Running head: NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 1

Needs Assessment Report

Jennifer Dulek

Trevecca Nazarene University

NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT 2

Abstract

This paper details a needs assessment conducted regarding the use of American Psychological

Association (APA) formatting by occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students at American

Career College (ACC) in Anaheim, California. Although the APA (2010) provides clear and

detailed guidelines for citing and referencing published work in academic assignments, students

often struggle with adhering to these guidelines, which can result in lower scores and potential

honor code violations. Instructors and students have identified the need for additional instruction

regarding using APA citations and reference pages. This needs assessment details the current

instructional problem related to APA use, analyzes the target audience and instructional needs,

and proposes instruction to resolve the instructional problem.

Keywords: needs assessment, instructional design, APA formatting, college students

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Needs Assessment Report

Instructional Problem

Teaching literature has shown what many college instructors have encountered

anecdotally in the assignments their students submit: in-text citations and reference pages using

American Psychological Association (APA) formatting often contain errors, and students do not

consistently use in-text citations or paraphrasing when necessary (Mandernach, Zafonte, &

Taylor, 2016). Use of APA formatting is often required in college courses to ensure that students

abide by legal and ethical standards in their writing and to prepare them for academic and

professional work (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010). Yet students often

struggle with following guidelines for APA style and formatting, which can lead to plagiarism

and other honor code violations.

Occupational therapy assistant (OTA) students at American Career College (ACC) in

Anaheim, California, are no different, as instructors there report that a majority of students

continue to make APA errors in their assignments despite having received previous instruction

on APA formatting. Of the 32 current OTA students, three are currently on academic probation

due to incidents of plagiarism, all of which involve failure to adequately cite published work. In

addition, students themselves have recently reported lack of familiarity and comfort with using

APA in their academic work, and many have requested individual assistance with this learning

task.

Group instruction addressing APA formatting of in-text citations and references pages, as

well as when to cite and paraphrase, is necessary. This instruction will address the needs

identified by instructors and students, reduce the possibility of future incidents of plagiarism, and

will be more time- and cost-effective than the individual instruction occurring presently. The
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goal of this instruction is to decrease the number of errors that OTA students at ACC make in

using APA in their academic work.

Target Audience

All OTA students at ACC will be invited and encouraged to attend the APA workshop. It

will be mandatory only for the few who are currently on probation due to previous incidents of

plagiarism, but all who self-identify as having scored poorly on previous assignments due to

APA errors and/or as struggling with using APA in their academic work should plan to attend. It

is possible that students from outside the OTA program may also choose to attend, and they will

also be permitted to participate in the workshop.

OTA students at ACC can be considered adult learners (Morrison, Ross, Kalman, &

Kemp, 2013), and are currently pursuing their associate’s degrees. Approximately one-third of

the class already holds a college degree, and a majority of them received instruction about APA

style and format in the English course that was offered last term. The content and format of the

instruction they received at that time is not clear, but it appears that students received handouts

and links to APA-related resources, possibly without direct instruction regarding their

application. OTA instructors report that about 75% of students consistently format citations and

reference pages incorrectly, and approximately 25% have sought help from their advisors or

Student Services for assistance with APA formatting.

Additional learner analysis is outlined below in Table 1:

Table 1.
Learner Analysis
Factor Analyzed Analysis Details
Primary Audience • OTA students who are on probation for plagiarism
will be required to attend and participate
• OTA students who have self-identified as requiring
assistance/instruction regarding APA are encouraged
to attend
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Secondary Audience
General Learner Characteristics
(for both primary and secondary
audiences, as participants must
self-identify because the
workshop is optional for most
learners)
Entry Characteristics
5
• All OTA students are invited and encouraged to attend
• Students from other ACC programs that require APA
formatting may also attend
• Ages 18 to 64
• Gender: 30% male, 70% female
• Education: High school diploma through master’s
degree
• OTA education: 14 weeks into the 80 week program
• Learning Styles: Primarily visual and kinesthetic
Prerequisite skills and knowledge:
• Most recognize that a reference page is required by
APA
• Some recognize that in-text citations are required
• Some recognize the general format of a reference page
• Some understand the concept of paraphrasing
Attitudinal and motivational characteristics:
• All recognize the importance of using APA formatting
in scholarly work
• All understand the consequences of failure to cite
sources properly per ACC honor code
• Some learners believe that APA is too difficult to be
learned
• Some learners believe that APA is not relevant to their
future careers
Prior experience:
• All have been exposed to APA requirements in
OTA100 course last term, and most in ENGL100 or
equivalent during past five years
• All have been required to use APA formatting within
the past term
• All have been provided with links to APA-related
websites and ACC library materials related to APA
style and formatting
Common errors made by learners:
• Most struggle with citations and reference pages, and
less so with document formatting (font, spacing,
margins, title pages, etc.)
• Most do not properly cite sources when they have
paraphrased the content
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Instructional Needs

As a result of this instruction, learners are expected to be able to use APA formatting in

their academic work. Specifically, they will be able to:

• Define paraphrasing and describe its use in academic writing.

• Identify the need to cite a source via an in-text citation when paraphrasing the source.

• Identify the need to cite a source via an in-text citation when quoting the source.

• Create an in-text citation for information that has been paraphrased.

• Create an in-text citation for information that has been quoted.

• Develop an APA-formatted reference list, including heading, alphabetization, hanging

indents, spacing, and citation sequence.

Learners will participate in a brief pre-test at the beginning of the lesson, and will

complete the same questions as a post-test at the conclusion of the lesson. Questions on this test

will address each of the identified learning objectives, and will assess the learners’ knowledge

and skill related to using APA formatting in their academic work.

Resolution of the Instructional Problem

Evidence suggests that providing direct instruction in APA improves student performance

(Luttrell, Bufkin, Eastman, & Miller, 2010; Mandernach et al., 2016). In addition, repetition and

practice decrease the likelihood of student errors in citations and references, as does working

through a sample paper that includes APA mistakes (Mandernach, et al., 2016). Instruction that

includes these strategies will benefit students and is likely to support achievement of the learning

objectives and resolve the instructional problem.

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References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American

Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association.

Luttrell, V. R., Bufkin, J.L., Eastman, V. J., & Miller, R. (2010). Teaching scientific writing:

Measuring student learning in an intensive APA skills course. Teaching of Psychology,

37(3), 193-195.

Mandernach, B.J., Zafonte, M., & Taylor, C. (2016). Instructional strategies to improve college

students’ APA style writing. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher

Education, 27(3), 407-412.

Morrison, G.R., Ross, S.M., Kalman, H.K., & Kemp, J.E. (2013). Designing effective

instruction. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.