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Instructional Design Activity: Needs Analysis

 

Overall Instructor Rating: Exemplary

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:

An excellent Needs assessment IDA! Bravo! I have just a few comments for you: 1 & 2. Your context and symptoms are looking great. These symptoms do seem to point to a problem. 3 & 6. I like seeing how your problem statement evolved between the first version and the revised version. In the first version you had the subject of the sentence correct but the rest of the sentence was not straightforward. The revised version is much improved. 4 & 5. You've done a nice job of investigating the need and presenting your findings. Probably I would change the language a bit on some of them - "There's a need for" is not so specific, so I would change that to "Students expressed a need for" or something like that. Your need #5, but the way, could be called both normative and anticipated. In 5c, you explain why each point is important, but you haven't told me why you put them in this particular order. Your instructional goals (7) are looking good. You've gotten very specific with some of it, and the risk there is that it remains to be seen whether those particular details remain the same or change as you go forward. So consider simplifying the instructional goal(s). But that is kind of a "good problem." (What some students do here is start describing the instruction, which is too early - so that would be a problem. But you have simply presented detailed goals.) Finally, you have nicely explained why you prioritized the goals this way, which a lot of students miss. Well done! 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:

A+ Elementary School

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:

A+ Elementary School with grades PK through 5th and a student population of 300 students. Students PK through 2nd come to the Media Center for storytime and those in Grades 3, 4 and 5 participate in structured information literacy instruction.

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:

During the first semester all students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 receive information literacy instruction on how to locate materials in the OPAC (online public access catalog). The instruction appears to be inadequate. Additionally a number of students enroll throughout the school year meaning that they miss the first semester orientation and their instruction is haphazard. The population percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch is 62.5%.

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:

Observed symptoms of the problem are that a noticeable number of students are asking for help locating the materials they want and they don't seem to know how to decode the information as shown in the OPAC; many ask for help without checking the OPAC first. Students will find the OPAC record, look for the materials, not find them, then ask for help. When the media clerk and student return to the OPAC, it's clear to the media clerk that the material is checked out. A student recently asked how to find, for example, "FMIN" (meaning F MIN: Fiction, MIN the first three letters of the author's last name). Both are indicators of an OPAC information decoding problem. Throughout the school year there are newly enrolled students who need to be brought up to speed. The ESOL students also appear to need more help. Some students are effective independent users of the OPAC; often these students will help other students. These may be students who have had the information literacy lesson yearly for three years (i.e., 5th graders); they may have learned the skill at a different school (new transfers); they may have learned the skill using the public library's OPAC, or are more computer savvy and accustomed to looking up information on the internet. Students on free/reduced lunch may not have access to computers at home.

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 current information literacy lessons on using the OPAC and finding the materials in the Media Center are not meeting all students' needs.

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:

The number of times that students ask for help in locating Media Center materials will support the problem statement. The Media Specialist and Media Clerk can keep a running record during a set time period of all student requests for help and query students whether they consulted the OPAC before they asked for help or they asked for help first. The Media Specialists at the other two elementary schools that feed into the middle school will be interviewed as to their expectations and observations of student performance in this area. The Media Specialist at the middle school will also be interviewed as to the expectations for skill levels of incoming 6th graders and to find out if the incoming students' skills in this area are considered to be poor, adequate, or above expectation. Students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade will be surveyed to determine their confidence levels in using the OPAC to locate materials in the Media Center. The teachers of these grades will be interviewed to determine if improved skills could have an impact on CRCT scores. The need for additional instruction and/or support materials will be shown by the data collected. The data gathered may disprove my problem statement.

Your final response:

The record of the number of times students ask for help support that students are not understanding the OPAC information or the student's don't consult the OPAC before asking for help. The student survey showed that x percent of students are uncomfortable using the OPAC either because they don't know how to use it or they don't understand the information they find or even when they can decode the information they don't know how to locate the materials in the library. The media specials from the two other elementary schools report that their students are having similar difficulties. The middle school media specialist reported that ideally incoming 6th graders would be coming in better prepared and students transfering in anytime during the school year is also a problem. The reports from the teachers as to the impact on CRCT scores from improved skills was inconclusive.

Your final response:

1. Students want to feel more confident and independent in locating media center materials (Expressed). 2. There's a need for additional information literacy skill instruction (expressed). 3. There's a need for materials that new enrollees that have missed the first semester information literacy intstruction on using the OPAC can use to learn the needed skills (Anticipated/Future). 4. There's a need for materials that support instruction that students can take with them and to keep near the computer stations that the students use in the media center (Felt). 5. Students' skills need to be improved to prepare them for 6th grade (Normative).

*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. There's a need for additional information literacy skill instruction (expressed). 2. There's a need for materials that support instruction that students can take with them and to keep near the computer stations that the students use in the media center (Felt). 3. There's a need for materials that new enrollees, who have missed the first semester information literacy instruction on using the OPAC, can use to learn these needed skills (Anticipated/Future). 4. Students' skills need to be improved to prepare them for 6th grade (Normative). 5. Students want to feel more confident and independent in locating media center materials (Expressed).

Your final response:

1. The frequency of students asking for help despite previous information literacy lessons on using the OPAC indicates that the lessons have not met their needs. 2. Developing instructional support materials will help to reinforce the skills instruction. Having the materials available at the Media Center's computer stations will allow easy access and reference for students. 3. Having the instructional support materials available for new enrollees who miss the initial first semester instruction should enable them to catch up/improve their skills. 4. The media specialist at the middle school indicated that the rising 6th graders are not coming in with weak skills. 5. Students' confidence will be improved when they can independently locate materials in the media center. If the first three needs are successfully met, needs 4 and 5 would, in effect, be resolved.

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 current information literacy lessons on using the OPAC are not adequately preparing students to successfully and independently find materials in the Media Center.

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 search the OPAC by keyword, subject, title, author, AR reading program/reading level range and or points range. 2. Students will be able to decode the information found in the OPAC record by material type book, video, website, fiction, nonfiction, reference, biography; and determine if a copy is currently available. 3. By fifth grade students will become fully independent users of the OPAC.

 

Your final response:

Goals 1 and 2 are the most important because they need and will use these skills throughout their academic careers; mastering these skills will appropriately prepare students for 6th grade. Increasing student independence not only builds student confidence, but also frees the media specialist's and media clerk's time for other types of one-to-one skills instruction and support.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.