Non-formal Learning Activities Research Articles

MENDESAIN SISTEM PENANDA PADA PUSAT KEGIATAN BELAJAR MASYARAKAT (PKBM) NEGERI 17 SENEN RAYA

The Community Service activity entitled "Implementation of Signage System at the Community Learning Center (PKBM) Negeri 17 Senen Raya" located at Jl. Kramat Sentiong I Rt 006/ Rw 05, Kelurahan Kramat, Kecamatan Senen, Jakarta Pusat, is part of the tri-dharma activities of Higher Education Institutions. PKBM Negeri 17 Senen Raya serves as a learning center for economically disadvantaged individuals or those facing obstacles in attending formal education. It conducts non-formal learning activities to fulfill the educational levels of Elementary School, Junior High School, and Senior High School, through the learning process and examination of diploma modules for Package A (Elementary School), Package B (Junior High School), and Package C (Senior High School). PKBM Senen Raya is under the jurisdiction of PKBM Negeri 17 Tanjung Priok, located in North Jakarta. Based on observations and interviews with PKBM Senen Raya, it was found that one of the challenges faced by the institution is the absence of a signage system that identifies the location at the entrance and the identification of building signs indicating the learning center of PKBM Negeri 17 Senen Raya. This lack of information boards and socialization hinders the community's involvement and access to learning activities. The implementation of this Community Service activity is aligned with the field of Visual Communication Design, involving the design of a signage system for location and building identification where learning activities take place. The presence of these two signage systems is expected to support the dissemination of the education equality program at PKBM Negeri 17 Senen Raya, raise awareness among the local community about the importance of education, encourage anyone interested to participate as volunteer instructors or learners, and simultaneously support the government's education equality program for all segments of society.

Non-Formal Learning Activities – Adult Learning Initiatives

Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the international history of community culture and culture-based adult learning through showing the initiatives of a Post-Socialist country through introducing some initiatives from 1950, without claim for completeness. Additions to the History of Community Culture and Culture-based Adult Education and Learning in Hungary. Purpose: Our questions include how the political and legal environment, and the spread of the mass media influenced the cultural activities and the community culture, and what culture-based adult learning initiatives and activities can be identified in the area of culture. Methods: To its realization we chose horizontal and vertical analysing viewpoints. The horizontal viewpoint of our investigation is the linearity of timeline, while the vertical analysing viewpoint is the characteristics of political and legal environment having influence on culture-based adult education (cf. non-formal and informal cultural learning) and showing the work of some significant personalities, through synthetizing archive sources and literature background. Conclusions: The changing of the regime brought reform on this area, too, it basically changed the profession and the training as well: the community culture builds on local initiatives and active participation, includes the training, creating artistic, informational activity of the citizens, based on their self-activities.

Increasing Geoheritage Awareness through Non-Formal Learning

Non-formal learning can have a crucial role in increasing citizens’ literacy to geoscience providing the opportunity to raise the public profile of geology and geomorphology. Starting from these remarks, the project presented here is one of the first attempts, at national level, aimed at achieving the territorial upgrading based on geoheritage enhancement. The project started thanks to a bottom-up input and involved the collaboration between scholars and local administrations and stakeholders for the valorization of a fluvial area within the Municipality of Castellarano (Emilia Apennines, Northern Italy). To achieve this aim of non-formal learning activities, based on the interpretation of the geoheritage, have been implemented. In fact, the investigated area includes valuable geological and geomorphological features which have been used, in the frame of the project here presented, to promote local geodiversity and geotourism. In particular, three geosites of regional significance were considered for the creation of EarthCaches, interpretative panels and guided excursions. Interpretative contents were designed to be educational, providing accurate but non-technical explanations. Attention was given in including illustrations playing an important role in the learning process. The results revealed that the implemented activities positively contribute to raising public awareness on the value of geoheritage.

Educational Alternatives to the Empowerment Process Village Community

Education is regarded as the crucial strategy in human power because the mayor attention of educational institute is how to enable the learners as the output to do something based on their own capability. Unfortunately, the education has not had the ability to face this challengeing work. School education, based on its characteristics, is not appropriate for all people from various age. So, it is difficult for a school education to fulfill the expectation of preparing human power maximally, especially to improve countryside people. Developing non-formal educational system may be an right choice for it. The problem is that there are still many non-formal learning activities use the school approach which in turns, will not improve the people. The non-fomal learning activities that can improve people who involve in it, are those which can be applied in all program dimensions, that is having mini and homogenous groups, switching responsibilities, having leadership of learners, "outsiders" as facilitators, and democratization.

