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The Evaluation and Transfer of Learning

THE TRANSFER OF LEARNING / TRAINING
'Transfer' is a confusing term because it suggests that once something is learned it is simply applied unchanged in a different location. With simple skills this may be true. But for more complex skills, the shift from learning to application requires further learning (and even creative thinking). These more advanced levels of the transfer of learning might be better conveyed by the terms 'translate' or 'transform'. I develop this theme in my article How Transfer Happens. You may also wish to view the evaluation pages at reviewing.co.uk for advice and methods. (Roger Greenaway)

THE BEST OF THE ACTIVE REVIEWING GUIDE by Roger Greenaway

• Sticky Knowledge:
  Barriers to Knowing in the Firm
  Gabriel Szulanski

Synopsis: Why don't best practices spread within firms? What exactly is sticky knowledge? Having recognized that knowledge assets are rapidly becoming their most precious source of competitive advantage, a large number of organizations are now attempting to transfer best practices. Yet best practices still remain stubbornly immobile. Sticky Knowledge reveals that the transfer of practices is a complex phenomenon, and demonstrates the range of barriers to transferring best practices within the firm. Written in a brief and accessible format, Gabriel Szulanski defines the popular concept of stickiness and its operationalization, providing a roadmap for understanding and further researching this topical issue. Taking a fresh look at accepted wisdom, and presenting new research findings, Sticky Knowledge will be essential reading for academics and students addressing issues related to knowledge and the firm. Practising managers and MBA students will also find this book of immense value. (Amazon.co.uk)

• Sticky Wisdom
  Dave Allan

Review: Sticky Wisdom should be required reading for anyone who's ever wondered how to have more fun at work and profit by it. The basic message is that creativity is like gold dust but it needs to be practised and worked at in organisations. It needs to become part of the organisational furniture. Dave Allan and his co-authors run ?What If!, a creative consultancy (and the title of the first edition) aimed at helping businesses move outside the proverbial tramlines and here, minus the fee, they show how, with activities, games, insights and general lunacy. The basic premise is that there are six main ways of being more creative--from thinking about things afresh through greenhousing (letting good ideas grow) to bravery (making them happen). Each chapter presents a range of case studies that help ground the activities in a sense of reality--for example one client managed a breakthrough in their advertising for toothpaste when they started seeing their product as liquid teeth. Where many management books are drier than a diver's underpants this has a freshness and zing about it. It keeps you reading and it keeps you smiling too. Sticky Wisdom sends a rocket into the comfortable world of conventional thinking. (Steve Morris, Amazon.co.uk) You can download chapter one for free at http://www.whatif.co.uk (which is worth a visit anyway)

• Measuring the Impact of Training:
  A Practical Guide to Calculating Measurable Results
  J Burrow

Book Description This guide will help you track the results of post-training performance.

• Transfer of Training
  Mary L. Broad, John W. Newstrom
  

  The whole book is based around a 3x3 matrix that shows what the manager, trainer and trainee can do before, during and after a training course to assist the transfer of learning. The answer is a list of 80 strategies. Most strategies are common sense, but most readers will find a few new ideas here - with many brought to life in case studies. You will never have the time to apply all of these strategies, but your training events will benefit from the systematic partnership approach that is encouraged by the authors and supported by their research. 'Transfer of Training' is really about generating a culture of transfer. This is emphasised by the fact that over half of the strategies described (41) are for managers, whereas only one sixth of the strategies (14) are for learners. (Trainers have 24 strategies to choose from). In the spirit of partnership, most of these strategies involve working with others. By focusing on how managers can support transfer, this will help to remove some of the major organisational blocks to transfer. But learners also need to take significant responsibility for transfer, and for a more through understanding of this aspect of transfer you may want to take a look at other sources such as Haskell's book below. (reviewed by Roger Greenaway)

• Beyond Transfer of Training:
  Engaging Systems to Improve Performance
  Mary L. Broad
  

  Synopsis: Picking up where her first book left off, Mary Broad offers a "next generation" update on her 1992 classic text Transfer of Training. In this new book she translates new research into guidelines, checklists, and case studies that help practitioners plan and implement proven transfer strategies, identify high-priority performance requirements, find key stakeholders as partners for specific projects, coordinate stakeholder support actions, and evaluate and disseminate outcomes. (amazon.co.uk) From the inside flap: Beyond Transfer of Training ... includes a step-by-step process tool for consultants and managers to collaborate, analyze performance problems, recruit other stakeholders, develop and implement a performance improvement intervention and evaluate outcomes. In addition, this handy resource Offers analyses of complex organizational systems Includes research-based strategies by key stakeholders for enhancing performance Contains evaluation methods for both encouraging and measuring performance Shows how different complex systems turned low performance into successful workplace performance Explains how advances in e-learning can improve performance

