Friday, August 29, 2014

How to Improve the Quality and Scope of Needs Assessment


How to Improve the Quality and Scope of Needs Assessment

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña Solano
Friday, August 29, 2014
Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 137

As one progresses through the ADDIE model in designing course instructional goals and tools, it is important to pause at every stage and evaluate the work that one has done so far. In this Community of Practice reflection and blog post, one can evaluate one’s way of going about Needs Assessment, and one is able to highlight areas that can be improved.


When asked how it is that one can improve the quality and scope of one’s Needs Assessment, it is necessary to think of the ADDIE method. This methodology can be improved in every step by having quite clear in one’s mind the learning goals that need to be achieved per week and in each project or course. Once skills, knowledge, and attitudes are considered, it is a good start to ask one’s faculty partners and students if they really find those factors relevant to accomplish the learning goal for a particular week. Furthermore, as soon as learning objectives are phrased, they ought to be perfected by having clear in mind what the “condition” [according to the ABCD method of writing objectives] is, since that is the behavior instructor’s want learners to replicate accurately.

Accuracy can also be attained by having in mind the need for the right instructional content behind the accomplishment of learning goals. As pointed out before, it is also convenient to ask other faculty members [professors or administrative staff] what they consider part of the instructional content that students need to learn to be able to achieve the course learning goals. Because, once this content is clearly identified, the teacher can define the instructional strategies and the needed resources to cover it. Then the transition from content to the execution of the learning objective for a specific week, fully connected with the course student exit profile, can be accomplished successfully with the right assessment.

What additional data sources are useful and/or informative when working in one’s needs assessment? Not only the faculty members who have already taught the course but also former students who can provide feedback are good sources of additional data to make decisions on how instructional content can be delivered. Student feedback is indeed crucial to fully develop the course that better suits the students and not the instructors in terms of learning. With some sort of students’ course evaluation polls or surveys, data can be gathered and analyzed to create a robust design that can really focus on the final product with some great learning for the learner.

What really counts for the instructor is what one can learn from the whole implementation process and its subsequent evaluation to see where refinement needs to be stressed. The ADDIE methodology of online course design is the one source of other data that is needed to replicate the process as many times as needed to perfect one’s course. That is the analysis, the design, the development, the implementation, and the evaluation are a never-ending cycle that can produce great quality in online teaching.



Culatta, Richard. (2013). ADDIE Model. Retrieved from the Instructional Design webpage at http://www.instructionaldesign.org/models/addie.html

Legault, N. (n.d.). [Infographic] The ADDIE Model. Retrieved from the Learn Dash Webpage at http://www.learndash.com/addie-model-explained-infographic/





at

No comments:

Post a Comment