How to Conduct a Needs Analysis as a Student

Conducting a Task Analysis

1. Consider your job and performance as a student and conduct each of the following types of needs analysis: task analysis, cognitive task analysis, team task analysis, and person analysis.  Based on your results, indicate the critical tasks of a student, how well you perform each task, and on which tasks you need to improve your performance.  What do you need to become a better student?

2. Find a partner in the class and take turns conducting a task analysis interview.  Before beginning your interview, prepare a task analysis interview guide with questions that will help you identify tasks; rate their importance, difficulty, and frequency; and determine the task specifications (knowledge, skills, and abilities).  The interviewee can refer to a current or previous job when answering the interviewer’s questions.  Also consider the relevance of a cognitive task analysis and a team task analysis.