Context and Learner Analysis in Instructional Design

This week, my instructional design course focused on analyzing the environment and the learners.  I was struck by the importance Smith and Ragan place on the needs analysis portion, in which an instructional designer identifies the specifics of the problem they need to solve and determines whether there is really a need to develop new instruction.  A few years ago, I began using interactive notebooks in my 9th grade science class, largely because it was expected as part of my involvement in a particular initiative, rather than because I was trying to serve some need of my students.  As a result, my first attempts at using the notebooks were haphazard, inconsistent, and students found my expectations ambiguous.  Over time, I have come to a much clearer understanding of what purpose interactive notebooks can serve and why I want to use them, which has, in turn, changed my instruction around them to become something much more effective.  Had I started with a needs analysis, I could have saved myself and my students a lot of frustration by starting with a more focused approach to the notebooks.

In an effort to repeat the mistakes I made with interactive notebooks, I selected a lesson I plan to start using next fall for my project.  In my district, we are revising our 9th grade science curriculum to put more emphasis on engineering, so I selected a stage of one of the projects we considering.  The thought and intention should allow me to implement this lesson in a way that is purposeful and effective.  As I worked on my learner analysis, I was not surprised by what Ragan and Smith advocated for including; most of the characteristics, such as aptitude and cognitive style, have served an important role in education for decades and my district's efforts to engage in culturally-responsive teaching fit very well with the psychosocial and cultural aspects of learner analysis.  What did surprise me was the similarities in the learner analysis that appeared in the discussion board, in spite of the wide range of project topics and target age groups.  The fact that student aptitudes and attitudes showed up in so many discussion threads helps to emphasize how critical these factors are to student success.

Moving forward, I will include a needs analysis, even if only informally, as part of any significant curriculum change.  For my students to get the most out of a district mandate, I need to know why I am using it in my classroom and I must be prepared for how my students will respond to it.  This awareness will be valuable this summer when we begin formal curriculum writing around engineering instruction and is giving me the opportunity to consider steps I could use this spring to gain more insight into the students who will be in my classroom next fall.