Melissa Recht

SAA 7690 Reflection Paper

Our workshop on Educating for a Sustainable Environment was well-received, according

to our survey data. The evaluation polled participants on the effectiveness of the workshops and

the tools used. With our questions, we hoped to find out if we had been successful at providing

clear learning objectives, utilizing what we’d learned about universal design and workshop

creation, and educating and inspiring students about an important topic. We were also seeking

constructive criticism that, in theory, could be used to fine-tune our workshop before giving it

again. The majority of responses to our survey were positive or very positive. Workshop

attendees reported that our learning objectives were clear and realistic and that the content was

useful. This is perhaps the most important part of the survey results. Knowing that we

established a clear plan and provided the right content was the bedrock of our workshop. Without

solid content and clearly-defined goals, the rest of the workshop wouldn’t matter. We could be

the most engaging presenters of the semester, but if our learning outcomes weren’t strong and

our content not valuable to the attendees, they would have walked away having had fun but not

having learned anything.

But we’ve learned that content isn’t everything. Without an organized, interesting, and

varied workshop, even the best content can fall flat. Our participants reported that our workshop

was organized (all but two responses rated it “very much so”). Our activities were rated mostly

or very effective and engaging. With a wide range of activities that we planned to appeal to the

many different learning styles in our cohort, we’d hoped to successfully engage all participants

with at least one activity. During our feedback session, we were commended for having multiple

activities. The participants enjoyed the active and reflective activities. Our policy activity didn’t
turn out quite as planned (we’d hoped for a slightly different type of response), but in the end, I

think it was more useful the way it worked out. It was much simpler for them to create a list. If

we were to do this workshop again, I think it would be beneficial to either just ask them to list

things they could do that would be specific to their unit, or be very clear what we were looking

for in a policy around sustainability for an office or unit.

Our materials were mostly rated well, though a few participants suggested some

improvements, including a more readable text and some larger graphics. In such a large

classroom, we need to remember that those in the back of the room won’t have as easy of a time

seeing the screen. We attempted to make the room less cluttered and easier for people to move

around in, and set up the room in a style that we hoped would allow participants to see the screen

and each other to facilitate discussion. Most reported that we accomplished incorporating

universal design in the workshop. It was interesting to read that one participant mentioned being

unable to see the screen when we stepped into the middle of the U-shaped arrangement. We tried

to move around the room more and into the heart of the classroom to be more engaging (I know I

for sure tried to do that as much as possible). I didn’t think at all of how I might be getting in the

way or what I was presenting. Good lesson!

One of the most exciting and interesting parts of the survey results was reading about

what each participant learned from the presentation. The responses were varied and showed that

we incorporated new ideas and fodder for sustainability efforts in the participants’ lives. The

additional comments at the end were useful to read as well—they were mostly very positive, but

also included some constructive criticism that would help make our workshop better (more time

for reflection, clarification of one of the learning objectives, and more info about Dayton-specific
info about sustainability initiatives). That kind of feedback is helpful—it makes it clear that the

participants wanted more of what we provided.

Switching gears now to my role in the development of the workshop. I feel like I was

heavily involved with getting the workshop planning off the ground. I’m not a last-minute person

(years of having to plan events and work on large projects has taught me that while

procrastination can still lead to a successful event, it also creates unnecessary stress). I

encouraged my group members to get started early, and started researching and thinking through

my own part early on. I started the slideshow to gather my thoughts and spent time reading books

and websites on sustainability. We met multiple times throughout the semester, though often

without a complete group. It was a bit frustrating to work out our schedules to find a time to

meet, and a number of times group members were unable to attend a planned meeting because of

personal issues. It happens, and we worked through it well.

I felt like I was doing a lot of heavy lifting at the beginning, but as our plans gelled and

we all figured out what we wanted to focus on and make happen during the presentation, the

others really began to fill in their pieces. Some of that happened even in the hours before the

workshop—a good learning experience for me. I had to let go, and when I did, I was impressed

but the quality and amount of work that happened in those final days and hours. I guess we all

work at different paces and in different ways!

I worked on researching Wright State sustainability efforts, started creation of our

slideshow (everyone added to it, and Ciara expertly evolved the design to include some of the

things we were highly praised for), created the Kahoot, found appropriate videos, acted a group

“mom” by reminding everyone that we need to get together or needed to have certain parts of the
project done, and worked closely with all group members to brainstorm activities and their

implementation.

Group projects are difficult. I understand why they are included in nearly every class.

Learning to work with people is an incredibly important skill. It doesn’t necessarily get easier,

but experience certainly helps one navigate the difficulties. Setting up meeting times, figuring

out group dynamics and strengths, and providing feedback and honest appraisals were all

occasionally thorny for us. I had to pull back on my lack of patience a number of times. I have a

lot on my plate right now, and there were a few times when group meetings crossed too much

into chatty time, and I have to say I just had to cut that off. It’s not that I didn’t want to bond and

be helpful, but there’s got to be a limit to that. So I had to find a way to be diplomatic but also

protective of our time and energy. I also had to try really hard not to just take over certain aspects

when things weren’t coming together. That’s a patience thing as well. Of course in the end it

was much more beneficial to wait it out and let everyone take care of their own part, because

they truly shone when they did. I think we did work well together, and each of our strengths were

evident in the work leading up to the presentation, as well as during the presentation.

I learned a great deal in this class. It was very hands-on, and I feel like we all walked

away with concrete skills. I have been in so many workshops and trainings over the years. It’s

pretty amazing all of the things I didn’t notice. I knew what workshops I liked, what facilitators

did well, and certainly what I learned (or didn’t). But now I would be able to evaluate and

analyze a workshop with some really deep and wide knowledge about what works and what

doesn’t. I feel like I could put on a workshop easily. I wouldn’t have said that three months ago. I

had no idea how much impact design, learning styles, evaluation, and even set-up can be altered

to make a workshop truly effective. I’ve been to a million and a half “lecture with a slideshow in
front of a forward-facing audience” workshops, and now I understand why I fell asleep in a good

number of them. I am not shy at all and enjoy public speaking, so this class really worked well

with my personal strengths. This experience reminded me that I used to train new employees at

my first job out of college and that I really enjoyed that. I was only 22 and yet I felt comfortable

presenting to and training groups of diverse incoming employees. I always joke that I could

never be a faculty member (for multiple reasons), but this class made me rethink how I might

feel about teaching on a topic I’m passionate about.

Regardless of whether or not I ever have reason to create and present a workshop in my

professional career, I feel strongly that I would be more comfortable presenting in general now,

as well as providing learning experiences to a wide variety of students and in different situations.

I would be much more likely to consider how people learn, how to manage a room, and how to

evaluate the effectiveness of my presentation.