Donald Kirkpatrick

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".

Four Levels of Learning Evaluation

The four levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model essentially measure:

1. Reaction of student - what they thought and felt about the training
2. Learning - the resulting increase in knowledge and/or capability
3. Behavior - extent of behavior and capability improvement and implementation/application
4. 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.^[1] 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.^[2]

References

1. ^ Phillips, J. (1996). How much is the training worth? Training and Development, 50(4),20-24.
2. ^ Watkins, R., Leigh, D., Foshay, R. and Kaufman, R. (1998). Kirkpatrick Plus: Evaluation and Continuous Improvement with a Community Focus. Educational Technology Research & Development, 46(4): 90-96.

   Kaufman, R. (1996). Strategic Thinking: A Guide to Identifying and Solving Problems. Arlington, VA. & Washington, D.C. Jointly published by the American Society for Training & Development and the International Society for Performance Improvement

   Kaufman, R. (2000). Mega Planning: Practical Tools for Organizational Success. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications. (Also Planificación Mega: Herramientas practicas paral el exito organizacional. (2004). Traducción de Sonia Agut. Universitat Jaume I, Castelló de la Plana, Espana.)

External links

• Donald Kirkpatrick's website: "http://www.kirkpatrickpartners.com/"
• Biographical article from Chief Learning Officer Magazine, Nov 2009: "[1]"
• Example of a training evaluation tool based on the Kirkpatrick Model: "http://www.trainingcheck.com"

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