By: Emily Justin-Szopinski and Casey Cornelius
Learning professionals know that engagement is the lifeblood of any training or educational program; not merely a luxury, but a design priority. When learners are disengaged, attendance drops, knowledge doesn’t stick, and instructors feel like they’re speaking into the void. But when engagement is built in from the start, learning becomes meaningful, motivating, and transformative. At its best, engagement creates tangible, actionable insights and clearly-mapped next steps for both the learner and the organization.
So how do you design for learner engagement, rather than leaving it to chance? Drawing on insights from learning science, real-world practice, and CredSpark’s 10+ years of experience in engaging learners, here are 5 strategies to make engagement actionable and measurable.
Why Learner Engagement Matters
Question: Are your current programs designed with learner motivation in mind, or are you hoping engagement happens organically?
At its simplest, learner engagement is the combination of interest and motivation to learn. When it’s present, you see learners more likely to complete a program, retain knowledge, and apply it on the job. When it’s absent, the opposite is true: learners drift away from the content, show up reluctantly (if at all), and fail to transfer what they’ve learned.
“I also had a lot of college classes where a very experienced expert just stood in front of a group of us for maybe an hour. And for me, it was boring. Within minutes of every class like that, my mind was off somewhere else. And when I look back at it now, I realize… I don’t really remember anything. I wouldn’t go, or I would go only as much as I had to, because I wasn’t engaged…”
— Emily Justin-Szopinski, Customer Success Manager at CredSpark
Make Engagement Visible with Micro-Check-Ins
Best Practice: Add a single pulse-check question into your next course. Even one short reflection can change the learner’s experience.
One of the biggest challenges in L&D is that we often don’t know learners are disengaged until it’s too late. We send out post-program surveys, only to learn that learners struggled quietly, got lost in the material, or gave up halfway through. But engagement doesn’t have to be a mystery; it can be measured in real time. CredSpark makes it simple to embed micro-check-ins to keep learners engaged throughout a course:
- Reflection questions
- Temperature checks (Think: How is this working for you so far? What would make this experience more relevant for you?)
- Quick confidence ratings
- A time-on-task check to help both the learner and instructor assess progress as it happens
These are all helpful tools to make learners active agents in their own journey, while instructors get the chance to adjust before disengagement sets in.
Connect New Content to Prior Knowledge
Before your next course, try adding one reflection question to tap into prior knowledge. You’ll immediately see learners approach the content differently.
Neuroscience tells us that new information sticks best when it connects to existing neural pathways. Think about how much easier it is to remember something when it relates to a personal or previous experience. That’s why it’s so powerful to start learning paths by asking learners to reflect on a time when they encountered a concept in real life. For example, in a leadership course, you might ask them to describe the best (or worst) leader they’ve ever worked with. By activating those existing pathways, you prime the brain to absorb new material.
“We’re creating these neural pathways all the time… the more existing pathways you can connect a new one to, the deeper that knowledge becomes ingrained in your brain.”
— Emily Justin-Szopinski
With CredSpark, you can prepare the learner to engage, while also giving facilitators valuable insight into the perspectives and expectations learners bring with them. You may consider starting your learning paths with openers like:
- Describe a time when you experienced…
- Show a common situation related to the to topic and ask if learners have experienced something similar or what they would do in the situation presented
- What are the biggest obstacles you’re facing today around (the topic of the learning path)?
- What do you already know about this topic? What do you want to know?
- How relevant is this topic for you?
- A question relevant to the industry (example: What is the biggest threat to X sector today?)
- How would you rate your current understanding on (topic)?
- Which of these tools (related to the topic) have / haven’t you used before?
- Which of these terms (related to the topic) are you already familiar with?
- How do you feel about the impact (of this topic) in the next 5 years?
- What does (term related to the topic) mean for you?
- What’s the first word or phrase that comes to mind when you think…(topic from learning path)?
- In a word or short phrase, what do you hope to get out of this session?
- Describe (X) in 3 words or less.
Personalize the Learning Experience
Experiment: Leverage CredSpark’s branching logic in just one quiz, and you’ll see how quickly personalization can boost engagement.
We’ve all been in courses that felt generic, designed for a mythical “average learner.” But in reality, some people thrive on competition and games, while others find them stressful or distracting. The more you personalize the path, the more ownership learners feel. Guiding people toward the most relevant content for their needs using CredSpark could look like:
- Using outcome quizzes and branching logic.
- Adapting based on confidence levels, prior knowledge, or role-specific needs.
- Implementing personalization: letting learners choose whether they want a gamified quiz, a reflective exercise, or a case study scenario.
“Choice is an element of ownership… respecting your learners and inviting them to go through a learning experience of their own choosing can have a real impact on engagement.”
— Casey Cornelius
Tap into Positive Emotions
Reward Success: Add a streak celebration or digital certificate in your next course. You’ll be surprised how motivating these “small wins” can be.
Engagement isn’t just cognitive; it’s emotional. When learners feel a sense of fun, curiosity or accomplishment, their brains release dopamine, strengthening both memory and motivation. CredSpark enables you to achieve this through many different avenues:
- Gamification (creating lighthearted competition)
- Leaderboards
- Answer streaks
- Scavenger hunts
- Fostering positive emotions to make a learning moment stick:
- Humor
- Surprising visuals
- A timely meme
- Recognition:
- A certificate at the end of a course
- A micro-celebration when a learner answers three questions in a row correctly
“I’m always amazed at how much adult learners love that PDF at the end. Did I pass? I want my certificate! It feels good, and it taps into that dopamine.”