Input in the digital wild: Online informal and non-formal learning and their interactions with study abroad

As research into online informal language learning (OILL) develops as a field, the impact on such practices for a wide variety of contexts can be considered. In the case of this publication, the study abroad (SA) context is of particular interest. Indeed the study abroad student may interact with a range of online learning resources in formal, non-formal and informal contexts before during and after mobility. This review article looks at both Online Informal Language Learning and non-formal learning activities relevant to SA, with particular focus on the Erasmus + online learning support (OLS) platform and popular commercial non-formal learning apps such as Duolingo and Busuu. Such informal and non-formal learning activities also interact with formal language learning offered to SA students, some of which may also take place online. Formal, non-formal and informal learning can therefore be seen to constitute a personal learning environment (PLE) which is specific to each learner. Complex systems views of language learning, including usage based approaches and cognitive grammar, form a useful theoretical framework for understanding how second language (L2) skills may develop as learners are exposed to frequently occurring prototypes in salient contexts in input. While it is now widely accepted that such exposure has a significant impact on comprehension levels, research continues into individual differences between learners in terms of exposure time and cognitive, affective and linguistic engagement with the target materials. Data will be presented indicating that while formal and non-formal learning activities involve exposure times which are often insufficient for significant language development when taken in isolation, informal learning activities offer exposure times and forms of engagement which support language development for many learners. Issues surrounding the assessment and certification of linguistic skills gained outside the classroom are addressed in conclusion.

Older adults, cognitively stimulating activities and change in cognitive function

ABSTRACT Finding interventions which can address the decline of cognitive function as people get older is of great importance to policy-makers, especially in post-industrial societies with rapidly ageing populations. We examine the impact of several different types of mentally stimulating activities on cognitive function in a sample of community-dwelling Europeans aged 50 and older. The data were drawn from the fourth, fifth and sixth waves of the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The activities analysed include non-formal learning activities such as education and training courses; informal learning activities such as reading books, newspapers and magazines; and some other types of cognitively stimulating activities including crossword puzzles and playing chess or card games. The cognitive function outcomes under investigation were memory and verbal fluency. Our longitudinal analysis of data on these older adults show that all the activities constituted a potential source for the delay or reduction of cognitive decline, even after a short period – only 4 years – of engagement in such activities and regardless of their age.

STEM centre as a factor in the development of formal and non-formal STEM education

The article is devoted to the study of STEM education. It is one of the important directions of educational reform of the XXI century and can be implemented through the integration of formal and non-formal education. The authors of the paper study the ecosystem of formal and non-formal STEM education. Researchers have identified the main characteristics of this ecosystem such as the harmonious combination of formal and informal components of STEM learning, increasing the motivation of students to STEM sciences, constant updating of educational programs and professional development programs for teachers; use of non-formal education approaches; constant connection with external communities of STEM professionals; building partnerships between schools and non-formal institutions. The authors have developed the main components of the model of functioning of the educational STEM centre as an education ecosystem. In particular, they are educational research, assessment (evaluation), research projects, innovative teaching methods, programs for training, undergraduate education, teacher training, mentoring, services, communications, cooperation, infrastructure, connection, networking. To assess the extent of the impact of various forms of formal and non-formal learning activities on the results of the implementation of STEM education, an expert survey was conducted. The results of the survey are systematized, illustrated with the help of infographics, statistically significant relationships between individual parameters of the proposed model are established. To test this model in practice, an experiment was conducted. It lasted from 2016 to 2020. Researchers have confirmed the hypothesis that STEM education gives the best results due to a combination of formal and non-formal levels. Therefore, their STEM centre promotes STEM education among the general public, training and retraining of educators involved in STEM, development of STEM competencies of pupils and students.

