Have you ever felt yourself stuck at the same level of functionality and skills in your professional life? If yes, then what’s the criterion you have followed to measure it? And did you really even try to improve yourself? Well, such assessments are considered to be logical, a practical way is also there, termed as the Learning Curve.
It is now getting popular in the corporate world and is different from Vicarious Learning. High profile industries are now assessing the skills of their workers to determine how much time it will take to become a professional.
No matter if you are a worker or an industry owner, you have to understand the concept of the learning curve to determine if you are improving yourself for a particular task.
Let’s get going on it, as I have mentioned in this guide!
What Does Learning Curve Mean?
Learning curve is the graphical representation of the rate at experiences a certain type of job to learn new skills or knowledge against time and effort.
This is a relationship between a worker and the attempts they had made on a certain task successfully, and the curve that comes from the graphical representation. There are some similar terms, which you can use as a learning curve synonym: cost curve, experience curve, efficiency curve, and productivity curve.
In addition, it was designed and used for the first time by Dr Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German Psychologist, in 1885. He experienced the experience curve by himself and posited that after 20 minutes the 60% of the knowledge can be retained.
Experience curve is divided into 5 stages, which are:
- Stage 1. Slower Starting Phase.
- Stage 2. Increasing Productivity.
- Stage 3. Learner is Plateauing in Proficiency.
- Stage 4. Learner Realize: There is Still Room for Improvements.
- Stage 5. When Learners Equip Muscle Memory, AKA Overlearning.
How Does Learning Curve Work?
The learning curve works in 4 simple and easy steps and aims to depict the S-curve.
When the cost or performance of producing a product or performing a task is high. Likely, when experience grows, the improvement rate also increases.
Learners’ improvement rate grows, and the cost of their learning reduces as the improvement goes well.
Ultimately, the improvement rate or cost plateau.
Finally, your experience in learning stages comes in the S-shape, indicating the effects of continuous learning.
Learning Curve Theory for Understanding the Framework
The Learning curve theory can be represented by the percentage or rate that identifies the improvement rate.
Learning Curve Theory states: “An organization’s or individual’s efficiency and proficiency increase as they repeat the task, reducing their time and resources.”
However, it is indicated in the graphical shape in mathematical form 🦊.
5 Main Types of Learning Curve to Explore Various Categories
Here are the 5 main types of learning curves in the organization and workforce development teams.
The learning curve is steep when a person requires high efforts and time to acquire an experience and skill initially, but has significant benefits while they get usual.
Diminishing returns refers to a situation where initial progress and learning are fast, but the process of improvement slows down. Ultimately, the condition of plateau or leveling off is obtained.
Increasing returns refers to a situation where initial progress and learning are slow, but efficiency and proficiency increase over time. Eventually, this condition reaches to plateau of high frequency.
S-curve in the experience curve type that indicates how learners progress slowly, progress steadily to improve skills for rapid improvement, and eventually attain a plateau of mastery.
The complex curve indicates a more realistic and interactive pattern that often dips and plagues. The dips and plagues are used to demonstrate the challenges and failures in proficiency and efficiency.
🧪 Learning Curve Formula to Calculate The Curve
Learning curve formula contains several factors that bring the values of each necessary element to calculate the value of the learning curve. You can make the hypothesis based on the values you will get after doing some math and making the graph.
The formula is written as:
Y = aX^b
Where several factors represent these values:
- Y = Cumulative Average Time or Batch
- a = Time For The First Unit
- X = Cumulative Unit
- b = Learning Rate Coefficient
The learning rate coefficient is in the power form of X and can be represented as “b = log (learning rate)/log(2).”
How to Calculate Learning Curve by Using Formula?
As you know, every method and approach is different for each, and you have to calculate the appropriate result according to the values. So, I’ve compiled this calculation based on assumed values to find the Y.
Also, you can follow these steps on how to calculate the efficiency curve.
Find out the values of each factor to evaluate the Y element. In this case, let’s assume:
- The production time rate of a product is 100 hours (a = 100 hours).
- Learning rate is 70% (cumulative average time decreases to 80% each time production doubles).
- I need to calculate the cumulative average time for 3 units.
Secondly, you have to calculate the coefficient value (b=?)🤔 according to the b = log (learning rate)/log(2).
b = log(0.8) / log(2)
= log(0.8) / log(2)
= -0.096910013 / 0.30102999566
≈ -0.322
Now, plug the values into the formula (Y=aX^b).
Y = 100 * 3^-0.322
= 100 * 0.70204824169
≈ 70.2 hours
So, the value for the Y factor is approximately 70.2 hours.
Y ≈ 70.2 hours.
Learning Curve Examples to Understand It Better
Here are some real-life examples of learning curves that will help you understand the term better.
The simplest example of the learning curve is when students start adopting the school portals, like Wake ID and RMS. Initially, they start by learning how to log in and access learning resources and gradually master the portals over time.
There is a lot of language learning software available online, like Duolingo and Babbel, that offers a gamified approach for learners to learn new languages. Initially, adapting to these forums may be difficult, but over time, learners will adapt their learning environment and enhance proficiency.
Playing educational games is fun and a rich educational approach. Although students face difficulty while playing and learning through them and this gap is covered periodically. Further, this is a perfect example of a learning curve for students to understand the term better.
Before You Go
Well, these are the details about the learning curve, including its meaning, types, and formula to understand its core concept. In addition, I’ve incorporated some of the practical examples of this term to help students and professionals understand it better.
Hopefully, this comprehensive guide can fulfill your hunger for daily pearls of wisdom and satisfy your inner learner. Stay tuned for more informative content like this because Edulize aims to cover educational concepts easily and understandably.
People Also Ask
Efficiency curve goes down when employees repeatedly engage in work, the they become efficient in reducing the cost and increasing the productivity.
People over 40 can learn table sports easily, like:
1. Ping Pong
2. Bowling
3. Volleyball
4. Spikeball
The number of attempts someone makes a work affects the efficiency curve to drive their skills.
The core principles of the efficiency curve are repeatedly doing the same job and trying to improve it.
The slope represents the rate of a company’s cost savings when it implements the efficiency curve.
