Running head: NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE

Needs Assessment Cycle

Candice Rodgers
CUR/528
August 17, 2015
Michael Burnett

NEEDS ASSESSMENT CYCLE

Needs Assessment Cycle

Southwestern Illinois College believes in enhancing learners lives and providing quality
education and services that engages and empowers learners to help meet their goals in life.
Technology is a big part of students social life. The current generation was brought up on
technology. Technology is one way to enhance and engage students in learning. I>clickers are
fairly new tools many institutions are using to teach students. The main reason i>clickers are
used is to help creatively engage students in the curriculum. It is a way for educators to elevate
engagement in the classroom. In order to substantiate the need for the i>clickers and close the
gap of struggling students, SWIC will conduct a needs assessment on i>clickers being used in
the classrooms.
Purpose of the Needs Assessment
The purpose of the needs assessment is to close the gap of struggling students. Some
classes are struggling to keep kids from falling behind. It seems that more students are having a
hard time paying attention to the lecture in the classrooms. Since this generation is used to using
technology in everyday life for socializing, researching, shopping and paying bills, they are
probably bored sitting in the classrooms listen to lectures. Integrating technology into the
curriculum will allow the instructor to get back on track and help the students retain the content.
The i>clickers is a way for instructors to teach lecture while students can use the i>clickers to
answer questions during the lecture (i>clicker, 2015). This is a great technical device that can
give the instructors quick feedback on how the students are doing with the materials being
taught.
The needs assessment will examine if the i>clickers are needed to helping bridge the gap
of the struggling students (University of Minnesota, 2015). It is important to conduct a needs

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assessment i>clickers to make sure there is a need for them in the classroom and if it can help
engage students in the classroom lectures. It also helps to determine what is or is not working
for the students.
Level of Assessment
The plan is to conduct the needs assessment at SWIC with the full-time instructors. This
method will be conducting by interviewing full-time instructors of all programs to learn how
their teaching methods are engaging the students before the i>clickers were introduced and after
they have used the i>clickers. There will also be interviews with the students to see their
perspective on how the instructors are keeping the engaged in lecturing in the classrooms before
the i>clickers were introduced and after learning with the i>clickers. Collecting data from both
sources before and after i>clickers will give a better understanding on how students are engaging
in the classrooms.
Stakeholders
There are many stakeholders who have vested interest in the i>clickers. The first
stakeholders are the instructors. The goal of the institution is to use effectively the i>clickers so
that the students are engaged and learning more in the classrooms. The students are also
stakeholders. Students are the main focus on why i>clickers are being introduced to the
classrooms. We want to make sure more students are learning the materials and passing the
courses. Another group of stakeholders is the support staff. Support staff will order the
i>clickers, keep them updated, distribute them throughout the institution, and conduct the
evaluations after each course. The Deans, VP, and President are important stakeholders to ensure
the college is enhancing the students quality of life the best way possible. They will be
monitoring the students progress and discussing the next move for the community college.

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Budget and Available Resources

Information for the needs assessment will be collected by interviewing and surveying key
educators and students. Since this data is not costly, it should be easy to conduct the assessment
using the resources already available for this project. If there are additional money or resources
needed in the future from unexpected needs to conduct the needs assessment, approval will be
needed from the Dean. Since the need for the assessment is important to the college, I am
confident the approval will be granted to complete the assessment.
Time Allotted for the Assessment
The time allotted for the needs assessment is three semesters (one year). Three semesters
will give the instructors enough time to compare how students are engaging with the i>clickers.
This will give the instructor time to get used to the i>clickers and use them to their full potential
and compare the two classes with classes of the past. If the majority of the instructors feel they
need more time to teach with i>clickers, more time may be granted.
Information Measured by the Needs Assessment
The needs assessment will measure how students are progressing in the classrooms using
the i>clickers. Some classes are struggling to keep kids from falling behind. The institution
wants to see if using technology will allow the instructor to get back on track and help the
students retain the content. Technology helps accelerate students that are struggling in the
classrooms and close the learning gaps. According to Huffington Post, 78 percent of
kindergarten middle school educators agrees that there has been a positive impact on using
technology in the classrooms (Hendricks, 2013). The goal at SWIC is to continue to influence
the learners and help them retain the instruction to enhance their quality of life.

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Does This Information Already Exist or Must it Be Obtained

According to the Huffington Post, 78 percent of kindergarten middle school educators
agrees that there has been a positive impact on using technology in the classroom (Hendricks,
2013). The technology was never specified, so there is no proof that i>clickers will enhance
students learning. Data must be obtained to ensure the i>clickers will close the learning gap at
Southwestern Illinois College.
The instructors have already completed the i>clicker training sessions to use in the
classrooms. To collect data, the college will give the full-time instructors of every program three
semesters (one year) to use the i>clickers in the classrooms. At the end of each class, the support
staff will come to the classrooms and give their usual survey about the overall class and also give
them a survey on the use of i>clickers in the classrooms. The instructors will also be interviewed
individually at the end of the year to give their take on how lecturing is going using the
i>clickers. The needs assessment team will also gather the grade reports over the year and
compare them to the grade rosters prior to using the i>clickers. After collecting all of the data
from the full-time faculty, students, and grade rosters Southwestern Illinois College be able to
examine the data to confirm whether or not the i>clickers are closing the gap of struggling
students.
Conclusion
By conducting a needs assessment and teaching courses using the i>clickers,
Southwestern Illinois College hopes to help more students that are struggling learn the materials
of the courses to enhance the quality life of the students. As a community college, it is our goal
to continue to find ways to help students succeed in life. If the college that the i>clickers are not

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effectively helping the students who are struggling in the classrooms, we will continue to find
new ways to improve the instruction.

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References
Hendricks, D. (2013, March 14). A Look at Recent Findings on Technology in the Classroom.
Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drewhendricks/technology-education_b_2867458.html
i>clicker. (2015). A New Mobile-optimized Engagement System. Retrieved from i>clicker:
https://www1.iclicker.com/
University of Minnesota. (2015). Conducting a Needs Assessment. Retrieved from University of
Minnesota: https://cyfernetsearch.org/ilm_1_9