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:

Very nice job overall. Just a few points for you to consider: 1 & 2: Good! These symptoms really suggest a problem. (Later, for class project purposes, I'm not sure whether the scope of this would be large enough, but that is not an issue for the IDA.) For IDA purposes I suggest you give the context as "4th & 5th grade classes at Timothy Road Elementary School" rather than simply "4th & 5th grade classes." Then, of course, you have the wider context given in the next item. 3 & 6: Excellent. 4. Excellent! Good use of data leading to appropriate results; except I'm not sure about the "Literature Review" item. Remember that you are collecting data to verify that an instructional need exists with specific people in a specific context. Perhaps you were thinking that a lit review would allow you to verify that these skills are normally expected of 4th and 5th grade students (normative or comparative)? But you could go directly to the state standards for that, I think. 5. I'm wondering how b&c) "Students only perform simple one-word searches and give up quickly when there are many results" is a felt need. You are describing a performance problem, but does someone feel that something is needed? Do the student feel frustrated? Thanks, by the way, for the lettering of your "findings" items. That made the re-ordering of needs easier for me to follow. :) 5c. I see your reasons for the individual needs, and the idea that there might be a cycle here, but why this particular order? 7. Good. But note that you've identified two sets of learners (students and teachers). If you go forward with this topic into the next IDA, I assume you will want to go with priority 1, the students. And once again, why this particular order? It is not uncommon, by the way, to have a "fork in the road" show up at the end of the needs assessment. Ideally one could do both projects - creating instruction for students and creating instruction for teachers. But I wouldn't want to require you to do two separate sets of IDAs or two projects. :) Thanks again for a nice job! Greg

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:

4th & 5th Grade classes

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:

3 Fourth and 3 Fifth Grade classes (20 ea.) at Timothy Rd. Elementary School in the city of Athens, GA - Clarke County School District, (1 of about 280 school districts in the state) -- Georgia, (USA, English Speaking Nations, World/Planet) ********** The 4th & 5th grades are part of the elementary school serving students from Pre-K through 5th grade. The students in all grades take part in regular flexibly scheduled visits to the library media center. The media centers offers a typical collection of quality materials, 12 workstation PC's in addition to 2 OPACs that also offer the full function of workstations. There is a rolling SmartBoard setup, tables and chairs to handle 2+ classes at a time and other areas for storytime and lounge reading.

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 spend a lot of time scrolling through search results, many of which are not related to the intended topic. Students often give up on searches that return too many results. Students only use simple, single word searches. Many students require media specialist and teacher help locating resources using the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) and also when searching online for information.

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:

The ability to efficiently search for and locate appropriate reliable information is essential for everybody in the modern world community, especially students in today's schools. If students do not learn efficient search techniques and feel comfortable with their use then they may not fully develop into competent and critical consumers of information - harming their achievement in education, careers, and in life. This is ultimately disadvantageous to the entire community. Students sometimes do not finish (find the wanted resources or information) during their class time because their search methods are limited to simple searches. A few students have difficulty identifying &/or expressing appropriate key words. Teacher and media specialist time and attention is limited.

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 elementary school is not adequately preparing 4th & 5th Grade students to search online for specific resources and information.

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.

*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?

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:

Research and resource based lesson-units in the 4th & 5th grades at Timothy Rd. Elementary school do not include lessons on limiting search results.

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.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.