Training Materials Last Week

For my last blog, I would just like to say that I never realized how much effort, time, and attention creating training materials needed. I used Camtasia to create an actual training video. I found out really quick that when making a video it is important to have a script in front of you so that it doesn't sound so 'chopped' when your speaking. I had a really good experience overall while creating these training materials, other than not liking the software that I was using for the implementation of the training everything was successful. Working in groups made the whole project much easier as well. We completed our work on time and different members of the group stepped up to take different roles when needed. I think it it a crucial component to any training that you must have a good team around that is committed, focused, and willing to help in any way. My last and only concern last week was getting the pictures into a file format from the documents I created. I did this once and when I reopened the pictures they weren't cropped the way I wanted. Regardless, there must be an easier way to do this, and if I find it, I'll make a Camtasia video and put it on the web so others can know about it!

Measures of Validity

In Chapter 30 of Lee & Owens, it is explained that you must determine how to estimate whether or not the tools for measurment are actually measuring what they are supposed to measure. Face validity is one way. This establishes that a training teaches what was meant to be taught and should be designed during the beginning phases of a project. Content validity is established through technical content review cycles during the development stage. In order to achieve face validity, have experts review course materials and validate that the course content actually is the subject to be taught. To achieve content validity, have the experts review the course materials and ensure there is unity between the objectives, course content and test items. Other types of validity include concurrent validity(similiarities bewteen two tests), construct validity(measure of scores on test in relation to job performance), test item validity(measure of relationship of individual items vs overall test) and predictive validity(measure of a test to predict the future success in a particular area). This chapter provided some great information, and I only wish we had more time to officially do this in our own projects. I would like to know how well my lesson's are actually teaching learners, and I would also like to know if their skills improve after using the training.