Needs analysis, task analysis

Needs Analysis, Task Analysis & Learner Analysis

Chelsie Sernick

Needs Analysis: What is it?

• Instruction is motivated by a essential for change– Change may be externally motived or internally

motivated • External motivation could be the need to meet a

particular standard or the need for company to train workers in a particular skill

• Internal motivation could be the need to identify a problem or increase learners comprehension of a specific subject area or it may be to develop worker productivity

Conducting a Needs Analysis

• Some essential questions may include: – Where will this change need to take place?– Is instruction the most appropriate means for

realizing this change?

Formal Needs vs. Informal Needs

• Formal needs analysis: Analysis may include gathering evidence from a variety of sources by conducting interviews, observations, reviewing existing materials and surveys

• Informal needs analysis: first-hand experience of the learning needs

Mager’s Performance Analysis

• Heuristic to help instructional designers conclude what someone is currently doing and what he/she needs to be doing

Morrison, Ross and Kemp’s “needs assessment”

• Flow chart for conducting a performance• Provides a more technical plans for conducting a

needs assessment • 4 phases: Planning, Collecting Data, Analyzing the

Data, Preparing final report• Also, have two other needs analysis methods: Goal

Analysis and Performance Assessment

Task Analysis • Task analysis is the systematic procedure used by

instructional designers to decide what a learner needs to learn or understand by participating in instruction

• Defines the content needed to solve the performance problem or alleviate a performance need– makes the educator work through the individual students

and identify subtle steps– makes the designer see the content from the learners’

viewpoint

Dick & Carey’s Definition of Task Analysis

• Process of naming the skills and knowledge that should be involved in instruction

• What exactly would learners be doing if they were demonstrating that they already could perform the goal?

Guiding Questions: What should task analysis help us answer

• What is the task that a learner needs to be able to accomplish or perform?

• What are they key components of this task (what are the skills and knowledge learner needs in order to complete or perform the task)?

• How will you determine whether a learner is able to complete the task?

What is Learner Analysis? • Learner analysis is

understanding the target learners and understanding in advance what they can and will do

• Instructional designers/ educators must conduct evaluation for a group of learners

• Different approaches to understanding learners: Mager, Dick and Carey, Smith and Ragan

Learner Analysis for Instructional Design

• Who are the intended learners for the instruction? • What common traits do members in the learning group possess? • What are the differences among the learners?• What are the achievements and general ability levels of the learners? • How do the learners feel about the organization/institution providing

the training?