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Before training evaluation begins, program objectives must be developed. Program objectives are linked to the needs assessment. Let¡¦s look at how objectives can be developed within the context of the five-level ROI framework. Setting clear objectives at each level is important because success with training objectives helps answer basic questions regarding program effectiveness.
Level 1 Objectives (Reaction, Satisfaction, and Planned Action)
These describe issues that are important to the success of the program, including facilitation, relevance and importance of content, logistics, and intended use of knowledge and skills. The best Level 1 objectives should:
„X Identify issues that are important and measurable
„X Be attitude-based, clearly worded, and specific
„X Specify how participants have changed their thinking or perceptions as a result of the program We are all looking for ways to train more cost-effectively and time-efficiently. We’re using every tool at our disposal to that end: the Internet, Intranets, computer-based training computer-assisted instruction, video-based training, just in time training, and possibly hundreds of other delivery methods.
As we get caught up in all the cost-cutting and timesaving strategies, let’s not forget that it’s results that count. What does it matter if we reduce the time it takes to deliver information or teach skills if it not delivered in a way that works for the learner?
In designing participant-centered training, many instructors use questions to help process information. In addition to process-type questions, we may want to ask questions that focus on specific thoughts, feelings and behaviors. We as instructors have to remember the old adage in education, “Training is not about the instructor; it is about the student.”
The training purpose is about what participants learned from the experience - not what the instructor knew about the subject matter. Perhaps if we used participation more in training and asked some of the following questions, more might be learned.
Here are 10 questions to consider the next time you use participation in your training: Participants at a recent BPG Boot Camp ranked “Learning and Retention” as their number one need-to-know area of interest for the two-day session. We’d like your input on how you increase learning and retention in your training and presentations or how you’ve modified activities (adapted, adopted and applied) and information gleaned from us. Contributions will be featured in future ezines or our sister publication, Bob Pike’s Creative Training Techniques. Email us at ezineeditor@bobpikegroup.com with your thoughts. Be sure to include your name, company, title and location. There are generally considered five different levels at which a training or learning intervention can be evaluated, ranging from “Level 1” (which simply captures learners’ reactions to the intervention) up to “Level 5” (which calculates business-level return on investment). [This widely-used labeling system is based on an evaluation model first developed by Donald Kirkpatrick.] Simpler evaluations are less expensive than more advanced levels of evaluation, which can require significant investments of time and effort.
Therefore, careful consideration should be given to determining the appropriate level of evaluation for any given specific curriculum, course, or learning initiative. Different courses or curricula need different evaluation strategies, and you should always keep in mind that it may not be necessary to do all levels of evaluation. A Bakers Dozen (+1) Design Disasters
Designing your training is one of the first critical steps in engaging your participants. If you don’t prepare enough or make naïve decisions in designing, you can sabotage your training before you begin. Here are 13 design disasters (plus one) you can avoid just by being aware. Technology-based learning (e-learning) is becoming rampant in the training industry for good reasons. Retention for subjects can be greatly increased with the use of interactive software like games and simulations, participant interest can be much higher than some other forms of traditional instruction, and the Return-on-Investment can be gi-normous. According to a 2002 article in Workforce magazine, Cisco Systems saw a $9 increase in productivity for every dollar spent in training for a 900% ROI. Why wouldn’t you create an e-learning platform for training? Level Four training is where you want to be when you evaluate training…but if you haven’t been in the training industry long, you have no clue what Level Four training is. And sometimes, even if you’ve been in the industry a decade or two, you still wonder how to get your trainees there.
In evaluating your training, you look at the Four Levels:
1. Did they like it?
2. Did they learn it?
3. Are they using the information?
4. Is the information/training making a difference?
Evaluation begins at, well, the beginning—a very good place to start. Before the training is even drafted, you need to pinpoint the need or the purpose of the training. For the six weeks of the Persian Gulf War, and for quite some time during its build up, military experts on every television station and in every newspaper touted the United States military as the best-trained in the world. And no matter what your stance was on Gulf policy, you had to admit the military lived up to the public relations in the process of meeting objectives and ending the conflict. That speaks well for the people who trained them. And it presents a standard by which we might all consider measuring our own performance as trainers. Can you recall conversations verbatim? Or is it easier for you to remember on what part of the page you saw a picture? Or perhaps your body can remember every step from the Electric Slide—despite the fact you haven’t danced it in 20 years (or at least not admitted to it!).
The Theory of Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner, a Harvard researcher, breaks down the way we learn into eight ways. Originally published in 1983, Gardner’s work has been revolutionary for some educational and training facilities
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