This week, I did some research on play in education, informal education, and experiential education. I met with my mentor Victor Villegas and created a LinkedIn profile, as well as met with Education Director Cyra Sadowl from Airway Science for Kids for an informational interview.
Researching play in education, informal education, and experiential education
These were the sources that I looked at for each of the topics that I researched this week:
- Play in education – “Participant engagement with play research–examples and lessons learned from the Centre for Play in Education, Development and Learning” by Lenka Janik Blaskova, Soizic Le Courtois, Sara Baker, Jenny Gibson, Paul Ramchandani, Christine O’Farrelly, and Elian Fink
- Informal education – “The Base of the Iceberg: Informal Learning and Its Impacts on Formal and Non-Formal Learning” by Alan Rogers (pp. 33-44 and 68-72)
- Experiential education – “The Learning Way: Meta-cognitive Aspects of Experiential Learning” by Alice Y. Kolb and David A. Kolb
I learned that play in education is very valuable, as it engages children and allows them to develop social skills, sense of self-efficacy, social skills, and creative thinking, which are usually overlooked in typical school readiness measures.
I also read about the value of informal education, which is learning that students engage in where they acquire new knowledge and skills unconsciously. This is achieved through situated learning (being put in situations where students rely on using past knowledge and experiences to deal with new and unfamiliar situations), task-oriented learning (learning how to master a new task), social learning (learning by interacting with others), and individualized learning (learning by reflecting on oneself). The value of informal education should be given more recognition, as the knowledge and skills learned via informal learning are highly applicable and usable in situations both inside and outside the classroom.
I also looked at experiential learning, which is a four-step cycle where students participate in experiencing, reflecting, thinking, and acting all within a single activity. Experiential learning can improve meta-cognition in students, which has been shown to increase the probability of students succeeding in their tasks. Experiential learning has many benefits compared to traditional learning, especially in that it promotes more of a growth mindset in students rather than a fixed one.
Setting up a linkedin profile
This week was also my first time setting up a LinkedIn profile. I learned about how to add different profile sections to highlight different things about me, such as skills, projects, honors & awards, and education background.
I also practiced requesting a connection and writing a message. I learned that including a note when requesting to connect with someone can be valuable to let them know who you are and why you want to connect with them. I sent a connection request to Cyra Sadowl, the Education Director of Airway Space for Kids, to set up an informational interview with her later in the week.
meeting with cyra sadowl, educational director of airway space for kids
I met with Cyra Sadowl for an informational interview to learn more about what she does at her job as the Education Director at Airway Space for Kids. She works with the Airway Space for Kids organization, which aims to bring aerospace and aviation programs to kids in underserved communities. They focus on outreaching to students who are traditionally underrepresented in STEAM programs in an effort to reduce the systemic barriers that make it harder for them to pursue education in aerospace and aviation. These programs are available to kids in elementary, middle, and high schools, and all of the programs are provided for free to promote accessibility and equity.
One of the highlights from the interview was hearing about what Cyra does in her job day-to-day. Some of the tasks that she does include designing curriculums, learning kits, and modules to allow kids to be able to explore aerospace and aviation. She also connects with many different groups in the community including families, family organizations, local industries, and schools to be able to collaborate with them and share Airway Space for Kid‘s resources. She said that she also teaches classes from time to time.
I also asked Cyra about how the programs help promote creativity in kids. She talked about how artists are invited to paint murals inside the building to create a vivid and engaging environment for the students. She described how it also makes the building come to life a lot more, become a place that is welcoming to everyone in the community, and emphasize placing art at the forefront of STEM. In regards to working with students, she talked about the importance of framing questions as open-ended to spark curiosity and wonder in students, and she also said that she tries to incorporate the engineering design process in the activities that the students do. She stressed the importance of being flexible and being willing to deviate from plans to let students be able to play or further explore things that they are curious about in order to promote creative thinking and exploration.
I also asked Cyra about if the skills that students learn in the program help them to do better with school. She told me about how their programs prioritize developing soft skills and professional skills, such as patience, respect for others, and being able to work with others, which are transferable life skills. Although their program is focused on aviation and aerospace, they do not make students focus on memorizing facts or information. She also talked about how students who have gone through the program have been able to accomplish great things and make it into aviation and aerospace universities. This is a result of how the program was able to help these students overcome barriers that would have prevented them from pursuing education and careers in aviation and aerospace.
I thought that what Cyra does at her job is amazing to be able to improve access to STEAM education to students in the community. I gained a lot of insight about her organization and her work, as well as how the organization is able to promote STEAM and creativity through their programs. I was very grateful for the opportunity to meet her.
This was also my first time doing a professional networking interview, and I learned a lot about what a networking and informational interview is like. It made me realize how important speaking and interviewing skills are.
goals for next week
I plan to meet with my mentor again next week to discuss what I worked on this week and to see what I can continue working on during the upcoming week. I also plan to ask about the Soundbox 5 Festival at OSU (hosted by the College of Liberal Arts), which I plan to attend.
