Evaluating Learning and Development

This article provides a brief introduction to the evaluation of learning and development activities.

Reflection is an activity that helps individuals turn their experiences into learning opportunities. In this article, we examine Boud et al’s model of reflection that provides learners with a structured process to help them get the most from examining their activities and actions.

One of the most widely used evaluation tools is Donald Kirkpartick’s four-level model, which measures the benefits to the individual as well as the bottom-line benefits to the organisation.

Robert O Brinkerhoff is an internationally recognised expert in evaluation and training effectiveness. He has developed a straightforward approach for evaluating the effectiveness of a learning event without the need for long and complicated data gathering. We review his approach here and include an example of a Success Case Method Survey.

Jack Phillips has been leading the debate about evaluating the return on investment of human resource development activities for over 20 years. In this article we review the key elements of his thinking on the subject.

Warr, Bird and Rackham’s four-stage CIRO (context, input, reaction, output) model remains one of the most widely used training evaluation models.

Establishing the exact benefits of training is no easy task. This article outlines some of the key issues relating to evaluation and explores how best to establish the value of training.

This article examines the importance of return on investment, outlining the key steps for calculating the ROI on any training and development initiatives.

Jack Phillips’ five level evaluation framework builds on the work of Donald Kirkpatrick. This article provides a brief overview of all five levels.

This useful reference article is a list of methods that can be used to collect data for evaluating learning events.

A guide to help you identify where to make improvements to future activities and identify further support needed to allow individuals to fully transfer their learning back to the workplace.

Proper planning is the key to successfully evaluating a learning event. This methodology will help you to create a robust evaluation plan for any learning event.

One of the most challenging aspects of calculating the return on investment of a learning event is isolating the effects of the event from other factors, such as seasonal changes in workflow or improved processes. In this article we look at some of the most common approaches that can be used to do this successfully.

A reflective journal helps to organise your thoughts and bring out new ideas. Here we offer some tips for keeping a reflective journal.