How much content should a course include? Enough to enable learners to reach the intended level of competence: no more merely to impress, and no less merely to make the course artificially lighter.
We often hear that we should simplify: eliminate the unnecessary, avoid cognitive overload and focus on essentials. That is true. But applied too simplistically, this principle can lead to another mistake: confusing simplification with impoverishment.
The real question is therefore not “How much content can I remove?” but “How far do I need to take the learner?”
The expected level determines the content needed
There is a significant difference between being able to reproduce a procedure, carry it out independently, understand its principles, choose among options, adapt to a new situation, solve a problem or even anticipate it.
Imitate → Perform → Understand → Choose → Adapt → Solve → Anticipate
In the early stages of learning, imitation is entirely legitimate. Learners observe, reproduce and develop their first automatic responses. A clear demonstration, a model and a few opportunities to practise may then be enough.
To become independent, however, they must understand what they are doing and why. They must then learn to choose and adapt when reality no longer matches the model taught exactly. The higher the expected level, the more the content must support reasoning, judgment and transfer to different situations.
The same topic can require very different training
Imagine three people trained on the same equipment. The first must follow a precise procedure under supervision. The second must work alone and recognize some unusual situations. The third must diagnose problems, decide on an intervention and prevent failures.
The topic is the same. The objective is not. The content therefore cannot be identical.
Giving these three people the same “complete” training risks two opposite effects: too much detail for the person who only needs to perform, and not enough depth for the person who must analyze and decide.
Knowledge, practical skills and attitudes in support of competence
This is where knowledge, practical skills and attitudes take on meaning. They are not three checklists to complete. Their relative importance depends on the competence sought.
- Knowledge helps people understand concepts, principles, rules and context.
- Practical skills enable people to apply methods, techniques and procedures.
- Professional attitudes draw on the attitudes, behaviours and judgment needed in professional practice.
Someone who must follow a procedure will need a certain balance among these dimensions. Someone who must weigh several options or act in a complex situation will need a different balance.
Assess function rather than mere relevance
That is why, instead of asking “Is this content necessary?”, I prefer this question: “What function does this content serve in developing the intended competence?”
Content can be accurate, interesting and directly related to the topic without truly contributing to the intended learning. Conversely, an explanation that is not essential to reproduce an action may become vital to understanding it, adapting it and developing independence.
For each proposed element, we can therefore ask:
- Does it help explain something that will need to be put to use?
- Does it help learners practise or receive useful feedback?
- Does it create a necessary connection between pieces of knowledge or actions?
- Does it help learners choose, exercise judgment or decide?
- Does it prepare them to adapt, solve a problem or anticipate one?
The right content is not merely relevant to the topic. It is relevant to the intended learning.
Finding just what is needed
Too much content can bury the essentials, increase cognitive load and reduce training’s impact. Too little can prevent understanding, limit independence and leave learners without guidance as soon as the situation changes.
The instructional designer’s job is therefore neither to fill a course nor to empty it. It is to define the expected level, starting from the learner’s reality, and then choose the explanations, examples, practice and feedback that will bridge the gap between the two.
A course is not complete in absolute terms. It is complete when it enables learners to achieve the intended competence with the right depth.