Performing Needs Assessment: an - Annotated Bibliography Example

Performing Needs Assessment: An Annotated Bibliography Boud, D. . Sustainable assessment: Rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22 (2), 151 – 167. doi: 10.1080/713695728 This article seeks to give the requirements for sustainable assessment. This follows the observation by Boud (2010) that assessments in institutions of higher learning do not effectively equip students for learning. As such, the researcher introduces the idea of sustainable assessment. This needs to evaluate the specific and immediate needs of students and allow students to undertake their individual assessments. Chen, E., Heritage, M. & Lee, J. (2005). Identifying and monitoring students’ learning needs with technology. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 10 (30), 309 – 332. doi: 10.1207/s15327671espr1003_6 This is a useful article in analyzing needs assessment in the modern context where technology is widely used in learning environments. As such, the researchers evaluate the Web-based decision support tool referred to as the Quality School Portfolio, QSP, developed at the University of Los Angeles. Collecting data through telephone interviews, the findings show that QSP improved on educators’ abilities to analyze data aimed at identifying students at risk. Thus, the researchers concluded that technology tools facilitate analysis and reporting of students’ needs and therefore allow for timely and accessible identification and intervention of learning risk factors among students. Crosby, F. E. & Shields, C. J. (2010). Preparing the next generation of nurse leaders: An educational needs assessment. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 41 (8), 363 – 368. doi: 10.3928/00220124-20100503-09 As a result of the concern for the need to develop future leaders in nursing from both the educational and practice setting in Western New York, Crosby and Shields (2010) surveyed area nurse leaders to determine the conditions that would foster leadership in nursing and the appropriate educational content to achieve this. The results indicated the need for inclusion of leadership courses in the nursing curriculum. Had it not been for the needs assessment, probably, this gap would not have been identified. Therefore, this article is crucial in illustrating the significant role that needs assessment plays in nursing education to identify the gaps that need to be filled in. Gould, D., Kelly, D., White, I., & Chidgey, J. (2004). Training needs analysis: a literature review and reappraisal. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 41(5), 471-486. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2003.12.003 This article reviews a nursing database of 266 works to collate information on needs assessment in nursing. In their findings, the researchers document needs assessment, what they refer to as training needs analysis, as the maiden step in the process of finding an appropriate educational and training strategy. The article appreciates that more specific needs assessment, focused on an institution as opposed to various institutions, produces more reliable results. Of importance however is to evaluate the needs assessment process to ensure that it is effective and identifies true knowledge gaps. Grant, J. (2002). Learning needs assessment: Assessing the need. British Medical Journal, 324 (19), 156 – 159. doi: 324.7330.156 In the context of medicine, this article seeks to give the importance of learning needs assessment. Borrowing from various secondary sources, the article appreciates learning needs assessment as a crucial phase in the educational process whose purpose should be determined, as this would influence the method adopted. Grant evaluates discrepancy or gap analysis, reflection on and in action, peer review, practice review, self assessment and observation as the methods that could be used for needs assessment. A combination of these formal and informal methods would give effective results. This would be an important foundational source in defining what need is and ways that needs assessment could be undertaken. Hannon, F. B. (2000). A national medical education needs’ assessment of interns and the development of an intern education and training programme. Journal of Medical Education, 34 (4), 275 – 284. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00512.x This article provides an example of how needs assessment results in improved learning outcomes among students. Here, Hannon (2000) uses the outcome of needs assessment of interns gathered through semi-structured interview and self-administered questionnaires. The outcome indicates that the interns perceived the curriculum to have stressed on improving clinical experience but ignored the critical elements of leadership and improved learning environment which they needed to succeed. This example indicated that needs assessment is a significant aspect in education as it reveals the learning gaps that could be difficult to identify. Self-assessment comes out as a critical strategy in needs assessment in getting accurate and more reliable feedback. Hauer, J. & Quill, T. (2011). Educational needs assessment, development of learning objectives, and choosing a teaching approach. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 14 (4), 503 – 508. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2010.0232 This article aims at illustrating how needs assessment could be used to demonstrate the achievement of competence among physicians’ training programs. The researchers appreciate needs assessment as a tool for providing the necessary educational experience. The findings indicate that needs assessment identifies the needs in clinical knowledge acquisition and greatly informs how the curricula for various training programs, medical education continuing courses and clinical staff development would be developed. Needs assessment dictates the most effective teaching methods and also identifies the outcome of educational experience. This would be a critical article in evaluating the benefits of needs assessment in the nursing context. Hunt, L. A., McGee, P., Gutteridge, R. & Hughes, M. (2011). Assessment of student nurses in practice: A comparison of theoretical and practical assessment results in England. Nurse Education Today, 5 (10), 31 - 35. