Output Packet Pro Review

Main Advisor and OP Reviewer: Laura Kaestele
Associate Name: Carolina-Therese Winter
Output Packet #: 3
Program: Bachelor of Science
Phase/ALC: PreCAP-ALC1
Date Submitted: August 17th 2016
Date Reviewed: August 27th 2016
Mark: 64
Grade: C
Time Spent on Review: 3 hrs + 0.5 for review forms

Dear Carolina,

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read your Output Packet 3 and learn more about your project work and action learning in natural beekeeping and education. I appreciate all the energy and time you put into creating the report and additional documentation as well as your efforts and learning steps in action learning, design with the Kolb Model, processing information and facilitation. I am looking forward to reading about your next project(s), witnessing feedback integration and empowering you to grow through your work!

My review is broken into these sections:
1. PoDAPO Evaluation Form
2. Comments Per Section

Required Next Steps:
•	Document and share your guild and/or buddy meeting notes in the next OP as well as engaging in the GaiaU community like joining Radio Calls or giving a presentation
•	Create an annotated resource review with comments of a minimum ten different resources (websites, articles, books, videos) and add it as evidence of research and critical thinking

Recommended Next Steps: 
•	Set and articulate clear, specific goals for your OP design, project work and self/world transformation and revisit them for evaluation and assessment afterwards
•	Get proof-reading and editing support from an English native speaker for your OPs

I respect your integrity in managing your pathway. I'm glad to be your advisor!

Cheers, 
Laura

OP REVIEW

 1.	PoDAPO EVALUATION FORM (attached)

2.	COMMENTS PER SECTION (see below)

COMMENTS PER SECTION

Title and Summary
Great table of content mindmap, nice use of colors, clear and comprehensive overview
I would recommend you write the first letter of every word in capitals when it is in the headline like „Observing Educational- and Bee keeping Systems“ → „Observing Educational and Beekeeping Systems“, the subtitle doesn't give much new information, what do you want to express or maybe it is not really necessary... 
Helpful instructions on how to interact with the technology and view the media embeded in the OP, also useful summary of the OP content and navigation, but I would appreciate it bit more succinct, you can get across the message in simple ways e.g. this sentence “For more details about my work I recommend to read the detailed pages as well” is not needed, no new information 
I am not clear what you mean when you speak about blue buttons for navigation

I value your authenticity to share about your struggles to choose one specific project and I would not include that in the OP summary, it's not very professional and does not encourage confidence in your work, but rather as part of your process reflections
In some the sentences the grammar is a little off and I don't always understand and see the purpose when you use quotation marks e.g. “teaching” or “facilitating” abilities
Great how you describe both projects, the beekeeping and education as well as their point of intersection in consciously working with learning theories
I would enjoy a shorter explanation of the purpose of each project and more of a summary on what you did, how, when, why, where and with whom, so an overall description of project context and activities rather than just the purpose without really knowing what you actually did work on
The last paragraph of the summary section outlining the OP content is very similar to what you describe in the guidelines, I would not write that twice and avoid repetition 
Love your feedback integration section with clear statements about what you changed! 

Design Model
I see the idea behind the little overview mindmap in the top left corner and for short pages like this and because you have titles and provided a content overview before, I don't think it is necessary to include it here
“I experimented with the Kolbs model by applying all different learning stages directly in its usage.” I don't understand what you want to say in this sentence
Great explanation of the Kolb Model with graphical visualization, some context on what learning is and how it happens, the relevance of using all four learning styles and an overview of each stage
I am missing further thoughts on how you applied the Kolb Model in your work, I have an idea how you used it for projects and in order to expand your own learning abilities, but I am clueless how it influenced the OP creation process
Well done for identifying your strengths in CE and AE and your weaknesses in AC and RO – how exactly did this assessment inform and shape your project work and what did you do to improve in conceptualization and reflection?

