Always a hot topic on TrainingZone.co.uk, the feedback form is often berated for being so basic. Yet the humble happy sheet is none-the-less an essential part of gathering feedback for most training courses.
Stephanie Barlow of W2W Solutions has been kind enough to send in this version of the evaluation form - see below - for TrainingZone.co.uk members to share.
This free-to-download sample invoice is in a Word document, so that you can fiddle with and fill in the fields as you wish!
Have you got any training resources or templates to share? Post a comment below or send an email to [email protected]
14 Responses
Thank you
Looks straightforward and very easy to use
Learning?
Interesting that hardly any feedback forms ask delegates if the learned anything?
I realise the other stuff is important too but a high rate of learning is the most important aspect of any training…isn’t it???
@Steve
‘Interesting that hardly any feedback forms ask delegates if the learned anything?
I realise the other stuff is important too but a high rate of learning is the most important aspect of any training…isn’t it???’
I think it definitely is important Steve, but in my opinion an end of session/course review sheet is not going to give you any answer worth very much in relation to this matter.
If you wish to evaluate learning and it’s important that we do that, from my perspective Steve I’d be using an entirely different set of approaches and instruments.
@Gary
Hi Gary
“but in my opinion an end of session/course review sheet is not going to give you any answer worth very much in relation to this matter”
Without trying to disprove this let me ask you…
The last time you went on a course and learned something…were you in a position to state what it was? I think we all actively seek out
the things we want and need, anything else we learn along the way is a bonus and just as relevant. I know exactly what I learn and will be useful from every course I attend. Assuming the trainers main role is to teach me this stuff I think it is very important to tell them.
I certainly need this information from my delegates because maximum learning at a high level is the reason I am there.
This brings up another subject of when feedback sheets should be handed in.
I prefer to give them at the start, encourage gradual content filling and request them a week after the course.
Best regards
Steve
@Steve
‘Without trying to disprove this let me ask you…
‘The last time you went on a course and learned something…were you in a position to state what it was?’
I could certainly tell you what I ‘think’ I have learnt, but that is a perceptual issue, not a true reflection of what I have actually learnt.
‘I know exactly what I learn and will be useful from every course I attend.’
Then I think you’re probably unique in that respect. We ‘think’ we know what we have learnt and what will be useful. But we don’t actually know and can confirm this until the knowledge is tested and the skills used and the results obtained. The levels of self calibration people have are in many cases incredibly poor. (I am not suggesting that this is true in your case). You only have to watch the X Factor auditions to know that people don’t have any real understanding of their abilities and knowledge. And relying on an end of course review sheet to confirm learning is in my opinion bogus.
If we actually want to know what people have learnt we should I believe do more than ask, we have to assess it. This anomaly of people thinking they know something but when tested are discovered not to is constantly demonstrated by people being asked if they have understood something they are being taught which they confirm but when the individual practices it falls over. Pride, ignorance, confusion, misunderstanding, all play a part in preventing us from ‘seeing ourselves as we really are’
The phased approach to review sheets is an excellent idea, mine are broken down into three parts,
1. They complete in the first 30 minutes.
2. Is completed all the way through the program.
3. Is completed during the last 10 minutes.
Learning
Hi Gary
“learning” is such a big subject I don’t think anyone is actually capable of giving a difinitive answer of what it actually means to an individual. Of course it can be measure by tests and exercises but this is still very subjective.
When I attend a course I am specifically looking for new ideas I can integrate in to my world.
The ideas I can use are very obvious so yes I do sit up and pay attention and learn this stuff at a very high level as I am actually applying it very soon afterwards. The rest of the stuff goes over my head as I have mentally switched off as it has no use to me.
Of course, training being my job I am probably looking at any event slightly differently to most delegates.
As for feedback sheets I only use them because I have to. If anyone has anything negative to say I would be horrified if I hadn’t picked this up and dealt with it before then end!
Regards
Steve
Happy Sheet Template
What an interesting conversation you guys are having, I appreciate it.
As more of an ‘occasional’ trainer than a professional I was really interested in the comment…
‘When I attend a course I am specifically looking for new ideas I can integrate in to my world. ‘
I think this is a very important point – yes I know its off-subject – and I am wondering if you convey this thought to your audience when you are giving training, and if so how?
Heutagogy
Hi
Glad you find it interesting.
People on this site are from a variety of industries so obviously what I say is relevant to my world and not necessarily anyone elses.
Any training I am involved with is always based on the model of…”find out what they already know, then ask them what they want and need and then fill in the gaps to bring them up to where they need to be”
There are various methods of doing this, even with a mixed ability class but what I can guarantee is that all delegates go away 100% satisified that the day or 2 or 3 has been well spent.
Hence my lack of enthusiasm for Happy Sheets as using the methid above ensure 100% every time for every delegate.
Happy reading!
Steve
Critique of Review Sheets
This is an interesting critique of review sheets, quite damning in fact:
http://reliablesurveys.com/smilesheets.html
Smiley Sheets
Good article…
I think this one sums it up best…
“Many raters are unqualified. Training participants do not have the background to supply valid judgments about the effectiveness of a training course. They know what they like, but they are usually uneducated about educational theory and methods”
Its a bit like me saying how well the mechanic serviced my car.
He would get lots of smileys just because he washed and hoovered it before I got it back but I would probably have missed the fact that the oil wasn’t changed and the filters are the wrong type!
Amazing how so much could be written about a smiley sheet!
Keep it Simple
The format of an evaluation sheet totally depends on what the trainer wants to get out of the feedback, and how they want to measure the success of the course, but at the end of a long day’s training who really wants to think that much about their experience?
The idea of keeping the happy sheet simple is that by the time it is filled in everyone is eager to leave! However good the course is, whatever you’ve learnt, at that point you have done the hard work and want to switch your brain off, so anything that requires a huge degree of deliberation just causes a groan!
From my point of view, to gather an overview of the experience of delegates is useful. I have had lots of useful feedback often with suggestions on other things that could have been covered, additional training that could be used as follow up, and quotes which can be used to sell courses to others. By keeping the form simple you are more likely to get comments that are useful to your course development.
Know your audience, and know what they will respond to, and make your evaluation sheet meaningful. But PLEASE keep it simple! 🙂
evaluation sheet
Good resource
I Couldn’t find the Happy
I Couldn’t find the Happy Sheet Template, Kindly help.
Easy to use
Easy to use