You are a trainer and would like to create more successful experiences in your e-learnings? Then we have a very special trick for you: A new study shows that the use of scents can help improve learning outcomes. The results are promising! And this is how scents help your participants achieve success in learning:
When chemistry meets learning, even experts in the field of Learning and Development can be amazed. Recently, we tackled the myth of the four learning types here on the blog. However, even though we humans cannot simply be pigeonholed into sensory categories, our senses do significantly aid us in learning. Especially the sense of smell is far too often neglected!
The Study: "Odor-induced improvement of learning"
In February 2023, a group of German scientists published a study titled "Presenting rose odor during learning, sleep and retrieval helps to improve memory consolidation: a real-life study" published in Nature, a highly reputable scientific journal. The result: Memory performance is 8.5% stronger when participants smell the same scents while learning, sleeping, and during testing.
The study's method: 160 Germans were to learn Japanese words over three days. For this, the participants were divided into three groups:
One group was to learn with conventional methods, without olfactory support.
The second group was to smell a (consistently the same) scent sample while learning and sleeping.
And the third group was to smell the scent sample additionally during the final exam.
The result of the study: The third group learned a total of 8.5% more vocabulary than the other two groups. This suggests that we can support our memory performance with scents—provided we smell them while learning, during sleep, and during the exam.
The scientific explanation behind the result: The scientists discovered that certain scents increase the release of norepinephrine in the brain, which enhances learning ability. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter essential for memory formation and the learning process. By using scents, the release of norepinephrine can be increased, leading to improved learning outcomes.
Learning with all senses – particularly helpful in E-Learning!
As mentioned at the beginning, I am convinced: Our sense of smell is neglected in everyday life. We often consciously imprint images and sounds – yet scents are frequently stored on a more subconscious level. In e-learning, we try to engage all senses: In the media mix of videos, charts, tables, and texts, participants in online courses should be encouraged to learn as diversely as possible. A medium for scent is not yet possible through digital devices.
This is where the study comes in: While you as a trainer cannot send your participants specific scents through an online course, you can give them small tasks and tips to internalize what they learned through the olfactory level. This means: Instruct them to surround themselves with the same scent while learning. And to smell this scent during the exam or test in e-learning.
However, one sticking point remains: In the study, participants were also exposed to the specific scent while sleeping. This appears impractical in daily life. However, there was also no test group that smelled the scent while learning and during the exam—but not during sleep. Therefore, I would take the liberty to say: Just try it during those two phases (learning + exam)!
Conclusion: How to use scents for your participants' online learning success
Depending on the learning context, you can advise your course participants to incorporate scents into the learning process. This presumably works particularly well in areas outside of office spaces: For example, a master hairdresser may achieve better results in an online course at home if they reproduce the scent from the hair salon. But even in the office, you can create "artificial" olfactory associations: Advise your participants, for example, during Excel training, to smell vanilla for four weeks as soon as they start the program. When they are then ready for the exam via online course, they should also carry the vanilla scent with them.
What initially seems curious in practical application has further side effects:
Your participants learn to pay more attention to their senses.
You as a trainer set yourself apart with special methods and remain longer in your clients' memories.
You and your participants expand your perspectives to think about unconventional learning methods.
… And last but not least, you promote your participants' learning success in e-learning simply by using this curious scent method to support memory performance! Because such a learning method stays in memory – with you, your participants, and your clients.
