An Assessment Procedure to Evaluate Retention of Learner Skills: Action Research

GRACE NICHOLSON

IN THE SPRING OF 2001, Maurice Taylor approached Irwin Seating Company Toronto to participate in his national project funded by the National Literacy Secretariat on action research in workplace education programs. Reg Bernard, who was at that point Irwin Seating Company’s Vice-President, was thrilled to participate and encouraged me to contact Dr. Taylor for further details.

Following completion of some preliminary readings and attendance at an informative as well as enjoyable two-day Action Research Workshop in Ottawa with the other project participants, we were asked to return to our workplace programs and implement action research methodology to investigate a question. After some guidance from Maurice Taylor, I settled on the following question: “How can I develop an appropriate assessment procedure to evaluate the retention of skills learned upon the closing of a long-term workplace training program?”

Irwin Seating:
A Long-Term Training Relationship

The program at Irwin Seating was, without a doubt, a long-term training relationship. In 1996, Irwin Seating, with employees numbering less than 100, launched an Essential Workplace Skills program following a comprehensive needs assessment of the company’s communication skills that was conducted by the Etobicoke Board of Education’s Workplace Training & Services Department. To show their employees the company’s genuine commitment to learning, all classes were held completely on company time.

Working with the organization, we determined the program’s framework and learning outcomes. Thirty employees took part in one or more of a series of programs that were offered: Essential Workplace Skills (200 hours); Essential Workplace Skills: Basic Level (100 hours); Effective Communication in the Workplace (200 hours).

When the last training group finished in July 2001, I began to consider how to develop an assessment procedure to evaluate the retention of learner skills. The term “assessment” usually brings to mind formal testing; however, I wanted to develop a more robust assessment procedure. One of my concerns was that given the program’s length and cost, concluding the training with the requisite handing out of certificates and shaking of hands would be a weak finish given that a four-year training relationship had been established. If there were no assessment mechanism in place, it would be all too easy for Irwin Seating Toronto to ask, “What was all that training for?” To avoid this possible dissatisfaction and disillusionment, I believed it was critical, as a training provider, to put an assessment procedure in place to ensure post-training customer care.