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:

Overall feedback: This is a good start! You've got through the whole process carefully, although there are a few things to sort out. Please see my comments below: 1a & 1b, 3, 6: I'm not sure whether the final system of interest is "8th grade class"(as indicated in 1a), "Mr. Deens' 8th grade English/language arts class"(as indicated in 1b), or "XYZ Middle School" (as indicated in 3 and 6). You analyzed the relationship of the system of interest with its larger environments well in 1b, but it simply isn't consistent throughout. Even if within the whole school the 8th grade has only one English class which is led by Mr. Deens, I would like to suggest you use the same "subject"--8th grade Mr. Deens' English class throughout your answers to ensure consistency and to avoid confusion. [Note from Greg: Ying is right about the consistency issue. Even though Lloyd's example for 1a is simply "the instructional design class," which is not terribly specific, if you, on the other hand, know which particular 8th grade class is of interest, then you could go ahead and be more specific in 1a. The context in 1a compared to 1b is admittedly a minor point. On the other hand, though, if the identity of the context needs to shift from one particular 8th grade class to the whole middle school (3 & 6), some explanation for this shift needs to be given, and it should arise from the data.] Step 2: God job! The description of symptoms is very specific, vivid and to the point. The explanations about why this appears a problem is convincing, and your suspicion of lack of note-taking skills seems reasonable in this context. Step 4: I'm not sure about the types of information that TRAILS9 reveals, but I assume it helps discover deficiencies in note-taking. Otherwise, there will be a lack of evidence to support the linkage between the problems as reflected in student research papers and their note-taking skills. Step 5: God job! I agree with you in the identified needs and your order of priority. Step 6: Here are two issues. First, as discussed earlier, please reconsider the subject of your problem statement. Second, I still have difficulty establishing the causal relationship between students' difficulty in note-taking with their deficiencies in citing sources, etc. Although note-taking is one area of the needs you identified, it still seem a little awkward to make it the cause of other needs. At least, from the final problem statement, it appears fixing the note-taking problem will help meet the overall instructional needs. [Note from Greg: I think the causal relationship issue is an important one; and maybe there are important aspects of this problem that are behavioral or attitudinal rather than instructional. But to the extent that instruction can be used to attack the problem, I think you are on the right track.] Step 7: You understand what a good goal "looks like". The goals are well-stated except the last statement is a little difficult to understand. Overall, you did a thorough analysis of the instructional situation and surely demonstrated your knowledge in a relevant subject. The overall suggestion: Maybe trying to simplify the "problem-needs-goals" a little would make the whole IDA more clear and easy to follow. [Note from Greg: I didn't share Ying's difficulty in understanding that last instructional goal, but other than that I approve of her comments. ]

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:

8th 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. Deens' 8th grade English/language arts class -- within the 8th grade Green Team at XYZ Middle School -- within the Rural County Middle School in Small Town, Georgia -- subject to the Georgia Performance Standards and NCLB :)

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. Deens' class express frustration with research papers. When they go to the media center to work on their research project, they goof off and pull and replace books from the shelf aimlessly. When Mr. Deens asks to see their notes, the pages only have doodles. The finished papers appear to lack organization and be hastily and poorly done. Although they are using the sources Mr. Deens recommended, they seem to have missed many of the key points from those resources. Worse still, Mr. Deens suspects that some of the papers include direct, uncredited quotations from other sources, even though he has cautioned students about this in the past.

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:

A common theme within these symptoms could be explained by the possibility the students do not know how to take notes well: their lack of written notes, the poor quality of their final research papers, and the possibility of plagiarism. In the short term, students will probably produce poor-quality research papers for Mr. Deens. If these symptoms continue, the students will likely have similar trouble in high school and perhaps college as they are asked to complete more demanding research papers. Further in the future, they could have difficulty in work and personal life when gathering information to make decisions; they could also be jeopardizing their credibility by not knowing how to give credit appropriately for other people's ideas.

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:

XYZ Middle School has not prepared its students to take research notes and cite sources. (A little explanation: my design buddy pointed out it was strange for the preliminary and the final problem statement to be the same. I agree. While I didn't do it deliberately, I tend to do a lot of revising in my head and while I type... so I tried to mentally backtrack to what I think the original version looked like.)

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:

XYZ Middle School has not fully prepared its students to take and use research notes to capture important ideas from sources and give credit to the original sources of those ideas.

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.