By Julie Sharrard

Queen's IRC's commitment to helping next-generation talent leaders champion change, resolve disputes, and align people and purpose is being strengthened this fall by the introduction of program-specific learning objectives and the implementation of a new program evaluation strategy.

Since it was established in 1937, the IRC has been striving to create a bridge between the academic and practitioner worlds.  For almost 75 years, Queen's IRC has been dedicated to this goal, working to build critical competencies in organizational effectiveness, labour relations, and human resources.  Through programs in areas such as dispute resolution, labour arbitration, change management, leadership development, and team building, the IRC has helped professionals gain the necessary skills to transform their organizations. 

Queen's IRC's commitment to continually raising the bar on program content and delivery led the way for the two initiatives being introduced this fall. In support of our drive for excellence, and desire to enhance the content and delivery of our programs, and our participants' experience, the IRC launched a multi-stage review of our program learning objectives and our program evaluation strategy. This article contextualizes and describes these two exciting initiatives.

Learning Objectives

In collaboration with a team of graduate students from Queen's University's Faculty of Education, the IRC's Research Team reviewed its core training programs and determined a set of learning objectives for each course. These objectives articulate the key learning outcomes for the training provided.  By isolating the key learning objectives, the team was able to develop a program review template and systematically review existing courses to design a process for revising and evaluating materials and content for the courses.  Moving forward, documenting clear learning objectives that are consistent with the program aims, materials, and artefacts already developed and delivered by the IRC will help to affirm the learning that has taken place for all stakeholders, including participants, sponsor organizations, facilitators, and IRC staff.

In addition to the delineation of learning objectives, the program review also included a synthesis of the key words related to each of the programs.  This program review enabled an objective and meaningful evaluation of the IRC's programming and intended learning outcomes. In accordance with the IRC's focus on adult learning principles, and experiential learning, program-specific learning objectives will be embedded into course material.  These objectives will be emphasized and reviewed throughout our programs.  This continuous review will allow facilitators to highlight key topics and give participants an opportunity to reflect on their knowledge and IRC experience.

Program Evaluation

The program review was integral to the development and launch of a new program evaluation strategy.

Participant feedback is a key component to the IRC's success. As such,  it is imperative that we promote, receive, and take seriously the feedback that we receive from our participants and their sponsor organizations. Our goal is to ensure that we meet the learning objectives and professional development needs of our participants. The newly designed multi-phase evaluation process is structured to enhance communication with our participants before, during, and after the programming.

This fall, the IRC is introducing our exciting online program evaluation strategy, a three-phase strategy that includes both participants and their sponsors. Over the summer months, the IRC's Research Team conducted a review of our program evaluation strategy. We soon realized the limitations of our paper evaluation forms, and the potential to improve the ways in which we collect input from our learners. Increasing the points of contact with our learning community improves our ability to measure program outcomes and participant satisfaction.

The new evaluation is meant to be user-friendly. Accordingly, we developed succinct questions that focus on key topics. Questions allow for open-ended and close-ended responses.  The IRC opted for a three-phase approach so we could determine client/sponsor expectations prior to the program, obtain feedback on the client's experience with the IRC's programming and glean insights on how IRC programming has changed the quality of work-life for clients and their sponsors.

Phase I: Pre-Program Survey
The first phase of the survey focuses on determining the expectations of the participants and their sponsors prior to the programming.  The questions in this survey address participants' motivation for attending an IRC program, the learning objectives of the participant, and the anticipated transfer of knowledge to the workplace. Sponsors will also be surveyed with the goal of determining the expectations that they have for the IRC's programming. The data collected during the pre-program surveys will be aggregated and provided to facilitators before the programming occurs so that they are able to tailor programming to meet the learning objectives identified by participants. 

Phase II: End-of-Program Survey
The second phase of the evaluation strategy will focus on surveying participants immediately following the program.  The aim of this end-of-program survey is to obtain feedback on clients' experiences with IRC programming.  The questions will give participants an opportunity to evaluate facilitators, course material and teaching tools, and to reflect on their learning experience.

Phase III: Post-Program Survey
The final phase will occur approximately six to eight weeks after the program.  Again, both participants and their sponsors will be surveyed in this post-program phase. The purpose of this phase is to learn how the IRC's tools and resources are being implemented in the workplace and the extent to which the IRC's programming met the expectations of participants and their sponsors.  The IRC will use this information to compare and contrast comments and perspectives before, during, and after the programming. 

Concluding Thoughts

Integrating learning objectives into the IRC's programming along with embedding additional feedback loops with clients and sponsors before, during, and after programming will enhance the IRC's ability to better meet the expectations and learning needs of clients and their sponsors.  Online surveys will facilitate the ease and frequency with which we collect and aggregate data, allowing participants and sponsors to reflect on and discuss the IRC's programming and the ways in which it has helped to meet their professional development needs. The data will be reviewed by IRC facilitators and staff to ensure optimal program design and delivery. The IRC looks forward to implementing these two initiatives this fall.

As client feedback is invaluable, we invite you to contact Julie Sharrard, Program Team Lead, with any questions or concerns that you may have regarding the IRC's learning objectives or program evaluation.