Assess_Learners_Needs_Assignment_101

Assignment 101: Assess learner’s needs Karen Bryant Due date 24th November 2006 Word Count: 1695 Which comes first the assessment or the plan' chicken or egg' In teaching it is upheld that there is no first and last, but that the assessment and consequent planning are part of a continuous cycle if the teaching is to be effective. This is a point clearly made by Honey and Mumford (1985) in their learning cycle. It claims A cycle of: Taking action / \ Planning for next time seeing results \ / Thinking about results My Learners. The set of learners I intend to teach as part of my practice are: four female students who attend the National Star College this current year. They all are in residence at Overton House in Cheltenham, a hall of residence within Cheltenham Town centre with good access to local facilities. All the students have been accepted onto courses at the main College and have been through assessments prior to and whilst at College. All students by attending the National Star College have a physical disability or acquired brain injury. They are all in their second or third year at college and return home during the holidays. They are all planning to find their own independent accommodation when they leave college (with appropriate support in place). The course I will offer will offer the opportunity to learn more about everyday living skills and knowledge they may need to live independently. I am planning to use a variety of teaching methods including discussion, practical tasks, and quizzes/ questionnaires. The course content will be flexible and responsive to the needs of the students and there will be some space to develop the course to the students’ own identified needs. As this is not a part of the curriculum there will be no formal certificated reward for any gain of knowledge or practice, rather this will be recorded on my designed record of achievement for the students to have. Indeed there is no compulsion to even attend the sessions at all. Therefore there will be an additional element of commitment expected from the students within the group and thus the offering of a place will need to be selective to those motivated and willing to attend. This in turn leads to a course requirement that is both fun and relevant to the student to remain an attraction for them. A baseline will be required for each student to assess their initial starting point and to map progress against during and at the end of the course. Each student’s achievements need to be recognised individually as no two people are the same either initially or finally. This is where the accurate assessment is vital as a starting point with the students. Initial assessment. The assessment process will begin prior to any teaching that I do. If this is not done then the teaching could be inappropriate, unable to be measured or worse still irrelevant to the learners. The evidence gathered must also be valid[1] for the reason you are gathering it, and also the methods used. I will use various methods in my initial assessment and others during the delivery of the course to check understanding and learning. There are many reasons for starting any teaching with assessment. Firstly you want to know where the learners are in their current knowledge level with the subject of the course. This will enable the pitch and pace of the course and it’s content to be made at an appropriate level for the student group. There will no doubt be a range of previously acquired knowledge, skills and experience within the group, and the course needs to be able to cover this range. It may be useful as a tool to encourage students demonstrating their own skills to others during sessions. (This may in itself reflect a goal of increasing assertiveness/ confidence in a student). Assessment will provide a baseline, or starting point, against which each individual learner can be intermittently assessed. As said before the assessment is a process which is revisited once teaching has taken place to find out whether learning has occurred. In the field of nursing for example the Nursing Process[2] begins with assessment, moves onto planning, then implementation followed by evaluation. However the process does not stop there as it is cyclical and the assessment can then be modified if the evaluation does not suggest the plan is complete. A baseline also provides the opportunity to set individual targets for each learner against which their learning can be measured. Secondly, assessment is required in this case to verify the learner’s motivation to attend the course (which will be five week duration). This is also essential as the teaching I will provide is not part of the students’ curriculum – it is supplementary to the courses they have applied for. This will consist of a questionnaire given to students and informal invitation and explanation by myself to the students. The questionnaire [3] will provide a hard copy of an expression of interest, whilst the informal invitation will allow me to clarify any concerns, give out information on course content and style, and more importantly allow for face to face immediate feedback to any questions that the learners may have. There may be answers that are required before the students feel able to commit to the sessions, and I am available to answer any questions during my normal course of work. Within the assessment process I will try and establish some element of understanding of the learner’s individual style of preferred learning. Honey and Mumford (1986)[4] suggest there are four distinct learning types, (activist, theorist, reflector, and pragmatist) but that most of us favour one or two styles (visual, kinaesthetic, auditory). This evidence will be useful in designing the style of teaching delivery and the motivation/ interest generated within the sessions themselves. It is highly likely that each session will require elements of