Donald Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation
Donald Kirkpatrick defined four levels of evaluation widely used in the training and development field. These four levels are considered foundation to training and development evaluation. They are:
1.Reactions: Measures how participants have reacted to the training. Every program should at least be evaluated at this level to answer questions regarding the learners' perceptions and improve training. This level gains knowledge about whether the participants liked the training and if it was relevant to their work. Negative reactions reduce the possibility of learning.
2.Learning: Measures what participants have learned from the training. Learning evaluations are conducted before training (pre-test) and after training (post-test) to assess the amount of learning that has occurred due to training. It assesses the extent learners have advanced in knowledge, skills or attitude. Evaluation methods range from self-assessment to team assessment to informal to formal assessment.
3.Behavior: Measures whether what was learned is being applied on the job. Evaluations at this level attempt to answer the question of whether the training has been transferred back to the job. This evaluation is typically performed three to six months after training. The evaluator would ask questions such as "Are the newly acquired knowledge, skills or attitude being used in the environment of the learner"? This evaluation represents the truest assessment of a program's effectiveness but is costly. It is often impossible to predict when changes in behavior will occur. Careful planning decisions are needed for this level of evaluation in terms of when to evaluate, how to evaluate and how often to evaluate.
4.Results: Measures whether the application of training is achieving results. This evaluation measures the success of the training program in term that executives and managers can understand such as increased production, increased sales, decreased costs, improved quality, reduced frequency of accidents, higher profits or return on investment, positive changes in management style or in general behavior, increase in engagement levels of direct ports and favorable feedback from customers, peers and subordinates.
Process of Evaluating Training programs:
Donald Kirkpatrick defined four levels of evaluation widely used in the training and development field. These four levels are considered foundation to training and development evaluation. They are:
1.Reactions: Measures how participants have reacted to the training. Every program should at least be evaluated at this level to answer questions regarding the learners' perceptions and improve training. This level gains knowledge about whether the participants liked the training and if it was relevant to their work. Negative reactions reduce the possibility of learning.
2.Learning: Measures what participants have learned from the training. Learning evaluations are conducted before training (pre-test) and after training (post-test) to assess the amount of learning that has occurred due to training. It assesses the extent learners have advanced in knowledge, skills or attitude. Evaluation methods range from self-assessment to team assessment to informal to formal assessment.
3.Behavior: Measures whether what was learned is being applied on the job. Evaluations at this level attempt to answer the question of whether the training has been transferred back to the job. This evaluation is typically performed three to six months after training. The evaluator would ask questions such as "Are the newly acquired knowledge, skills or attitude being used in the environment of the learner"? This evaluation represents the truest assessment of a program's effectiveness but is costly. It is often impossible to predict when changes in behavior will occur. Careful planning decisions are needed for this level of evaluation in terms of when to evaluate, how to evaluate and how often to evaluate.
4.Results: Measures whether the application of training is achieving results. This evaluation measures the success of the training program in term that executives and managers can understand such as increased production, increased sales, decreased costs, improved quality, reduced frequency of accidents, higher profits or return on investment, positive changes in management style or in general behavior, increase in engagement levels of direct ports and favorable feedback from customers, peers and subordinates.
Process of Evaluating Training programs:
- Designing and Setting training standard
- Developing evaluation criteria
- Pre testing
- On the training testing
- Post testing
- Feedback
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