Formative Evaluation in Performance Technology

This article describes and discusses how systematic formative evaluation can be applied to different types of human performance technology (HPT) interventions. Formative evaluation is the process of determining the worth of a package in order to improve its cost–effectiveness. Inputs to formative evaluation include interventions, products, and people. Outputs include preference data (for example, user–friendliness) and performance data (immediate outcomes, transfer outcomes, and payoff outcomes). The general process for forma tive evaluation consists of the steps of goals specification, preparation, data collection, data analysis, revision, and recycling. Formative evaluation is usually undertaken in six stages to correspond to different phase of the systematic HP model. The most important aspect of formative evaluation is not the quantity of data but the quality of revisions.