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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:

Good job overall! You seem to have understood the important aspects of needs assessment. The following are a few things I noted: 1. Good job. 2a. You presented the symptom concisely and to the point. It'll be even better if there's other relevant information indicating the problem as well. 3 & 6. What if the reason is the first possibility that you discussed earlier--the lack of reading ability at their grade level instead of the lack of willingness to advance their reading? Simply educating students about the importance of reading does not seem adequate for helping them developing the ability. Your stated needs and goals reflected the necessity to improve both students' reading ability and willingness to read. However, your problem statement did not explicitly indicate this. 4a. The data sources you named are great and definitely very helpful for identifying the problem and possible reasons. Have you also considered involving students themselves to get "first-hand" data? Viewing an issue from multiple perspectives helps sometimes. 4b. Good that you indicated student feedback here which wasn't specifically stated in 4a. When addressing 4a, it also helps to tell the particular approaches that you are going to collect data from the sources, such as interview, focus group, surveys, etc. 5. Excellent! Accurate identification and sequencing of needs in terms of priority. 7. Goal 1 & 2 are nicely stated. The Goal 3 statement is not quite grammatical. More importantly, it shows how students will be evaluated by others (the school, the teacher, etc.) but does not represent expected behaviors or skills that are usually emphasized in a goal statement. [Note from Greg: The expression "by undergoing new, more motivating instruction" in the instructional goals isn't really needed, because what we are concerned with in this stage is identifying a learning need, not prescribing anything about the instruction (not yet, that is!).] Keep up the good work! Ying [Note from Greg: With my above comment in mind, I approve of Ying's feedback.]

 

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:

The Media Center at Oglethorpe County 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:

The school library media center is part of the elementary school which houses 3rd - 5th grade students only. The primary school is located right next door but has it's own media center. It is the only elementary school in a very large but sparsely populated county. All schools in the county are part of the Oglethorpe County School District. The media center has 1 media specialist and 1 clerk.

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 are checking out books well under their reading level.

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 fact that students are checking out books well below their reading level indicate that they are either reading well below their reading level or they are only checking out easy books to take AR tests. In the Media Center I observe students checking out these books and there are reports from the AR test that the students take indicating the books that they are reading. There are students who are reading at or above their reading level which is promising but there are many students in the school who are either unable or unwilling to read the books designated for them.

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 media center is not properly educating it's students on the importance of advancing their knowledge and lifelong love of reading.

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:

Reports printed from the AR test site for the school indicate what percentage of students are reading books not on their reading level. Media center staff and teachers can also help identify students who are struggling or not motivated. Statistics and feedback can be directly tied to changes that need to be made in the instructional design of the Media Center. The data indicates a need for further motivation and instruction helping students create a lifelong love of reading.

Your final response:

AR tests and scores, circulation records, teacher, media center staff and students feedback.

Your final response:

Students are not reading at grade level (normative) Media center staff and teachers believe we need further instruction and motivation for the students (felt) Students need to advance their reading abilities to be able to keep up in future grades (anticipated)

*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:

Students are not reading at grade level (normative) Students need to advance their reading abilities to be able to keep up in future grades (anticipated) Media center staff and teachers believe we need further instruction and motivation for the students (felt)

Your final response:

The most important thing is for students to be reading at or above grade level and develop a lifelong love of reading. Students will need this to be able to keep up in future grades. Though the staff is important that felt need is not as important as students achievement.

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 media center is not properly educating it's students on the importance of advancing their reading ability and creating a lifelong love of reading.

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:

Students should be able to read at or above grade level by undergoing new, more motivating instruction. Students should understand the value and importance of reading by undergoing new, more motivating instruction. Students will be evaluated based on their actual reading level not just the books they take AR tests on after teachers place more importance on reading levels than AR points.

 

Your final response:

Because students advance their ability to read and creating a lifelong love of reading is more important than AR testing.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.