Jane Vella's How Do They Know They Know

One of the books that Dr Lua mentioned in the course of our meetings is How Do They Know They Know : Evaluating Adult Learning (Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series) authored jointly by Jane Vella, Paula Berardinelli, Jim Burrow

Here are some editorial reviews which I picked up from Amazon.com:

"Finally, a practical methodology for quantifying training results and organization impact. How Do They Know They Know is a must read for any Human Resources professional with the desire to measure the return on training investment for individuals and for their organization."Challenges the current paradigms about training evaluation and its role in the learning process. This practical, quantitative methodology for measuring training outcomes by calling for instructors and designers to begin with the And in mind. It should be required reading for all professionals in the field of education and development." (Susan DeLuca, director of human resource development, SmithKline Beecham)

"For anyone ever faced with the task of evaluating adult education programs, this book offers an accessible, practical, well researched tool that verifies results for existing or new programs. This is an invaluable tool for all educators who need to prove what knowledge, skills and attitudes have actually been learned through a course." (Sue Button, North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, Training and Development)

This book offers an excellent method to ensure that your training is effective amd has an impact on your organization. How Do They Know They Know's techniques place the responsibilities on training where it belongs and focuses everyone involved to cooperate to achieve the desired results. Developing training and corresponding measurements focusing on its impact on the organization is an excellent method to ensure good training design. If effective training is important to your organization, How Do They Know They Know is a must. (Clif Melvin, education specialist, Fortune 500 Computer Manufacturer)

"The authors' skills, knowledge and attitudes in evaluation of learning experiences are accessible, informed and personally engaging. This book serves as a working guide for my design and implementation of learning experiences for community workshops to college courses, and leadership training to educational support group facilitation with parents." "This is a short course in deepening Jane Vella's question "How Do They Know They Know?' They just did it! They continue to do it and have convinced their organization to do more of it!" "Accountability! Accountability! Accountability! At last I have found here a usable means to not only 'know they know' during the training, but know what I teach makes a meaningful difference in the learner's work and impacts the organization positively." (Peter Perkins, director, Prevention Unlimited, Inc)

"Books such as this are useful reminders that as the need for training programs or competency-focused curricula grows, the competition also will increase, and the institutions with objective proof of their success will succeed over the long term." (Continuing Higher Education Review)