ABSTRACT
Evaluation is an essential instructional design (ID) competency. The purpose of this chapter is to challenge faculty of instructional design graduate programs to emphasize the importance of evaluation in best practices in the ID field and to offer instructional designers strategies for explaining the relevance of evaluation in determining the effectiveness of training. The instructional design industry recognizes the importance of validating the effectiveness of instruction. However, that knowledge is not transferring to the various environments in which we work. Studies illuminate the discrepancy between employer expectations for instructional design graduates and the level of skill, and emphasis, placed on evaluation in instructional design programs. Research also reports a paucity of evidence-based literature on the utilization of evaluation models in context. Although the Donald Kirkpatrick four-level model of evaluation has been the leading evaluation model for over 30 years, the reported model of choice for 60% of organizations, the industry is lacking the evidence to support the impact of training on performance change. The challenge to our industry is to create opportunities for instructional design students to immerse in authentic situated learning experiences that support the development of ID competencies, including evaluating instruction.
