Learner Analysis
When presented with a teaching situation, one of the major challenges teachers must deal with is the various and often divergent sets of needs inherent in each student. Nevertheless, the University of Alberta (2001) emphasizes that teaching should be conducted around learners and their needs rather than around the text or teacher. Hence, learner analysis is a vital component of teaching effectively.
According to the University of Alberta (2001), there are various perspectives on conducted learner analysis, also known as audience analysis, in the classroom. Often, these begin with an assessment of the basic characteristics in learners that are considered to be important in an analysis of their needs. Some, for example, identify two basic types of learner-related characteristics: Prerequisite knowledge, skills and attitudes, and other learner characteristics such as their demography, psychology, aptitudes, experience, learning styles, and so on. Both these basic sets of characteristics should be taken into account when conducting a learner analysis. Others divide learner characteristics into three categories, including general characteristics, entry competencies, and learning styles.
Whichever approach is taken, the most important component of learner analysis is the recognition that almost all groups of learners today are heterogeneous, representing the increasingly multicultural nature of the society from which they emerge. This makes learner analysis particularly challenging. The traditional format of learner analysis, which involves identifying a singular target audience for learning, is no longer valid.
To handle this challenge, Stolovitch and Keep (2008), suggest that a learner analysis and identified target audience should be obtained for more than one type of audience. In other words, a variety of learners should be identified, and groups created according to similar needs and characteristics. Hence, learning material can still be created to function optimally within this audience.
Specifically, characteristics included in a typical learner analysis involves age range, gender distribution, marital status and family, learner interests, reasons...
2010). The information obtained is then used to create learning materials that focus on addressing the assessed needs of learners. A learner analysis is important for teachers, as this reveals the type and level of materials that can be used for optimal results.
The Benefits of Learner Analysis
The most obvious benefit of a good learner analysis is the ability to create instructional materials that are not only appealing to the learners involved, but that also provide for effective and efficient teaching (Eastham, 2008).
According to Daigre (2011), analyzing learners for specific information such as developmental similarities can also have significant benefits. Where students are more or less the same age, for example, the instructional designer's knowledge of their similarities in cognitive, language, psychosocial, and moral development can for example influence the design of materials that are particularly appropriate for their stage of life and academic development. As such, the designer can use the resulting knowledge of the students' cognitive structure to create effective learning materials.
Challenges of Learner Analysis
As mentioned, the most important challenges of learner analysis is the fact of diversity. Students are no longer homogeneous, particularly in terms of their culture and family background. To conduct an effective learner analysis, it is no longer sufficient to obtain a concept of one specific target audience. Instead, there are two approaches that can be taken:
The first is to focus on the similarities in students, such as their cognitive and academic development. If students are more or less the same age, materials can be created to focus on that particular age group.
The second is to focus on similarities among various groups within the classroom. There could, for example be a number of students from the same type…