Bridging the gap between formal and non-formal science education: traditional fish markets as a tool to promote ocean literacy

Raising awareness on marine environmental issues is crucial to deepen students’ knowledge on ocean sustainability. Nonetheless, ocean-related topics have not been adequately addressed through formal education curricula, thus non-formal learning activities were developed to promote Ocean Literacy among students. These include visits to the local fish market and hands-on activities of fish biological sampling. A mixed methodology with closed and open-self questionnaires and interviews, was used to assess the activities’ effect in student’s learning and to evaluate their implementation and importance. Results showed the activities contribution to the increased learning while promoting a more active citizenship regarding ocean conservancy.

Spotlight on voices from the community: The importance of empowerment through the Erasmus+ Nefeli Project for Roma women

The Erasmus+ Nefeli Project held a weeklong training (September 21-25, 2020) for women from all walks of life and welcomed over 25 participants. Women from the UK, Europe and abroad attended the training and engaged in lifelong learning using the arts and intangible cultural heritage practice, learning about techniques that they can apply in their contexts. Nefeli's training was an exchange of know-how and material of Non-Formal Learning activities between organisations of the consortium and focussed on offering the participants a way to improve their methods and quality of work and gain more results in terms of agency for women from vulnerable communities.The participants all gained a Europass Mobility certificates as well CPD certificates. Prior to the training the team held a social media campaign where we asked Roma and migrant women to answer three questions around what lifelong learning means.

Patterns in informal and non-formal science learning activities for children–A Europe-wide survey study

Abstract There is a growing number of informal and non-formal learning activities worldwide related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curricular subject areas—particularly those involving coding and making. To better understand the general aim and content of such activities, we conducted a survey addressing highly experienced instructional designers and instructors of informal and non-formal science learning activities in nine European countries (N = 128). The goal of this paper is to investigate the relation between the gender of the activity leader experts, the target audience, the covered curricular subjects, the main goal, and the place of the activity. The results show that the gender and age of the participants are related to the covered curricular subjects and to the goal of the activity, and that the place of the activity is associated with all of the investigated dimensions. We introduce the patterns we identified that describe typical goals and the covered curricular subjects in relation to the participants’ gender and age along with patterns between the activity leader experts’ gender, the covered curricular subjects, and the main goal of the activity, as well as relationships between the studied dimensions and the place of the activity. Furthermore, we discuss the best practices and the bottlenecks of the activities, as well as detailed study findings regarding the revealed patterns, in addition to their implications and value for the informal and non-formal learning communities.

Non-formal patient handover education for healthcare professionals: a scoping review.

The objective of this scoping review was to identify, organize and present the underpinning learning theories, theoretical frameworks, didactics, content and evaluation methods used in existing literature on non-formal patient handover learning programs for healthcare professionals to highlight existing gaps in evidence. Clinicians are aware that the professional patient handover between healthcare settings poses a safety risk for patients. Learning programs for healthcare professionals improve patient handovers; however, there has been little formal exploration of the content of patient handover learning programs that elicit efficacious, non-formal learning activities. This scoping review therefore sought to investigate the concept of non-formal patient handover learning. This scoping review considered studies that included healthcare professionals from any healthcare profession examining non-formal patient handover learning in a variety of settings. Both qualitative and quantitative studies, as well as conference abstracts and reviews, were considered. An extensive search of multiple databases was undertaken. We considered studies published from 2000 onwards in English, Norwegian, Swedish and Danish. Data extraction was undertaken using an extraction tool developed specifically for this scoping review. The results of the review are presented in narrative form supported by tables. Fourteen studies were included. Study populations mostly comprised nurses or inter-professional groups of healthcare professionals, and non-formal learning program evaluation was performed in the context of intra-hospital handover, handover between hospital and other healthcare settings, and handover in the provision of pre-hospital and emergency services. Non-formal patient handover learning programs lacked reporting on the use of underpinning learning theory. The content of handover learning programs was informed by theoretical frameworks, checklists, mnemonics and frameworks developed based on observations in clinical practice or expert knowledge. Regardless of the type of handover, communication was the most-reported theme. The most-reported didactic was simulation. Pre- and post-intervention evaluation was the most-reported design. Evaluation methods varied from questionnaires and tests to observations and thematic analysis. Outcomes were reported on level 1-3, using Kirkpatrick's hierarchical model. No studies reported on patient outcomes. Gaps in knowledge were identified in the limited number of studies, comprising lack of transparency in the design of patient handover learning programs, notably concerning underpinning learning theories and learning objectives, lack of studies covering multiple settings, lack of knowledge regarding the impact of time on learning, lack of studies of any long-term impact, and lack of studies reporting on patient outcomes. Further research on non-formal handover learning programs is needed to enhance the transparency of program design and coherence in use of educational components from underpinning learning theories to evaluation methods. Few studies manage to document outcomes at the patient level.

