Assessing Technician Training in the 90's

To insure proper expenditure of automotive-service training dollars, we must know that the training works. Four types of assessment of technician training in increasing order of meaning:

• Type D — How much are we training?
• Type C — How well are we training?
• Type B — How effective is our training?
• Type A — How does our training affect profits?

Suggestions include: defining objectives, assessing needs, testing, trainee assessment, efficiency vs. effectiveness, systems approach to development of new training or assessing application of existing courses or materials, relating training to customer satisfaction, potential SAE recommended practices.