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Instructional Design Activity: Needs Analysis

 

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:

Hi William: Your instructional goals are much improved and demonstrate what students will be able to do after completing the training. Dr. Law Hi William: I think you did a great job on this Needs Assessment. It is very thorough and well thought out. There are 2 areas that I think you should address: You wrote, "The Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail does not adequately satisfy visitors' desires to view and interact with native wildlife." Since this is a class about "Instructional" design, you should emphasis the educational aspects of the trail. In other words, for this exercise you want to create an instructional problem that can be addressed with instruction. For example, Teachers surveyed are not satsified with the educational value of the trail program. This goes with the other issue. Your final goals are good, but they don't point to instruction. This section should focus on the things you can improve with instruction, assuming other problems will have to be address with other means. Please address these two items and resubmit it to me for feedback. Again, this is a good Needs Assessment, I just think it should have these 2 components addressed for the purposes of this class. Dr. Law

 

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:

The Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail

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 Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail is part of Memorial Park which is owned and operated by the Athens-Clarke county leisure services . The trails serves as an educational tool to teach visitors about native Georgia wildlife. The trail is composed of a series of exhibits that hold a variety of birds and mammals. Two staff members manage the trail with one person assigned to animal care and exhibit maintanence and the other person assigned to education, outreach, and recruiting volunteers.

The instructor's feedback to step 1:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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:

1) The success of a set of exhibits is generally measured by the number of visitors to the exhibits. The number of visitors to the Bear Hollow trail is low and could be potentially decreasing. 2) Another measurement of the success of exhibits are the number of revisits. These numbers are also potentially decreasing. 3) Visitor satisfaction ultimately determines whether a visitor will revisit and whether they will tell others to visit. The satisfaction of visitors to Bear Hollow is low compared to similar facilities. 4) Different methods of advertising are pivotal to encouraging visitors to frequent an area. Currently, there is litle effort put into advertising by the staff.

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:

These symptoms indicate that the facility is not meeting the desires of the community and the visitors. If public use of the area drops to a minimum level, leisure services may decide to remove the trail to make room for something more profitable. A project, currently in the design phase, involves surveying and interviewing visitors to gather statistical evidence on the satisfaction rates of the visitors. These statistics would help define specific goals that need to be meet to raise satisfaction rates.

The instructor's feedback to step 2:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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:

The Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail does not adequately satisfy the visitors.

The instructor's feedback to step 3:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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.

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) Perform visitor counts 2) Conduct visitor surveys 3) Conduct visitor interviews 4) Conduct staff surveys 5) Review visitor rates in similar facilities

Your final response:

1) Visitor count 2) Visitor opinions on Bear Hollow programs and facilities 3) Visitor opinions on Bear Hollow programs and facilities 4) Staff opinions on Bear Hollow programs and facilities 5) Visitor rates and satisfaction rates at comparable facilities

Your final response:

1) Leisure services may require a minimum number of visitors for the trail to remain in use. (expressed need) 2,3,4) Personal opinions are helpful in determining satisfaction rates if the evaluations are objective, random, and independent (felt need). 5) Comparisons to other areas will help determine if the trail is competitive with similar facilities (comparitive need).

*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:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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) Personal opinions are helpful in determining satisfaction rates if the evaluations are objective, random, and independent (felt need). 2) Leisure services may require a minimum number of visitors for the trail to remain in use. (expressed need) 3) Comparisons of other areas will help determine if the trail is competitive with other similar facilities (comparitive need).

Your final response:

In the this project, visitor opinions are the most important infomation to gather. If visitors are satisified, then they will return to the area and tell friends about it. However, if the visitors are not satisfied, we need to understand exactly what they are not satisfied about and fix it to improve the facility. The number of visitor is most likely going to be directly affected by the visitor opinions. Also, if the satisfaction level is high, then the trail should remain competitive with other facilities.

The instructor's feedback to step 5:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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:

The Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail does not adequately satisfy visitors' desires to view and interact with native wildlife.

The instructor's feedback to step 6:

No specific feedback given on this step.

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) The satisfaction rate of the trail's visitors will increase to a level that is statistically significant. 2) The number of visitors to the trail will increase to a level that is statistically significant. 3) The success of the trail will be competitive with similar facilities in terms of numbers and satisfaction.

 

Your final response:

1) The main goal of this project is to increase satisfaction rates. It is important to add "to a level that is statistically significant" because it provides the designers with a way to measure the success of reaching the goal. 2) The number of visitors needs to be increased to ensure the future use of the trail for environmental education. 3) Any product or facility needs to remain competitive to ensure the continued use of that product or facility.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.