Thalheimer has spent years bridging research and practice in workplace learning. His work on spaced learning shows that single exposures are ineffective for long-term retention. Instead, revisiting material over time, especially after some forgetting has occurred, dramatically improves memory and application.
This aligns directly with Huberman’s neuroscience of consolidation: the brain needs repetition and reinforcement across time to stabilize new circuits.
For workplace learning, spacing means moving away from the “one-and-done” model of workshops. A more effective system might include:
A workshop to introduce concepts
Microlearning refreshers delivered days or weeks later
On-the-job supports to reinforce application
Short follow-up sessions to revisit key skills
For example, a hotel might introduce new service standards in a workshop, then follow with text-based reminders before shifts, and short peer-led refreshers weekly. This layered approach ensures retention and transfer.
John Hattie: Feedback as a Performance Multiplier
Dr. John Hattie’s Visible Learning is a comprehensive analyses of education research where he reviewed over 1,400 meta-analyses and concluded that feedback is among the most powerful influences on achievement.
But not all feedback is equal. Effective feedback is:
Timely: given soon after the action
Specific: focused on what was done well and what can be improved
Actionable: gives the learner clear steps for adjustment
This aligns with both Huberman’s and Ericsson’s emphasis on error correction and reinforcement. Without feedback, mistakes don’t become learning moments; they remain errors.
In workplace learning, feedback can take many forms:
In workshops, facilitators pausing to correct a roleplay
In e-learning, branching scenarios that respond to choices
On the job, supervisors coaching staff in real time
For hospitality leaders, feedback is especially critical. Guests often provide instant, informal feedback through satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Training managers to give structured, constructive feedback ensures staff improve without waiting for customer complaints.
Hattie’s conclusion is simple but profound: learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it happens in dialogue.
Bringing it Together: The Science of Learning
These experts come from different disciplines—neuroscience, psychology, education—but their findings converge on a shared truth:
Learning requires focus and attention
Errors and struggle drive growth, not smooth perfection
Feedback and recognition reinforce progress
Repetition and spacing stabilize change
Mindset determines whether learners persist through challenge
For learning designers, facilitators, and leaders, this is the blueprint for training that works. The science confirms what many practitioners already sensed: training is not about delivering information. It is about designing experiences that create the right conditions for the brain to change.
Ready to design training grounded in the science of learning? Explore our Instructional Design services or see how we help Hospitality & Tourism organizations create learning systems that last.
