Almost to the Finish Line 

Through this journey, we have learned a tremendous amount of information that will continue to support us as we continue to design. We have learned about how to effectively analyze, design, develop, and implement, however, we have one last thing to discuss before we cross the finish line. The last step in the ADDIE model is to evaluate. According to Piskurich (2015), an individual evaluates their product for two reasons... 

    1. Someone else has asked you to evaluate what you designed. 

    2. You as the designer, are wanting to evaluate your product. 

No matter what the reason for evaluating is, to determine what kind of evaluation you need to create to provide you or whoever is wanting the evaluation with the best data, you need to consider the three w's. You need to consider the why who and what. 

         Why: The purpose of evaluating. 

         Who: Are you evaluating for yourself or for someone else? 

         What: Depending on the 'who', what are they wanting to know? 

Levels of Evaluation: 

    When it comes to what kind of evaluation one wants to implement there are five levels to choose from according to Piskurich (2015)…

 

Level one: Reaction

What is the purpose?  

 - You plan on performing this training/course again and want to know what went well and what needs improvement. 

 - You want to use the same trainer of the course, however, you want to know how the trainees perceived them.  

 - Someone above you wants you to perform this type of evaluation.

 - You want insight on specific activities that were implemented in your training/course.   

    Examples of Level One Evaluations            

        When designing the evaluation, Piskurich (2015) states that you want to generate questions to ensure that the participants can answer them, that the questions are important, and that you (the designer) can control the questions. Figures 1.1 and 1.2 illustrate appropriate level one
evaluation questions to have.  

Figure 1.1: Level-One Evaluation 

Figure 1.2: Level-One Evaluation

 Level Two: Skills and Knowledge Mastery and Retention

 What is the purpose? 

  - You are wanting to see how many of your trainees have mastered or retained the information taught to them during the training session. 

 Level Three: Transfer to the Job/Improvements in the Job Performance 

 What is the purpose? 

  - You are wanting to observe if individuals are performing at a higher level after participating in your training. 

 - You are wanting to see if those who took part in your training are applying the skills and/or techniques taught in the training. 

 Examples of Level Three Evaluations: 

                    Figures 2.1 and 2.2 illustrate effective level-three evaluations that can be used. 

           

Figure 2.1: Level-Three Evaluation 

Figure 2.2: Level-Three Evaluation 

 Level Four: Results

 What is the purpose?  

 - You are checking to see that the training you have designed, was in line with the goals of the business, for whom the training is for.  Some examples of a business's goal according to Piskurich (2015), include the following...

                                    - Customer satisfaction 

                                    - Turnover 

                                    - Diversity 

                                    - Health and Safety 

 Level Five: Return on Investment 

What is the purpose? 

 - The purpose of a level five is to present a ratio that illustrates to corporates, how much your training will save the company money or how much the company will profit due to your training. Along with providing that information, the ratio will also show how much your training cost. According to Piskurich (2015), the following equation is used to determine the return on investment (ROI). 

                                ROI = Net Program Benefits x 100/Program Cost 

  The Method of Loci: The Mind Palace 

            When I first began to read about the Method of Loci, the first thing that popped into my head was "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Noodles", which for many is how we remembered the order of the planets, however, that is not what the Method of Loci is. While the Method of Loci is a mnemonic strategy, it uses images (rather than words) to support the remembrance of key ideas or terms. The Method of Loci, according to Leverage Edu. (2022), is essentially when someone places specific information in "rooms" and then can go back to those rooms to retrieve the stored information. 

     For myself, using the Method of Loci could support me in remembering simple things such as words, however, for complex ideas, it wouldn't help me. While I believe that the Method of Loci wouldn't support me in remembering everything, what I do believe the method emphasizes is the importance of consistency and order. For the specific training that I have developed, because it supports teachers in teaching a small group in upper elementary, integrating the Method of Loci would be very challenging, however, ensuring that what I teach is consistent and in an appropriate order is vital. What I believe both do and don't work for the method are the connections one makes between the rooms and the key ideas and/or terms. Depending on what the individual is trying to remember, that could affect them being able to make a connection. Moving forward, it will be important for me to integrate images that will allow participants to if they were to see the image again, make the connection between the image and a certain concept or key idea taught to them. 

References: 

Free Castle Clip Art Pictures. (2016, July 22). Clipartix. Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://clipartix.com/castle-clip-art/

George M. Piskurich. (2015). Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right: Vol. Third edition. Wiley.

Leverage Edu. (2022, January 15). How to Use the Method of Loci? Retrieved October 22, 2022, from https://leverageedu.com/blog/method-of-loci/