Reflection on topic 2.1 Need Based Analysis

Reflection on topic

2.1 Need Based Analysis

Needs are the gap between the present and required situation. It is a sequential process of gathering data, analyzing it and then making judgment that how much is the difference between the present and desirable state. Data collection could be done by different selected tools that could be used according to one’s requirements. Such tools include surveys, group discussion, interviews, analysis and observation etc.

Before deciding that which is the preferred tool of collecting the data, it is important to know that why we want to collect it? (The reason) Once the reason and purpose is clear then it will be quite easy to decide the required tool to collect the information.

Surveys:

It is used when a large number of people are there, it also becomes quite easy when the number of people are not in the same place (scattered around the globe). But there are certain limitation in doing so as the expertise is required to make a skill full questionnaire that addresses the correct issue and derived the to the point reply from the audience. It is normally not feasible when open ended questions are needed to answered. Because for that again special skills are required in order to give a selection of answer from all the possible situation.
Another problem is that a survey is once and for all type of thing as there is mostly not a second chance to respond even if one identifies any discrepancy in information.
For surveys every single instruction will be provided in the beginning to make every thing crystal clear to the audience. Especially for those who are not in contact.

One more limitation is that, because in surveys the interviewer is not present , the survey could be taken very lightly, lack of seriousness could be the issue here.

A good point of survey is , that if designed skillfully, it could give you very creative answers also, because the audience will be free to write their thoughts without any interruption or thought hindrance from the interviewer (one who is taking survey ). The person giving the surveys will be neutral (nonbiased) and not get influenced by any person and will be able to speak up his mind freely, ultimately resulted in the emergence of realistic situation.

Group Discussions:

In group discussions ideas will be freely shared and argued over. In this a variety of ideas could emerged, here the responses are more thought over, are more to the point and discussion will be on the right track. As two people do not think alike , if they are given an opportunity to explore they will come up with different ideas, thus group discussion tend to get excellent results not only on the issue in hand but even can broaden the horizon of thinking about another similar issues and their solutions. But it is very important to make some rules in order to avoid disturbance while doing this.

If many issues come in the limelight then the facilitator can even prioritize the issues.
During this practice , documentation is very important. Jotting down the important points or even recording it, is beneficial. This could even be done by any person other than the facilitator.

Analysis :

It is also a structured way of gathering data. It normally is done when time and resources are short .One become exact and to the point and target the issue directly. It is having similarity with the group discussion. It is to get the best possible solutions through analysis and reflection by the participant. What I feel is that this is also something that we did in the first 2 weeks of our course.

Observations:

Observation is another useful tool of assessment. In which a thorough study will be conducted fist and then the facilitator will decide that whom and which are the things to get observed. This is also a very important tool but in this, one has to keep in mind all the factors and must be having good observation skills. Well, there are certain rules to do the observations which include, Whom to observe? What should be observed? What is the need for observing? etc.
For need assessment, more than one tool can be used to get the desired results.


By:
Nazia Saleem Khoja
Aga Khan School, Hyderabad
Activities

Need Based Assessment


Activity: 2.1-1 (Allows 30 minutes)

Review the introductory activities that you did in the first two weeks of the course to identify your needs.


In the first two weeks, the first e-activity that we performed made us identify what actually our needs are? It was actually like doing force field analysis , that provided us with a series of questions and through our own replies we got a clear picture of understanding our present and preferred situation (that’s our needs).
(those replies will be summarized here)
A survey was also conducted by our tutors, that made them aware of our strengths and limitations and then they made their plans accordingly.
Apart from this, there was another activity of making our Learning Contract that made us think that what we, as an individual need to know and plan our self accordingly. We did a thorough study of the topics in hand and then made a plan as to what we should be learning in the next 6 months. It was again analyzing our needs and then act accordingly.

I would like to mention here that as far as need assessment is concern , I as a computer teacher have a dual responsibility of teaching not only to the students the basics skills but also updating those teachers who still don’t feel comfortable using computers. Because what we think is that if we want to bring a paradigm shift, we can do it just through our teachers and if our teachers are motivated to do integration then only we will be successful in doing so.
For that purpose, our management wanted to conduct a computer session in order to bring all the teachers on the same ground (as some teachers are having sufficient computer skills and rest needed to brought on that ground). IN that whole practice I actually have used the techniques proposed in the need assessment lesson and it was quite beneficial.
I am including the whole process summary that includes :
Conducting a survey
Summarizing it
Planning the whole session
My reflection on the sessions