• Transfer of Learning:
  Cognition, Instruction and Reasoning
  Robert E. Haskell
  

  Synopsis: This text addresses the problem of how our past or current learning influences, are generalized and are applied or adapted to similar or new situations. It illustrates how transfer of learning can be promoted in the classroom and everyday life. (amazon.co.uk) Reviewed by Roger Greenaway: This book appears to be a thorough review of research about the transfer of learning over the last 100 years from which 11 practical principles are drawn. It looks like the solid rock on which any transfer strategy should be based. It isn't. Which is just how Haskell writes: "It isn't", "It doesn't", "It won't". This relenting chorus shoots away theories and assumptions about transfer until nothing much is left. The grim news that very little transfer of learning happens in education or training could make practitioners feel relatively satisfied with a success rate of only 20%. Haskell points at the failure of research to demonstrate the effective transfer of learning, but he himself fails to explain adequately why transfer has such a lamentably poor record. Haskell's 11 principles do not seem to be so different and dynamic that their conscientious application would make a significant difference to the gloomy statistics that he reports. Two principles stand out for me. The first is the need for learners to "understand what transfer of learning is and how it works" - which would probably need to include something about the differences between near and far transfer and the concept of 'reverse transfer' (a close relation of reviewing/debriefing). If learners are to be responsible for transferring their learning it clearly makes sense for them to know how to transfer as well as knowing how to do what they are transferring. The eleventh principle/guideline is to read the works of people who are good at transfer such as inventors, systems thinkers and poets. I don't recall seeing any evidence that reading poetry actually does improve transfer, but I like the idea so much that I am now busy devising more dynamic ways of weaving creative and poetic thinking with the knowledge and skills that participants on my own courses expect to transfer. I don't need to see the evidence because I am confident about trusting the advice of someone who has studied the subject so thoroughly. Haskell would hate the idea of providing a 'cookbook' about transfer. But the book does clearly indicate the kinds of activities that are likely to promote the transfer of learning. The context is principally an educational one, but readers from any sector will find this a useful theoretical overview that signposts the kinds of practice that will be most effective. (reviewed by Roger Greenaway) For a list of the 11 principles see this review by CLARK training and consulting

• Training for Impact:
  How to Link Training to Business Needs and Measure the Results
  Dana Gaines Robinson, James C. Robinson
  

  Synopsis: This book presents a straightforward 12-step approach to results-oriented training that links training courses directly to important business needs, problems and opportunities. The authors explain how human resource development professionals can develop collaborative "client-consultant" relationships with line managers - and then make the relationships yield better management support for training efforts. Review: "This is a timely book that provides training and development professionals with practical hands-on tools to document the contributions of their training efforts. I predict that this book will serve as THE handbook for future tracking and cost justification of training and development efforts." Gary Martini, president of Martini and Associates, Human Resource Consultants. More reviews

• Training and Transfer of Learning
  Farhad Analoui
  Synopsis: When training fails to deliver the desired performance the failure is usually attributed to the so-called problem of transfer. Although transfer is a major preoccupation for many specialists, little or no attention is given to the socio-technical dynamics of learning and its impact on the transfer of learning to the actual workplace. Here, transfer is treated as a complex process which commences with effective learning and is realised on the job. Analysis of the methods used reflects the significance of the social learning processes in the primary and organizational setting and how these will affect the degree of the effective transfer. The socio-technical approach to analysis of transfer, as suggested here, will extend our awareness of a host of social and technical factors within the workplace and their facilitative and inhibitive effects on the transfer experienced after the completion of the training programme. It is concluded that the process of transfer resembles a complex socio-psychological chain of events which extends beyond the learning situation into the workplace. Throughout, the human aspect and its influence on degree of effective training and its transfer is emphasised. (amazon.co.uk)
  no longer available through amazon.co.uk

