Choose the Activity for the Intended Learning
An explanation makes a concept and its reasons understandable. A demonstration shows how someone performs a task and why they choose particular steps. Practice asks the learner to make those choices, with feedback and an appropriate check. One lesson may use all three, but no format is automatically required for every purpose.
Cornell's learning-outcome guidance and assessment-method comparison support aligning activities with the intended capability. The sequence below is an original fictional professional-learning example.
Work With the Same Task
A coordinator prepares supply requests under a fictional procedure. Requests remain pending until the actual authorized role records approval. An incomplete specification must be clarified; a colleague cannot invent it. No real order, payment or new authority is included.
| Learning Need | Suitable Activity Here | What It Does Not Establish |
|---|---|---|
| Explain why request and approval differ | Short explanation with two contrasting statements | Ability to complete a whole request in the actual system |
| See how an experienced colleague handles an incomplete specification | Demonstration with visible reasoning and pauses for questions | Ability to choose correctly without copying the demonstration |
| Prepare a request and decide what remains unresolved | New fictional practice case with feedback | Sustained real-work performance or authority to approve |
Explain the Consequential Distinction
The trainer says: "Submitted tells us a request was sent. Approved tells us the required decision was made. The approving role and evidence come from the actual procedure." Ask the learner to explain why a supportive manager's comment alone may be insufficient. If the learner can explain the distinction, that may fulfill a conceptual lesson without requiring a form.
Demonstrate the Reasoning
The trainer shows an invented request for cartons without a defined quantity. They pause: "I can identify the missing quantity, but I cannot choose it for the requester. I will keep the request pending and ask for clarification through the supplied route." They show how to record the unresolved item and hand it to the appropriate role.
Showing only a finished correct form hides the decision. A demonstration is more useful here when the learner can see what information caused the trainer to stop, what options were considered and why no approval was inferred.
Let the Learner Try a Different Case
New case: a request names a quantity and item, but the proposed use is unclear. The manager has said the idea is sensible. The learner must identify the missing purpose, retain Pending and choose the supplied clarification route.
Plausible error: "The manager supports it, so mark Approved." Feedback: "Your draft identifies the item and quantity correctly. The supplied procedure requires a separate approval record. Keep this request pending, clarify the purpose and explain the next handoff." A second attempt uses a different missing field so the learner must apply the distinction again.
The improved response supports the stated practice objective in this packet. It does not justify an assertion that the employee is now competent for all purchasing work.
Fit the Sequence to Actual Conditions
If the purpose is only to compare decision stages, the explanation and contrasting example may suffice. If the learner must use a complicated system, explanation alone is unlikely to demonstrate that capability; arrange a safe practice setting and required access. If bandwidth prevents a live demonstration, use an accessible step sequence with the same reasoning and an agreed route for questions. Check whether the learner can actually use that alternative.
Use learning objectives to keep the purpose clear and feedback to design the next attempt. Choosing a useful activity is a design decision, not evidence that the training worked in practice.