Fitness Instructors: Properly Evaluate Your Training Program

In the training world there is a true and hard fast method of evaluating the effectiveness of training. It is the Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick model. This method has been used for many years and it is the best way to properly assess your course or curriculum.

The model consists of four levels of evaluations:

Level 1- This measures the student's reaction to the course. These are also sometimes called 'smile sheets'. Fitness trainers need to assess if the students participating in their spinning, karate, martial arts, step or cross training class are actually learning and enjoying themselves. Fitness instructors usually talk to students after class and get a rough estimate of their performance. In today's social media world, feedback is also given on Facebook. However, this information is incomplete and may be biased. Students will not give you a complete and honest opinion in fear of hurt feelings. They may not give you the information you are looking for; for instance, are the facilities clean? Therefore fitness instructors need to have printed out survey sheets for students to take. They should be available in the back of the gym and students can fill them out whenever and drop them off in a suggestion box. These may also be delivered electronically suing survey monkey or another survey program if you are so inclined.

Level 2- This measures the learning of the course. This is generally measured with a pre and post test before and after a course is completed. However, in the fitness world there may not be a set start and stop time. You may be teaching a Zumba class at the YMCA and students can walk in and out as they see fit. If that is the case, the fitness instructor should have a pre and post test available for the students to take at will. For instance, a fitness instructor might say "before registering for my Zumba class, let's get on the scale and see what you weigh" after a month of Zumba classes it may be time to measure progress again. We have to remember, weight loss may not be the goal, even though it is easy to measure. We might want to assess strength, agility and stamina. If that is the case the fitness instructor should assess with the student on their performance.

Level 3- This evaluation is difficult to measure in the fitness world. This measures if there is a change in behavior and if it is transferred outside of the classroom. In the training world, the evaluation staff generally sends surveys out to graduates (or their supervisors) and assesses their performance in the workplace to see if they transferred the classroom knowledge to the workplace. A fitness trainer will have to get this data from the participants themselves. Ask them if after taking a spinning class if they felt a change in their activities around the house. Do they feel more confident at work? Cross fit and Martial Arts instructors do this regularly. Cross fit training generally related directly to the participants work, therefore the instructors like to hear success stories. Martial Arts instructors always claim that students gain more focus and pay more attention in school because of the discipline they learn in martial arts training. As a fitness instructor, there may not be a need for a detailed survey, but ask your students to share success stories on how training helped them outside of the fitness world.

Level 4- This evaluation is perhaps the hardest to measure. It measures the return on investment. Basically is your training worth the money being spent? Health benefits are long term, so students might not immediately see the health benefits. Moreover, you or your students may not know the benefits or cost of your competitors' health program to compare it to. The best way to measure this is to stay informed on student enrollment and you competitors enrollment and fees. Be careful when introducing new exercise routines, because the return on investment may not be worth it.

These four levels of evaluation are generally accomplished by fitness trainers already. Everyone wants to hear about success stories and receive feedback on their performance. But completing all four of these evaluations, we get a complete picture of ourselves and our curriculum.