How to evaluate participant learning

- To know if people are learning, you need to ask the right questions. You're going to want to ask, did the participants learn what was intended to be taught? And was there a positive change in the participants' abilities after the training? Let's jump right in using an example. The department manager needs everyone to accurately complete Section A of the TPS report, so that's what we need to assess. But to do this, you'll need to figure a way to prove participants know how to complete Section A. Now, your instinct is to probably test them during or at the end of the section. This is one way, but it's not the way I would start. You know what they need to know, but do you know what they already know? I recommend you take the time to assess participant knowledge before the training session begins. This is called benchmarking and establishing a knowledge baseline. It's easily done using pre-course surveys, personal interviews, and peer and self-assessments. Now, why should you do this? First, it focuses you on what they need to learn and assures participants retain relevant information. Second, it sets a performance baseline to measure the changes in participants' learning. And third, it gets you closer to meeting the managers' objectives. Next is to evaluate how well they're learning during a training session. The quickest and most common way is to deliver a test or a quiz, but seriously, who likes doing tests? Do you? I didn't think so. One effective way is through experiential approaches. This is a fancy term meaning to get participants to actually do the skill during or at the end of the session. I'd suggest to do it during the session to get you to support and correct their learning as it happens. When you get someone to do something, preferably multiple times, it increases significantly how much they retain and how well they will apply the skill. Now, let's go back to our TPS report training example. We need participants to be able to complete Section A of a form, so what I do first is get participants to actually complete examples of Section A. This gives us a baseline of participant knowledge. That way, I don't waste time telling them what they already know. Then, based on that knowledge baseline, I give instruction and coaching, then have them complete Section A again. We'd review their work to identify problematic areas, repeating the process until they're comfortable completing Section A. You see, it's an iterative process; repeating and improving over and over again. Now, you probably won't have time to do this a lot, but even just once allows you to adjust, customize, as well as evaluate the training. Finally, I'd have them do a practical exercise at the end of the session. Then, you compare the new results with the baseline to demonstrate to the manager the staff's improved abilities. With evaluation built in at the beginning, middle, and end, you'll have plenty of evidence to demonstrate that your training made a difference.