Debenhams, Britain's favourite department store, is using Questionmark Perception V2.2 software within its IT Training department for pre and post-course evaluation and analysis, and as a climate survey tool (qualifying opinions among staff of the company) for other divisions of the company.

Questionmark Perception enables educators and trainers to write, deliver and report on tests and assessments for secure deployment on the Internet and intranets. The software can be used for both pre- and post-course training needs analysis and is widely deployed in business and education as a formative and self-assessment tool.

Within Debenhams IT training department Perception is being used for pre and post course evaluation. Post Course evaluation is done on-line immediately after any training course, providing instant feedback to the training department on the performance of the course itself. This provides a quick check that the pitch, pace and delivery of any course is in line with the needs of the staff.

Beyond that, Perception is used to test the learning outcomes of courses. To achieve this, a second survey is delivered to the trainees four to six weeks after a course. By using the many different question formats that are available within Perception, Debenhams is able to probe the knowledge of its staff in unique ways. For example, the software enables "show and tell" style questions to be designed.

Three months after a course, the software is once again used for training needs analysis (TNA). This is done on an individual basis to ensure that the future training requirements of all staff are considered.

Outside the IT training department the Perception suite is being used for climate surveys to enable employees to express their feelings regarding corporate systems and communications.

Questionmark was founded in the UK in 1988 and was one of the first software companies to provide an authoring framework to create tests and assessments to run on PCs. Today the company offers a full range of software for the testing and assessment marketplace spanning Windows 3.X and 95, DOS, Macintosh and web environments. Businesses, governments, and universities in over 40 countries now use Questionmark software.