What’s New!

I finished writing the first edition in 2015, published it in 2016, and, since then, I have helped hundreds of organizations build radically improved learner surveys. I have learned a huge amount along the way and have improved my learner-survey methodologies. Also, since then, I’ve continued my study of learning evaluation. Doing a rough facsimile of investigative journalism, I found out that Donald Kirkpatrick was NOT the originator of the Four-Level Model of learning evaluation—Raymond Katzell was. I built—with the help of others—a new learning-evaluation model to replace the Kirkpatrick-Katzell Four-Level Model. The new evaluation model is LTEM, the Learning-Transfer Evaluation Model. It is pronounced “L-tem.” It has begun to transform learning evaluation and the whole infrastructure of learning and development in organizations throughout the world.

I’ve also begun to envision learning evaluation in a radically new way.

The premise of the new way is simple—and obvious once it is stated out loud. We in the learning field have missed it completely, however—our thinking handcuffed, and our vision diminished by the Four-Level Model. I call the new approach LEADS (pronounced “Leeds”): Learning Evaluation As Decision Support. I will talk more about this in my forthcoming book, The CEO’s Guide to Training, eLearning & Work: Reshaping Learning into a Competitive Advantage.

In the second edition of Performance-Focused Learner Surveys, there is not enough time to delve deeply into LTEM and LEADS. However, their DNA is integrated throughout, and I include a chapter on LTEM as a brief introduction.

The following specific updates have been made in this second edition:

1. The book is retitled: Performance-Focused Learner Surveys. The term “learner survey” replaces “smile sheet” because it is more descriptive. Also, “learner survey” is less freighted with derision.
2. The subtitle has changed: Using Distinctive Questioning to Get Actionable Data and Guide Learning Effectiveness. The new subtitle is more descriptive, helping people find the book.
3. After years of nudging from readers, I’ve coined a term for the unique question methodology recommended in this book. Distinctive Questioning.
4. I’ve improved the wording and design of many of the questions presented in the original book. I have been working with organizations to build improved learner surveys for over six years and I’ve learned a ton through pilot testing and feedback. I’ve also continued to study survey design and learning and have incorporated new wisdom I’ve picked up along the way.
5. I added a new chapter with more than a dozen special-purpose survey questions. Altogether, this second edition has about twice as many candidate questions as the first edition.
6. I added a new chapter on how to use open-ended questions.
7. I added a new chapter introducing LTEM.
8. I added a new chapter on how to tailor questions to make them more engaging, more relevant, and more powerful.
9. I added a new chapter on how to get higher response rates from our surveys—whether they are online or in the classroom.
10. I added a new chapter on other ways to get feedback from learners.
11. I included insights and lessons learned from people who have used performance-focused learner survey approaches in their organizations.
12. I’ve reconceptualized the benefits of learner surveys, and now offer a list of twenty benefits rather than the original nine from the first edition.

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