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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:

A fine IDA. Just several points for you to consider. 1 & 2. Excellent. You've identified and described your context well, and the symptoms do seem to point to a problem. 3 & 6. Excellent! You understand the concept of the problem statement very well. 4a. Good, but you might want to also survey curriculum committees or administrators - in other words, other stakeholders who can speak to this need. 5a. Good, but note that if "Teachers believe it is not beneficial to students ..." then this doesn't support the idea that there is an instructional need here. According to teachers, this is not beneficial - they are not agreeing that use of the online classroom is a need. Maybe this felt need is really "un-felt." :) So you will need to use the other data you have as a counter-weight to the teachers' view, if you are to argue for this as an instructional need. Also, I'm not sure how the last item ("Comparative - Of the teachers using the online classroom, some teachers post ...") describes a need. Can you further articulate the need that this represents? I like the rationale you present in 5c about the overall situation and the priorities. Very clear thinking. 7. I'm not sure you needed to itemize the goals the way you have it here - it seems to me that these are part of one instructional goal. But you will need to look at steps & substeps in the next part of the ID process, so this may not really hurt anything. Later, the class will look at affective goals as secondary outcomes to ID projects. You might want to consider having teachers "choose to use the online classroom" as another goal here. But of course I wouldn't recommend an affective goal (i.e., attitude) as a primary goal for an ID project (at least not for this course). Changing attitudes is very difficult! :) 7b. Great. You clearly explain why you prioritized things this way. A lot of students seem to miss this - they tend to just try to explain each item separately. Again, great 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:

Jones Middle Professional Development

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 Professional Development system at Jones Middle is a series of workshops that offer teachers instruction in how to integregate new teaching methods into their daily instruction. Workshops are offered on an as needed basis; many take place during teacher planning or on teacher work days. Some courses are offered in the morning before school. The school requires attendance to some workshops, but other workshops are optional. (The online classroom workshop was optional.) Instructors vary depending on the subject matter of the workshop. All Professional Development is aimed at helping teachers improve their students' CRCT test scores, which is part of the school's local plan for improvement.

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:

Recent ITBS reading scores were slightly below the county prediction, although they were aligned with students' COGAT scores. CRCT scores across the curriculum rank Jones anywhere from 5th to 11th in the county among 20 middle school. School administration would like to for Jones to be in the top 5 middle schools in the county. The school pays for an interactive learning portal called Moodle. Currently, teachers use Moodle to post "blogs" of their daily homework. However, only a small fraction of the faculty use the online classroom for instructional purposes.

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 teachers are not using the interactive learning system, teacher-student interaction is limited to classroom / school time. If teachers were to use the online classroom, they could redeliver material presented during classroom time and offer support for home-based learning using documents, links to websites, power point presentations, and opportunities for students to interact reflectively online. Hence, the quality and content of student learning time at home,outside of the normal school day, would improve. Hopefully, that improved learning time would be reflected in improved CRCT scores.

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 Professional Development plan does not adequately prepare teachers to implement an online classroom.

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. Check the online classroom listing to see how many teachers have actually created an online classroom. 2. Look at the contents of the online classrooms to ascertain the number and variety of assignments posted as well as the frequency of posting online learning activities. 3. Survey teachers to see who feels they possess the skills to create and implement an online classroom.

Your final response:

number of active users types of online classroom activities frequency of posting new activities

Your final response:

Felt - Teachers feel they do not possess the skills to create an online classroom. Teachers believe it is not beneficial to students to use the online classroom. Teachers would like to use the online classroom but feel they don't have the time to keep it updated. Expressed - Only x number of teachers out of Y total faculty memebers use the online classroom option. Teachers have received 1-2 hours of professional development in using this technology. Comparative - Of the teachers using the online classroom, some teachers post new activities daily, some weekly, some only monthly.

*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. Teachers feel they do not possess the skills to create an online classroom. 2. Only x number of teachers out of Y total faculty memebers use the online classroom option. 3. Of the teachers using the online classroom, some teachers post new activities daily, some weekly, some only monthly. 4. Teachers believe it is not beneficial to students to use the online classroom. 5. Teachers would like to use the online classroom but feel they don't have the time to keep it updated.

Your final response:

It would be best to try to get a few teachers using it well before worrying about a bunch of teachers using it ineffectively; therefore, the actual number is not as important as identifying which teachers would like to use it but feel that they don't have the skills or the time. The instructor wouldn't have to worry about the teachers who think Moodle is not beneficial at this point in the activity. The teachers who want to learn more will be motivated to learn, and then they can serve as models to motivate the teachers who are reserved about the benfits of the technology. Hopefully, the more skilled teachers are, the more they will use the technology. Once teachers see others using effectively, they will feel more compelled to try it. Plus, teachers could share online activities rather than feeling like they have to recreate the wheel. The time factor is not easily solved because it involves many other factors such as number of ancillary meetings, teachers' personal lives, etc.

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 Jones Middle Professional Development plan does not adequately prepare teachers to implement an online classroom using Moodle.

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:

Teachers participating in Professional Development in the use of online classrooms will be able to 1. upload a Power Point with audio 2. create a forum for open ended reflections 3. upload a document 4. add a link to a website 5. create an online quiz

 

Your final response:

The first goal is the most important. If teachers can learn to upload a PowerPoint presentation with audio, they could redeliver their classroom lecture for students to review as a study aid as well as for students who are absent to keep up with the work. The second goal is important because it created an interactive environment that requires writing of thoughts, a skill that will help students who might take interactive classes in high school or college.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.