Types of Needs

September 5, 2007

Types of Needs
Normative Need - compared to a national standard
Comparative Need - compared to another group
ex. You have to do better than the average on the ACTs
Felt Needs - expressed desire to improve performance
ex. New Year’s resolutions
Expressed Needs - action to improve performance
Anticipated/Future Needs - Identified future changes
Critical Incident Needs - rare but significant incidents that may occur

Instruction isn’t necessarily the answer - guard against your biases
We don’t need MORE information, we need the RIGHT information
How do we best meet different needs?
What needs can be met by instruction?
The Subject Matter Expert - tends to want to just dump your knowledge on your students
Administrative Mandates - top-down solutions, no local control or individual consideration

Clarify Instructional Goals
What is the outcome we’re looking for?
Where are people at?
Where do we want them to be?
How do we get them there?

•Means vs. Ends - we are often too focused on the means rather than the end - the means really has no place on a goal statement - you need to focus on what the learner will be able to do by the end of the instruction - Use VERBS when writing goals - ask questions to clarify goal statements!!!!!!!! - need to be measurable & specific
•Problem with the word “understand” - how do you measure understand? How do they know if they really understand? Will they tell you if they don’t understand? - stay away from the word “understand”
•Other trouble phrases: “will learn to use”

•We want to see outcomes, results, demonstration
•Focus on what the learner will be able to do, not what the teacher would do or present
•Focus on observable outcomes that can be measured
•Ask questions until you are certain you can identify the behavior
•Statements of the purpose or intention, what learners should be able to do at the conclusion of the instruction - student centered
•The more focused the goal the easier the design development and assessment will be