Initial Assessment in Training

Initial Assessment in Training

Initial Assessment in Training

Initial Assessment is a part of the programme where you begin to know your learners in order to you aim your course at the right level. I have taught in a range of various learning environments, from colleges and universities to bespoke business to business training and conferences and have discovered that the approach to Initial Assessment to be vastly different in each situation. In work-based training, for example, Initial Assessment is a large part of the programme, taking up to six weeks to complete. In business to business training, however, (for example IT training) the initial assessment part can often be a quick question, asking how confident the learner is with IT. So why is initial assessment not given the same prominence in business-to-business training? Should greater use be made of initial assessment?

So why implement assessment before a programme has begun? A recent article on assessment showed different ways assessment can be carried out, but why implement a period of assessment before training has even begun? If the learner can see the purpose of Initial Assessment and it is completed WITH the learner, not TO them, the process can be a positive, motivating experience, assisting in the identification of strengths and areas for improvement. The course can then be tailored to the individual delegate, so that time can be focussed on the development needs than on areas the delegate is already comfortable the programme then becomes more relevant.

One problem is that valuable time must be spent looking at the findings of initial assessment and to tailor the programme to the results. However, even short one-day courses could include initial assessment - one answer to the lack of time issue is to compose a short questionnaire to be completed by delegates before the training commences. The results of this could be used not only to tailor the programme to the correct level but also give information on which areas of the training to focus more on. The results may also inform how groups are organised, do you want groups where more confident and less confident learners are grouped together? Do you want less confident delegates grouped together on a particular session? Having the initial assessment information beforehand gives time to think these issues through before you are stood in front of a group of delegates. Questionnaires are far from perfect, however and a thirty minute meeting before the course begins might give better results in some circumstances. Longer courses may benefit from a discrete period of initial assessment, where the learners' expectations, past learning and experience are considered.

One impotant benefit of implementing initial assessment is that it may help justify the time and money spent on training. The initial assessment gives a benchmark, which could be used to evidence distance travelled, which, as well as being good for motivating the learner, shows that your training session has been successful to whoever is commissioning the work. This can't be a bad thing.

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