After having spent three weeks with Elemental, I want to share some main observations and key questions that were sparked.

In the satisfaction forms, a few parents shared a similar concern: they felt like the final presentations were not long enough, and lacked vocabulary or concepts learnt from the workshop. These complaints can be interpreted in a few ways. First, they express a lack of communication between Elemental and parents. During my time here, I have heard parents constantly say that they are looking for something “different,” which usually is measured by how happy their kids are. Happiness is important to them, but as customers, they are also looking for a confirmation that their kids learnt something and that it was money spent well. Secondly, from an educational perspective, these complaints are symptoms of a greater issue: what students are learning is not clear nor tangible. The presentations attempt to make learning visible, but the parents were looking for a change in academic language (application of concepts and use of vocabulary gained from the workshop). Linking these complaints with my daily observations, these symptoms derived from the structure of the workshops; a structure that lacked educational objectives and measurable outcomes.

Also, as an observer of various workshops, it was not always clear what the students would learn that day, and there was not a clear “exit ticket” or “exit activity” to conclude each session. The instructor knew what the theme and objectives of each class was, but they were never communicated clearly. Elemental equated time spent in the workshop as the amount of new knowledge gained. Instead, there should be other ways to measure what students are learning in an informal manner.

My main proposal to help Elemental improve their services as a non-formal education institution was an activity called “The question of the day.”

The goal of this activity was to (1) communicate clearly the learning objectives of each session, (2) increase student engagement in the sessions and (3) facilitate communication between the guardian and the student. I spoke with students and parents who wanted something more than the usual “How did it go?” question with the usual “Fine” response.

To begin each class, the instructor presents 2-3 questions that are framed based on the learning objectives. Students are told that after class, their guardian or parent will ask them one of the questions. After the class is finished, Elemental sends out the “question of the day” to parents via email or text. This mystery game hopes to serve as an incentive for students to remain engaged during the class so that they leave being able to answer all questions.

I also proposed this idea because there were untapped affordances of being a nonformal education institution. The freedom to send emails and texts to parents is a great opportunity to increase communication that is both interactive and engaging. Also, as a nonformal education institution, they can decide what measures they use to gauge learning and how to capture these measures. The “question of the day” provides a quick, easy format for evaluating student progress through free, parent participation. Moving forward, I will have to work with Elemental to think about ways to implement this idea and what channels of communication will be most effective.