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1.

2.

3.

What is the learning problem or opportunity? Adults suffering

with depression who are also unable to afford therapy
creates a need for a course which can introduce them to
how to become their own therapist.
What is currently available? There are stress reduction online
classes for continuing education or self-improvement,
university workshops for students, YouTube videos, booklets,
books, counseling services, and websites with step-by-step
instruction.
What should be available? Therapy based courses given by
certified instructors, held at community colleges, offered to
any adult who cannot afford to pay for therapy sessions and
do not have to be a student enrolled at the appropriate
college.

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Explain the gap analysis between what is available and

what should be available.
Although stress management courses are
available at colleges and online, they require
matriculation at those respective colleges and that
includes tuition. Also, those courses do not intend to help
the student identify their mental condition. Therapy is
available to those who seek assistance, but the fee is
costly. Free therapy is offered to those who qualify for
government assistance only. There should be a course
available to any adult who is interested in assessing
whether they can potentially heal their mental condition
themselves or knowing if they need to have professional
services.

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5. What is your recommended solution for filling the gap?

I recommend offering courses to the public through
local community colleges, where those that enroll do not
have to be students of that respective college. This is a
non credit, introduction course that is intended for selfhelp purposes and is part of a four course curriculum.
Those that enroll in the course would pay a small fee for
services and transportation if needed and would be
responsible for completing the course. Skills acquired
would be invaluable and applicable for life and would
fulfill the prerequisite for the next class. By the end of four
months students will know what condition they are
dealing with, if their condition is self treatable and if they
must enlist in professional assistance.

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Adults suffering with depression or mental distress will be

able to conduct self evaluations and diagnosis and will
practice stress reducing techniques in this introductory, month
long course

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 Adults suffering from mental distress will accurately identify

and distinguish mental disorders by demonstrating such

ability scoring an 80% or higher on multiple choice quizzes
and a final test.
Within one month students will determine the causes of
stress in their own lives and will devise a plan on how to
counterattack triggers of stress based off of their own, selfexploratory writings from both in class and from
homework.
Students will effectively incorporate stress reduction
techniques into their daily lives. Verbal feedback will be
given to insure precision of techniques.

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Students

will have a final exam; a multiple choice test at the

end of the month on facts they have learned throughout the
course. Questions will be true or false and word to definition
matching.
Students will verbally and cognitively demonstrate an
understanding of what depression is, its definition, symptoms and
how to treat it through class discussions and activities
Students will know how to detect stress triggers in their lives
An ability to positively deal with stress will be evidential through
their personal writing assignments and the behavior displayed in
class
Alternative ways of thought concerning the treatment of
depression will be explored exposing students to various
resources; students will know how to formulate their own
remedies if needed

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Self assessment surveys will be conducted at the end of each

week to monitor progress, these are surveys about emotional
states, for example: How would you rate your overall
emotional state today on a scale of 1-5? Five would be
reflecting the worse state possible and one representing a
healthy state. How would you rate your personal
relationships? How would you describe yourself emotionally?
Etc. Based off of these surveys instructors will conclude if
progress was made or be able to re-evaluate approach and
activities.

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A class of eight working adults, four men, four women, who have
all completed high school and have had some college exposure.
There are no prerequisites, only the acknowledgement of a state
of mental distress and a desire to become empowered by
learning techniques to self assess and heal. The class is divided
between kinesthetic learners and auditory learners.
Implications to instructional plan based on students
characteristics are that a balance of lecture/discussion and
exercises are appropriate. Those that are auditory will benefit
greatly from lectures and discussions. Those that are kinesthetic
will reinforce what they heard by demonstrating techniques
learned in class at home. Students will be self-motivated to learn
because each one is attending for intrinsic value and interest.

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The class will be held at a local community college, in a

small classroom with desks for writing and taking notes and
an open area where we can form a circle group. It will
also be equipped for lectures and presentations and
videos.
Based on the learner characteristics, it can be inferred
that the group is mainly homogenous in the sense that
they all feel they are suffering from some form of
depression. They all have a general understanding of
what depression is and have experienced it in their lives.
Students who take this course desire to understand the
effects of depression so they can learn to treat it thereby
enabling themselves to cope effectively and positively
and function in society and in their personal lives.

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The learning environment will consist of both instructor-led

lectures and activities; directed learning when information is
presented and open-ended learning, through cooperative
exercises, where students discuss and personalize
information.
Instructional practices that will be relied upon greatly to
assess if information is being absorbed are, the Ten and Two
rule and Reflective Writing. Students are encouraged to take
notes especially when activities will be based on the
knowledge they were presented in class. Reflective writing
exercises will be done for homework and discussed the next
session with groups and openly in class if desired.

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 Instructional

strategies may need to be modified after the first

meeting. During this session, each person will address the class,
including myself, with a brief introduction. I will conduct a learning
style survey to better understand the needs of the students.
Each class will have a lecture element where I will present
information to them with the assistance of a power point
presentation which may include video clips. Students are
encouraged to take notes. The floor will always be opened to
anyone who wishes to share any connections, concerns, questions
or feedback they have. I want the course to be an open
environment where students feel welcomed, safe and confident.
Group activities will be conducted where students will be able to
make connections with their peers enabling them to share with the
class more easily.

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True or false quizzes will be taken before the end of class to

determine if basic information was grasped. Discussion and
questions will follow.
Circle time will be used when needed. It will be a time after
the group establishes a rapport with each other and myself,
and will serve to help discover causes of depression which
will promote an atmosphere of relatability.
Video presentations on yoga and meditative practices will
be shown and physical in-class demonstrations will be made
to assure proper technique. Students will be encouraged to
dress accordingly.
Students will need to know what depression is, define,
describe and identify its symptoms.
Students will know what triggers depression and how to
alleviate it.