Introduction Bees
Same comment for the mindmap in the beginning
Nice articulation of goals here in the introduction of the bee project, fantastic to see how you are building and expanding your skills as well as improving how you learn
Your description is not always clear to me but from what I understand you applied the Kolb Model for your project on beekeeping and at the same time used different learning methods to grow as an action learner yourself and gain experience to eventually create educational materials
Within the “learning” cycle the notes on concrete experience and active experimentation don't really fit into the Kolb Model from my perspective, reading and de/reconstruct is part of AC and the ArCEA method and creating learning materials fits more into CE and then testing and prototyping them is part of AE – otherwise great mindmap and application of the Kolb Model
Great overview of key outcomes (two separate words) and keep it clear, not mixing in bullet points like “we design all the time” or “two people are always needed for a hive inspection” which is not an outcome but a learning insights – what is the outcome/result and what did you achieve?

Bee Project
“On the first stage of the Kolbs Model I started with "Abstract Conceptualisation" to gain concrete experience.” Where is the logic here? Through AC you process information, understand theories and gain knowledge, but not CE
Missing some information here, the beekeeping theory comes from the US, but people copy it from La Palma...? is it the same resistant beekeeping practice...
What do you mean by “practical beekeeping” isn't beekeeping always practical ;-)
What method did you use for conceptualization and working with the theory of resistant beekeeping? What is the result of your critical thinking, can the theory work?

Ah in the learning theory section you describe the method used in AC, so these are not really two different learning cycles (beekeeping and learning) at all, but rather the learning methods are directly applied in the beekeeping project – this was not clear from your first introduction before
Nice overview of the ArCEA method and the steps you took in your process of working with reading materials and abstract knowledge, well done for pushing your edges in this area
I also like the part of letting things sit for one week and then adding new thoughts to it and processing the information further, so there is some time to sink in and reflect on what you read
There is just a blank space for the 1st mindmap and the review of it, nothing visible

“PaLS area” always good to explain abbreviations the first time you use them in a text
Who is Anne and what is your relationship to her and your role in the project?
I didn't read all the additional information, but from scanning it would recommend you use appropriate language that also non-beekeepers can easily understand otherwise it is rather confusing instead of providing information and value to readers – what is your audience?
Interesting to read that you enjoy using the ArCEA method in the same manner without much experimentation to make it effective and have the benefit of easily recalling information
Excellent support network in your community, local area and with expert beekeepers in Germany

This page is already quite long and full of text, so my suggestion would be to cut out the additional information and just add a link to it for further reading. Sounds like you have an effective and functioning system of conscious intervention, reflection, observation, documentation and tracking in place. I like how you reflect on what works and what doesn't, come up with next steps and write down arising questions to clarify and answer through research and expert advice

Where is the spreadsheet you refer to in the AE section? I can see the idea of experiential thinking and new ideas to try out around the resistant bee concept. I think it makes sense to continue doing everything that already works and then do small active experiments and prototypes to find new innovative ideas for what doesn't work building on both the existing theory and your concrete experience, not just inventing new beekeeping concepts as thought experiments (that is why many theories look pretty but don't work), but deeply grounded in practical experience  
Introduction Education
Clear and exciting strategic goals, were is the assessment of whether you met those goals or not?
Why did you start the Kolb Model once with AC and this time with AE while you describe CE as the first step in the learning cycle on the design model page? What is the difference and purpose?
Wow, two super exciting education projects, one to raise awareness of the environmental state of the world and climate change to encourage commitment and taking action for sustainability and the other to offer students an experience of community life.
So you were co-teaching and facilitating those two events, great learning experience, some more basic information would be great, what school/university are the students from and what is this class on “sustainable communities” sounds really progressive :)
Again please distinguish between key outcomes and learnings - what is the difference for you?

