What is non-formal learning?
Do you think of schools, classrooms, and curricula when you think of young people learning to code? You’d be correct in assuming that much of computing education for children takes place in classrooms as part of national curricula. However, a great deal of learning can occur outside of formal schooling. Non-formal computing education refers to structured or semi-structured learning environments such as clubs or community groups, which are frequently set up by volunteers. These may take place in a school, library, or community setting; however, we’ve heard of some of our communities hosting non-formal learning activities on buses, in fire stations, or at football fields — there is no limit to where learning can take place.
Non-formal computing activities are more difficult to assess than formal computing education because we must think outside of traditional measures such as grades and formal exams or assessments. Rather, we estimate outcomes based on variables such as participant engagement, attendance, attrition rates, and changes in participants’ attitudes toward computing. We have previously piloted non-formal assessments such as quizzes, which were well received by both adult facilitators and children.
Researching the impact of non-formal computing education.
We conducted a systematic literature review on computing education for K-12 learners in non-formal settings earlier this year. We identified 88 relevant research studies, which we read, compared, and synthesized in order to provide an overview of what is already known about the effectiveness of non-formal computing activities and to identify future research opportunities.
Our analysis looked for common themes in existing studies and proposed some advantages of non-formal learning, such as:
Access to advanced and cutting-edge topics
Information about computing careers
The ability to tailor projects to individual learner interests
The ability for students to progress at their own pace
The opportunity for students to form bonds with their peers and role models.
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Connecting non-formal learning and formal computing study skills.
One intriguing feature of non-formal learning is that it attracts a broader range of learners than formal computing lessons. According to a 2019 survey, roughly 40% of young people who attend Code Clubs are female. This is a high percentage when compared to the current proportion of girls taking Computer Science GCSE in England, which is around 20%. We believe this indicates a chance to capitalize on girls’ interest in learning activities outside of the classroom, and we hope to use non-formal activities to encourage more girls to pursue formal computer science education.
We collaborated with Apps for Good and the Behavioual Insights Team (BIT) in England as part of our Gender Balance in Computing research program to run two interventions in school-based non-formal settings, for which we adapted non-formal resources and used behavioural science concepts to strengthen the links the resources make between non-formal learning and studying computing more formally. One intervention was conducted in secondary schools for students aged 13-14, who used an adapted Apps for Good course, and the other was conducted in primary schools for students aged 8-11, who participated in Code Clubs using adapted versions of our projects.
A separate BIT team independently evaluated the interventions based on data from surveys completed by learners before and after the interventions, as well as interviews with teachers and learners. The independent team examined the data to determine the impact of the interventions on learners’ attitudes toward computing and intentions to study the topic in the future.
What did these research projects teach us?
Our review of the literature concluded that future research in this area would benefit from experimenting with different approaches to designing and measuring the impact of computing activities in a non-formal setting. For example, comparing the short-term and long-term impact of specific interventions, aiming to cater to different types of participants, and providing different types of learning experiences are all examples of this.
There was little statistical evidence of an improvement in participants’ attitudes toward computing or their stated intention to study computer programming in these two Gender Balance in Computing interventions. The independent evaluators suggested that the learning content developed for the interventions be modified further to emphasize the link between non-formal and formal learning. On the other hand, as is often the case with research, some interesting themes emerged from the data that we weren’t looking for, such as:
When girls saw that computing was relevant to real-world problems, their attitudes toward computing changed slightly in the secondary school intervention.
Some teachers reported increased confidence to pursue computing among girls who used the adapted Code Club resources in the primary school intervention, and they emphasized the importance of positive female role models in computing.
The findings from both projects indicate that it is beneficial for learners to participate in non-formal learning activities that link to real-world situations, and that this may be especially beneficial for girls in helping them see computing as a subject that is relevant to their own interests and goals. Another common theme in both projects is the importance of non-formal learning activities play a significant role in defining what a “computer person” looks like and who belongs in the field of computing This implies that non-formal computing activities require a diverse range of volunteers, and that non-formal learning resources should include representations of a diverse range of learners.
Taking on these research projects has provided evidence that the Foundation’s work is on the right track, as well as opportunities to incorporate these themes into our future non-formal work and resources.