An important aspect of Impellus training – and one that sets us apart from many of our competitors – is that we provide a physical workbook to accompany every course our delegates take.

They’re written and designed by our in-house experts and regularly updated to ensure they remain relevant in today’s business world.

But why don’t we just provide online versions? Wouldn’t that save money? Don’t delegates prefer online documents now?

More effective learning

“We can, of course, provide our workbooks as online PDFs where necessary or if preferred,” says Impellus Training Manager David James. “But our preference is always for our delegates to use the physical versions because, for a number of reasons, they provide a far more effective learning experience.”

The scientific approach

“Our workbooks are specifically designed to enable personal notetaking throughout the course,” says David. “And one critical advantage of having a physical workbook is that, as has been shown by various studies,* making handwritten notes can contribute to enhanced learning in a number of ways.”

The advantages of making handwritten notes

  • The act of handwriting engages the brain in a different way, helping with comprehension and remembering what is learnt.
  • It improves concentration and aids understanding by requiring the learner to rephrase and describe ideas in their own words, rather than quickly typing a trainer’s explanation verbatim.
  • Summarising and rephrasing when making handwritten notes can boost cognitive processing as well as factual and conceptual understanding.

Ongoing inspiration

“Because the physical workbooks are designed to be personalised by each delegate with their notes, thoughts, answers to questionnaires and plans for future actions, they provide an easily accessible and invaluable mine of information and inspiration for ongoing reference,” says David.

*Including: Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note-taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159–1168.

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