{"id":1070780,"date":"2022-11-01T07:04:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-01T11:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1070780"},"modified":"2022-11-01T07:04:21","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T11:04:21","slug":"non-formal-learning-activities-what-do-we-know-and-how-do-we-apply-it-to-computing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prime-wow.com\/?p=1070780","title":{"rendered":"Non-formal learning activities: What do we know and how do we apply it to computing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the Raspberry Pi Foundation, we engage young people in learning about computing and creating with digital technologies. We do this not only by developing curricula for formal education<\/a> and introducing tens of thousands of children around the world to coding at home<\/a>, but also through supporting non-formal learning activities such as Code Club and CoderDojo.<\/p>\n

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Code Clubs are after-school coding clubs.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

To find out what works in non-formal computing learning, we\u2019ve conducted two research projects recently: a systematic literature review, and a set of two interventions that were applied and evaluated as part of our Gender Balance in Computing programme<\/a>. In this blog, we outline these two research projects.<\/p>\n

What is non-formal learning?<\/h2>\n

When you think of young people learning computing, do you think of schools, classrooms, and curricula? You\u2019d be right that lots of computing education for young people takes place in classrooms as part of national curricula. However, a lot of learning can take place outside of formal schooling. When we talk about non-formal computing education, we mean structured or semi-structured learning environments such as clubs or community groups, often set up by volunteers. These may take place in a school, library, or community venue; but we\u2019ve also heard of some of our communities running non-formal learning activities on buses, in fire stations, or at football grounds\u00a0 \u2014 there really is no limit to where learning can happen.<\/p>\n

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CoderDojos are community-based coding clubs and some take place in offices.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s harder to assess the impact and effectiveness of non-formal computing activities than formal computing education: we have to think outside of the traditional measures such as grades and formal exams or assessments. Instead, we estimate outcomes according to measures such as level of participant engagement, attendance, attrition rates, and changes in participants\u2019 attitudes towards computing. We have previously also piloted non-formal assessments such as quizzes<\/a> and found that these were well-received by adult facilitators and children alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Project 1: Researching the impact of non-formal computing education<\/h2>\n

Earlier this year, we conducted a systematic literature review<\/a> into computing education for K\u201312 learners in non-formal settings. We identified 88 relevant research studies, which we read, compared, and synthesised to provide an overview of what is already known about the effectiveness of non-formal computing activities and to identify opportunities for further research.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our analysis looked for common themes within existing studies and suggested some benefits that non-formal learning offers, including:\u00a0<\/p>\n