• Transfer of Learning in Professional and Vocational Education
  Vivienne Cree (Editor), Cathlin Macaulay (Editor)
  Synopsis: Combining an accessible presentation of the underlying theory of transfer of learning which explains how to put theory into practice, this is a text which is relevant to "teaching for transfer" in professional or vocational contexts. The first part of the book looks at: what transfer of learning means; how it operates; the implications for teaching; and issues such as assessment, competence, and outcomes. In the second part contributors present case studies from social work which show how specific teaching methods can be successfully used to make the maximum use of the student's previous experience. These include: personal construct psychology; enquiry and action learning; intentional observation; critical incident analysis; reflective diaries; process recording; and information technology. (amazon.co.uk)

• Transfer of Learning: a Study
  Viviene E. Cree, Cathlin Macaulay, Helen Loney
  
  
• A process approach to the transfer of training
  Marguerite Foxon
  Australian Journal of Educational Technology
  You can find both parts of this excellent article and bibliography online
  Review: Particularly useful is the way in which the sequence of transfer after the event is broken down into stages (which I interpret as: intention to transfer -> attempt to transfer -> partial transfer -> successful transfer). Seeing transfer as a process makes it easier to plan for the different kinds of support that may be needed at each stage. It also helps to identify the key reason why transfer is not as successful as it could be! The second part of this article is an excellent resource for action planning. Marguerite Foxon draws on many sources including the 'Transfer of Training' (see above) but her focus is more on 'near transfer' (applying learning in relatively predictable settings) than on 'far transfer' (where successful transfer also requires significant new learning to be integrated with what is being transferred). (Reviewed by Roger Greenaway)

• Transferring Learning to the Workplace
  Mary L. Broad (Editor)
  Synopsis: A collection of field experiences which covers large-scale knowledge and skills transfer applications that affect overall organizational performance, as well as smaller programmes that affect individual employee effectiveness. (amazon.co.uk)

• Transfer on Trial:
  Intelligence, Cognition, and Instruction
  Douglas K. Detterman
  Detterman and Sternberg's research suggests that only about 10% of learning on a training course is ever transferred to the workplace. They are doubtful about the value of training that teaches general principles and expects participants to apply them in specific situations. They recommend teaching specific skills that are needed for specific tasks, and question whether 'far transfer' ever happens.

  TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN ORGANISATIONS

• Common Knowledge:
  How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know
  Nancy M. Dixon

Book Information: Presents a breakthrough research on knowledge transfer, revealing five proven methods for making knowledge sharing a reality. Provides a competitive edge for all companies involved. DLC: Organizational learning. From the Back Cover: "The hope of 'knowledge management' will remain unfulfilled unless organizations learn how to tap into not just their employees' facts and observations, but their hopes, fears, dreams, and feelings. Nancy Dixon has studied the ways in which knowledge truly spreads, and she describes the practice in real-life detail, blending a keen feel for organizational design, in-depth research, practicality, and high spirits." -Art Kleiner, Coauthor of The Dance of Change and Author of The Age of Heretics Nancy Dixon's book comes to the rescue of anyone faced with dilemma of needing to do something and not knowing what. It raises above all the hype and panic to give clear, practical advice. Professor Dixon defines five distinct types of knowledge and illustrates them with real life examples. She goes on to show that these types of knowledge need different methods of propagation. In other words the medium and the message must work together to deliver the goods. Some types of knowledge are indeed amenable to a database approach. But surprise, surprise - some are not. It all depends on why you want to transfer the knowledge and what kind of knowledge it is. (from an anonymous review at amazon.co.uk)

• Learning To Fly:
  Practical Lessons from One of the World's Leading Knowledge Companies
  Chris Collison, Geoff Parcell

Book Description Learning to Fly shows exactly how to put theory into practice, sharing the tools used and the experience and insights gained by two leading knowledge management practitioners. In Learning to Fly, Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell share their experiences from BP, one of the world's leading knowledge organisations. It is a practical, pragmatic workbook packed with hints and tips to help managers put knowledge management into action immediately. See Roger's review of Learning to Fly (which includes a comparative review with Nancy Dixon's Common Knowledge) See more reviews at Amazon.co.uk See reviews and 'inside the book' at amazon.com

Also see LEARNING ORGANISATIONS for more books about the transfer of knowledge within organisations.

