Some means of learning measurement is essential in assessing the overall effectiveness of your training curriculum. Without it there is no way to properly determine whether or not learning is taking place.
The inclusion of learning measurement in a training curriculum provides the training audience with valuable feedback through the ability to measure learning progress. Learning measurement also provides the training development team with a way to evaluate the ability of the curriculum to meet learning goals.
Incorporating learning measurement mechanisms in your training curriculum can also provide the following additional benefits:
- Motivating the training audience through positive feedback.
- Encouraging proper recourse when the required degree of learning has not taken place.
- Furthering the overall learning process by promoting additional cognitive activity resulting from thinking and reasoning.
- Determining the ability of organization members to fulfill specific roles or perform specific tasks that require specialized knowledge or skills.
Learning measurement in a training environment will generally fall into one of the following three categories:
- General assessments that measure learning for the knowledge and understanding components of the curriculum content.
- Application assessments that measure how well the knowledge and understanding is applied to real-world tasks and procedures.
- Standardized assessments pertaining to legal or regulatory compliance, professional certification or other special requirements. These assessments are designed and administered by authorized entities outside of your organization.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these assessment types.
1. Incorporating General Learning Assessment Activities
General learning assessments will gauge how well the training audience retained the knowledge and understating presented throughout the curriculum
It is recommended that all general assessments be conducted at regular intervals throughout the curriculum. For best results present learning measurement activities at the end of each significant learning entity (e.g. module or lesson). This will allow the training audience to verify proper learning prior to proceeding to another subject area.
Creating general learning assessments requires the following::
- Identifying content for inclusion in the general assessments.
- Building the general assessment activities.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these activities.
Identifying Content for Inclusion in General Learning Assessments
The first step in the general assessment creation process is to identify the specific curriculum content that will be included in the assessment activities. For consistency and efficiency, review all of the curriculum content at one time and highlight the applicable general assessment content in a working copy of the curriculum.
Building the general assessment activities.
For each of the identified learning measurement content areas, prepare an applicable general assessment activity. Common general assessment activities include:
- Multiple choice questions.
- True or false questions.
- Open-ended questions..
- Matching exercises.
- Case analysis.
- Solving mathematical or scientific equations.
The following are some best practices for creating a comprehensive set of general assessment activities that best addresses the identified general assessment content.
Mix and match the activity types used.
This keeps the assessments interesting for the training audience. Determining all activity types at one time can help to eliminate overuse of one or more methods.
Encourage thinking and reasoning.
Avoid creating activities that are too easy or obvious. Make the training audience think about each activity. A benefit of learning measurement is to further the learning process by continuing to stimulate mental processing.
Downplay deception.
The purpose of learning measurement is to evaluate and reinforce learning, not to trick the training audience.. Deliberately steering the training audience in the wrong direction can disrupt the learning process. A trick question here and there can keep the assessment process interesting and fun, but only when used sparingly.
Consult with subject matter experts.
Subject matter experts are essential to the development of learning measurement activities. Use their experience to better determine the most important aspects of the content upon which the measurement should focus, then to test the completed measurement activities for accuracy, relevancy and overall applicability to the corresponding learning objectives.
Introduce and explain each measurement activity.
It is important to properly introduce and explain each learning measurement activity to the training audience. Effective introductions include a statement of purpose, detailed instructions, information on measurement metrics and requirements for successful completion of the measurement activity.
Provide recourse.
Advise the training audience on how to proceed if the learning measurement results do not meet specified requirements.
Seek legal input where required.
Assessments with legal, regulatory or safety implications will require proper legal input . Always consult with your organization’s legal staff to ensure that the correct legal language and structure are incorporated into the measurement activities.
Prepare an answer key.
Include the correct answers either in the curriculum or as a separate facilitator document, depending on the selected evaluation format.
2. Identifying and Indicating Required Application Assessments
Application assessments are used to determine how well the general knowledge and understanding is applied to real-world task or procedures.
These assessments require that the training audience perform specified tasks or procedures. Designated individuals observe and evaluate the performance then make a determination as to whether or not predetermined requirements have been met.
Creating application learning assessments requires the following::
- Identifying content for inclusion in the application assessments.
- Determining application assessment parameters.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these activities..
Identifying Content for Application Assessments
The first step in creating application assessments is to identify any task-specific curriculum content that your subject matter experts have determined will necessitate an application assessment.
For consistency and efficiency, review all of the curriculum content at one time and highlight the applicable application assessment content in a working copy of the curriculum
Determining Application Assessment Parameters
Once content has been identified for the required application assessments, the next step is to define parameters for each. The following are some best practices for preparing application assessments.
Determine and indicate the required qualifications for those responsible for evaluating the application assessment.
Required qualifications may include specific certifications or credentials, or a certain role in the organization such as manager or supervisor.
Clearly describe the required task or procedure to be performed.
Provide detailed information that describes each specific task or procedure upon which the training audience will evaluated.
Prepare a comprehensive checklist for those conducting the evaluations.
Include all key actions that must be performed in order to successfully complete the application assessment.
Seek expert assistance.
In addition to the assigned subject matter experts, it is beneficial to consult with those currently familiar and experienced with the tasks or procedures at hand. They can provide valuable input as to the key elements that will comprise the overall evaluation.
Identify any tasks or procedures with legal, regulatory or safety implications.
Assessments pertaining to these areas will require proper legal input. Always consult with your organization’s legal staff to ensure that the correct legal language and structure are incorporated into the measurement activities.
Indicate required assessment activities in the curriculum immediately following the corresponding content areas. Advise participants of the specific instructions for fulfilling application assessment requirements.
3. Working with Standardized Assessments
The goal of some training design and development efforts is to prepare participants for standardized testing or evaluation methods that are designed and administered by authorized entities outside of your organization, for example:
- Testing for legal, regulatory or safety compliance.
- Aptitude assessments to determine qualifications for a specific organizational role.
- Professional certification or accreditation.
In such cases the instructional designer is not responsible for designing these assessments, but is responsible for advising participants on the proper procedures for complying with them.
When referencing standardized third-party assessments, be sure to provide the following:
- A detailed explanation of the assessment.
- Its purpose in your organization.
- Instructions on how to complete the assessment requirements.