K1

Kirkpatrick Level 1

Kirkpatrick‘s Model is a four-level mechanism to measure the effectiveness of the training process. Level 1 of the model (called reaction measurement) allows to measure the participant’s subjective satisfaction with the quality of the process. It is carried out with the use of a simple evaluation questionnaire filled in on completion of the training intervention.

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Worth to know

  • It is good to know how the first level correlates with the next three steps of the full Kirkpatrick model. The presentation of the full training effectiveness exclusively with the first level is usually interpreted as a lack of professionalism displayed by the people presenting the examination results. It can lead to a high evaluation of a training course, which was very liked by the participants but did not achieve its goals.

  • In digital products, opinions on specific elements of the training contents can be collected during the training, not just at the end of it.

  • A sure way of learning the subjective opinion of an L&D processe’s participants, especially if it is realized in the e-learning form, can be an analysis of data concerning the realization of specific modules of the process, results achieved by the students or their dropout rate.

  • A classic example of using the Kirkpatrick model on the first level is an anonymous survey available for the participants at the end of the course or event. The questions are usually about the usefulness of the course in practice, the appeal of how it was led, how prepared the coaches were, the organizational side of it, or a comparison of this training course to others.

  • The evaluation of a participant's opinion can have a quantitative character (multiple choice questions or ones with a number scale of responses) as well as a qualitative character (open questions).

  • Quantitative survey results from multiple training courses show specific tendencies when it comes to the evaluation of the teaching process, which allows for the addition or elimination of specific subjects or even an evaluation on whether a particular program should be continued.

  • Skipping the first level of the Kirkpatrick model can give the impression of ignorance towards the participants’ opinions through a lack of adaptation of the contents or ways of leading the teaching process. The measurement of the participants’ level of satisfaction is not without importance in the building of good relations between the coach and the participants which in an obvious way is one of the bases of the students’ engagement in the learning process and in that the effectiveness measured in Kirkpatrick’s next levels.