Donald Kirkpatrick
Encyclopedia
Donald Kirkpatrick is Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin in North America and a past president of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD). He is best known for creating a highly influential model for training evaluation, consisting of four levels of learning evaluation
(see also Course evaluation
). Kirkpatrick's ideas were first published in 1959, in a series of articles in the US Training and Development Journal but are better known from a book he published in 1975 entitled, "Evaluating Training Programs".
Several authors have suggested an addition of a fifth level of evaluation. JJ Phillips has argued for the addition of a "Return on Investment (ROI) level which is essentially about comparing the fourth level of the standard model to the overall costs of training. Roger Kaufman
has argued that ROI is essentially a level-four type of evaluation since it is still internal to the organization and that a fifth level of evaluation should focus on the impact of the organization on external clients and society.
Evaluation
Evaluation is systematic determination of merit, worth, and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards.Evaluation often is used to characterize and appraise subjects of interest in a wide range of human enterprises, including the arts, criminal justice,...
(see also Course evaluation
Course evaluation
A course evaluation is a paper or electronic questionnaire, which requires a written or selected response answer to a series of questions in order to evaluate the instruction of a given course...
). Kirkpatrick's ideas were first published in 1959, in a series of articles in the US Training and Development Journal but are better known from a book he published in 1975 entitled, "Evaluating Training Programs".
Four Levels of Learning Evaluation
The four levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model essentially measure:- Reaction of student - what they thought and felt about the training
- Learning - the resulting increase in knowledge and/or capability
- Behavior - extent of behavior and capability improvement and implementation/application
- Results - the effects on the business or environment resulting from the trainee's performance
Several authors have suggested an addition of a fifth level of evaluation. JJ Phillips has argued for the addition of a "Return on Investment (ROI) level which is essentially about comparing the fourth level of the standard model to the overall costs of training. Roger Kaufman
Roger Kaufman
Roger Kaufman, Ph.D. is an influential figure in the history of the educational technology and performance improvement fields as well as strategic thinking and planning for public- and private-sector organizations. Regarded as one of the founding figures of the field, he is referred to as the...
has argued that ROI is essentially a level-four type of evaluation since it is still internal to the organization and that a fifth level of evaluation should focus on the impact of the organization on external clients and society.
External links
- Donald Kirkpatrick's website: "http://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/"
- Biographical article from Chief Learning Officer Magazine, Nov 2009: "http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1109/index.php?startid=20#/26"
- Example of a training evaluation tool based on the Kirkpatrick Model: "http://www.trainingcheck.com"