Research of the Challenges and the Learning Support for the First-Year Student’s Nonformal Learning Activities

Research of the Challenges and the Learning Support for the First-Year Student’s Nonformal Learning Activities

Restrictions on persons with disabilities for participating in family and community activities.

To identify the influence of functional impairments and limitations activities for persons with disabilities to particípate in family and community activities. This is a cross-sectional study with 4 044 persons with disabilities, selected using probabilistic sampling and a door-to-door active search model in 5 towns in the District of Barranquilla. The data were processed with univariate analysis and bivariate analysis to determine the relationship between the study variables. 55.9% of the population were males, 41.6% were between 15 and 44 years of age, and 92.9% belonged to the lower socioeconomic stratum. 82.9% reported mobility limitations and 99% reported barriers to access non-formal learning activities, 98.6% to access public activities, and 97.5% to access productive activities. Individuals with that a lower limitation in exercising the power of reason, particularly thinking, can increase participation in activities with family and friends (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.6-0.9), with the community (OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.6-0.9), religious or spiritual activities (OR, 0.8; 95% CI, 0.7-0.9). There is a directly proportional relationship between structural impairment with the development of dependency and limited family, social, and work participation in the persons with disabilities.

Learning From Practice: The Value of a Personal Learning Coach for High-Performance Coaches

Multiple actors and roles are now recognized and promoted to support the development of coaches. Personal coaching is an emerging industry in many professional fields yet remains insignificant in sport coaching. The purpose of this study was to document and assess the value of a 12-month collaborative action research in which a high-performance rugby coach, with the support of a personal learning coach, aimed to learn from her coaching practice. This research was operationalized using an appreciative inquiry framework. Personal coaching was conducted according to the principles of narrative-collaborative coaching. Data collection included interviews, video observation, audio recordings of coaching conversations, notes from phone calls, and email exchanges. Results showed that this partnership created a safe and challenging learning space where different coaching topics were addressed, such as reflective practice, leadership, and mental preparation. A deductive analysis of the debriefing interview was completed using the value creation framework developed by Wenger and colleagues. This analysis indicated that the high-performance coach’s relationship with the personal learning coach enabled the development of five types of value: immediate, potential, applied, realised, and transformative. Therefore, it is suggested that narrative-collaborative coaching can complement existing formal and non-formal learning activities.

THE EFFECT OF NONFORMAL LEARNING ON THE DISABLED PEOPLE AND EDUCATORS: A CASE STUDY

The aim of this research was to classify the opinions of the disabled participants and educators on Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Project on non-formal learning regarding whether they knew the meaning of non-formal learning, through which non-formal learning activities happening during the Project workshop, and whether this learning had a contribution to their personal and professional development. The research is a qualitative study with a multiple holistic case study design. Data were collected from interviews using semi-structured interview forms. At the end of the research, conclusions were classified under five themes. The first theme was that they did not know the exact meaning of non-formal learning. The second theme was that there were some non-formal learning activities which the participants were engaged in during the Project workshop. The third and fourth themes were that the non-formal learning had a positive effect on their personal and professional development. The fifth theme was metaphors they produced for non-formal learning. Article visualizations:

NON-FORMAL EDUCATION IN ARCHITECTURE: LATVIAN EXPERIENCE

A wide selection of informal and non-formal learning options has been developed during the last couple of decades by many schools of Architecture and non-educational bodies to accumulate creative potential of students and give them the opportunity to express themselves in alternative learning environments. These options include summer schools, short-term brainstorming actions, competitions, and other activities focusing on interdisciplinary approach, teamwork and intense discussions with professionals from various fields not directly involved in the formal education process.Considering high popularity of non-formal learning activities and many students involved, it is important to evaluate the respective experience to estimate whether and how abilities and skills acquired through non-formal learning could benefit to those requested by the formal education programmes.The paper discusses the role and methods of non-formal education in Architecture with an aim to identify particular goals achieved using each form of learning. The case study presented in the paper is based on more than 12 years’ experience accumulated by Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, in organizing non-formal educational courses for the students of Architecture and the related fields considering the experience students gained participating in the activities organized by themselves or other parties.