Education Project
Beautiful photo of people (course participants I assume) outside at Lebensgarten Steyerberg, please include titles (or short description) for pictures to connect them with the content next time
Excellent that you use the Kolb Model again and walk readers through the action learning cycles stages along the practical example of your project work
The first activities you put under AE of research, collecting materials and designing a program belong more to AC (thinking) from my perspective, this process of having a workshop outline, listening to the needs and continuisly adapting the content is more AE and could be also done by developing some learning materials and then presenting them to friends to get real-life feedback and not just think through it on your own (limited and theoretical perspective)
I like your open, flexible approach to plans and re-design as well as the effective use of questions

How much of the facilitation and teaching did you do and what did you learn in the process?
Great to see the flexibility and adaptation to change the content and process to connect with the people, meet their needs and make the content you share accessible and interesting for them
Were you facilitating or participating in the student workshop about sustainable community? Otherwise I appreciate your description of the activities and reactions in relationship to the overall community experience and perspective change
Excellent reflective observation on the challenges of working in the school context, motivating students, making complex topics understandable and interacting with the people, great the read about the questions you came out with and how your own thinking was challenged/expanded 

The “Outcomes in school” has a blank space underneath, not sure if there should be a mindmap?
Again, I recommend you put the additional sections in the SE to keep the core report lean
I love how you weave your learning experiences and reflective observation into a new understanding and improved concept about how to do workshops for students, you could try to put your thinking into bullet points or even a graphical flowchart which is faster and easier to grasp and get on overview of e.g. a sample workshop layout (to build on and adapt)

Pathway Reflection 
I didn't look at the pathway reflections because the review time was up, are they included in the word count?

Project and Process Reflection 
Nice to include a skillflex assessment, what about adding a summary of key skills gained in this project cycle, just briefly as a synopsis of the large mindmap
Fantastic to read your intentions for dissemination, contributing to the permaculture park resources and terra preta workshop is great, the next level is to think how you could share your knowledge in wider ways through writing articles, making videos, giving presentations etc. also from yourself to other people and not just dependent on Lebensgarten
Great that the Kolb Model application has served you well and you could improve your learning capacities, this project reflection would be also a good space to summarize key outcomes and learning highlights from your project work as an overall conclusion

I like how you stack functions and practical engage in projects as well as learning new knowledge and skills for yourself while already starting to teach others what you just learned
Great to do ongoing documentation and your tendency is to produce more written material than needed in an OP, so the question around effectiveness and timing is related to how skilled you are to cut, edit and synthesize content. I had a brief look at the mindmap you provided about using the Kolb Model of OP creation and I am not clear on how it guided your writing and creation process, not sure how appropriate and applicable it is here, let' talk about this in the next advising session

Supporting Evidence
Great to include a section on knowledge validation and share your reflections on the resources and processes you used for working with knowledge as well as critical thinking on time efficiency, information flood on the internet and fixed mindsets vs flexible openness to all thinking
I love the playfulness and excitement you bring into working with new information and learning!
Great to have such a wide range of supporting evidence and additional resources for your project work, I would love to see also more of your ongoing documentation and learning journals also project and action learning focused not only about the OP process as you shared
Please be clear on what is included in the word count (what about the pathway page) and mention that at the beginning of the report for informed navigation and respect the word count limits for project OP (BSc year 1) are 3.400 words (you have 400 more)

For the next project OP I want to see a full resource review with a minimum of ten different resources with information on the title, topic, author, source of media, date for website (when did you view them, because they are sometimes taken down) and for each resource an annotation meaning you write some comments about why you used that resource, how it was valuable for you and what others could learn etc.
Regarding community participation, please find 1-2 buddies to regularly talk to fulfill that requirement and be more resilient … what happens if you have only one buddy who is not available... you could get in touch with Amber (peer review partner) who already suggested you two have a call together. Great to see you have a strong local support system and let's talk again about skillflex advising, elf support and your learning support budget in the next MA session

OP Reviews
I appreciate your honest and detailed reflections in the self-review form and hope you can distill some learning edges and next steps for how to improve on each of the five criteria, the additional comments section would be a great place to share those kind of summarizing reflections
Regarding evaluation I noticed that every single criteria is graded with the same 3,45 points, which seems really odd to me, because your skill level and competence is different for different areas, so I wonder if you just missed evaluating and giving yourself points for each field...?
Great job in completing the peer review of Amber, I enjoy your appreciative and critical reflections for each criteria, how you go into depth and offer valuable questions and suggestions for improvement – lots of observation on learning edges! Please always fill in the information at the page top with associate name, peer review name, OP number and review date