Data gathering and analysis for needs assessment: A case study

Various data‐gathering and analysis methods available in our profession's literature, current and past, provide rich options for conducting quality needs assessments. These methods assisted with a thorough needs assessment for a billable hours issue in the parts and service department of a large, power tool and equipment retailer based in the Midwestern United States.     

基于需求分析的高职物流英语课程学习者评价研究

在当今大学英语教育从普通英语向专业用途英语转型的趋势下,强调的是学生专业英语职场应用能力的培养。显然,过去单一的评价方式已不能满足这一趋势。根据物流专业特点、教学目标和学习者的需求,应建立形成性评价与终结性评价结合、教师学生和企业评价结合、个人和小组评价结合以及评价内容和手段多样化的评价体系。     

Diglossic needs of illiterate adult women in Egypt: a needs assessment

In light of the rarity and unavailability of academic publications on literacy/illiteracy in the Arab world, this study attempts to determine the linguistic needs of illiterate adult women in Egypt in the context of informal adult basic education. The purpose of this study is to understand illiterate adult women’s daily linguistic needs in relation to diglossic de‐contextualization in Arabic, the comprehension gap between colloquial and standard Arabic that contributes negatively to the process of reading and writing acquisition in standard Arabic. The present study, based on participatory action research methodology, was conducted in Egypt where 11 adult female literacy classes, five (139 subjects) in Cairo (urban) and six (151 subjects) in Menia (Upper Egypt/Northern Egypt) were group‐interviewed. The results of the group interviews clearly define the functional context of adult female illiteracy (i.e. age and immediate linguistic/literacy needs) and enforce a diglossic dichotomy, entailing ‘reading’ and ‘writing’ categories. If considered by literacy authorities, diglossic integration in adult literacy programmes/curricula will certainly help Egyptian illiterate adult women to integrate easily in their environment, the ultimate goal of all involved in the fight against adult illiteracy in the Arab world.     

Evaluation of curriculum and student learning needs using 360 degree assessment

This research used a 360 degree assessment tool modelled from the competing values framework to assess the curriculum. A total of 100 Master’s of Business Administration students and 746 of their work colleagues completed the 360 degree assessment tool. The students were enrolled in a course on leadership and management. The results of the assessment demonstrated similar patterns of strengths and development needs between the mean self-assessment of the students and those of their work colleagues, although work colleagues tended to assess the students slightly higher. The patterns revealed development needs in soft skills such as conflict management and mentoring, as well as in strategic management and project planning. Gender effects were evident with women needing particular development in competencies related to developing and communicating a vision, setting goals and objectives and designing and organising. The results provide evidence-based approach to assessing curriculum. As many programmes use a variety of assessment tools in their programmes, collecting data across cohorts can be a valuable evidence-based strategy to assess and evaluate curriculum content against real learner needs.