IDT 839: Needs Assessment and Analysis
Another great live online class here in ODU’s Instructional Design and Technology Program, my biggest takeaway is the significant difference between conducting a needs assessment (identifying the gaps between what should be happening in an organization and what is happening) and a needs analysis (determining the cause of those gaps). Another takeaway is how often this important step is taken for granted during project and program development, as well the difference between a needs assessment and analysis and a program evaluation (assessing needs towards the development of something new vice evaluating something that already exists).
Of the projects in this class, the final needs assessment and analysis report was the most comprehensive. This draft includes my project proposal and client agreement, tools I used to collect data, as well as analysis results and a final recommendation. I was very concerned that my project would not have a viable solution, I was glad we found one by defining events as projects and recommending a new project management approach using Microsoft SharePoint.
IDT 739 project report (draft)
This project explored cases and articles written in instructional design and technology journals, it was interesting to see how some assessment models evolved from evaluation techniques and very often included a systems perspective (especially consideration for a micro, macro, and mega system).
I compared Witkin’s three phases of a needs assessment to Wedman and Graham’s performance pyramid model, both models could be applied to large, complex organizations and systems.
My reflections during the course describe my initial concerns, not only about technical feasibility, but also confining the initial project scope. By the end I finally embrace the reality that a recommendation based on my needs assessment and analysis must also include developing a new project management system.
We discuss and describe our initial thoughts on needs assessment and analysis in an instructional design and human performance technology context. Mine focused on my previous experience, and how this critical step of needs assessment and analysis is often marginalized in engineering, engineers like to skip to the part in the project where they get to develop a solution…
Role of Needs Assessment in ID&T