SOME FACTORS THAT CAN GUIDE YOUR CHOICHES 1.

The purpose of the course -it is important to gather information that is relevant to the purpose of the course 2. Your beliefs - example, if you believe that language is learned through interaction , you will probably want to asses students learning styles and attitudes in order to know how skilled or disposed they are to working in groups. 3. Information you already have about the students -example, students may have already provided a writing sample for placement test or you may have information about the target contexts and communicative skills they will need. Denise Lawsons Needs Assessment Plan for advanced Composition 1. Letter to students -I will introduce the importance of feedback in my introductory letter. 2. Writing case history -as the homework assignment for the first day of class, students will write case histories of their experiences, writing in their native language and in English. This exercise raises students awareness about the affective domain in regard to writing, and how their progress might be influenced by their attitudes and prior experiences. It establishes a baseline against which students can measure any changes in attitude throughout the course. Denise Lawsons Needs Assessment Plan for advanced Composition 4. Questionnaires: initial, midterm, final Initial-in the first week students will answer short survey questions about possible goals for the course to prepare them to write their own goals and objectives. Midterm-prompts students to reflect on progress toward meeting their course goals. Final-student assess their progress toward reaching their goals, and the usefulness of various aspects of the course (materials, activities, teacher feedback, etc.) in helping them reach them. Denise Lawsons Needs Assessment Plan for advanced Composition 5. Anonymous feedback cards -In order to encourage students to respond honestly. It is important to include opportunities to provide anonymous feedback. Students unaccustomed to criticizing teachers may feel more comfortable commenting on unsigned cards. 6. In Class discussions -It is also important to have in-class discussions regarding students responses to the course.It provides students the opportunity to hear their peers views ;in addition, the popcorn quality of dialogue may generate some new ideas 7. Student-teacher conferences -As a students, I benefited enormously from the teacher-student conferences and as much as possible, would like to make them a part of my teaching as well. I plan to dedicate half of two midterm classes to one- on -one conference during class, with emphasis on students progress toward their goals. I would offer an optional follow - up conference shortly before the end of the course. Chris Conleys Needs Assessment Plan for Adult Education Class 1.Find someone who... -In this activity students develop questions to ask each other and find people in the class who answer yes, to the q uestions. This activity can assess students linguistic abilities are forming questions, asking and answering them orally .and also assess t heir pronunciation. 2. Letter of Explanation -This letter explains what we will be doing in the course, my initial expectations, students / teachers roles, and descriptions of the approach. 3. Mind-mapping -I give a word that is somewhat loaded like class, teacher, student, home, food, America, and have them do a group mind map around the word. I can assess students capacity to generate words their vocabulary and the freedom or lack of freedom they feel in speaking out in class .I can also turn this mind map into a discussions or writing exercises in order to assess spoken or written abilities. 4. Paragraph about self -The students and I write a paragraph about ourselves to share with the class. ? WHEN SHOULD ONE DO NEEDS ASSESSEMENT? There are here times frames for gathering information -Pre-course needs assessment take place prior to the start of the course and can inform decisions about content, goals, and objectives, and activities and choice of materials. -Initial needs assessment takes place during the initial stage of a course, the first week more weeks, defending on the time frame of the course. -Ongoing needs assessment takes place throughout the course.