Analyzing Learners

analyzing LEarners

Brown, A. H. (2016). The Essentials of Instructional Design. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315757438

Robert F. Mager

• Age.
• Sex distribution.
• Nature and range of educational background.
• Reason(s) for attending the course.
• Attitude(s) about course attendance.
• Biases, prejudices and beliefs.
• Typical hobbies and other spare time activities.
• Interests in life other than hobbies.
• Need-gratifiers (rewards that would work).
• Physical characteristics.
• Reading ability.
• Terminology or topics to be avoided.
• Organizational membership.
• Specific prerequisite and entry-level skills already learned

Robert F. Mager (1988, p. 60), who is an author of instructional design texts, recommends analyzing and articulating the following about the target audience:

A common approach to the problem of learner analysis is to “ask the students ” by generating and distributing a survey or questionnaire, however, some authors debate this since students might not provide accurate information.

Smaldino, lowther and russell

Smaldino, Lowther, and Russell (2012) take a different approach. They suggest that the learner analysis should focus on three aspects of the target audience:

General characteristics: Demographic information, such as the learners’ ages, physical abilities, or socioeconomic status; the learner’s cultural identification or shared values; and the amount of previous experience with the content to be covered can all help the designer make informed decisions about how to prepare and deliver the instruction.

• Specific entry competencies: Prior knowledge that is necessary for learners to succeed with the instruction is critically important to the success of any instructional design project (for example, there is not much point to creating instruction on how to conduct research on the web if the target audience does not know how to use a mouse).

• Learning styles: The psychological predilections of individuals affect what they find to be attractive and effective instruction. Gardner’s (1993) aspects of intelligence (verbal/ linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist, and existentialist) and Gregorc’s “mind styles” (Butler, 1986) (concrete sequential, concrete random, abstract sequential, and abstract random) are examples of explanations of how people prefer to approach and deal with problem solving and instruction. Knowledge of these preferences may help the designer create instruction that is easily understood and accepted by the target audience.

Dick, carey & carey

Dick, Carey, and Carey (2011) list the following as useful information for instructional designers about the target population:

• Entry skills.
• Prior knowledge of topic area.
• Attitudes toward content and potential delivery system.
• Academic motivation.
• Educational and ability levels.
• General learning preferences.
• Attitudes toward the training organization.
• Group characteristics.

Two items from this list—attitudes toward content and potential delivery system and attitudes toward the training organization are important reminders to take into consideration the impressions and prejudices that the learners may have about the instructional content, the method of instruction, and the group providing the instruction.

Smith and ragan

Smith and Ragan (2005) approach learner analysis by suggesting that the designer categorize learners by their stable/changing similarities and their stable/changing differences:

• Stable similarities: Learners are generally “configured” similarly (the eyes and ears are located in the same location—as are legs and arms—and the vast majority of learners convert oxygen to carbon dioxide through respiration).
• Stable differences: Any group of learners can be divided into subgroups that are different from the larger group. These differences may be physical (such as gender or age), psychological (including differing learning styles and levels of intelligence), or psychosocial (Smith and Ragan (2005) describe these as personality traits that affect one’s performance in a learning environment).
• Changing similarities: Researchers indicate that processes such as physical, intellectual, and language development are by and large the same for all people. For example, children develop physical dexterity more slowly than they do intellectual and language skills. An instructional designer can use knowledge of human development to prepare lessons and activities that are most appropriate for the learner.
• Changing differences: Knowledge, values, skills, beliefs, and motivations change over time, and they combine uniquely for each individual.