Reflection-Learning Launch

Challenge and Selection

I chose to use the Learning Launch tool to help in providing a solution to young  university students desiring to find out their purpose and living it out through campus  and once they leave college. There has been a challenge of most university students  leaving campus and having no idea what to do and especially when they don’t get jobs  soon after leaving campus. There was a feeling that there is need to create a platform for  them to prepare them for life after campus whether they got employed or ventured into  businesses.  My team and I thought of starting a programme/mentorship program to  provide a holistic approach to life from campus and into the world because we realized  the curriculum in university did not provide for much life skill training. We used this  tool because we needed the students input to come up with a program that serves and  meets their need.

Application

We started the process by approaching the management team of the 4 campuses we  wanted to work with on the idea and they gave us a go ahead to share our  questionnaires with the students asking them to share their views on what they felt  were some of the things they would like to know or learn that may help them step  confidently into the ‘world’ after campus. The questions were open-ended to allow them  freedom to give all responses they felt were relevant to their needs. We wanted to find  out where their pain points were.  Their responses were varied from spiritual  development, networking, financial development, and relationships, personal and  professional development. Others needed guidance on personal, professional and even  leadership development.  We also wanted to know if they would be willing to pay for the  program and how frequent they would like the training to be held. The frequency  needed to align with their school timetable since not all students lived in the same  city/town as the campus and if the program extended beyond the school term, it would  inconvenience some of these students. The questionnaires were given to a total of 400  students from the 4 campuses we had approached and we required the responses in 2  days.

Insight and Approach

After receiving the responses from the students, we went through them compiling the  feedback in an exercise to find out if the responses aligned with our assumptions at the  start of the process. To a larger extent, the responses aligned with our assumptions and

what did not align we shelved for future use/improvement. Their views and suggestions  were then compiled and we used it to prepare training modules based on the  subjects/topics shared by the students. We were able to develop a 10-week programme  that covered topics that were very relevant to the students and meeting their need of  life skills development. Class attendance was once a week on a Saturday and the first  season classes were offered for free as a test. We had 250 students in attendance for  Season 1. The subsequent seasons have seen a growth in student numbers and we have  introduced an affordable fee to cater for snacks and the certification. We added the  certification because the students needed a document to show their participation in the  program. We also chose a central venue that was easily accessible to all the attendees  coming for the training.

One of the lessons learned from this process is that the best way to provide relevant and  workable solutions to your audience/customers is to incorporate their views and  concerns while developing a solution for them because they are co-creators in the  process. Listen to their views and concerns as well and convert the information into a  solution. The clients are also willing and happy to be included in the process and they  take up ownership of the process.

We also appreciated those who did not agree with our assumptions and their concerns  have been noted and we look forward to use them for further development of the  current program or even use them to develop something new.

