TRADE SCHOOL LA 2015 End of Year Survey Report
(17) Geography - class was too far away (1) Didn t want to attend alone (13) Timing - weeknights are not good for me (3) Timing - weekends are not good for me (0) Wasn t able to fulfill the barter requests (7) Didn t hear about the class offering in time (8) Other: Class was full (15) Cooking / food-related (28) Arts or crafts (learning how to make) (11) Humanities, philosophy + thought exploration (21) Wellness & self-improvement (10) Media + technology classes (4) Other: Community Engagement; Gardening, massage, urban homesteading, writing, weaving, projects for the home, carpentry, home improvement, organization, etc
Think back to a workshop--tsla or other--that you really enjoyed. What were 3 things that made it so enjoyable? Please be specific. -- People were friendly, topic was interesting -- The TSLA Brainstorming Session - 1) Liked how you ran that session 2) the people were nice/enthusiastic 3) it was productive -- The easy going instructor. Fun participation activities. The general laid back atmosphere. -- Well organized presentation, lots of hands on opportunities, friendly teacher and classmates -- How friendly, warm, and welcoming everyone is in class, the low-key atmosphere, and that there are reminders for students/teachers as well. -- Engaging instructor, a variety of activities, gained new knowledge -- Very nice attendees, learned from others, made connections -- Great teacher, structure/organized plan, passion -- The venue (book show!), the teacher, the class -- 1.) teachers enthusiasm 2.) friendliness of classmates 3.) if the class was nearby no money involve, exchange new knowledge sometimes was not related to the class, meeting new people -- Teacher s knowledge of material, his/her desire to teach the class/ the ability to learn by barter rather than federal $ -- Nice teacher. Social interaction with other students. Resources from teacher. -- 1) The Content I was learning 2)The teacher was lovely 3) the sense of community -- Classes I ve enjoyed the most have been very hands-on and objective based. The structure has been here s an idea and some info on how to do/make this followed by plenty of time to try it out, see how your peers interpret it, advice from the teacher sprinkled throughout, and a recap at the end to share and answer questions. What I liked about this structure was that it had a clear objective with time to try out the new skill under guidance of the teacher, while also facilitating social interaction. -- Knowledgeable host. Well prepped materials and space. Peers with common interests. lesson was concise, instructor well informed, new information for me -- Snacks, nice people, learned something -- Learning something new I was excited about, getting to practice new things during the class, getting to try out new equipment or tools I don t own so I can see what I like/need to practice at home -- 1) the informal and welcoming environment 2) the content 3) the level of engagement from the instructor -- Hands on, interesting videos, artistic classmates -- focused topic, enthusiastic participants and teacher, shared a ride eat with a fellow time banker -- teacher was very animated; class was conversational, with the teacher often calling on student opinions and expertise; class material was contextualized and made very relevant -- The materials, the people, location -- Each teacher was so willing to share, the activities were fun and helpful and have continued with the skills learned. -- Hands on, interesting videos, artistic classmates -- The knowledge of the teacher, his/her ability to teach, preparation of the class. -- Information, low stress, a break if over an hour. -- The teacher was well prepared and knowledgeable. The teacher s enthusiasm to teach. -- I loved the keifer making class I took- the teacher was so excited and willing to share, the students were happy to be there/ friendly and it was a nice spcae to work in, we were in the teachers back yard snacking and learning. -- attendees
What s one thing you think TSLA does well? -- Offering a diverse set of classes each season -- TSLA is very professional for a volunteer run organization. -- Providing a broad range of subjects to choose from! -- Engages a diverse group of people! -- a variety of options -- My teacher was a professional in the field of UX, which made the opportunity to learn from him for free, very cool. It also showed that he loves what he does so much that he s willing to teach others about it for tea and gum :-) -- Awesome teachers -- Class selection -- Variety of offerings -- I m always impressed with TSLA! So friendly. So helpful. -- All volunteers base and well organized -- Organizing the classes and constant improvement -- Connect community. -- Brings the community together to share knowledge and common interests -- Promotes a sense