Workshops At Hope Solutions Have Begun!
Way back in September, I made a grand statement. I said that we’d run free engineering workshops, open to all, and teach the concepts that define our organization to the world. I repeated that in my head - and I’m sure many of our other volunteers have been doing the same - again and again since that day. Over time, that goal has come into focus. After the pilot workshop, all the way back in October, it seemed to be on the horizon. After the hours poured into our engineering courses, ideas for activities ran wild among our volunteers. When we established our partnership with Hope Solutions, it was almost upon us. But today, we’ve reached that goal. On Friday, 6 volunteers from Encouraging Engineering Exploration visited Hope Solutions Lakeside and ran our first engineering workshop in the “real world”. And this time, it wasn’t a one-time pilot. We’ll be back at Hope Solutions this coming Friday - and we’ll be doing weekly workshops there for the next few months, and possibly beyond. But what does this all mean?
Well, it means that our initial goal is now behind us. Now, we can focus on growth - expanding our impact across the Bay area - and eventually, put our name on the map.
The Workshop
“When will you guys be back?”
Taking some pointers from our pilot notes, we made some changes going into Friday’s workshop, though much of the activity was the same. For one thing, our curriculum resources have grown immensely since October. That meant a more insightful lesson portion, as well as a prototype design process worksheet, which walked the kids through the early stages of the engineering process: defining design goals and setting design constraints. The kids then drew a picture of their final prototype design, satisfying the goals and constraints they defined. If you want to read more about the project and what it entails, as well as get the information needed to do it on your own, read our pilot workshop blog post! Overall, both were incredibly successful in their own ways.
How were the two workshops different?
After the workshop, I spent some time reflecting on why it felt different from our first pilot workshop. I almost think that it caught me off guard; the kids needed much more guidance to find an idea that they were interested in doing. During the pilot, the kids had ideas on top of ideas and we had to tell them what might be the not-so-good ideas. At the beginning of Friday’s workshop, admittedly, I was worried that the format wasn’t working. Maybe keeping it verbal would work better - maybe the kids would rather jump in and make something, rather then planning it out and making a concept sketch. But I had to go back to the roots of our organization to answer that part of me.
The thing is that the engineering design process isn’t easy. Really, it’s pretty complicated - 3rd grade me certainly would have had a hard time getting my head around it. But I realized upon further reflection that that’s the way it’s supposed to be. We run these workshops to teach those concepts, to introduce them and show how they’re used in the real world. I should have expected it to be tough at first. The thing is, it probably would be easier to jump straight in, to make something and appreciate it without worrying about the design process so much. But that’s not what we’re about.
When we come in again this Firday, we’ll go through the proces again. The project might be different, but the engineering design process is identical - and this time, the kids might feel a bit more comfortable with it. Maybe they’ll come up with more detailed design goals - or think of more creative constraints. Maybe it’ll still be hard (probably, to be honest), but we’ll be achieving exactly what we set out to do: teaching a concept with real-world uses in a hands on way. While the kids might seem to be struggling a bit, they are learning - and learning rapidly, learning concepts they’ve probably never seen at all before.
That’s what makes me so excited for the future of our workshop campaign at Hope Solutions and beyond; the idea of this longer-term growth in our students. It’s what makes our curriculum content so important - both as an extension after workshops at one particular place have finished (on the online side), or as a basis for the progression of lesson content as workshops continue. Of course, we can’t expect to teach a group engineering in a couple hours, no matter how hands-on we make it. We’re looking for effective growth across several workshops, so that’s what we’re looking for and working towards. Lots to come!
Looking Forward
That brings me to the conclusion of this post. Overall, the first workshop has made me and the team at EEE more excited than ever to branch out and do more - whether that’s new workshops at new locations, expanding our curriculum - or even starting on the path of reaching outside the Bay Area.
We’re past our launch. Now, it’s time to reach orbit.
-Vaughn and the team at EEE :)
P.S. We’ll be redoing much of our engineering curriculum material soon to make it easier for an adult or mentor to teach it at home. We’re tuning it based on experience at workshops. Keep an eye out for a blog post when we launch the updated curriculum!
