Improving Learning Effectiveness in Training

As someone who is constantly in the process of designing learning solutions to various client needs, one question that I have been asked most frequently is how do we ensure learning effectiveness in a classroom training program? The reason this question is gaining relevance is the fact that learning methods in the past few years have undergone a huge change and so has the learning aids. This has meant that both the instructor and the learner have had to adapt to these changes constantly.

This leads us to the question of How can we achieve this?  As this has as a direct bearing on the participants ability to implement their leanings in an active workplace. Which in turn will help training teams measure ROI’s for specific program or solutions. Whilst, the traditional measures like gain ratios and post program measure do tell u about the knowledge gain and how they have fared in the process of learning. But, these don’t spell too much into how the learning experience has been.

If you can Measure, you can Improve

Measure Learning Variance

One of the best ways to know if your team’s learning experience has been great is to measure what their learning variance has been during the classroom training. Lesser the variance means better their learning process. You can measure this with mid-course evaluations/test that will check participant’s learning in real time. This is best achieved in technology aided training programs like Simulations.

For instance, we at WisdomToolz have been measuring this variance via our simulator based on the decisions that participants make on the simulator whilst implementing their learning. This, coupled with the “Leader Board” that is published during the course (at the end of each module/concept) has helped us actively share with our client “Learning Variances” for the batch. Our facilitators now use this mid-course measurement to make necessary course corrections (if required) to ensure lesser variances. Thereby ensuring a happy and effective training implementation.