THE EVALUATION OF LEARNING / TRAINING


• Using Evaluation:
  In Training and Development
  Leslie Rae
  

  Synopsis: This handbook aims to provide everything a trainer needs to know about the effective evaluation of training. It provides information on the design of the evaluation process and advice on when and where to use particular types of tests. The book covers the complete range of approaches to evaluation that are available. With advice on the use of Likert and Thurstone scales, process tests, observation of skills and behaviour, activity analysis, reflective self-reporting, interim evaluation, spot checks, validation and the use of questionnaires, the book aims to provide the definitive compendium of training evaluation tests. (Amazon.co.uk)

• Assessing the Value of Your Training:
  The Evaluation Process from Training Needs to the Report to the Board
  Leslie Rae
  Synopsis: In this revised edition of "How to Measure Training Effectiveness", Leslie Rae describes a variety of ways in which training can be assessed for effectiveness and value, building on the third edition. He covers the entire training process from the identification of learning needs, through the planning and design of a relevant training programme to validating and testing its outcome, and the workplace effective implementation of the learning ... Most of the techniques presented can be applied equally to single events and to a complete programme. (Amazon.co.uk)

• Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs:
  A Step-by-step Manual for Calculating the Financial Return
  Jack J. Phillips
  

  Synopsis: Presents the strategy and tools needed to turn a training/HRD department into a visible, indispensable profit center. Provides user- friendly ROI calculations as well as ten post-program data collection methods; ten strategies for determining the amount of improvement that is directly linked to training. (Amazon.co.uk)

• Make Success Measurable:
  A Mindbook-workbook for Managing Performance
  Douglas Smith
  

  Synopsis: Stirring the creative juices in organizations today requires a new mindset regarding goal-setting and performance-evaluation. This work offers the critical requirements for setting and achieving performance outcomes and goals. The author divides each chapter into a "Mindbook" section, explaining concepts and ideas, and a "Workbook" section with detailed examples and exercises. Emphasizing the outcomes as opposed to the actions in setting goals, the author provides the what's and why's behind today's performance challenges and shows how to convert them into measurable, concrete achievements. Each chapter offers strategies and exercises for setting goals and gauging performance. The examples are of an interactive nature for readers to try on their own. The book is written for people at all levels of the organization and is applicable to any industry. (Amazon.co.uk)

• Another look at evaluating training programs
  compiled by Donald L. Kirkpatrick
  Fifty articles from training and development and technical training magazines (1987-1998) cover the essentials of evaluation and return-on-investment. Section titles:
  • Part 1. Kirkpatrick Articles
  • Part 2. Philosophy and Concepts
  • Part 3. Reaction
  • Part 4. Learning
  • Part 5. Behavior
  • Part 6. Results
  • Part 7. Return-on-investment
  Full Table of Contents
  Availability: no longer available through amazon.co.uk but still available at amazon.com

• Evaluating Training Programs:
  The Four Levels
  Donald L. Kirkpatrick
  Since 1959 training professionals have been using Kirkpatrick's Four Levels model for evaluating the impact of their work. This revised and updated book includes: * A concise but solid explanation of the four levels and the purpose of each level. * Guidelines for measuring at each level. * More than a dozen case studies that demonstrate how a variety of training organizations have implemented one or more of Kirkpatrick's levels, including sample forms and data analysis.

  ---

  There has been much interest in return-on-investment (ROI) in the training industry. Kirkpatrick cautions against confusing ROI with results; they are not the same. Financial return is just one of many possible critical success factors. The focus on ROI can even mask true business results that encompass more strategic factors and involve a larger time frame than is typically analyzed in ROI analysis. Nevertheless, the reader may want to look at Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs by Jack Phillips. (extract from Hoyet Hemphill's review at amazon.com, 2000)

  ---

  Keep in mind that Kirkpatrick's model is not the only one out there. For instance, there is: Kaufman's Five Levels of Evaluation, The CIRO (context, input, reaction, and outcome) Approach, Stufflebeams's CIPP (context, input, process, and product) Model, Alkins' UCLA Model, and The Phillips Five-Level ROI Framework. Choose a best-fit model that is based on your known organizational barriers and the decisions important to your stakeholders. (extract from Stacey Boyle's review at amazon.com, 2000)

• Training Evaluation Made Easy
  Jane Holcomb PhD
  Synopsis: ...The text provides methods to help trainers and managers ensure they are getting what they expect from their training and development programmes. It includes practical advice on picking the right evaluation tool for the task, detailed a case studies from a broad range of organizations, and a step-by-step guide to pulling the entire evaluation process together.

