Overall Instructor Rating: Satisfactory
Ratings explanation:
- Exemplary - A model answer in almost every way (this is given out very rarely).
- Satisfactory - Very well done; you've met the expectations of the assignment. There are some minor problems, so read my feedback well.
- Marginal Pass - You pass, but there are lots of issues to consider. Read my feedback very carefully and be sure you understand the points/issues I raise.
- Not satisfactory, redo and resubmit - The assignment was not completed appropriately. I am concerned that you do not understand the process well enough yet. To get credit for the assignment, you need to redo it, most probably on another topic. Read and consider my feedback very carefully before redoing.
Instructor's Overall Feedback:
You did a good job here. You seem to understand the process well. Take a look at my feedback below.
1. Preliminary: Describe the context within which this potential instructional problem takes place. This will pinpoint where the problem is located. If instruction is deemed necessary, this will be the place where it will be designed and implemented.
a. List the context, also known as the "system of interest".
Your final response:
Eastside High School - Career Development Course
b. Describe or show how the context relates to the bigger environment. Show how this context relates to other levels of the system within which it works.
Your final response:
The career development course offered at Eastside High School are built into the business education courses. Eastside High School is one of two public high schools in Newton County, which is located in the immediate Atlanta metropolitan area. Parents of students, teachers at the school, Newton County Board of Education employees, citizens of Newton County, and businesses of Newton County are all key components that belong in the educational system that revolves around Eastside High School and the career development course.
The instructor's feedback to step 1:
Good.
2. Symptoms of a problem. Write a brief description of some symptoms that make you stop and wonder if something is wrong.
Your final response:
The majority of Juniors and Seniors at Eastside High School are unsure of their immediate future after high school. Those students who have made post-secondary decisions make their choices based on monetary income rather than personal interests and strengths. Most students change college majors or occupations several times before reaching personal satisifaction with their choice.
Using the evidence cited above, describe why you believe that these symptoms signal a problem. Keeping these questions in mind, describe the reasons for identifying these symptoms as problematic.
Your final response:
Because high school is the breeding ground for the future workforce, if high school students choose majors or occupations solely based on a few items without total analysis, then personal fulfillment and motivation to remain in a particular field would deminish causing life-changing occupational choices with private and public reprocussions.
The instructor's feedback to step 2:
Good
3. Preliminary Problem Statement. Based on 1 and 2, write a preliminary draft problem statement. Your context should be the subject of the statement. This is just the initial pass -- the statement will be revised in subsequent steps.
Your final response:
Eastside High School does not adequately prepare students for career choices.
The instructor's feedback to step 3:
Good
4. Verify the problem and determine specific needs. Two things will now happen concurrently. First, you need a systematic procedure to identify and collect data in order to verify that a problem exists. Second, you must identify information that the data sources may help uncover.
Data sources (who, what) |
Information gathered |
What did you find? (Needs)* |
Example: Interview participants in course; administer class survey; administer test of understanding.
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Example: Participant opinions on IDAs and course; Participant score on test. |
Example: Participants believe there is too much jargon (felt need); Participants don't understand ID vocabulary as compared to other classes (comparative need); Participants don't score above national average (comparative need); Participants don't/couldn't see the relation between their work and the ID process) |
| Your final response:
1. Interview and survey juniors and seniors at Eastside High School.
2. Interview faculty (teachers, counselors, etc.) at Eastside High School
3. Interview parents of students at Eastside High School
4. Administer tests (personality, etc.) to student.
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Your final response:
1. Student opinion on how Eastside High School handles career exploration and current basis of career choice.
2. Gather information on strengths and weaknesses of the current career exploration at Eastside High School. Allow faculty to make suggestions for improvement.
3. Determine parents expectation for career development at Eastside High School.
4. Data from tests will determine an educated career choice for the student based on personality traits, strengths, and abilities.
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Your final response:
1. Students believe more emphasis should be given to the topic of career development at Eastside High School because of the lack of current emphasis and their career indecision. (felt need, normative need)
2. Overall, the faculty of Eastside High School felt that the current strengths were few, naming counselor support and online aid as the two primary positives. On the other hand, the weaknesses of the topic revolved around the lack of instruction time for career exploration. More time for teacher preparation and student exploration of career development was common as a suggestion for impovement. (felt need)
3. Parents have very high expectations for Eastside High School in terms of aiding their children to the proper career choice. (comparative need) Eventhough parents have these high expectations, they also believe that parental involvement should be more involved in the process. (felt need)
4. Some students confirmed their personality, strengths, and abilities, but inaccurately chose a career choice without this information. (normative need) Taking the information from the test, the students were able to accurately coorelate career choices with their findings from the test.
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*Note: You are not required to gather data; you can draw on your experience or imagination to list the data you might gather.
The instructor's feedback to step 4:
Good, but why not ask employers as well?
5. Prioritize your list of needs.Which are most important? Why are they most important?
Prioritized needs |
Reasons/evidence for priority |
Your final response:
1. Improve the amount of time, effort, and quality given to career development planning for Juniors and Seniors at Eastside High School
2. Incorporate parental support and involvement into the career devlopment planning for Juniors and Seniors at Eastside High School
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Your final response:
1. There is an evident lack of time, effort, and quality given to career development. With positive improvements to career development planning at Eastside High School, students will be able to make an educated career choice based on personal strengths and goals.
2. Parental expectations and involvment helps to fully inform the student by creating family discussion and analysis of the student's career opportunities.
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The instructor's feedback to step 5:
Good
6. Rewrite your problem statement. Take a moment to look carefully at the initial problem statement that you wrote. Revisit your prioritized needs and check if your problem statement is still accurate and appropriate.
Rewrite the problem statement here:
Your final response:
Eastside High School's career development course does not adequately prepare and inform juniors and seniors for post-secondary career choices.
The instructor's feedback to step 6:
Good
7. Identify the instructional goals. The last step in Needs Assessment is to list a few goals of instruction. Remember, not all goals can be solved through instruction. The instructional goals you identify will be the starting information for the next steps in the instructional design process. List the instructional goals in order of priority.
Instructional goals by priority |
Reasons for importance |
Your final response:
1. Create a school-wide procedure (course), where students must go through an intensive career development process (as a Junior, then again as a Senior).
2. Create a unit of uniform instruction (specific career plan) that will allow Juniors and Seniors to make educated post-secondary choices.
3. Involve parents in the procedure for career development (parental involvement could be attained by conference, etc.).
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Your final response:
1. By creating a school-wide procedure, emphasis will be given to the topic of career development and more effort will be established by the teachers and faculty, as well as the students.
2. Uniform instruction will increase student self-awareness of strengths, weaknesses, personality, and goals and links these attributes with a career.
3. Parents need to be involved in this process to stress its importance to the student and generate family dialogue to completely inform the student of his/her options.
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The instructor's feedback to step 7:
INstructional goals? What happened to Gagne's types of knoweldge and the verbs associated with each.
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