An evaluation system was designed and implemented by a faculty support department to measure the value, identify gaps, and improve the quality of their training at a midsize community college. The Targeted Evaluation Process (Combs & Falletta, 2000) was selected as the evaluation framework because of its applicability to training and nontraining…

This article provides a comprehensive approach to careful review and evaluation of the implementation of performance training intervention. It discusses the E[superscript 3] process for success, a basic framework for evaluating the implementation phase of a training program implemented as a broad-based performance improvement strategy. The intent…

Evaluation is often avoided in human performance technology (HPT), but it is an essential and frequently catalytic activity that adds significant value to projects. Knowing how to approach an evaluation and whether to use qualitative, quantitative, or both methods makes evaluation much easier. In this article, we provide tools to help determine…

Grounded in the work of W. Edwards Deming, this article describes the basics of systems thinking, viewing a business as a system, and contrasts improving a system with solving a problem. The article uses the human body as a metaphor to describe the various aspects of viewing a business as a system at the concept level and maps the Deming cycle,…

How paradoxical that evaluation, the main purpose of which is to establish value, often seems to return to the lowest value of anything that people do! Too commonly, in the authors' experience, evaluation is avoided or paid as little attention as possible. Due to its typically unloved nature, evaluation can be trapped in a low-level, minimalist…

Discusess the interest in calculating the return on investment (ROI) of training and other human performance technology interventions that helps determine the effectiveness of training. Suggests that when Level 2 assessment is done correctly, it matches the job and shows that skills and knowledge transfer were successful. (LRW)

This article describes an ongoing project to build a comprehensive evaluation framework for the competency-based Master of Science in Workforce Training and Development (MSWTD) program at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). First, it discusses some trends and issues in evaluating the performance of higher education programs in the United…

Updates previous work on the Organizational Elements Model that relates needs assessment and needs analysis. Highlights include purpose-based objectives and results-based objectives for organizations; differentiating between ends and means; costs-consequences analysis; and training needs assessment. (LRW)

Discusses the use of action planning to measure the return on investment (ROI) for use with performance improvement interventions. Describes how this process is used and presents a case study showing how one organization built evaluation into the performance improvement process and positioned action planning as an application tool. (Author/LRW)

Discusses work-related documents in organizations that can be useful to performance analysts and evaluators and provides an overview of three types of document analysis useful to performance technologists: tracking, content analysis, and case study aggregation analysis. Describes the advantages and limitations of document analysis and how it is…

Discusses the origin of the ADDIE model of instructional design and concludes that the term came into use by word of mouth as a label for the whole family of systematic instructional development models. Examines the underlying ideas behind the acronym analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. (Author/LRW)

According to an April 2006 issue of "HealthDay News," an online medical advisory newsletter, "an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by an unusually high level of concern or anxiety about a particular subject. It is believed to be caused by a brain abnormality that affects the way information is processed." Using this disorder as an…

To perform rapid analysis one must ask the right questions at the right time and engage in active listening. This article examines the fundamentals of rapid analysis: business need, performance requirement, work processes, interventions, and evaluation. Includes an analysis completeness checklist (organizational need/opportunity, economic…

Discussion of human performance technology and a shift from emphasizing training to emphasizing performance focuses on a review of articles from "Performance Improvement". Results show most articles were focused on processes and particular interventions in business and industry and did not include evaluation that addressed added societal…

Discusses needs assessment and evaluation as strategic processes within the human performance technology framework and explains how practitioners can coordinate these two steps to save time and money in performance improvement interventions. Describes a performance improvement framework and how needs assessment and evaluation relate to the…