A great deal has been written on the topic of post-course evaluations (thank you Nicole Legault for your wonderful articles) as they relate to both instructor led and e-learning courses. I am a huge proponent of the need for evaluations (formative and summative) for both instructor led and e-learning "courses." Having recently created my first micro-learning session, I'm interested in feedback from the community at large concerning evaluations the same. Your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc. are very much appreciated.
As well as the standard formative and summative evaluation, you could look at NPS (Net Promoter Score). Would the participant recommend the course to others?
In many cases, courses will probably be taken by people not out of interest, but out of need (they "need" to know the contents, or are "requested/required" to take the course). As such, I would also consider asking if those who took the course thought that taking the course helped them (in achieving their goals, or learning about X, ...).
In addition to Alison's good tip to ask if they would recommend the course to others, you could also ask about the "time invested vs. knowledge gained" ratio ("was the course worth the time invested?"), and how likely the concrete participant would be to return to the course if a related open question came up.
While we often have the requirement to demonstrate the effectiveness of training material with evaluation, there is a case against mindless evaluation as well?
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing another set of questions that have only one objective, for the user to pass an assessment? Mindnumbingly obvious answers to questions do not evaluate or assess knowledge, but only "tick boxes".
What do the client and end user want as a result of the training? That is what your evaluations should be... errrr evaluating.
As most courses are often a way of bringing about a change in an organisation, measuring the effectiveness of this with an evaluation is often very difficult and typically courses are not evaluated to see if they meet the learning objectives or if the assessment matches the learning objectives before they are released..
I find that it is more valuable to measure the change required in the organisation, which is more difficult, but I think overall is the same as what Tony alludes to above.
5 Replies
As well as the standard formative and summative evaluation, you could look at NPS (Net Promoter Score). Would the participant recommend the course to others?
In many cases, courses will probably be taken by people not out of interest, but out of need (they "need" to know the contents, or are "requested/required" to take the course). As such, I would also consider asking if those who took the course thought that taking the course helped them (in achieving their goals, or learning about X, ...).
In addition to Alison's good tip to ask if they would recommend the course to others, you could also ask about the "time invested vs. knowledge gained" ratio ("was the course worth the time invested?"), and how likely the concrete participant would be to return to the course if a related open question came up.
While we often have the requirement to demonstrate the effectiveness of training material with evaluation, there is a case against mindless evaluation as well?
There is nothing more frustrating than seeing another set of questions that have only one objective, for the user to pass an assessment? Mindnumbingly obvious answers to questions do not evaluate or assess knowledge, but only "tick boxes".
What do the client and end user want as a result of the training? That is what your evaluations should be... errrr evaluating.
TC
Match the objectives to the evaluation. Ensure you do not ask about anything you are unable or unwilling to change.
As most courses are often a way of bringing about a change in an organisation, measuring the effectiveness of this with an evaluation is often very difficult and typically courses are not evaluated to see if they meet the learning objectives or if the assessment matches the learning objectives before they are released..
I find that it is more valuable to measure the change required in the organisation, which is more difficult, but I think overall is the same as what Tony alludes to above.
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