Reflection – Learning Launch

Challenge and Selection    My non-profit organization provides after-school academic and college preparation support for  students in Title 1 (low performing) schools.  In my role as project manager, I was tasked with a  project to design a course that would motivate high school junior students to study for and  perform well on the SAT college entrance exam. Since the organization was dependent on  college student volunteers and only assigned one part-time staff to coordinate all activities at  each school site, the program had to be affordable and in-house. Another challenge was  incorporating the organization’s core value of empowering students and entrenching the idea  of peer-support and self-sustainability. While a traditional SAT Prep Course could have been an  obvious solution, it was costly, rigidly structured and in which participants played a minimal role  in the whole learning process – mainly receiving content presented by the teacher.     To attain our goal of creating an empowering SAT Prep course, we started with what’s currently  available and has been the model for many years in designing such courses. We developed  content and a schedule, trained and assigned the site coordinator the responsibility of teaching  the course while volunteers serve as aids. As the project manager, I observed and documented  participants’ behavior and managed all party’s involvement in refining the course. We  concluded that participants (students) should have an active role in the teaching process as  well. This, we hoped would solve the challenges of making the course affordable and  sustainable and for the student to take ownership of the course and therefore feel empowered.    I chose the Learning Launch tool as an action-based method that allows you to refine your  prototype as you continue to observe engagement and learn more about the product. We used  the Learning Launch tool to test this prototype at one school before deciding on adopting it  across all schools.     Application    The new prototype we launch was student- centered and we wanted to test it in one cohort at  one school site. The participants were divided into small groups (3-4) that would study, present  on and teach a sub-section of SAT Prep each week. The same went on for the practice tests,  with a set number of questions assigned to each group and for them to teach to the whole  cohort their solving methods. The volunteers were assigned to serve as advisor to each group.  The site coordinator served to coordinate logistics, schedules, content, group and volunteer  management, and assist with the learning process when needed. We documented student’s  progress in practice tests as well as the real exam and compared it student in our other sites.     This experience of witnessing a prototype being tested with a specific target group and in a  controlled environment was significant for us to determine its success and if we should export it  to other sites.

Insight and Approach    The overall idea of having our students (i.e. customers) at the center of our service is certainly a  rewarding approach. In this journey we started with a general product (traditional SAT Prep  Courses) and observed our students’ engagement with it to develop a future product. Once we  have developed a new model, we went on to this Learning Launch phase, which allowed us to  test our model-prototype in one school to determine if it should be implemented across our  different school site. The testing phase was crucial to determine the desirability and viability of  the model with our students. It reinforced the importance to testing a model before fully  developing it and setting on a final launch across the organization. While this particular  prototype was successful and allowed us to meet our organizations goals, it must be noted that  we did not attain the same success with other prototypes. One example is an attempt to  conduct a similar approach for a math accelerator program with elementary students – the  teacher-led approach worked better.     An important insight from this experience, which must be comprehended and anticipated in  future approaches to similar cases, is the importance of open-mindedness testing or refining a  prototype. With an open-mindedness approach, you may discover the next prototype while  you’re testing the first.


Reflection – Learning Launch Challenge and Selection My non - profit organization provides after - school academic and college preparation support for students in Title 1 ( low performing ) schools . In my role as project manager , I was tasked with a project to design a course that would motivate high school junior students to study for and perform well on the SAT college entrance exam . Since the organization was dependent on college student volunteers and only assigned one part - time staff to coordinate all activities at each school site , the program had to be affordable and in - house . Another challenge was incorporating the organization ’s core value of empowering students and entrenching the idea of peer - support and self - sustainability . While a traditional SAT Prep Course could have been an obvious solution , it was costly , rigidly structured and in which participants played a minimal role in the whole learning process – mainly receiving content presented by the teacher . To attain our goal of creating an empowering SAT Prep course , we started with what ’s currently available and has been the model for many years in designing such courses . We developed content and a schedule , trained and assigned the site coordinator the responsibility of teaching the course while volunteers serve as aids . As the project manager , I observed and documented participants ’ behavior and managed all party ’s involvement in refining the course . We concluded that participants ( students ) should have an active role in the teaching process as well . This , we hoped would solve the challenges of making the course affordable and sustainable and for the student to take ownership of the course and therefore feel empowered . I chose the Learning Launch tool as an action - based method that allows you to refine your prototype as you continue to observe engagement and learn more about the product . We used the Learning Launch tool to test this prototype at one school before deciding on adopting it across all schools . Application The new prototype we launch was student- centered and we wanted to test it in one cohort at one school site . The participants were divided into small groups ( 3 - 4 ) that would study , present on and teach a sub - section of SAT Prep each week . The same went on for the practice tests , with a set number of questions assigned to each group and for them to teach to the whole cohort their solving methods . The volunteers were assigned to serve as advisor to each group . The site coordinator served to coordinate logistics , schedules , content , group and volunteer management , and assist with the learning process when needed . We documented student ’s progress in practice tests as well as the real exam and compared it student in our other sites . This experience of witnessing a prototype being tested with a specific target group and in a controlled environment was significant for us to determine its success and if we should export it to other sites . Insight and Approach The overall idea of having our students ( i.e. customers ) at the center of our service is certainly a rewarding approach . In this journey we started with a general product ( traditional SAT Prep Courses ) and observed our students ’ engagement with it to develop a future product . Once we have developed a new model , we went on to this Learning Launch phase , which allowed us to test our model - prototype in one school to determine if it should be implemented across our different school site . The testing phase was crucial to determine the desirability and viability of the model with our students . It reinforced the importance to testing a model before fully developing it and setting on a final launch across the organization . While this particular prototype was successful and allowed us to meet our organizations goals , it must be noted that we did not attain the same success with other prototypes . One example is an attempt to conduct a similar approach for a math accelerator program with elementary students – the teacher - led approach worked better . An important insight from this experience , which must be comprehended and anticipated in future approaches to similar cases , is the importance of open - mindedness testing or refining a prototype . With an open - mindedness approach , you may discover the next prototype while you ’re testing the first .