• Training Needs Analysis and Evaluation
  Frances Bee, Roland Bee
  Synopsis: ...Using many examples, this clear, practical guide describes a systematic four-stage evaluation process which allows managers to assess whether training has been successfully transferred to the workplace, whether it serves organizational objectives and provides value for money.

• Evaluating Training Effectiveness
  Peter Bramley
  Synopsis: This work provides strategies for evaluating training effectiveness. The author shows how to plan evaluation, how to establish whether the objectives set for learning activities have been achieved, and whether the needs of the "interested parties" in the evaluation have been addressed.

• Program Evaluation:
  Forms and Approaches
  John M. Owen, Patricia Rogers

Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd; ISBN: 076196178X Synopsis: A practical introduction to evaluation for students, academics and researchers in the social sciences. The book shows how to identify appropriate forms and approaches using an original framework, examines the role of evaluation and shows how to involve stakeholders and disseminate findings. (amazon.co.uk) This book is the prescribed text for the Program Evaluation course at the Centre for Program Evaluation, University of Melbourne. Course description: A conceptual overview of theories, issues and recent practice in evaluation. An inductive/case study approach is used in which recent evaluation practice is analysed using frameworks developed by the lecturers. Topics covered include: conflicting views on its nature and purposes; alternative purposes (summative, formative, illuminative); forms and approaches adopted by external and internal evaluators; evaluation and performance auditing; responsive evaluation; links between evaluation, decision-making and action; planning evaluations; an introduction to various qualitative and quantitative evaluation techniques in data management; reporting evaluation findings; evaluation ethics and standards; and a critical appraisal of selected Australian evaluation studies.

• The Art of Evaluation:
  A Handbook for Educators & Trainers
  Mary Jean Parson, Tara J. Fenwick

Book Description: This book offers practical ways to plan evaluation and develop tools to record and report learner growth. The underlying theme is that good evaluation involves the learner throughout the whole learning experience and is not simply a judgment by an instructor at the end of a course. The book systematically reviews many aspects of learner evaluation from different perspectives and provides practical suggestions about how to conduct evaluation in different contexts to benefit all concerned. The Art of Evaluation is essential reading for educators and prospective educators who are concerned about the critical role of evaluation in the learning process, and want to know how to improve their own assessment approaches and enable learners to assume active, meaningful roles in evaluating their own learning. Sample pages (html and pdf)

• Interactive Learning Systems Evaluation
  Thomas C. Reeves, John G. Hedberg

Book Description: The book encompasses six functions or levels of evaluation that are keyed to the major stages involved in the design, development, and implementation of interactive learning systems or products such as multimedia DVD’s, Web-based training, electronic performance support systems, and e-learning solutions. Various chapters in the book link evaluation procedures and tools to specific design and implementation activities to help novice, as well as experienced, evaluators plan, conduct, and report better evaluations. Many of the methods and tools in this book can be used for multiple functions. This associated Web site includes downloadable tools and guidance about how to use them in various types of evaluation. Book Review: Finally, a comprehensive, easy to understand book on the evaluation of interactive learning at a time when most needed and by authors with decades of practical and interesting evaluation experience. This book provides an overview of evaluation components and ethical considerations for the most novice as well as a highly useful set of checklists and forms for those already in the evaluation trenches. (Reviewed by Curtis J. Bonk). See more reviews at the book's website.

• Evaluation:
  10 Significant Ways for Measuring and Improving Training Impact
  Sandra Merwin

• Training Evaluation and Measurement Methods:
  Instructor's Guide
  Jack J. Phillips

• Program Evaluation for Exercise Leaders
  Anita Myers

• Evaluating Professional Development
  Thomas R. Guskey
  

  RECORDING
  YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

• Quest Personal Logbook
  The Institute for Outdoor Learning.
  Bertie Everard's favourable review reveals the underpinning theories and makes comparisons with the Trident Trust’s ‘Personal Challenge Student Record Book’ and the Campaign for Learning’s ‘Make it Happen! Your Personal Learning Action Plan’.

• Also see the 'REVIEWING' section and the RESEARCH METHODOLOGY section.

• Still looking for a book about the transfer of learning?
  See the latest results for transfer of learning at amazon.co.uk (in books and zShops)
  See the latest results for transfer of learning at amazon.com (in books and zShops)

• Still looking for a book about the evaluation of learning?
  See the latest results for evaluation of learning at amazon.co.uk (in books and zShops)
  See the latest results for evaluation of learning at amazon.com (in books and zShops)

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