Conference Evaluation Focusing on Learning and Transfer

Abstract

Background: The article presents the results of using a model for evaluation of conferences; a model focusing on learning and transfer. Many conferences are evaluated using participant-satisfaction surveys, but satisfaction is a diffuse concept and is linked to many factors other than learning.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examined how participants of four national conferences of adult learning assessed the relevance of the content of a number of workshops, how much they had learned from the workshops and whether they had used what they had learned. And to test a tool to measure this.

Setting: The subject matters of the study is four evaluations based on surveys of national conferences in Denmark in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. The overall purpose of the conferences was to communicate and discuss new knowledge within the area of general adult education and vocational education and training, and to help ensure that this knowledge is subsequently used in the participants' daily practices at work.

Intervention: Testing a tool to measure learning and transfer, which is not too resource-intensive to use for managers of workshops as well as conferences to strengthen the potential for learning and transfer by participants.

Research Design: Using the same survey-based evaluation-tool in four different conferences in order to compare the results and try to find general knowledge.

Data Collection and Analysis: Collecting and analysing data on the basis of survey-data of the participant’s self-reported perception of relevance, learning and use (transfer) of the content of the workshops.

Findings: The study shows that the percentage of conference participants who experience relevance, learning and transfer from the conferences only varies marginally from year to year, while this percentage varies particularly between the individual workshops. Another finding is that participants’ assessment of relevance is more associated than satisfaction with learning and transfer.

Keywords: evaluation; conference; workshop; learning; transfer; adult learning.