Lola Gilbert Instructional Systems Design Dr. Klimczak 6/14/09

Needs Assessment Plan

Who is your target audience? My target audience or learners will be Nebraska high school librarians or media specialists at schools that participate in the Dual Enrollment Program with the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).

The learners will ages range from mid-twenties to mid-sixties. Due to varying lengths of time in their positions, the learners will have different job skill levels, although most will be new comers to working with Dual Enrollment students. Some of the media specialists obtained their Masters from UNO and will most likely be more familiar with many of UNO’s resources, such as their web site and databases.

What you need to know? ACTUALS

The familiarity of learners with UNO tools and resources. The skill level of learners with UNO tools and resources. The time learners spend helping UNO Dual Enrollment students. The time learners have to allot to learning UNO tools and resources. The skill level learners need to effectively assist UNO Dual Enrollment students. Would your administration support you in your efforts with this program?

OPTIMALS

Learners will master the skills necessary to be able to assist their UNO Dual Enrollment students with UNO tools and resources. Learners will master the skills necessary to be able to assist UNO Dual Enrollment faculty at their high schools with planning instruction that involves UNO tools and resources. Learners will master the skills necessary to be able to co-teach with UNO Dual Enrollment faculty at their high schools. Learners will be able to prepare high school Dual Enrollment students that attend UNO to be able to make a seamless transition into their First-Year experience.

CAUSES

Not enough time to devote to learning new tools and resources. Not enough time to address needs outside of those set by the school according to state standards.

FEELINGS

How do learners feel about having to learn more skills when they are not being compensated for them? (What’s in it for me?) What are the learners comfort level with working with UNO tools and resources? If I decide to commit, who is going to help me with this?

SOLUTIONS

Ask learners what their needs are. Ask learners how their needs can best be accommodated. Ask UNO management what it can do to help address learners’ needs. Provide training, tools, and resources that will assist learners.

Why you need to know it?

I know what the University would like to see the library accomplish with the Dual Enrollment students that decide to attend UNO. I also know how I would go about making that happen. What I don’t know is the reality of the learners’ job skills and job commitments. I kneed to know what the current situation is, how far the learners are willing and able to commit, and what I can offer them to help them do that. This will help me design a workshop because it will be customized to fit their needs according to what they have told me. Who knows that (who has that information)?

The learners are the best judges of their skills and comfort levels. They also interact with the high school students daily and therefore are more in touch with the students that are involved in UNO’s Dual Enrollment program need. UNO’s Dual Enrollment Campus Coordinator, the Library Dual Enrollment Coordinator, the Subject Area Dual Enrollment Coordinators, the students, and the parents know best what students need or worry about regarding their first year at UNO.

How will you get that information?

Survey Questionnaire for learners

I chose a survey questionnaire because if it is designed properly, then I can obtain actuals, optimals, feelings, causes, and solutions using one method. There is also information that I can obtain from my users without even asking. For example, if I make the survey available in many formats (mail them, online, telephone, etc.) then I can gather information about my learners preferences. There are less than 20 media specialists, so this would be very easy to do at a low cost. Anonymity and confidentiality could be set up using a free online survey service and/or not asking for the learners’ information.

Survey Questionnaire

for students/parents/dual enrollments coordinators.

The campus Dual Enrollment office sends out surveys annually to

each of these parties which address the comfort level of each party and what would be helpful for future students. Although typically I could to obtain actuals, optimals, feelings, causes, and solutions from this method, the way that this one is designed, I would only be able to gather actuals, optimals, and possibly feelings. These are however the main types of information that I am seeking from this group. Since this is data collection tool that is already designed

and used, the cost of price and man-hours is low. One disadvantage though, is since it is already designed, I cannot add questions that might provide useful information. This method offers a high degree of anonymity.

Brainstorming I feel strongly that since my learners are the ones that work directly with the students and have other tasks to complete, that they are the ones who can best describe what it is that will help them increase their skills and comfort levels with UNO tools and resources. They know their skills, schedules, and resources best, so they can best describe to me what it is that I can do to help UNO

help them. I also feel that when you ask people how to solve something, that they are more committed to making sure that it gets resolved, and even becomes better. This also gives many people to share what they have tried and whether it has worked or not, and why or why not. UNO would have very little cost for this. However, the learners would need to set aside time that they would be using for working on something else, or travel, or both. UNO could easily provide some sort of THANK YOU item to show its appreciation. It is because this method offers solutions and has a high degree of buy-in potential that I believe it will be effective. The only problem would be that since school districts differ in how they function, then different methods might work better for different districts. I would have to be open to offering solutions that would work for all.

How will you use that information?

After gathering all of this data, I would analyze it to find out where my learners are with their skill, comfort, and

commitment levels. This information will help me determine if what will help most. Now that I know my

actuals what will it take to help me achieve my optimals? Will it be training sessions, campus speakers that

work with the program, or both? Maybe it would be helpful to have students that were involved in the program

talk about how it either helped them or how it would have helped them. If training will be useful, how should it

be conducted (demonstration, hands on, handouts, etc.) I would put together a draft of the proposed workshop

and speak to me supervisor and our director about it. After any proposed changes, then I would run the draft by

the administrators at the high school to get their thoughts and approval/disapproval then make any necessary

adjustments. Once everything was determined, I would schedule the workshop. Since many media specialists

are so busy with their own job responsibilities and lives, this is sometimes the most critical part. I would

certainly be open to any suggestions from the administration as possible in order to make this happen. For

example, I could offer the workshop in person and online. Or, I could go to a district to do the workshop

instead of having it on UNO’s campus. There are several different options. I would need input and to be open

to that input from the media specialists and their administrators.

It would be beneficial to gain feedback from the participants after the workshop as well. What was beneficial?

What wasn’t beneficial? What would have been beneficial? Would you attend again? Why or why not? So, a

post-assessment or survey would be critical to gauge the success of the plan and the workshop, as well as to

help plan for any future endeavors.