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2011.05.010 This article helps in appreciating the existence different needs among nurses in school and those in practice. More importantly, it enlightens on some factors that could influence the outcome of needs assessment thus making such outcomes erroneous. The results indicate that systems contribute to a great extent to the wrongful outcome from needs assessments. Learning institutions strive to portray that they are effective learning institutions and as such fail to share rightful information on their students’ needs. Lin, M., Santen, S. A., Yarris, L. M., Mullan, P., Searle, N., Rougas, S. & Coates, W. C. (2012). Development of a training needs assessment for an education scholarship fellowship in emergency medicine. Academic Emergency Medicine, 19 (12), 1419 – 1424. doi: 1111/acem.12035 This article argues for the need to perform outcome-based research to mitigate the challenges associated with medical education. The researchers sought to construct a needs assessment model for a two-year education scholarship fellowship. In the process, the researchers give the process of needs assessment, starting from the determination of the needs to be investigated, identifying the specific need areas to be addressed and then identifying the learning gaps, using a set of needs assessment tools including survey, interview, focus group and environmental scan. Due to the resource-intensive nature of the fellowship program, the scholars found out that needs assessment ensured appropriate consideration for the implementation of the training programs. McLoughlin, C. & Luca, J. (2002). A learner-centered approach to developing team skills through web-based learning and assessment. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33 (5), 571 – 582. doi: 10.1111/1467-8535.00292 There has been an increase in online learning environments. Unlike in face-to-face classrooms, teacher’s functions in this context would be limited to management, task definition and feedback functions. McLoughlin and Luca (2002) therefore prescribe an integrated online assessment that would make needs assessment also possible for online environments. Thus, teachers should leverage on technology to foster needs assessment of their students. Ntuli, E., Nyarambi, A., & Traore, M. (2012). Assessment in early childhood education: Threats and challenges to effective assessment of immigrant children. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. doi 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2012.01256.x Taking the perspective of early childhood, this article gives the functions of needs assessment. According to Ntuli, Nyarambi and Traore (2012), needs assessment plays a critical role in monitoring learning and development, and therefore inform the development of appropriate curriculum. The research thus sought to determine the barriers to needs assessment by teachers. Socio-economic factors, language barrier, cultural clashes and biased assessment measures were found to be key barriers in this context. This is therefore an important source in identifying the challenges facing needs assessment among teachers. Saucier, P. R. & McKim, B. R. (2011). Assessing the learning needs of student teachers in Texas regarding management of agricultural mechanics laboratory: Implications for the professional development of early career teachers in agricultural education. Journal of Agricultural Education, 52 (4), 24 – 43. doi: 10.5032/jae.2011.04024 Though this article has an agricultural context, it provides useful insights on the application of needs assessment techniques to achieve educational objectives in general. In this research, Saucier and McKim (2011) investigated the needs of Texas agriculture student teachers’ needs using the Needs Assessment Model so as to determine their professional development. The results indicated the need for the student teachers to be trained on laboratory management. In the same way, needs assessment could be used among nursing students to determine the areas where they would need intervention. Smith, N. L. & Bahr, M. W. (2014). Increasing cultural competence through needs assessment and professional development. Professional Development in Education, 40 (1), 164 – 181. doi: 10.1080/19415257.2013.776618 This would be an appropriate source in discussing the importance of needs assessment. The article investigates the use of needs assessment and also consultation in designing, implementing and designing cultural competent training for mental health university training programs. Data was collected from 57 school-based professionals in mental health. The findings indicate that needs assessment significantly increased skills, knowledge and awareness on cultural competence, thus an important tool for planning how to deliver education in a diverse educational institution, this being common in a majority of modern institutions. Vakani, F. & Sheerani, M. (2011). The learning needs of physicians: Should it be formal or informal assessment? Development and Learning in Organization, 25 (6), 10 – 12. doi: 10.1108/14777281111173333 This article aims at exploring how best to gather the learning needs of physicians when planning for their continuing medical education. The findings indicate that informal needs assessment tend to probe deeper into the perceptions and opinions of the physicians than the formal needs assessment. However, the researchers advocate for complementing informal with formal needs assessment for more effective results in planning academic activities. Furthermore, this complimentary would cushion on the limitation of findings from informal needs assessments not being shared, implying that educational resources would be unimpressively utilized. This resource would be important in discussing the types of needs assessment, that is formal and informal needs assessment, and also identifying the advantages and limitations of each. While, A., Ullman, R., & Forbes, A. (2007). Development and validation of learning needs assessment scale: a continuing professional education tool for multiple sclerosis specialist nurses. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 16(6), 1099-1108. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2007.01693.x The aim of this article is to develop and validate a scale for learning needs assessment for nurses. The researchers use a psychometric approach to develop and test the scale. From this article, it would be appreciated that competent nursing involves continuous training so as to develop professionally. Providing a specialist scale that identifies the gaps in nursing knowledge among the target students provides the basis for conducting an effective educational program. Therefore, this article appreciates the need to adopt the various available needs assessment tools to fit in the respective context for reliable and valid results. Read More