Training is incredibly important to your employees. A survey mentioned by Your Training Edge indicated that 70 percent of workers claim training directly influences their decision to stick with their current employer or look for a new job.1 The source also reported that 74 percent of participants involved in another long-term study “assert that lack of training is the biggest hurdle in achieving their full potential at work.”
Many employers recognize the importance of training and invest significant funds into training initiatives. Company leaders can make the most of their corporate training programs and ensure employees receive the quality training they desire by implementing knowledge checks.
What are Knowledge Checks?
Knowledge checks are tools used in a corporate training program that helps learners understand how well they are grasping the content being presented to them. They consist of questions that directly relate to course content. Knowledge checks are typically not graded, which makes them a low-pressure learning tool that can be used frequently in an online course for continuous knowledge assessment. When used correctly, knowledge checks can help learners become more self-aware and involved in their training experience.
Knowledge Checks Are Not Quizzes
Although they share some similarities, knowledge checks and quizzes are not the same. While knowledge checks do test learners on their comprehension of course material, they differ from a quiz that a learner might have to take at the end of an online employee training course. This is because they are less formal than a quiz and are designed for review, not hard assessment.
“A quiz is used to check for comprehension. Did your attendees learn what you taught?” stated the Training Doctor, a leadership training company.2 “Alternatively, a knowledge check is more of a review. It’s used to determine if the learners can find the answer…. A knowledge check is appropriate in all situations; a quiz is only appropriate if you have to ensure people know the answers before they leave training.”
While it’s not helpful to include too many formal quizzes in an online learning course, instructional designers may choose to include frequent knowledge checks. Instead of stressing learners out, this gives them a greater awareness of how well they are doing in their course.
Promote Mastery of eLearning Content with Knowledge Checks
One of the primary reasons L&D professionals should include more knowledge checks in employee training is because they promote mastery of content. The reason for this is simply that they free up time for learners to spend focusing on content they are weak in.
Knowledge checks can be scattered throughout an online training course, checking learners’ understanding of content every step of the way. After receiving the feedback a knowledge check provides, learners will feel sure about which areas of a course they fully comprehend and which areas still need work. This prevents them from spending additional time reviewing content they’ve already mastered.
How to Implement Knowledge Checks into Your Company’s Corporate Training Program
Ready to implement knowledge checks into your company’s corporate training program? Start by establishing learning objectives for the eLearning course the knowledge checks will be used in. Next, create knowledge-check content (questions) around those learning objectives, ensuring content is aligned with the course goals you’ve defined.
When assembling knowledge checks, don’t forget to include relevant feedback, which is a critical aspect of these informal learning aids. Online learning authoring tools usually offer question- and choice-level feedback that can be used in knowledge checks. Or if your L&D budget permits, you can hire an instructional designer to create feedback that will be highly beneficial to learners.
Is your company using knowledge checks to encourage learner progress and drive knowledge transfer? Learn more about how you can use employee training software like TOPYX to implement knowledge checks within your corporate training program, or request a personalized demo of the TOPYX platform.
References:
1. https://www.yourtrainingedge.com/10-astonishing-corporate-training-statistics-and-what-you-can-learn-from-each/
2. https://www.trainingdr.com/knowledge-check-quiz/