of community and sharing! -- Creates a platform for sharing -- emails -- The teachers are open to learning too -- The barter requests seem very reasonable and feasible, I ve never seen a request that outweighed the benefits of the class -- It makes it very easy for everyone who is interested or attending a class to communicate with each other and the instructor -- Good variety of classes -- makes it easy to be part of a true sharing economy; class reg is very easy -- TSLA draws people with a specific values and priorities (community/sharing centered), so there is the priceless human capital that TSLA naturally attracts -- I like Leanne. -- Good variety of classes -- Build community and make us realize that thereâ s a lot to do without money! -- Making everything seem welcome. -- Leanne is very well organized. Great classes. -- trusts its teachers to teach -- create community
(32) Gaining new information / learning (14) Social connection / making friends (24) I like the TSLA concept and participating in the sharing economy (6) Mon-Fri before 6pm (7) Mon-Fri at 6pm (18) Mon-Fri at 7pm (14) Mon-Fri at 8pm (29) Saturday or Sunday between 10-2 (27) Saturday or Sunday between 3-8
Overall, how could we improve our classes? (answers from those who answered, other ) -- Make the objectives of class more clear in the description -- I can t really think of anything -- Provide more information in classes -- Make the objectives of class more clear in the description -- Do an RSVP system that people must confirm the day before to attend the class if it is full. -- Make workshop activities more stimulating and engaging not sure. i really enjoyed my class. -- Offer more classes! -- Get people who sign up to show up (not sure how to do that) -- Allot more time for the class -- Provide more information in classes -- PubliciZe classes more. Sometimes I m not sure about the schedule or where to find it -- Love the classes. Perhaps more diversity in variety of classes. -- Provide more information in classes -- I ve wanted to see a lot more DIY/skills-based classes. It seems like there have been fewer of those in the last semester or so. I m a dilettante who s looking for a push to learn new skills! -- Allot more time for the class -- Make the objectives of class more clear in the description -- they are fine -- Create a comfortable learning environment by eliminating photos -- Make the objectives of class more clear in the description -- Allot more time for the class -- Provide more information in classes -- Allot more time for question + answer -- More studio/working time. -- Sometimes I m considering a class, but it s not clear if it s information focused or participation focused. -- More advertisement. I think I missed a few sessions. I m not sure if I wasn t checking my emails or?? -- more of them!
What advice would you give to a friend who is considering taking a TSLA class? -- Take one with me! -- If you sign up, you should show up or unregister so that someone else can take the spot. -- Do it! -- Don t worry about attending classes alone. You will meet wonderful new people! -- Do it! -- Go for it! It s the best! -- Find an experienced teacher -- Be open to the unexpected -- if you book the class you should show up, don t flake it -- Do it! It s great -- Do it! -- Do your research on the class subject before class in order to prepare for the class. -- Commit to trying out a few and don t stress about your barter item. -- Go. Have fun. It s awesome. -- go for it -- Just do it -- Do it! -- Try something new and go for it -- do it! -- budget an extra hour after the end of the class for awesome conversations with newfound friends in the class! -- Go. What have you got to loose? -- Take a class when you can because each semester changes and there s no guarantee the class or instructor will be the same the next time! -- Try something new and go for it -- Don t limit yourself to bring only one barter item, the classes are so valuable! -- Do it! -- Do it! It s a fun way to participate in a non consumer/capitalist type learning program -- do it
This question was only shown to people who answered that they have never taken a Trade School class (2) Too far away (7) No classes/topics interest me; (2) Weeknights are not good for me (1) I m not able to fulfill the barter request (3) I don t hear about the classes / don t hear about them in time (9) Haven t had time yet / too busy
