Needs Analysis
- 1. What is needs analysis? How is it completed? Why is it important?In simplest terms, a needs analysis includes all the activities used to collect information about your students' learning needs, wants, wishes, desires, etc… The process also sometimes involves looking at the expectations and requirements of other interested parties such as the teacher/teacher's aid/ tutor (you), administrators, financial supporters, and other people who may be impacted by the program (such as students' family members or employers). A needs analysis can be very formal, extensive and time consuming, or it can be informal, narrowly focused and quick. Some of resources for conducting a needs analysis may include surveys and questionnaires, test scores, and interviews.The information gleaned from a needs analysis can be used to help you define program goals. These goals can then be stated as specific teaching objectives, which in turn will function as the foundation on which to develop lesson plans, materials, tests, assignments and activities. Basically, a needs analysis will help you to clarify the purposes of your language program.How a needs analysis is completed will depend on the situation, who is doing it, why it is being done, etc… For example, in the first class I ever taught as a student teacher, my team-teacher and I really wanted to customize our instruction. We wanted our students to feel like we valued their input and opinions. We wanted them to see that we would implement suggestions that they gave us so that they would feel that this was really their class.We put together a survey and a questionnaire to give our students on the first day as a sort of informal needs analysis that we could then use to help develop our lessons. We handed them out, and immediately panicked when we realized our students couldn't understand a lick of what we had just given them and that half of our first day's lesson was shot.We ended up quickly sketching a mouth, an ear, a pencil, and an open book. By using our simple drawings and gestures we were able to get our students to raise their hands for the skill that was most important to them. After most of our students raised their hands for the mouth (speaking) and the ear (listening) we recognized that our detailed questionnaire and probing survey that focused primarily on reading and writing was not the right tool for needs analysis for that class.We learned from that initial needs analyses, and as we continued to implement needs analysis through informal assessment over the semester to tweak our lesson planning, we became more flexible and better at figuring out our students needs and how best to meet them.Complete the exercise of your choice and email it to Dr. Strong-Krause at diane_strong-krause@byu.edu.REFLECTIONComplete a needs analysis for your volunteer situation:Figure out the demographics of your students and what they need to get out of the class. Describe this in detail as well as how you obtained your information (Don't underestimate the value of talking with other teachers-or others who currently are or have been in your same situation!).Following are two links to BYU hosted sites that may help guide your collection: http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/teacher/syllabusThe \" Background and Pre-Assessment\" module of:http://humanities.byu.edu/Linguistics/Henrichsen/LessonPlanning/index.htmlFind out how the needs of the students in your classroom were assessed. Describe why you think it was completed the way it was. Do you think the needs analysis was sufficient? Why or why not?DISCOVERYWhat do you believe to be the most pressing need of your students? How did you determine this? Why do you think it is important? Is this need being proportionately addressed in your lesson plans? How? If it is not, how will you modify your objectives and lessons to attend to that need?What do you really know about your students' needs? Before or after class or during a break, ask a student in your class why he or she needs to learn English. Describe what he or she tells you and then write a brief reaction (1-2 paragraphs) about it.VISIONThink about the situation in which you are currently volunteering. What student needs is the language program meeting? What are some of the needs your students have that are not being met? How do you think the program administrators, teachers, etc. chose which needs to address? If you could determine the content of the language program, how would you go about doing so?Have you ever taken a class that has made you wonder, \" Why am I here?\" How do you think students can help convey to their teachers what their needs are? When you are in a class, do you think about what you need to get out of it? What things do you do to either make your needs known or meet those needs on your own?