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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:

Your team did an excellent job with this IDA It is clear and the needs follow logically from the "data trail". (I almost gave you a rating of 'exemplary'; there are just a few areas that need some work/clarification). Here are some specific comments:

1. Excellent job of describing the overall system!

2. The symptoms you've described and the reasons why they pose a possible problem were very well done.

3 & 6: Excellent stating of the problem!

4 & 5. State your needs only in terms of performance gaps. What should these teachers know or do versus what they already know or do. Don't list an "online tutorial" as a need -- specifying how to eliminate the need comes in a later stage.

7. Your instructional goals look very good. Of course, "demonstrate proficiency" is still a little fuzzy, so be sure to clarify and make more precise the actual behaviors as your team works on IDA 2 (course design).

Nice work!

 

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 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:

Shiloh Elementary School is a part of the Gwinnett County Public School System which is under the Georgia Department of Education and the United States Department of Education. Shiloh Elementary is one of 63 elementary schools within Gwinnett County Public Schools. The county school system is divided into various departments including the Department of Information Management within the Department of Teacher Development. Within Shiloh Elementary is the Media and Technology committee. Many reports and statistics are now kept on computer and teachers must be able to keep accurate records. At Shiloh Elementary School there are teachers, support staff, and students that are all affected by the technology available in the school. The parents businesses and community around the school are also affected by the level of expertise the teachers have in the area of technology. As the world around the school moves forward with technology, the teachers and the schools must be able to stay current with the level of technology available to them.

The instructor's feedback to step 1:

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:

Teachers repeatedly seek assistance when performing administrative tasks or locating information that is readily available on their desktop.
Teacher frustration with utilizing technology is wide spread as gauged by informal conversations, email, and teacher survey results.
Due to common deadlines for certain administrative tasks, such as entering grades prior to report card distribution, the LSTC is bombarded with numerous requests for assistance within a short time frame, resulting in frustration for both the teachers seeking the assistance and the LSTC trying to fulfill the requests.

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:

Teachers avoid using the technology resulting in errors and missed deadlines. Instructional and planning is lost for both the LSTC and the teacher due to repeated and constant requests for assistance with technology.

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 Elementary does a good job in initial training of their teachers in the use of available software. However, they do not do an adequate job of helping to facilitate retention of the learning.

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:

a. Staff Survey
b. Research Articles
c. Concerns brought to the Media and Technology Committee by teachers
d. Informal Interviews with teachers.
e. SASI, IGPRO, and FTE.

Your final response:

a. Survey Results
b. Summary of Research
c.& d. Concerns of teachers.
e. Errors in data that require manual corrections

Your final response:

a,b,c,d,e –Provide easily accessible tutorials for the software required for administrative tasks. (normative)
a,b,c.d,e –Provide a printed, concise document that lists the software needed for specific administrative tasks, how to access it from laptops and a brief tutorial on how to complete the task. (anticipated) a,b,c,d,e Schedule refresher sessions.

*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. Online tutorials for required administrative software with practice data (anticipated)
2. A printed, concise document that lists the software needed for specific administrative tasks, how to access it from laptops and a brief tutorial on how to complete the task. (normative) 3. a,b,c,d,e Schedule refresher sessions.(anticipated)

Your final response:

1. Teachers have stated that if they felt more confident about the software, they would use it independently. (felt) 2. Teachers also expressed a fear of working on actual student data when they are unsure of how to use the software. (felt) 3. Teachers expressed a desire for practice time when LSTC was available for questions and answers.(felt)

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:

6. Shiloh Elementary is not providing the support required for retention of technology skills learned during staff development.

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 will demonstrate proficiency at navigating the GCPS WAN and Local School networks
Teachers will demonstrate proficiency using required administrative software such as IGPRO, SASI, and Lotus Notes.

 

Your final response:

Teachers need to understand how to locate the software, files, and handbooks they will be using before they can learn how to use it independently
The two programs they should use on daily basis are SASI and IGPRO. These are the grade book and student record software.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

No specific feedback given on this step.