Evaluation and assessment of effectiveness of specialized training courses of Iranian railways system based on Kerkpatrick’s Model

The aim of training is to promote knowledge skills and changing the attitude of the trainers. Therefore, this research is done to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of specialized training courses for locomotive drivers of Iranian Railways in Razavi Khorasan province according to Kirkpatrick's Four-Level Model. This research is applied (in terms of purpose), evaluative (in terms of function) and descriptive (in terms of data gathering method). It is also a survey and linear research, which is calculated in the four levels of reaction, learning, behavior and results. The sample of this research is all the locomotive drivers participated in the courses held in the last 3 months of 2016 and the beginning 3 months of 2017 along their managers and supervisors who were 260 persons. 152 persons are selected as the sample using simple random sampling according to Krejcie-Morgan table. The results obtained from this research show the respondents' reaction to satisfactory educational courses, as their learning average from the training courses raised to 17.23 from 7.94. The change in the behavior of learners after 6 months from the training course was 4.033 and the degree of realization of organizational goals from the perspective of manager was 3.33. According to Kirkpatrick's four-level model, training courses have been considered successful and effective at all levels. It also shows that the organization has achieved its goals by implementing effective training courses.