1. Fostering Independence through “Learning by Doing”
Sarah Hensley, Curriculum & Evaluation
Karen Blyler, State Science Coordinator
An Equal Opportunity Institution

2. 4-H Essential Elements Independence Belonging Mastery Generosity
Why, We’ve discussed Belonging, Mastery, and now this year we are going to introduce and reinforce the concept of Independence….
It’s all about the Context or Learning Environment
So, what is “Independence”?
Discussion , please define Independence for us in the chat box…
Essential Elements builds the context
7:10

3. High Quality Context Fosters Positive Youth Development (PYD)
, what is pYD….

4. Independence
Opportunity to see Oneself as an Active Participant in the Future
The ability to see oneself in the future is to have hope and optimism to shape life choices which facilitates the transition into participating in the future.
Opportunity for Self-Determination
Self-determination means believing that you can have an impact on life’s events rather than passively submitting to the will and whims of others. Youth must exercise a sense of influence over their lives, developing their potential to become self-directing, autonomous adults.
Activity
As an adult working with youth I believe all youth have the ability to…..?
Pod for listing ideas and create word cloud.
Essential Elements; Kress, 2004

5. SPARK!!! It takes a Spark* https://youtu.be/TqzUHcW58Us
Interest to build on, Watch his talk later 
Content = Project (Experience it)
Watch this Ted Talk – Benson on Sparks

6. Context Essential Elements are all about building quality PYD outcomes
Supportive Learning Environment
Safe Place to Fail
Positive Developmental Relationships
Youth Engagement – multiple opportunities; i.e. be a teen leader, attend higher level events/activities, lead a program for younger youth
Context supports a quality learning environment

7. Do-Reflect-Apply Fosters Independence Intentional
Promotes high quality learning and engagement of youth
Not a theory of PYD but a proven teaching strategy that promotes life skill attainment
Reference: Volunteer Training Series
Sarah – transition to the implementation of learning, pedagogy

8. Learning By Doing Karen – experience - activity What you will need
Pencil with eraser
Variety of Paper and binder clips

9. Learning By Reflecting
Were you successful? Were you successful the first try or did it take a couple tries?
What did you do/use to make the pencil stand-up straight?
What problems did you encounter? How did you solve them?
Were the results the same for everyone – did everyone use the same approach to get the pencil to stand? Why or why not?
What skills did you use in the activity?
Reflection
Discuss the process you went through to complete the activity.
Life skills:
Problem solving, decision making, wise use of resources, goal setting.

10. Learning By Applying
If you were to do this activity again, what would you do different?
Are there other problems in your life that don’t provide clear instructions?
Like what?
Did you have to think differently to solve this problem?
What other ways can you learn problem solving skills in your life?
Apply - Transfer skills learned to rest of your life
Think differently, out of the box. Problem solving allows you to think differently…..

11. Pfeiffer, J.W. & Jones, J.E., 1963 & Kolb, D. A., 1984
Karen explain model
Pfeiffer, J.W. & Jones, J.E., 1963 & Kolb, D. A., 1984

12. Experience Intentional High Quality
Don’t Solve problems for youth, rather support as they come to their own solution
Chosen/Designed with Life Skill in Mind
Sarah
Quality of experience is important and should be designed with the life skill in mind.
Reference experiential design elements (handout in pod)

13. Experience Continuity and Interaction (Dewey, 1938)
Helpful Design Elements (Beard & Wilson, 2004)
Sense of Journey
Sequence of Activities
Multiple Senses & Emotions
Construction/Destruction of Things
Collaborative/Competitive
Obstacles, Rules, & Procedures
Perceived Risk/Challenge
Empathy towards Environment
Set Goals
Deal with Change, Risk, or Failure
Sort/Organize
Karen-
Provide one example first for sense of journey and then open up Pod for comments, feedback
Reflect and put in the discussion pod an example of an element you have used in your club…. discussion

14. Reflection MUST Be INTENTIONAL Levels (timing and depth) Dependent on
Age
Situation
Time of Experience, Time b/w meetings
Sarah - Introduce , step 2 Reflection

15. Types of Reflection Guided – Ask Questions (gets them thinking)
Applied – Journaling (depth of responses is higher for youth)
Informal – Conversational Sharing with Others
Karen –
Discussion Pods
What type of sharing happens in your club?
How do you intentionally guide reflection?

16. Reflection = Independence
You can ASK Youth:
What went well? Why?
What went wrong? Why did it go wrong?
How did you fix/solve it?
Karen
As a volunteer this is how you can take action now….
Ask youth these questions after they “Do” an activity
Its okay to go wrong, help them see why because that is part of the learning experience.

17. Application
This is where we see an obvious connection between “Experiential Learning” and “Independence” in that young people who can transfer the skills they learn in 4-H to the rest of their lives gain a sense of control over their own life.
See that 4-H is a safe place to try and it is okay to fail
Sarah
Examples: stand up to a bully, set career goals, communicate during a job interview, think critically about the pros and cons of a decision.

18. Types of Application Guided – Ask Questions Authentic – Do it!
Take what you’ve learned and use it in a different setting
Karen
Guided, immediate… following the experience, show them and help youth discover ways that they can use what they just learned. Practice doing the behavior so they are more likely to put it into action.
Authentic – actually transferring and using the skill in a new or different setting. At school, at another competition, in front of county commissioner, for a job interview.

19. Apply = Independence Help youth:
What will you do differently next time?
How will what you learned help you in the future?
What new goals will you make as a result of completing ______ ?
Sarah
Help youth see that they can make a difference and that their opinions and ideas matter.

20. Learning Happens When…
Experiential Learning Model
Belonging
Independence
Mastery
Generosity
Essential Elements ensure a High Quality Context
Karen
Experiential Learning happens inside a Context and includes previous experiences and will influence and influence future experiences.
Occurs in different timelines as discussed and across multiple delivery systems (club, afterschool, in their culture, and social life).

21. Conclusion
The process of Experiential Learning provides opportunities for youth to self-discover and to self-guide their learning which fosters Independence.

22. Call to Action! Volunteers Make the Best Better
What will you do differently?
Sarah
Call to action, I’d like to know what you plan to do differently as a way to promote independence with your 4-H’ers.
Also, at this time we would like to take any questions you have.