Assessing training in a manufacturing environment

Offering training to staff is an important factor in maintaining staff satisfaction and retaining intellectual capital. But how do you assess whether that training has taken root and will make changes in behaviour on the factory floor?

That's where assessment comes in.

Assessment can be carried out in the traditional way, one assessor watches one trainee perform certain allotted tasks, then the assessor asks the trainee for explanations of the theory behind that operation, plus other questions about processes not being observed.

That kind of assessment takes a lot of time out of the workday for both trainee and assessor.

The alternative - Online assessment

Contrary to popular belief, most knowledge can be assessed via an online system. Much of it can be assessed and marked automatically: it all depends on the quality of the question design.

Our systems help deliver training via the intranet or CD-ROM, using database systems to track your trainees' results and to help the organisation maintain its staff skill. We do not replace one-on-one training, but improve the effectiveness of your existing systems.

Assessing skills

Of course, there is much debate over how you moderate assessment to ensure it assesses development of skills, not just knowledge. This debate is loudest when online assessment is considered. As online assessment has been developed over the years, designers have found ways to design tests of critical thinking and creativity, while still having most of the assessment checked automatically.

Types of assessment

The easiest assessment is one that is totally automarked. This limits assessment to recalling, understanding and applying knowledge. The questions and answers are limited to forms of multi-choice (which includes systems where answers are matched to spellings or phrases). However, by using more sophisticated marking (allocating scores against answers) we can automatically mark questions that ask learners to rank answers or solve problems. These can be set against a scenario where learners are asked to select from a range of possible options.

Online assessment can include the skills of critical thinking, design and creativity, team-work and collaboration, but these assessments will require more tutor input or greater cost in development.

Keeping track of training can be problematic. Click here to find out how you can improve your data capture and minimise the time taken to report on training.

Edutech KM Ltd

PO Box 25-241, Victoria Street, Christchurch;
phone: 64-3-337-0234
fax: 64-3-337-0235
info@edutechkm.com
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