Becca & Taylor Training Team
Needs Assessment
To determine the training needs of our client, we met with the professor of ISAT160, Dr. Eric Pappas, to discuss potential problem areas for his student graders. Dr. Pappas provided excellent insight into the functions of the class and the student grader team; he proposed that the best topic for a training session would be training in leading discussions. For the twelve student graders, we felt it would be most beneficial to create a survey to assess their comfortability in leading and facilitating small group discussions of first year students, to determine what skills need building or improvement. The date of delivery for this survey will be online through the platform of SurveyMonkey.com, Thursday March 16th, with the training session occurring on Sunday, March 26th. The survey reads as follows:
The following questions are meant to assess your current comfortability and knowledge in leading small group discussions as a student grader for ISAT160. Please answer honestly, as these responses will be used to provide a training session for the team to enhance the classroom experience. Your answers are anonymous and confidential. Thank you!
PART ONE:
Assessing problem-solving
1. You are leading a discussion and you notice that several of your students haven’t spoken at all. How comfortable are you to address the issue?
1. Very comfortable 2. Somewhat comfortable 3. Somewhat uncomfortable 4. Very uncomfortable
2. Two of your students have opposing viewpoints on a topic, and are becoming more heated in discussion. How comfortable are you to address the issue?
1. Very comfortable 2. Somewhat comfortable 3. Somewhat uncomfortable 4. Very uncomfortable
3. One of your students makes a statement that is incorrect, assumptive or offensive in front of the group. How comfortable are you to address the issue?
1. Very comfortable 2. Somewhat comfortable 3. Somewhat uncomfortable 4. Very uncomfortable
PART TWO:
Indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree with the following statements
4) I am confident in my ability to generate thoughtful questions.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
5) I know how to prepare material for a discussion.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
6) I am comfortable with engaging students to speak more/engage more during discussion.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
7) I know how to structure a discussion from start to finish.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
8) I know how to guide discussion toward a specific conclusion.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
9) I understand what it means to “facilitate”
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
10) I am comfortable being in a position of authority over fellow undergraduate students.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
11) I would like to improve my facilitation and leadership skills of small group discussion.
a) Completely Agree b) somewhat agree c) somewhat disagree d) Completely disagree
This survey will be administered via email by Dr. Pappas to the team of graders. Once the data is collected, the training session can be more targeted toward the actual needs of the student graders to ensure an effective session. This survey will provide a better view of what specific skills that the grader team could improve, and also provide direction when creating activities for the training session.