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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:

Nice job on this IDA. There are just a few points for you to consider: 1a & 1b. Your context is Shiloh High School, so the extra information about the school would more appropriately be included in 1b. Also, your list in 1b, giving the broader environment, is ok for the IDA, but keep in mind that for your team project this information needs to be presented in narrative form rather than as a list. Step 2 is looking good. 3 & 6. Your problem statement appropriately uses the context as the subject of the sentence. It's a good problem statement, but somehow I would prefer "not doing an adequate job" rather than "doing a poor job." Maybe that's just my preference. Step 4 is looking good also; but note that for 4b (kinds of information), instead of teacher interviews (or student interviews) you should say "teacher interview data" or "teacher opinions." (In other words, the interview itself is one of the instruments you are using to collect data, so that is covered in 4a.) 5a. You seem to understand this overall, but I would call the first item - involving pre-test scores - a normative need. Also, does the last item point to a need? If the teachers don't realize that the media center can be a vital partner in teaching information literacy, then is this un-felt rather than felt? :) Maybe these teachers' perception does not support your argument that this is an instructional need. (Though one assumes that their lack of awareness would not outweigh the other factors that *do* support your argument.) For 5b, you should simply re-use the items from 5a but rearrange the order if necessary. You are falling into the temptation to talk about what the instruction should be here, but that comes later in the instructional design process. Here we are just trying to identify a need. In step 7, you're doing well and I believe I understand what you are trying to say; and "incorporate" and "utilize" are good action verbs for instructional goal purposes. However, you will want to avoid language like "be familiar with" - it would be better expressed as "be able to identify," which puts it into the realm of measurable behaviors. Likewise, "will see the media specialist as" might need to be translated into something like "will be able to explain the benefits of working with the media specialist in creating instruction." In 7b, I see your discussion of why each goal is needed, but you don't explain why you gave them this particular order of priority. Other than these points, you've done a commendable job. I hope you find this feedback helpful. :) 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:

Shiloh High School--a suburban high school in Gwinnett Count that has undergone a huge demographic change in the past 5 years. This IDA would focus primarily on 9th grade students.

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:

U.S. Dept of Education, Georgia Department of Education, Gwinnett County Board of Education, Gwinnett County Media Services, Shiloh High School, Shiloh High School Media Center, Teachers, Administrators, Students, Community, Business Owners (I used an exemplary IDA from the library to help create this list)

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 unable to locate appropriate materials for research assignments, unclear directions given to students, students unable to narrow down research topics, identify key words to locate materials, students too reliant on Google and Wikipedia type sources instead of using databases and media center materials

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:

Information literacy skills are important not only in an academic setting, they are necessary to being a productive employee and member of society. Being able to locate the appropriate resources to answer questions and solve problems/issues is a vital skill for students to have. When teachers come into the media center, they either don't request any services from the media specialists or ask for all materials to be gathered for the students. Gathering all the materials isn't helping students find the resources on their own. They don't have to evaluate the appropriateness of books, websites, or databases. Many teachers request the materials to help with time constraints--they have to cover a great deal of info and they also recognize that their students have weak research skills.

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:

Shiloh HS is doing a poor job of teaching and reinforcing effective research skills.

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:

--To verify that this observable problem of lack of research skills is real, the media specialist could give all students a pre-assessment from the TRAILS-9 project out of Rutgers University. This assessment is designed to identify areas of weakness specifically with 9th grade students. Areas that are tested are developing topics, identifying potential sources, revising searches, evaluating sources and information and how to use information. --Interview teachers to see if they consider their students' research skills to be poor, how they teach research skills, and what projects they assign that require research skills. --Interview students and see what methods they use when given a research topic, find out if they are aware of media center resources, ask them to describe a research project they have worked on in the past and how successful they were with completing it.

Your final response:

Pre-test scores using the TRAILS-9 assessments, teacher interviews, student interviews

Your final response:

--Pre-tests showed weaknesses in students' ability to identify appropriate sources of information, topics that were too broad or narrow, and how to identify key words to use in searches (expressed). --Teachers were unaware of the resources available to their students including databases and research guidelines provided by the county (normative?). --Students expressed frustration over being given assignments that were too complicated to complete successfully. They did not feel they had the necessary skills to be successful (expressed). --Teachers don't realize that the media center can be a vital partner in teaching information literacy and research skills (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:

--Media specialist creation of materials to be used by classroom teachers when introducing and teaching research --Teacher instruction on available resources to use with research assignments --Teacher instruction on providing clear guidelines for research projects/assignments --Student pre-test given to assess areas of weakness --Student instruction to address those areas of weakness

Your final response:

Unless the teachers are told about available resources, they won't use them. Teachers feel overwhelmed at the amount of material they have to teach, so the media specialist will be vital in helping them learn about the vast number of resources available to them and to their students.

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:

Shiloh HS is doing a poor job of teaching and reinforcing effective research skills.

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. Teachers will be familiar with the available resources and incorporate them into their lesson plans. 2. Teachers will see the media specialist as a partner in instruction and utilize resources available. 3. Students will narrow down research topics, identify key words to facilitate searching, find and use the appropriate resources to complete their research assignment.

 

Your final response:

1. Teachers need to know what is available so that the resources are used. 2. Students need to be able to conduct research not only for academic purposes, but for life skills. Even if a student does not choose to go on to post-secondary education, he/she will need to know how to locate the answers to questions, find necessary resources, and be a critical thinker.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.