— Emily Justin-Szopinski
Co-Create with Learners
Be Collaborative: For your next live session, add one interactive CredSpark question and bring learner voices into the room. It’s an easy step with a big payoff.
Engagement deepens when learners feel like partners in the experience rather than passive recipients. When their voices and experiences are incorporated into the course, training, discussion, or event, they immediately feel valued. You can make a powerful difference by doing simple things like:
- Sending a pre-course survey, then bringing learners’ responses into the training itself.
- CredSpark’s LiveMode platform, which allows facilitators to integrate spontaneous questions, polls, and open responses into synchronous training.
This not only sustains attention but also shows learners that their input matters in shaping the session.
“If you’re in a training session and suddenly see your own comment fueling discussion, that’s engaging. That’s you taking part in the session before you even arrived.”
-Emily Justin-Szopinski
Immediate Actions to Boost Engagement
Audit your current courses this week: where could you add just one new interaction that makes learners feel seen, respected, and motivated?
Each of these small changes builds toward a culture of engagement.
Final Thoughts
Learner engagement isn’t about entertaining learners, but respecting them. By connecting to prior knowledge, honoring individual preferences, and celebrating progress, you create experiences that feel both meaningful and motivating.
When engagement becomes part of your design process, you don’t just capture attention. You drive lasting learning outcomes that benefit both learners and organizations.
Strategy
Micro-check-ins to “check the pulse” of your learner’s engagement
Example/s
A short answer question mid-interaction that asks the learner to write 1 or 2 quick sentences explaining how they’ll apply their learnings.
CredSpark Features to Leverage
- Reflection questions
- Quick confidence ratings
- A time-on-task check to help both the learner and instructor assess progress as it happens
ently scores women lower than men due to biased historical data—resulting in fewer women being shortlisted for leadership development programs.
Reflection questions
Example/s
“Who is the best (or worst) leader you’ve ever worked with in a professional setting?”
CredSpark Features to Leverage
- An open question
- A poll
- A word cloud at the beginning of a session
Personalizing the learner experience
Example/s
Asking yourself: what’s the best way for them to learn based on their own learning style as well as the way their profession is taught?
CredSpark Features to Leverage
- Using outcome quizzes and branching logic (which helps the learner adapt based on confidence levels, prior knowledge, or role-specific needs).
- Implementing personalization: letting learners choose whether they want a gamified quiz, a reflective exercise, or a case study scenario.
Tapping into positive emotions
Example/s
Adding a streak celebration or digital certificate to an interaction or course.
CredSpark Feature to Leverage
- Leaderboards
- Answer streaks
- Scavenger hunts
- Visuals/memes
- Certificates at the end of courses
- Micro-celebrations for correct answer streaks
Allowing learners to co-create with each other
Example/s
Adding an interactive CredSpark question to a live session
CredSpark Feature to Leverage
- Pre-course surveys, bringing learners’ responses into the training itself.
- Live Mode to integrate spontaneous questions, polls, and open responses into synchronous training.
Strategy
Example/s
CredSpark Features to Leverage
Micro-check-ins to “check the pulse” of your learner’s engagement
A short answer question mid-interaction that asks the learner to write 1 or 2 quick sentences explaining how they’ll apply their learnings.
- Reflection questions
- Quick confidence ratings
- A time-on-task check to help both the learner and instructor assess progress as it happens
Reflection questions
“Who is the best (or worst) leader you’ve ever worked with in a professional setting?”
- An open question
- A poll
- A word cloud at the beginning of a session
Personalizing the learner experience
Asking yourself: what’s the best way for them to learn based on their own learning style as well as the way their profession is taught?
- Using outcome quizzes and branching logic (which helps the learner adapt based on confidence levels, prior knowledge, or role-specific needs).
- Implementing personalization: letting learners choose whether they want a gamified quiz, a reflective exercise, or a case study scenario.
Tapping into positive emotions
Adding a streak celebration or digital certificate to an interaction or course.
- Leaderboard
- Answer streaks
- Scavenger hunts
- Visuals/memes
- Certificates at the end of courses
- Micro-celebrations for correct answer streak
Allowing learners to co-create with each other
Adding an interactive CredSpark question to a live session
- Pre-course surveys, bringing learners’ responses into the training itself.
- Live Mode to integrate spontaneous questions, polls, and open responses into synchronous training.
Want to see how CredSpark clients are putting these strategies into action? Register here for our November 19th event “Engagement by Design: Practical CredSpark Workflows for L&D Teams” Contact us to explore examples, or test a free interaction today.
By
Casey Cornelius
Casey Cornelius is a former educator with deep experience in learning and development, curriculum design, and assessment. She also has more than five years experience working with B2B marketing and audience development teams to create engaging, enriching interactive content.
By
Emily Justin-Szopinski
Digital Learning Specialist and Educational Product Developer with over 15 years experience in creating high impact learning experiences for global audiences.
