DIY Garden Pojects Workshop Report

I attended the “DIY Garden Pojects & Herbs” workshop during the Tuesday gardening series at the botanic gardens on April, 10, 2018. The instructor of the herb class was Jacqui Savage and the instructors of the DIY Garden Pojects workshop were Joan and Nancy (I did not get their last names). Jacqui Savage is a local herb grower in the community and can be found at the farmers market in Stillwater, ever Saturday morning. Joan and Nancy have creative ideas and love to share these ideas with community members of Stillwater. In just a few weeks I will graduate college, get married and begin the journey towards true adulthood. This being said, I am going to rent a home and I want to have the knowledge to do yard work and have some outdoor décor.

The age group of the audience is approximately 40 to 70 years of age. At this particular workshop, there were approximately 30 individuals present. The educational room at the botanic garden was very full of interested people. The audience learning was not really measured during this particular workshop, this is a series of workshops that the botanic garden is hosting, so there could be more opportunity for a learning assessment. One way to assess if an audience is interested or paying attention is to ask questions at the end. Both workshops did this and there were several questions and the audience seemed to be engaged with the material being taught. This workshop was a great example of Nonformal education. Coombs (1973) describes non formal education as “…any organized educational activity outside the established formal system-weather operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity-that is intended to serve some identifiable learning clientele and learning objectives. (Page 134, Chapter

This workshop is apart of a weekly series of workshops at the botanic garden. Because of this, there is quite a bit of advertising that goes on. The botanic garden has a sign advertising this workshop series and extension is additionally able to spread the word. I believe this had a large impact on the great turnout the workshop had. The speakers were greatly informed and reliable. I could tell that the audience truly trusted what they had to say. One thing I would critique is the room that the workshop was held in. Although it was successful because of the botanic gardens advertising and help, the room was small, cramped and hot. I think it could be helpful for them to further examine the location in which they hold these workshops. I also would have liked more hands on activities. I did not get to try to make anything or look and touch the herbs. For me, I would have liked to have some type of hands on experience because that is the type of learner I am. Both learner and teacher will bring to the learning situation personal needs, interests, philosophies, and values; however, when these dimensions differ greatly, the learning situation can be compromised. (Page 136, Chapter 6) I don’t believe that the presenters are keeping in mind that many people learn differently, at any