What are impact measures?

When selecting or developing measures for evaluation three questions always have to be answered:

• What is to be measured?
• Why it is being measured?
• How will it be measured?
• Who will measure it
• How the findings will be used?

Learning will impact on the learner, the wider organisation and the patient. Effective learning evaluation will look at all of these aspects.  The Kirkpatrick model of learning evaluation offers a four stage approach to evaluating learning.  It starts with the learner's response to the learning experience and ends with the impact of the learning on the organisation. 

See also Toolkit page on the Kirkpatrick model.

It takes time before the true impact can be seen and changes to behaviour an attitudes can be down to many factors including training.  It is important to plan evaluation over a realistic timeframe and measure different aspects in different ways.  You will not be able to evaluate the impact of e-Learning overnight.

Do you have any agreed evaluation processes already in the organisation that you can adapt? You may be able to benchmark your impact measures to that of existing performance indicators, governance or other national standards such as Standards for Better Health.

Whatever impact measures are used the evaluations that are developed must be used consistently to enable progress and improvement to be mapped.

Related Resources

•  
  Kirkpatrick Model of evaluation on businessballs
  

  A useful overview of Kirkpatrick's learning and training evaluation theory on the businessballs web site. There are explanations of the four levels of learning evaluation.

  http://www.businessballs.com/kirkpatricklearningevaluationmodel.htm
•  
  Popular Learning Models
  

  Some of the more popular learning theories and models used by education practitioners and those with an interest in developing people. The models and theories inform and underpin many modern learning approaches and come out of learner centred and constructivist theories.

  view_page.php?id=73
•  
  Kirkpatrick model of evaluation in the Toolkit
  

  A summary of the four levels of the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation in the e-Learning Readiness Toolkit.

  page_82.html
•  
  National Training Evaluation & Standards Project, National Evaluation Process
  

  Document outlining proposed (in 2007) evaluation process, examples of questionnaire templates and use of the NLMS in evaluation.

  http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/systemsandservices/etd/standards/Training.pdf?searchterm=training+quality+improvement+project
•  
  Evaluation Cookbook
  

  Guide produced by the Learning Technology Dissemination Initative for lecturers in using evaluation. 

  http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/cookbook/contents.html