each learning style in order to engage and maintain interest of the individual learners. I will complete a learning style questionnaire with each student as part of the assessment [5] To support the above assessment that I will undertake, I will also rely on some assessments made by the College as part of their more formalised assessment process. I would use the LEMON[6] assessment to indicate the best environment for the learner to learn within. (LEMON stands for Learning Environment Match of Needs) This assessment is held on a confidential database of student records accessible to staff via a password system on the College intranet. Since cooking will be part of the course it would be necessary to consult the medical assessment to check for allergies and potential health risks. The Physiotherapy team may be able to advise on specialist equipment needed for each student, or if extra support was needed for certain tasks to be undertaken. Speech and language reports may indicate a particular venue is either suitable/unsuitable especially if a student has a particular communication aid. Meal time support plans will indicate a need for specific resources for each student to partake in any meals cooked, and any special instructions on its delivery to the student. The transition report could also be consulted to establish whether the course content would be appropriate or desired by the student at all. The student’s college timetable will also have an influence as to who can be offered a place on the course as it will take place during a personal development session. I will require all students in the group to be on personal development on the same day, and record their participation on this course a target. All students have targets set called ILP[7]s these are Individual Learning Plans which outline specific targets for each student dependent upon their baseline skills in different aspects of college life. It would be useful to look at these ILPs for each student and incorporate the skills being developed into my sessions where appropriate. For example, a student may have a target in numeracy to recognise weight values – this could be incorporated in a cooking session and evaluated as a target for that student. All of the above information would be available to me on the STARDATA section of the National Star College website for staff. Different education/residential colleges will have their own unique way of storing assessed data which would be accessible to those who are delivering learning. Previous certificated learning could be checked to see if any student had already gained a qualification formally in any of the areas I am planning to cover. It may also give valuable guidance on what level to pitch the course material as it would clearly be different for a class of ‘A’ level students than those in primary school. Once the initial assessment has been made the course content can be designed and formulated, this then leads to the next stage of setting targets to challenge the learning of the students and the tutor (!). The setting of appropriate targets (SMART targets) is crucial if they are to be both obtained by the student, and allow for sufficient personal challenge leading to development. (SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited). With smart guidance, targets set should be both appropriate and give a good indication if they can be achieved. They also allow learning to be measured on a group level and more specifically on an individual level. So, in conclusion knowing your student is vital if you are going to be able to effectively plan a teaching session that is relevant and meaningful. It is a continuous process with feedback to and from the students to measure the effectiveness of the learning outcomes and to tailor further teaching materials, and styles. Assessment allows measurement of learning and therefore evaluation of the teaching which has gone on. It then leads onto future planning and adaptations or changes which may be highlighted to make the learning more relevant or more appropriate for both a group of learners and the individuals’ learning. Without assessment there is no recognised level of movement either forward or backward in the education process. Appendix 1: Student Questionnaire Reply to Questionnaire for Healthy Living Styles Course Name: Course studied at College: Year of study: Age: Where you live during holiday times: Have you covered health topics before' If so please indicate where' Do you feel you need more information on the above topics' Are there any other topics you would like to suggest' When you leave college what briefly are your plans' Can you spare the time within personal development to do this course' (Please consider carefully). Appendix 2: Learning Styles Questionnaire LEARNING STYLES QUESTIONNAIRE: WHAT SORT OF LEARNER ARE YOU' • This questionnaire will help you find out how YOU learn best. • THERE ARE NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWERS! • Answer all the questions by circling ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. If you want to answer ‘sometimes’, think whether you agree with this statement more than you disagree and then answer yes or no. • This questionnaire is yours! It’s about YOU! You don’t HAVE to show it to anyone. • Take your time. 1. When you are describing a party/holiday to a friend, do you describe the music, sounds and noise you heard' YES NO 2. Do you use your hands when you talk' YES NO 3. Would you rather listen to news etc on the radio or TV than read a newspaper' YES NO 4. When you use a computer do you find the visual prompts useful and easy to understand (icons etc)' YES NO 5. When you have to take down information, do you prefer to draw diagrams to writing notes' YES NO 6. When you play noughts and crosses can you picture the ‘o’ and ‘x’ in different positions' YES NO 7. Do you like to take objects apart and repair things' YES