In a world of growing information overload, it is easy for staff to feel overwhelmed and confused about what is expected of them. How do we best balance staff understanding the key requirements of their role and attain a record of learning?

Somehow in amongst all of the learning ‘noise’, the key processes of any role need to be clearly conveyed and acknowledged as understood by staff. Obviously this is a mandatory requirement for those industries where regulatory audit demands proof of competence. It is therefore not uncommon for businesses to require a ‘record of learning’ for staff which have undergone some kind of ‘training’.

There is a balance required in order to achieve just the right amount of competence assessment without incurring significant examination development and associated costs. This article looks at the common training types and attempts to rate them out of 5 stars for how well they engage learners, providing assurance of competence whilst maximising value for money.

Buddy Training ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Learners which are buddy-trained ‘on-the-job’ often only require an ‘ok’ from their experienced learning buddy to suffice for commencing solo. Sometimes this can be accompanied by an assessment either by the buddy or by an independent third party. Buddy training can be problematic in that it tends to be somewhat unstructured, passes on ‘bad’ habits and because it is often performed directly in the work environment, can be unfocussed or distracted. They do however provide an environment where the learner can ask questions openly and in context along the way to improve understanding. Buddy-training that results in an assessment can produce an immediate result which often demonstrates attendance rather than confirmation of learning.

Examination ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The word ‘exam’ conjures up fear for most of us as we recall hours of swatting followed by hours of sweating in a prison-like exam room. Although exams attempt to demonstrate the in-depth competency of learners, in actual fact what they are really doing is assessing memory and application of good exam techniques. In a workplace setting, the strict application of job ‘exams’ would more than likely be overkill for the majority of businesses. They can be time consuming to develop and expensive to manage and deploy. Results are also generally not instant.

Workshop Test ⭐️⭐️

Typically this is delivered in a subject workshop and in a group situation. Learners have to submit their answers to questions about the topics learned. Such tests are often at the end of a period of bulk learning and are constrained by time. This presents an artificial environment where many learners find it difficult to recall under pressure ‘on the spot’. Some tests in this scenario include ‘open book’ questions which are more reflective of how topic knowledge would be sought in the workplace on a daily basis. There is also little preparation time to review and further retain learnings prior to the assessment. Often assessment questions can be ‘light’ and designed to prove session attendance rather than actual learning. Results are generally instant and made ‘public’ to other workshop attendees.

CBT - Custom Computer-based Training ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These are tailored builds of curated content using purpose built programs such as Articulate or Storyline or other such specialist tools. The outputs can provide a good range of question types and presentation methods, including animations, graphics and gamification* to aid recall. Invariably these can be lengthy to setup and require specialist resource to develop and administer. An often heard piece of feedback from learners is that not all CBT’s allow them to go back and reference materials once the course is completed. Results are generally instant.

*Gamification is about applying game mechanics to learning content in order to create meaningful educational experiences.

Practical Assessment ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is where the learner is personally coached on a subject and then (often at a later date) has to return and repeat what they have learned in a simulation. This is then assessed by the coach and graded by them in real time. This method can be relatively lengthy if the assessment occurs at a later time, is resource-hungry being that it is 1:1 with a coach and does put the learner in an immediate pressure-situation. However it does allow for contextual explanation of why the learner is taking a certain approach and it allows the coach to visually assess competency. Generally these require an assessment sheet to be completed by the coach with rationale for the final grade. Results are generally not instant.

Quiz ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gone are the days where the word ‘quiz’ is limited to quirky little questions asked of children in a traditional classroom. Often now used in a business setting, their power is in a sense of ‘fun’ and ease of use, all of which work together to provide positive recall. Quizzes are best incorporated as self-assessment mixed into training content so that learners can check they are on track. This can then be followed up with a graded quiz at the end of the full learning content to confirm competency.

There are many ways to serve up quiz content. Generally they use a survey or form-like format with a constrained number of question types such as multi-choice, short answer, checkboxes, grids etc… Quizzes are quick to set up, easy to maintain (question sequence, answer types) and if creatively constructed, can really test the learner’s understanding. Quizzes can be served up online and can include an immediate automated capture of results into a central repository with notification of answers and result emailed to interested parties.

Summing up

Of the learning methods touched on this article, quizzes have been rated as the strongest, balancing out ease of administration vs quality of outputs for cost. Incorporated into training, they offer the benefit of creating a sense of play whilst aiding recall. They can be used creatively to reinforce important points of learning. They are easy to deploy in an online context, where results can be instantly notified.

Quizzes do not have to be boring, intelligence-insulting exercises serving no purpose other than to check the box that says we tested people. They can be used to motivate learners, help them remember and assess what they learned.

The results obtained during five years of experimentation using online quizzes from an analysis of online quizzes as a teaching and assessment tool, show that “quizzes have a proven positive influence on students' academic performance. Furthermore, surveys conducted at the end of each course revealed the high value students accord to use of online quizzes in course instruction”.