By EDRINE SSEMWANGA | PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Second pilot impact and research
The pilot course on solar cells was concluded in October with a course exam, replicating an online exam system where students were asked multiple choice questions that they answered with their simple keypad phones. So far over 500 students have completed the exam. We are assessing the knowledge gains of our students from the program, and we are seeing positive results so far!
We are also getting student feedback about how the program impacted their lives with an end of course survey, as a follow up to the baseline survey taken before the course commenced. So far 831 students who completed the baseline survey and were active in the course have also completed the endline survey. We are excited to be working with a research team at Carnegie Mellon University, through a partnership with Jacobs Foundation, to help us better understand our impact and design more effective monitoring and evaluation systems.
AAR
Yiya conducted a 3-day virtual After Action Review retreat where we got to reflect on how the second YiyaAirscience Pilot went. The entire Yiya team, spread between Uganda and the US, came together to reflect on learnings from all the components of our program, including our re-designed learning app, the user experience, the teacher experience, the curriculum, among others. The retreat ended with a celebration for the great achievements that we had achieved during our second pilot, not only regarding our student number (50,000 users! Over 15000 enrollments! 1000 solar cells created!), but also for our team as we implemented new structures and tools.
African Union Innovating Education in Africa Award
If you thought you had heard it all, that was just the beginning because Yiya soars higher and higher! Last month Yiya AirScience was selected by the African Union as 1 of the 5 finalists in the Innovating Education in Africa awards. Yiya participated in the AU’s Innovating Education in Africa Virtual Expo, where you can still view our virtual booth at the link below. Yiya’s final pitch will take place at the rewirEd summit in Dubai (see link below), organized by Dubai Cares as part of the on-going Expo 2020 Dubai. Our Chief Innovations Officer and co-founder Samson Wambuzi will be dazzling the judges with his (award-winning!) pitch in Dubai in December. We are excited about this opportunity to share Yiya Airscience with global stakeholders focused on innovating education in creative ways to move towards positive change.
Collaborative Learning Initiative
Throughout 2021, Yiya co-founders Samson and Erin have been working through a new Fellowship organized by the Isroff Family foundation. The program included training on fundraising, financial policy, governance, and more, culminating in the development of a Strategic Plan. The CLI Fellows celebrated a virtual graduation ceremony in October, which included a cake cutting (as any celebration should)! We want to congratulate Erin Fitzgerald and Samson Wambuzi upon this great milestone, and we also want to send a shout out to the Isroff Family Foundation for this great opportunity.
Links:
By Angela Forcier | Chief of Staff
By Angela Forcier | Board Member
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