In Chapter 7, Did It Do Any Good? Evaluation, George Piskurich details how to determine what evaluation your instructional design requires and how to apply evaluation results to a revision plan. He points out that if you don’t complete meaningful evaluations, you may as well have not completed all the other vital steps of the ADDIE model. Good evaluation is required to ensure objectives are met and learning is impactful and up to date.
The key to completing helpful evaluations is knowing why you are evaluating, for who, and what that person or persons want to know about your instructional design. There is a multitude of post-learning evaluations instructional designers can employ, but they won’t all satisfy every interested party. For instance, if you know leadership wants to save money with your design, evaluate for cost-effectiveness. If your training is meant to improve employee retention, assess for that.
Choosing the proper evaluation methods for your instructional design is pivotal, and Piskurich provides 5 questions designers can ask themselves before settling on a method: 1. Why do I want to evaluate? 2. What am I going to evaluate? 3. Who should I involve as part of the evaluation? 4. How am I going to do the evaluation? 5. When should I do the evaluation? And I have added a 6th: Who will receive the data I generate? These 6 questions can save instructional designers time and stress by ensuring evaluation is valuable and relevant.
Evaluation is only useful if applied to revisions. Piskurich reminds us of the rapid changes in most organizations and how this will require frequent revisions to ensure training keeps up with changes. The two main types of revisions are as-needed revisions and planned revisions. As-needed revisions occur when you learn that your training is out of date or when you learn of organizational developments that must be included. Knowing the subject matter experts for your training and maintaining a working relationship with them can ensure you learn about necessary as-needed revisions.
Planned revisions happen on a schedule for all learning experiences that will happen more than once. Some organizations have requirements for how frequently training should be revised. However, every training is different. Some processes will stay the same for a long time and require less frequent updates. Other training topics may evolve rapidly and need near-constant revisions. There is always room for improvement. Instructional designers should be open to making necessary changes to improve their work.
I found the Method of Loci interesting and helpful. I visualized my own kitchen and located different kitchen items I use daily or where food is in the refrigerator. I read online that this method can be used to remember a grocery list by closing your eyes and letting your brain take a walk down a familiar path, all the while placing your desired groceries items in memorable places. Recalling this walk can help you remember your grocery needs.
The method of Loci is only possible because our incredible brains record so much detail without us realizing it. As instructional designers, we can use this strength to our advantage by creating designs that are consistent in many ways. For instance, if several graphics are necessary for your design, complete them all in the same format or template. This will help learners go to the familiar places of your design where they remember that they can find information. Using vibrant or distinctive colors can also support this by being memorable enough that learners make connections with the design.
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