6 Nattakant Utakrit and Anoma Siripanich AN INTEGRATION OF PROGRAMME EVALUATION AND ACTION RESEARCH ON A PRELIMINARY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT TRAINING IN VOCATIONAL SCHOOL Nattakant Utakrit 1 and Anoma Siripanich 2 Abstract A successful professional development initiative, such as a training session, is one of several strategies that encourage school staff to gain more knowledge and skills and that enhance work performance. Evaluation is used to assess training achievement compared to the programme’s objectives. This study attempts to implement the planning, observation, action, and reflection process for a professional development training programme and to evaluate participant satisfaction with the context, input, process, and product of the programme. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, surveys, and observations. The overall result showed that participants were highly satisfied with the training programme. However, participants noted that the training should have included more time for them to practise and apply lessons learned from the programme to their real work under the guidance of a mentor. All results demonstrated a possible decision to continue with future training workshops and revealed recommendations for improving the quality of the programme. Keywords: action research, training programme, programme evaluation, professional development ABAC Journal Vol.38 No.2 (July-December, 2018 pp 6-20) 1 Dr. Nattakant Utakrit obtains a Doctoral degree in Information Technology (Information Security and Forensics) from Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Currently she is working as a lecturer in the Department of Technical Education Management in the Faculty of Technical Education at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. 2 Dr. Anoma Siripanich obtains a Ph.D. in Vocational and Technical Education Management (Research and Curriculum Development) from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand. Currently she is working as a lecturer in the Department of Technical Education Management in the Faculty of Technical Education at King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok. INTRODUCTION Professional Development (PD) is a concept accepted by many professions. According to Cambridge University Press (2017), PD is “training that is given to managers and people working in professions to increase their knowledge and skills”. PD is also known as staff development, in-service training, professional learning, or continuing education. Other definitions of PD involve improving and increasing a staff’s capabilities through in-