Practicum Update: Oscar Andrade

Hello all. This is the first of many updates to come throughout the Fall 18' semester. My practicum project is to develop a training evaluation tool for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration's New Supervisor Training Program (NSTP). This is a required program for all new supervisors throughout the agency. NSTP is a 10 week long program consisting of and introductory class, eight different modules, and a closing session. 

My plan is to evaluate the program using the Kirkpatrick Model. The three levels I will evaluate are reactions, learning, and behavioral changes. Reactions will be assessed by giving a survey at the end of each module that asks questions regarding the details of the training itself (i.e. Were the modules informative?, Was the trainer engaging?, Was the material relevant to your leadership growth?).  Learning will be assessed by asking module specific quiz prior to each session and administering a cumulative exam one or two weeks after the training. The questions cover terms, principles, definitions, and strategies that are critical to the topics covered in each module. After we gather all of the pre-module quizzes we will administer a cumulative exam asking the same exact questions. The goal is to determine if there are meaningful differences between the pre and post assessment groups.  The final component is evaluating behavioral changes for each of the new supervisors that completed the program. To determine this,  I will administer an evaluation survey to both the new supervisor's direct report and immediate supervisor. This will give us an idea on how well they are performing the behaviors covered in the training. The results will be used for developmental purposes. If results highlight an area for improvement then we will suggest training's to add to their professional development plan. This will also allow to identify the subject areas they are doing well in. 

This post was written on 9/6/18 but is only being submitted as of today. There will be an additional post by the end of the week and every two weeks until the end of the semester. 

From Oscar…..