Different Ways To Test Learners In Your Online Training Courses

Online Learner Testing: Learn The Different Types
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Summary: A vital step in training development is including various ways of testing employee knowledge and aptitudes. Read on to learn about different ways this can be done in your online learning courses!

Learn About The Types Of Online Learner Testing

Developing an online training course for employees is the latest trend in eLearning education. Companies all over the world are flocking to integrate new and tech-advanced Learning and Development methods simply because they are proving highly efficient, cost-effective, and the resulting data helps implement needed changes within the company.

A critical step in training development is including various ways of testing employee knowledge and aptitudes. There are different ways to test learners in online training courses, and some of them are directly adopted from traditional classroom environments. Quizzes of all types, when introduced at the right time and in the right place throughout the learning course, provide many benefits, such as:

  • Allowing for employee self-assessment
  • Making the testing more challenging
  • Encouraging engagement
  • Creating a game-like environment
  • Increasing the fun factor
  • Collecting important data for later analysis

Why Test Learners

Testing employees in an online learning environment helps document and measure where each person is in terms of their skill, knowledge, and attitude. The results can be used by the learner to fill in their gaps where needed, or by the manager to estimate how well the training course has performed overall or on an individual level.

As mentioned, online training course testing facilitates the gathering of important metrics. It helps you and your instructional course designer modify the delivery and course content to better fit learners’ needs.

Also, quizzes can be interactive, fun, and connect the learners with their learning experience on a deeper level.

When To Test Learners

Ideally, you would run the training course as a test at first. You'll have a "before quiz" and an "after quiz" to gain perspective on how learners are viewing this learning challenge. The results from these two tests will help you compare how much learners have advanced in knowledge acquisition due to training.

Although for the initial course test run you'll have a beginning and end assessment test, it is a good idea to pepper the course content with pertinent quizzes. Consider where in the course content the learner needs to grasp difficult concepts and introduce a quiz there. You'll help the learner gauge whether they have understood the information. And, you'll have a better idea of whether the course content is delivered efficiently. Not all employees are created equal. So, it is important to convey the information in a generally easy-to-understand manner.

Types Of Online Learner Testing

Multiple-Choice

Adopted from traditional classroom assessment methods, multiple-choice questions have crossed over into eLearning for a good reason: they work! In this testing scenario, the learner receives a set of questions, each with a set number of answers. The right answer is usually unique and all other options are there to distract the learner.

If you choose to include multiple-choice questions in your training course, make sure to ask straight questions. This will ensure you're testing the employee's direct knowledge of the subject and not their deduction capabilities.

True Or False

This simple, yet effective, testing method can be particularly useful in the before and after sections. The resulting data will give you a good idea of the level of knowledge your employees are at both before taking the test and after. This speaks to the overall effectiveness of the training.

Fill In The Gaps

Also called no-choice questions, fill in the blanks/gaps quizzes assess the true knowledge of a learner. Since there is only one right answer and the learner must know it exactly to gain the point, this type of question often reveals whether learners are "doing their homework."

Drag And Drop

Drag and Drops introduce a fun element to the testing since it requires the student to play around with the options and create a correct answer sequence. This style of question lends itself to testing knowledge of sequential processes. It makes the training interactive since your employees need to move elements around on the screen.

Scenario-Based

Now we're getting into the interesting stuff! Scenario-based testing enables the learner to test their knowledge in a practical environment. You're essentially putting the learner at the center of their learning experience and helping them to retain important information by giving them real-life scenarios they might find themselves needing to solve.

Game-Based

Last but not least, consider doing training assessments through the use of games or gamification. With gamification, you introduce game elements, like badges and points, to motivate the learners' progress and success. With game-based testing, you help learners solidify their knowledge because they're enjoying the experience more.

Conclusion

There are many different ways to test learners in your online training courses other than just the options we give in this article, and Designing Digitally is here to help you with them all! View our case studies to see how we’ve incorporated training assessments for some of our clients, and then be sure to contact our team when you are ready to create something great for your employees!

Originally published at www.designingdigitally.com.