Part of our mission is to build a sense of community, connection and camaraderie among our participants. We want you to make friends and have fun through TSLA and to feel like you re part of the Trade School family. How can we do a better job of fostering that for you - either in class or in events outside of class? -- Maybe training teachers to include some sort of ice breakers, mingling aspect into all their classes. -- I think you do a great job on this. Again, I would just say more aggressive outreach. -- Maybe build in a mingling time before or after each class? -- I haven t been able to attend any of the socials, so I can t really speak to that--- but it would be nice to have more mingling events for everyone! -- Maybe encourage more teachers to collaborate, and do more online promotion (thru Facebook or Twitter) -- I think you do a good job of this. I would like to attend one of your parties/mixers in the future. -- I think you re doing a great job. -- Maybe encouraging an exchange of information to connect further outside of class. -- More regular emails about what the class schedule is -- None. You re doing a great job. -- I can t think of any improvements that I would suggest -- For the holiday party, I really liked the survey option for volunteering. Group volunteer activities can be a great way for people to socialize -- activity-based, low-pressure, and it has an added aspect of importance since it s not just a social engagement, so people might be less likely to bail. I think it could also be cool if seasoned instructors could offer an off-semester class or get together -- something that they could host and promote that wouldn t add too much work for the main TSLA organizers. Happy hours can be fun, but I m unlikely to make time for them. -- more open group events, a registration day would be awesome, to meet teachers etc. -- have people introduce themselves & say/write 2-3 things about themselves -- I would love classes that are more than a one time thing- maybe a short series over a couple of months -- I think events outside of class would help to build a bigger community. Maybe even sending postings or links to events or articles that relate to a class or classes that someone has taken. This way people with similar interests can continue to meet up and have more people join. -- off-the-wall idea: what if there was an optional follow-up meet-up to each class (right after class, or within a week), for folks to debrief in an unstructured, conversational way. this would have to be included in the class description so people expect to stay longer or accordingly. (may totally fail, but i m in a brainstorming mode, ideas storming my brain :) ) -- Monthly meetup with different hosts? -- Promote other courses in current class -- Have always a little introduction to what TSLA is. -- Honestly, I want to feel welcomed, and I appreciate camaraderie and community, but I don t want to make friends at TSLA. I ve not taken a few classes at TS because they seemed too social. -- More potlucks -- Maybe require teachers to have a socializing part of the class? Ask them to have participants form pairs and rely on eachother a little more?
Any blind-spots that you see in TSLA - communication, class topics, teacher prep, structure, venue choices, or other aspects? -- Sometimes venue choices are confusing... one time I was not able to attend a class because it was in some location in a park that I could not find. -- I think the outreach could be more aggressive, but I know there are limits to what all you can do. Also, some venues are better than others. -- Just communicating schedules early enough for people to plan -- I wonder about accountability for attending. I hosted/participated in a class this semester, and even though many people signed up, only 3 people showed up. I felt guilty for the teacher and definitely got less out of it since it was discussion-based. Ended up feeling more like a hangout (which was fun, but not really what myself or the teacher probably intended to get out of it) -- Getting students to show up. -- I think the hardest part of TSLA is getting people to commit and show up. Since sometimes one might sign up for a class weeks ahead of time, a reminder a week or so ahead of time, with instructions to confirm or unenroll (with a link and instructions) could help combat the flake rate while opening up spots for more students. -- Making sure venue can actual hold number of students -- give members lists of venues available they could teach at -- Venue--sometimes parking can be rough. Also, pls post a sign on the door -- Going off of the last question, this human capital that TSLA attracts is a resource that can go far beyond classes. To unpack just one idea: how would TSLA field trips look like? What if three TSLA teachers led a field trip that is relevant to their three expertise, chiming in on three unique aspects of the place/ exhibit/material? With the attendees of course adding their thoughts, too. -- Need more locations on the west side -- No - but I wish we had more spaces that would open their doors to us. -- nope. -- I d like to see what other people are bringing so the teacher doesn t get stuck with the same things. -- Maybe as part of class description there can be some information about parking set up.