NO 8. When you’re trying to remember the spelling of a word do you try writing it several different ways and choose the one that looks right' YES NO 9. When you are learning something new, do you like spoken instructions' YES NO 10. Do you like making things' YES NO 11. When you use a computer, do you find the bleeps and things useful to tell you that you’ve done something wrong etc' YES NO 12. When you’re revising or learning something new, do you like to use diagrams and pictures' YES NO 13. Are you quick at copying information down accurately' YES NO 14. If you’re told something, do you usually remember it without being told again' YES NO Appendix 2: Learning Styles Questionnaire 15. In your spare time do you like doing something physically active for example, sport' YES NO 16. In your spare time do you like to listen to music' YES NO 17. When you visit a museum or gallery, or you look at a shop display, do you prefer to look around peacefully on your own' YES NO 18. Do you find it easier to remember people’s names rather than their faces' YES NO 19. When you spell a word to someone, do usually have to write the word down' YES NO 20. Do you like to be able to move around when you are working' YES NO 21. Do you learn to spell words by saying them, out loud' YES NO 22. When you describe a party or holiday to someone, do you describe what people looked like, what they were wearing and the colours' YES NO 23. When starting a new task, do you like to get on and do something straight away' YES NO 24. Do you learn to do something well by watching someone demonstrate' YES NO 25. Do you find it easier to remember people’s faces rather than their names' YES NO 26. Does saying things out loud help you to learn' YES NO 27. Do you like demonstrating and showing things to others' YES NO 28. Do you enjoy discussions and hearing other people’s views' YES NO 29. When you do a practical task, do you follow diagrams' YES NO 30. Do you like role play and acting things out' YES NO 31. Do you prefer to go out and about to find information rather than sitting in the library checking a book' YES NO 32. When you visit a museum or gallery, or look at a shop display, do you like talking about the items and hearing what other people think of them' YES NO 33. Do you find it easy to follow a map' YES NO Appendix 2: Learning Styles Questionnaire 34. Do you feel that one of the best ways to appreciate a display is to be allowed to touch it' YES NO 35. When you read a story, do you picture the scene in your mind' YES NO 36. Do you tend to hum, or talk to yourself when you’re working' YES NO 37. Do you look at the pictures in the magazines before deciding what to read' YES NO 38. If you plan a journey or outing, do you like to talk to someone to find out where to go' YES NO 39. Do you find it difficult to stay still for long and generally prefer to be active' YES NO LEARNING STYLES Do you know that we learn in different ways' Our brains process information in three ways: Visual - Some of us learn better through seeing pictures, diagrams, moving images and colour. Auditory - Some of us learn better through hearing sounds and voices. Kinesthetic - Some of us learn better through doing, moving, and touching. We all use these three learning styles. Some of us prefer to learn in one or two of these ways. These are our learning preference(s) or preferred learning style(s). It is important to think about your preferred learning styles and develop the methods of learning which will suit you best. “I learned it my way” Are you a visual learner' Do you like colour, images and shape' Visual learners 29% of us prefer to learn by storing images in our brains. Visual learners should: • use pictures, mind maps, computers, diagrams, flowcharts, key words, TV, videos, mind maps. • use colour to help the brain remember. • use different coloured pens and pencils to colour diagrams and when writing notes use highlighter pens to highlight text. • write information in bullet points or as key words on “post-its” – (they come in different colours). “See how you learn!” Appendix 2 : Learning Styles Questionnaire Are you an auditory learner' Do you respond to sounds and noises' Auditory learners 34% of us prefer to learn by storing sounds in our brains. Auditory learners should: • learn with friends – talk over the work and help each other to understand it. • tape notes and play them back • listen to music while learning. • repeat their work out loud in funny voices. • make up rhymes or raps about their work. • get someone in their family to ask them questions about the work. • use CD-Roms / computer programs which read the text for you out loud. “Have you got your ears on'” Are you a Kinesthetic learner' Do you like to move when learning' Do you like to touch objects or use computers when learning' Kinesthetic learners 37% of us prefer to learn by movement or touch. Kinesthetic learners should: • where possible touch, feel or do things practically. • use computers. • put their notes on cards or “post-its” and sequence them. (perhaps rank the cards in order of importance or make into sentences). • walk between notes or “post-its” that are on the floor or on the walls. • walk around while reading. • do brain gym exercises. • stand up – stretch or exercise – at least every 20 minutes. • draw pictures, mind maps – run a finger between the words on the map, say each one out loud. • squeeze a sponge or stress release ball while working. “Make learning a moving experience” Appendix 3: example of LEMON assessment [pic] Appendix 4: Example of Individual Learning Plan [pic] ----------------------- [1] Teaching Skills In further and adult education 3rd Edition 2005 David Minton [2] Nursing process described by Pearson et al 1996 [3] Appendix 1 [4] Honey P and Mumford, A. (1986 using your learning styles. Maidenhead: Peter Honey (the learning styles questionnaire) [5] See appendix 2 [6] See appendix 3 [7] See appendix 4