The potential of the non-formal educational sector for supporting chemistry learning and sustainability education for all students – a joint perspective from two cases in Finland and Germany

Non-formal education has been suggested as becoming more and more important in the last decades. As the aims of non-formal education are broad and diverse, a large variety of non-formal learning activities is available. One of the emerging fields in many countries, among them Finland and Germany, has been the establishment of non-formal laboratory learning environments. These laboratories were established in universities and research institutes to aim at enriching opportunities for primary and secondary school students to do more and more intense practical work,e.g.in chemistry. The primary rationale of these laboratories, in the beginning, was mainly to raise students’ interest in the fields of science and engineering, possibly inspiring them to pursue a career in these fields. However, recently the movement has started offering more programs aiming at all learners, but especially those students who are sometimes neglected in traditional science education in the formal sector. A focus on all learners is suggested to help raise students’ level of scientific literacy when connecting practical science learning with the societal and environmental perspectives of science. Chemistry learning connected to sustainability issues offers many contemporary topics that are often not yet part of the chemistry formal curriculum but can easily form contexts for non-formal learning. Because of its flexible character, non-formal education can help implementing aspects of sustainability into chemistry education and also can take a gander at the growing heterogeneity of today's students. This paper derives a joint perspective from two non-formal chemistry education initiatives from Finland and Germany focusing education for sustainability for both talented and educationally disadvantaged students in the foreground of a more general perspective on non-formal and sustainability education in chemistry.

Older learning engagement in the modern city

This research employs novel techniques to examine older learners’ journeys, educationally and physically, in order to gain a ‘three-dimensional’ picture of lifelong learning in the modern urban context of Glasgow. The data offers preliminary analyses of an ongoing 1500 household survey by the Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC). A sample of 1037, with 377 older adults aged 60+, was examined to understand older learner engagement in formal, in-formal, non-formal and family-learning contexts. Preliminary findings indicate that all forms of older learning participation are lower than younger and middle-age counterparts. However, there is a subset of ‘actively ageing’, socially and technologically engaged older adult ‘learner-citizens’, participating in educational, physical, cultural, civic and online activities (including online political discussions and boycotts). These older learners were more likely to be working, caretakers and report better health overall. Long-term disabilities were associated with less engagement in non-formal learning activities. Additionally, engaged older learners’ GPS trails show more city activity than their matched non-learning-engaged counterparts. Place-based variables, such as feeling safe and belonging to the local area, moderated adult participation in learning activities. The full data-set will be accessible to researchers and the general public via UBDC, providing a complex data source to explore demographically diverse learners’ within an urban context.

What Challenges and Benefits Can Non-Formal Law and Language Integrated Learning Bring to University Students?

<p class="apa">The paper explores the ways in which non-formal content and language integrated learning within university studies can affect students’ academic progress. The research has included theoretical and empirical studies. The article focuses on the observation of students’ learning process, draws attention to challenges and benefits students experienced through non-formal Law and Language integrated learning. Emphasis is laid on those non-formal learning activities that may be viewed as part of the university students’ training for their future professional activities. The paper provides the results of students’ interviews and questionnaires revealing the issues that students consider important regarding non-formal content and language learning. The research findings aim to contribute to a better understanding of the overall interdependence of formal and non-formal learning within the university academic environment.</p>

Nonformal learning and well-being among older adults: Links between participation in Swedish study circles, feelings of well-being and social aspects of learning

ABSTRACTHow does participation in nonformal learning influence the self-perceived well-being among older adults? This article looks into that issue through a study of people aged 65 years or older who have participated in Swedish study circles. The data analyzed consists of a nation-wide survey of study circle participants. The results show that there are beneficial effects from participating in study circles for the well-being of older adults. As could be expected, participants claim that their knowledge and skills have increased; but the main finding is the importance of the social dimension of participating in nonformal learning activities. The fellowship created in study circles is both an important motive for participation and an important outcome of having participated. This, however, is not at the expense of gaining new knowledge. Rather, the two dimensions may strengthen each other. Nonformal settings appear to provide an environment that has positive effects on the well-being of older adults. They do this by fostering a sense of belonging and the opportunity to be part of a fellowship that may work as an aid in avoiding social isolation and loneliness.