Evaluating Training Results Paper

Evaluating training results. (includes related articles on the objectives of staffing and placement courses and a sample case study and check sheet for staffing and placement courses)
Training & Development Journal
| January 01, 1990 | Erickson, Paul R. | Copyright
Evaluating Training Results
Here's a training-evaluation method that assesses whether participants remember what they were supposed to have learned--and know how to apply it on the job.
It happens all too often. At the end of your training course, participants pass a simple test by reiterating all the buzz words they've memorized. Then they go back to their work stations and immediately begin to forget everything they were supposed to have learned.
Oh sure, they filled
out your end-of-course questionnaire: "What did you like about this workshop?" "What would you change about the course?" Such questionnaires may fill your administrative requirements for course evaluation, but they may not tell you what you need to know: * whether attendees have retained the information presented in the course; * if course objectives have been met; * whether trainees' level of knowledge has increased; * whether there is enough emphasis on the required material or concepts; * the appropriateness of this particular course for teaching certain material, or whether some of the material would be better taught as part of a different course; * whether trainees' retention of knowledge taught in the course varies depending on the ability of the instructor.
Many training departments use pre-and post-tests to make up for the inadequacy of end-of-class questionnaires. Such tests may help determine whether training has changed the knowledge level of participants, but they usually provide only short-term assessments--they don't really tell you if trainees are applying on the job the information they've learned in the course.
What can you do to ensure that training "works"? How can you tell …
Input, process, output: a model for evaluating training. (IBM's corporate education strategy)
Training & Development Journal
| March 01, 1990 | Bushnell, David S. | Copyright Ads by Google
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IBM's corporate education strategy for the year 2000 uses a new approach for evaluating training effectiveness.
Since World War II, corporations have spent billions of dollars on worker training. As with any corporate investment, training directors are held accountable for the return on that investment; top management is looking for evidence that the dollars spent pay off. Budget justifications are in terms of potential savings generated through productivity gains or improved quality.
Companies are looking for cost-effective training strategies and seriously considering make-or-buy options. The portability and transferability of training materials are issues that multinational corporations wrestle with as global education networks take form and satellite communications proliferate.
Not only is top management becoming more demanding, but trainees are asking for and getting training materials geared to their requirements and delivered on demand. As computer-based training (CBT) and other instructional technologies become readily available (and cost-effective), the challenge for trainers is to deliver course materials in ways that ensure quality products at reasonable prices, tailored to end-user
requirements.
Paralleling those trends is the need to link training to future corporate needs and to tie it more closely to other human resource management programs. That is the thrust of IBM's recent effort to project its internal education requirements through the year 2000 (see cover story). Recognizing its responsibility to the corporation to deliver well-conceived and cost-effective training programs worldwide, whenever and wherever they are needed, …
But will they use it? (training)
Training & Development Journal
| December 01, 1990 | Parry, Scott | Copyright Ads by Google
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Training is an investment. If the learners apply back at work what they acquired during their learning, there will be a return on the investment. If they do not, then the training time was merely spent (and hence wasted) rather than invested.
Why would learners not apply at work what they were taught during the training?
Three factors
Three sets of factors can help or hinder the transfer of learning from class to job: personal, instructional, and organizational. Let's look at some examples of each.
Personal factors involve issues in several categories:
* motivation (Does the learner want to be in class? Does the learner already know the subject matter. . . or believe that she or he does? Does the learner enjoy the work and the job?)
* ability (Does the learner have the ability to learn the material?)
* attention (Can the learner concentrate, or are weightier matters interfering--such as an illness or a
divorce?)
* relevance (Does the learner see the course as relevant to the job and to his or her personal needs?)
Instructional factors include such things as the following:
* course design (Are the methods and media appropriate? What about facilities and equipment? Length and objectives?)
* emphasis (This includes issues such as theory versus practice, knowledge versus skills, and talking versus doing.)
* instructor (Is she or he credible and effective?)
* follow-up (Does the trainer get feedback on learners' performance after training? Does the trainer take appropriate …