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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:

Clayton, You've done well here and most of the suggestions are minor. I wish my high school students had taken a course in preparing effective PPT presentations. One of my pet peeves was when they'd put 3 paragraphs of text on one slide then stand there and read it to the class - boring the other students and me! Good luck with implementing this! 1a. You context tells me that there is a need for instruction in your classroom, but it does not tell me which aspect of your class needs the instruction. From your problem statement, I would suggest that the context be something like "Creating Content Rich PowerPoint Presentations." Notice from Lloyd's example, the context is "Instructional Design Course," which is more specific than a class of master's students, for example. 1b. You could be a little more specific here including what kinds of presentation platforms you will use such as hand outs, examples of Content Rich PPT presentations, etc... 4b. You provided excellent examples of hypothetical data that would result from the reports and your surveys. 6. This is very minor, because you have the basic idea in writing problem statements. I only bother to tell you because this may be useful in the future. The problem statement is best written with the Mr. Shaw's class as the subject of the problem. By doing this, Mr. Shaw's class is clearly responsible for the problem and this shows that he needs to 'take action' to resolve it. Try this: "Mr. Shaw's class does not effectively prepare students to produce content-rich PPT presentations." You have done a great job and I can tell that you understand this process. Keep up the good work! Email me if you have questions, Lindsay

 

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:

Mr. Shaw's 4th Grade Class

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:

Mr. Shaw's 4th Grade class is one of eight 4th grade classes at Benefield Elementary School. Benefield is a part of the Berkmar Cluster of schools within the Gwinnett County Public School System. In the class are 23 students ages 9-10, one instructor (Mr. Shaw).

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:

Students in Mr. Shaw's class are unable to to effectively create PowerPoint movies as a project at the end of the year. The student presentations lack in content and understanding of the subject matter. The student presentations are filled with needless animations, sound effects, transitions, and clip art. The movie's slides are repetitive and out of sequence.

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:

Mr. Shaw's students are given the opportunity to create their own instruction through making PowerPoint movies. However the program itself is a distraction from the content itself which is what they should be learning. When tested on the content 75% of the class failed.

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:

Mr. Shaw's students are not prepared to create PowerPoint movies rich in content.

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:

a. Conference with students after watching the presentations. b. Let classmates rate student's movies. c. Give a test to check for understanding of the content.

Your final response:

a. Student's realize much information is missing from their presentations because they didn't preview their work. a. Student's are confused by what id needed to complete the task. b. Student's are more interested in the clip art, sound effects, and rapid transition of slides. a. and b. The is the first time the students have done an assignment like this. c. Student's fail the test because more time was spent and more questions were asked about PowerPoint than the content.

Your final response:

Student's would rather spend more time on effects than content. (Expressed) Student's are failing the test on the content. (Normative) Student's are confused about what is required of them in the assignment. (Felt)

*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. Student's are failing the test on the content. (Normative) 2. Student's are confused about what is required of them in the assignment. (Felt) 3. Student's would rather spend more time on effects than content. (Expressed)

Your final response:

The first is a necessity in the fact that they have to learn the required content and pass their tests in order to move on to the next level at school. Knowledge and understanding will always be a top priority. The second is the reason for the failure of execution on the required assignment. The last is more of a behavioral problem and lack of discipline.

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:

Mr. Shaw's students are unable to produce content rich PowerPoints because the class doesn't effectively prepare them.

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. Students will be able to produce content rich PowerPoint movies. 2. Students will be given given clear directions of the requirements needed to provide exemplary work.

 

Your final response:

Number one is the most important since it suggests that the students will be able to effectively produce the final product, however that would not be possible without the help given to them in the second statement.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.