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Week 4: Develop International Early Years Science Activity

C-J Foster Experiential Learning Tutor

Week 4 – Present, Feedback, (Re)Develop!

Using Feedback

This week is all about giving you a space to articulate your ideas and receive expert feedback. You will present your ideas and initial proposals to Gabriel Tovias and his team of early years science experts at Lab 0-6 UManresa in Spain. Using their experience and knowledge they will give you feedback about how feasible your ideas are, how connected to evidence regarding early years science education, and how you could develop these further.

This is also your chance to identify any barriers or challenges facing your project or idea, and to think through and redevelop your ideas more fully.

Below are some resources taken from Rise’s “How to be a Design Thinker” self study pack.

These activities can help you shape and develop your ideas.

Spend a few moments reflective on the feedback you received as a group. Share your thoughts. What are some highlights or lowlights of your feedback. Make sure everyone in your team has equal time and consideration to share their thoughts and feelings. Are you all aligned and pulling in the same direction or do do you need to revisit some of the previous steps to reshape your idea.

This discussion is really important and where a lot of group work can fall apart! There is no harm in giving up on an idea at this stage! In fact it can lead to much better outcomes in the long run if you are all working on something you enjoy!

If you have checked in with every member of your team and you’re all happy it’s time to get planning but if anyone has any doubts about the idea, keep the conversation going until everyone is happy!

Redevelop Your Ideas

Use the time now to redevelop your ideas in light of the feedback. You might like to give each other your own feedback on the proposals using the format:

I like

I wish

What if?

Next, make a plan for the next two weeks to complete your proposal ready to share with children at the nursery.

SMART action plan resources

SMART action planning is one way to plan a project and outline what you want to achieve and when.

SMART stands for:

Specific

Describe exactly what you want to achieve. Think about who, what, where? This should help you visualise what you are hoping to achieve. A sketch or diagram might help you with this.

Measurable

What would success look like? Remember you don’t have to completely solve the challenge outlined in your project brief you only need to have a positive impact. Think about how big (or small!) you wan this impact to be. For example how any people might interact with your idea or how big of an area do you want to cover?

Achievable

This is a really important step of your planning. It is very easy to dream of a solution that will change the entire world, however making this a reality can be very challenging! You can still be aspirational but remember that having a small achievable impact is better than reaching too far and the project falling apart!

Relevant

Is your goal relevant to the problem and your team? Does your idea really address the brief? Do you have the skills and expertise to make your idea a reality? More importantly, think back to your original motivation for taking part in the project, does your idea align with this motivation? Are you doing something that you enjoy?

Timely

When do you want to deliver your goal by? Having a set time for goal can encourage you to review the previous steps of SMART goals, can you achieve everything you want in a set time? What level of measurable impact can you have in this time?

In this case your SMART action plan should be written as if you are going to deliver and implement your idea in the real world. This means your timeframe doesn’t have to be limited to the six weeks of the project. You will use your SMART action plan to guide your work through the project and it can form the centre of your presentation at the end of the project.
You may wish to also use SMART goals to plan the next few weeks of your project work. These goals might help you shape your outcomes and delegate tasks to different members of your team.
Week 3 – What’s Next?
After this session you should…
Develop your plan: Complete your SMART action plan. You might want to discuss as a team as your ideas and plans might change as you work through your plan!
Continue your research: Now you have more of a specific idea you might be able to target your research better. If you can find a similar initiative or project that already exists this might help in shaping your help.
Be flexible: Remember your idea isn’t fixed yet. If you feel your first idea isn’t going to work for whatever reason you can return to your “idea park” and choose a different one
Arrange a meeting: Plan to meet at least once before the next session to work on your idea, you should aim to finalise your action plan in this meeting.
Before the next session you should…
Complete your plan: By the start of the next session you should have a complete SMART action plan. You can adapt this plan as you progress but you should have solid plan to move forward.