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Measuring Instructional Results (The Mager Six-Pack)

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There is nothing that is more devastating to good instruction than a failure to achieve the performance you expected from your learner. No matter how carefully you craft an objective or present the material to support the instruction to meet that objective, there is no guarantee that the learner has mastered the objective unless you accurately measure the learner performance. Mager opens the book with his famous unicycle example. If someone has an objective to learn to ride a unicycle a set distance without falling, you should not test the learner on their ability to identify the parts of a unicycle. It is especially important in this age of technology-based instruction (TBT) that you carefully consider how you are testing the objectives stated in your instruction. Most computers cannot simulate riding a unicycle so you may be tempted to ask questions about the parts or the history of the unicycle. In this programmed text, Mager will help you refine your design skills so that you always know whether your test item is actually measuring your objective. Dr. Mager uses a programmed text approach, so there will be pages for everyone to read and pages that offer additional practice and assessment to help you master the skills taught. The real reason to adopt the skills Mager presents is not so you can be a better designer, it is to make sure that you are dealing fairly with the learner. Learners do not trust instruction that promises one thing and delivers another. Successful completion of this book, will better equip you to design and measure valid and successful instruction every time.

Mager's texts are critical references for anyone working in the instructional design / learning design space. This includes those who, like me, are not professional IDs. No text can replace a college course, but Mager makes the subject come alive and - like a good ID must - gives multiple comprehensive knowledge checks to reinforce your learning (of how to measure learning). If you need to ensure that the things you are teaching are actually being learned, you need this book... also; don't forget Mager's "Preparing Instructional Objectives" Preparing Instructional Objectives: A Critical Tool in the Development of Effective Instruction - it's the pre-work for Measuring Instructional Results. These books dramatically increased our ability to build more effective sales training, and have effected positive change across our organization. Highly recommended.