<br />Conducting an Interview - Part 1 - Presentation Transcript<br />Conducting an Interview An Introduction Part 1 <br />The Interview: an Introduction <br />Technique to collect information <br />Interactive, verbal, real time contact <br />First step in collecting information for needs analysis <br />Research method for making personal contacts <br />The Interview: an Introduction <br />The interview is a way to: <br />Share ideas, engage in dialogue, solve problems <br />Obtain peripheral information that may be associated with an analysis goal <br />The Interview: an Introduction <br />Two types of interview techniques: <br />Face to face <br />Telephone <br />Provides in-depth narrative information <br />Encourages respondents to talk about: <br />feelings, attitudes, and opinions <br />Purposes of Conducting Interviews <br />Interviews in a systematic needs analysis: <br />Provides information to develop questions for a written questionnaire <br />Produces information for analysis <br />Validates information that we may already have <br />Purposes of Conducting Interviews <br />Structured <br />Semi-structured <br />Unstructured <br />The extent of information and feedback required for a particular needs analysis will determine which type you use. <br />Three Types of Interviews <br />Structured interviews = written questionnaires <br />Fixed questions with fixed response categories covering a specific area or topic – responses (Yes, no, sometimes, always) <br />Work well with clear needs analysis goals. <br />Needs analyst needs to have some information about the performance problem before constructing the questions. <br />Types of Interviews <br />Concise questions/to the point <br />Interview time usually takes no more than 15 to 20 minutes <br />Types of Interviews – Structured Interviews cont’d <br />Interview Advantages/ Limitations <br />Useful before developing a questionnaire <br />Useful to validate information obtained from other methods <br />Seldom used as the only method to gather needs analysis information. <br />Interview Advantages/Limitations <br />The best way to use an interview: <br />To find the optimals: <br />what they think ought to be going on <br />how the organization should work <br />what they know based on personal experience <br />Interview Advantages/Limitations <br />Best questions to ask: <br />Finding Actuals: <br />how employees are/are not performing <br />way the organization is operating <br />whether they perceive problem/opportunity <br />Interviews Advantages/Limitations <br />Best questions to ask: <br />Finding Feelings: <br />how respondents feel <br />how they think others feel <br />confidence with the interview topic <br />whether they like/dislike the topic <br />Interviews Advantages/ Limitations <br />Best questions to ask: <br />Finding Cause(s): what is causing the problem <br />Finding Solution(s): ideas on how to solve a problem or initiate a business opportunity <br />Five Steps in Conducting an Interview <br />Determine the objectives <br />Prepare for the interview <br />Carry out the interview <br />Conclude the interviewing process <br />Compile and analyze results <br />Determine the Objectives of the Interview <br />Are you looking for information about: <br />Optimal performance? <br />Actual performance problems? <br />Feelings about performance? <br />Solutions to performance problems? <br />Business opportunities and barriers to implementing them? <br />Determine the Objectives of the Interview <br />Draft objectives for the interview using standard terms, keeping them clear, direct, and short. <br />Share the objectives with the champions of the needs analysis initiative for their review and comments. <br />Finalize the objectives. <br />Prepare for the Interview <br />Clarify and make decisions: <br />The specific purposes of the interview <br />The population or sample or respondents <br />Develop protocol/ script to help in carrying out the interviews. <br />Prepare for the Interview <br />Draft an opening statement explaining the purposes of the interview <br />Indicate the estimated time that will be needed <br />Provide an explanation concerning issues of confidentiality <br />Conduct the Interview <br />Don’t dominate the conversation <br />Encourage the respondent to talk <br />Avoid interrupting <br />Avoid stating your own opinions <br />Conduct the Interview <br />Aim your questions at the required information <br />Allow the respondent to follow his/her own line of thought <br />Show that the views expressed are understood and taken seriously <br />Conduct the Interview <br />Use the interview to supplement information already obtained <br />Identify/investigate any inconsistencies <br />Ask specific questions to allow for quantitative responses <br />Distinguish hard facts from opinion <br />Conduct the Interview <br />When questions are answered vaguely, pursue them until they are clarified. <br />Respondent may be too theoretical, conceptual, or uses jargon <br />If you don’t understand -- ask for concrete examples and explanations <br />Conduct the Interview <br />Don’t ask strong, direct questions early in the interview. <br />Begin by building upon information already available or use closed-ended questions which are not provoking. <br />Establish rapport and make respondent comfortable. <br />Then ask open ended questions <br />Conclude the Interview Process <br />Stop the interviewing process when you begin to hear the same information from several respondents. <br />After 4 to 6 interviews, you could notice much redundancy <br />If you hear similar responses with 2 or 3 stop the interviewing process <br />Conclude the Interview Process <br />Follow-up with any respondents to get further clarification or needed data. <br />Don’t betray trust/ confidence of those you interviewed. <br />Remove information that could identify a particular respondent. <br />