Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Pre-training assessments (pre-tests, sometimes called
“knowledge checks”) are administered before the training
begins. These assessments can take the form of task samples,
SDAs or KTAs. If they have been administered before the
trainees congregate at the training site, the trainer can
compile the scores, which may allow the trainer to adapt the
training materials to the specifi c levels of trainee preparedness.
Post-training assessments (post-tests) are administered
after the training has been completed. Again, they can take
many forms. They can be administered before the trainees
leave the training site, or they can be administered at a later
date, or both. If the post-tests are administered while the
trainees are still on-site, and then at one or more later times,
they can serve as measures of the sustainability of the training
as well as the effects of the training. Tennant, et al. (ibid)
suggest three kinds of post-training assessments: an
“immediate test,” to be carried out when the training
has been completed, an “intermediate test” when the
trainee has returned to the job, and an “ultimate test” to be
employed “after an appropriate time has elapsed in order
to measure the improvement of the skills, and behavioral
changes.”
Post-test scores can also be compared to pre-test scores.
Given equivalent forms, differences in scores can be taken as
some evidence of training effects.
Finally, depending on how the work process has been
chunked and conceptualized, assessments can be incorporated
throughout the training material, in addition to any other
assessments that are used as pre- or post-tests. Assessments
throughout the material serve to reinforce training at a more
fi ne-grained level, to break up training material into lengths
closer to adult attention span, etc.
Not only is the timing of assessments critical, but the
security of the assessment process is critical as well.