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The entire course will be one month long. The students will meet
twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursday evenings, from 6-7:30 pm.
The class will have one instructor and a minimum of five students
and a maximum of ten students. Students are required to bring
notebooks and pens for note taking and a binder to keep
handouts and information in. Students are encouraged to
purchase selected books; no text book is required. Handouts will
be given in class, some purely informative, others will be
worksheets of fill in the blank or quiz format. Student fee will
cover the copies the instructor will make.
The target audience for this course are adults who are seeking
assistance will personal depression or dealing with individuals
who are suffering from it. The classes will be held in a small,
community college classroom equipped to seat up to ten
students and has a video projector to show presentations of
power point and videos. Two class meetings per week at 1.5
hours long will be given. Only one instructor is required. Materials
provided to students, i.e. handouts, information and quizzes will
be printed by the instructor.

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Classes for How to become your own therapist will be

advertised through community colleges and funded by
donation. Colleges will essentially volunteer a classroom for
this service. Students will contact the instructor either by
signing up for the class online or calling. Students will be
required to pay a small fee to ensure their spot. Once
enough students are enlisted class will commence and will be
one month long. Participants selected will only need the
desire to learn about depression and how to treat it. If a class
exceeds ten students, other interested students will be
placed on a waiting list. The course is held at night so that
adults can maintain their normal daily schedule especially if
they have families. I will pitch this course to community
colleges in a presentation demonstrating how many adult
Americans are suffering from depression and the positive
effects of taking my course will have on future students.

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The instructor will need to rely on power point presentations

during lecture to organize information given. Students will need
to provide their own writing materials to take notes. The notes
they take will be an invaluable resource for them in classroom
activities and for future references. Also, the instructor may
provide short video clips to assist learning, these clips could
range from depictions of what depression looks like to yoga
demonstrations and documentary clips. Students will be asked
to listen to or watch certain prescribed videos pertaining to the
topic of instruction. They will do this for homework and for self
interests. A whiteboard will also be needed as instructor is
speaking and also for students to list things during activities.
Computers are not needed in this course. Handouts will be
given which will include, informational pamphlets, quizzes and
tests. Instructor is required to provide all literature.

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Small

group- During this time students will share their own

personal experiences and relate what they went through with the
information they were given in class. Instructor can record progress
and know what the next step would be.
Kinesthetic assessment- Students will demonstrate physically
meditative and yoga techniques such as stretching and poses,
posture, visualization techniques and instructor can observe and
give feedback.
Short quizzes- Students are tested on information they just
acquired and given prompt feedback, this will help them retain
definitions.

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 Writers notebook- Students will maintain a notebook/diary

where they can log all of their thoughts, emotions and what
they learned from class. Teacher can review and assess if
learning is taking place.
Discussion-

Through posing questions to students, the instructor

can postulate whether or not the student is understanding the
information.

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Some strategies used for evaluating instructional plan are measuring

how many tasks were completed or turned in and also grade
received for each assignment, end of class surveys, formative selfevaluation surveys, analyzing educational gaps, overall student
grade for course, and assessments aligned with learning goals and
objectives. Grades demonstrate mastery of material. If students are
failing, then modalities, delivery and content must be re-evaluated.
If the number of missing assignments is consistent among most
students it may mean the difficulty of the exercise needs to be
modified. Student achievement is a good indicator of a successfully
constructed instructional plan. Self evaluation surveys pose questions
like, what grade would I give myself on how well I understand the
lesson? Such questions help guide instruction and motivation. End
of course surveys provide valuable feedback on instructor style and
course content.

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Determining if the course was successful will be assessed by

gathering and analyzing data collected. One method of doing
so would be scoring students by a rubric and from the
information gathered from group discussions.
The rubric will include understanding of information, defining
of key concepts and conditions, assignment completion and
demonstration of knowledge found in writings. Criteria will
include the following: self-evaluation, definition of depression,
articulation of depression, stress-reducing techniques, defining
of mental disorders, and identifying of stress triggers. They will be
scored from 1 to 4. One representing below average mastery of
information, and four representing demonstrating full mastery of
course content.

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During group discussions, information about students will be

noted and later analyzed. Students will be rated on their
understanding of material, identification of stress triggers, and
ability to demonstrate a change in attitude and selfawareness. Students will be rated on how well they
understand concepts, on improvement of understanding,
contribution during discussions, and ability to identify when
key concepts arise in personal situations.

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Considering the counseling-like nature of this course, it can be

inferred that student success will depend heavily upon class
participation, discussion and depth of emersion in writing
assignments and use of supplemental material. Course structure,
presentation of materials and modalities used will be highly
subjective depending on how well students absorb content and
willingness to engage. Each course will emulate the culture of the
group in regard to chronology of activities, learning modalities,
and topics of group discussion. Depending on student end of
course survey and feedback, course structure will be modified to
meet the needs of future students. Overall grades will serve as a
guide for improvement of the course performance based
objectives.

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Brown, A., & Green, T.D. (2006). The essentials of instructional design:
Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Courtin, R. [Google Tech Talks]. (2008, October 3). Be Your Own
Therapist [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nasIq4E9nNg&list=PLSvQDrb
Wfn5C23Kb5trcLPijqOj39RiWS&index=7
Dunn, T. G., & Shriner, C. (1999) Deliberate practice in teaching:
What teachers do for self-improvement. Teacher and Teaching
Education, 15 (6), 631-651.
Ertmer, P.A., & Quinn, J. (2007). The ID casebook: Case studies in
instructional design (3rd. Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
Fink, L. D. (2003) Creating significant learning experiences: An
integrated approach. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

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