The State of Learning Evaluation in Scotland

 

My learning evaluation business, Airthrey Ltd, is conducting research into the State of Learning Evaluation in Scotland.  Our aim is to find out who’s evaluating learning and development in Scotland, who’s doing it well, and what it is that makes them successful.  We believe this will provide a useful benchmark for studies of learning evaluation in other countries.

This takes the form of a Success Case Method investigation, as I blogged in November. We believe this will be the first time such an investigation has been conducted at a national level.

The research is endorsed by Robert Brinkerhoff, Emeritus Professor at the University of Western Michigan, and originator of the Success Case Method:

"This research project, utilising my Success Case Method, is an admirable exercise in taking the temperature of learning evaluation in a discrete territory. Not many organisations conduct learning evaluation effectively, and so it will be good to know what's working well in Scotland, who's having success, and why. The report of this project should provide a landmark exemplar for the UK, Europe and perhaps further afield. I am delighted to endorse it, and look forward with interest to studying the results."

If you have people/operations in Scotland, please take a little time (it should be less than five minutes) to complete the survey.  And please forward it to anyone else you know who may be interested.

The research report will be published this summer (2013), and everyone who completes the survey will get a free copy of the report summary.

Survey: www.survey.bris.ac.uk/stirling/learnevalu

 

Thank you.

Skill development

A few years ago, I wrote about Roberto Moretti's Practice Made Perfect system, as an approach to helping people learn skills. I've recently found a useful follow-up in an unlikely source.

As a football fan, I'm aware of the shortcomings in coaching, training and all-round education for professional players, so it is surprising to find what I would describe as cutting edge thinking in the arena of football coaching. European coaches have introduced a lot of new thinking and techniques to British football, and perhaps none more so than the two great Portuguese coaches Jose Mourinho and Andreas Villas-Boas.

Now I'm reading about how players can be trained to move beyond the tasks they perform automatically to acquire and add new skills. Have a look at this blog and see what you think. I especially like the idea of training players to concentrate better towards the end of games (when they are tired and less focused) and avoid losing late goals. I'm sure there must be similar applications to less glamorous work contexts, including leadership and management.