- Introduction / Area 1: Cultural Cohesion
- Norms and values
- Mission
- Onboarding
- Intra-organizational communication
- Area 2: Learning Approach
- Pedagogy
- Projects
- Content development
- Success / Literacy / Mastery
- Target demographics
- Peer interactions
- Sharing
- Space design
- Critique / feedback models
- Area 3: Ethics and Governance
- Relationship to industry “needs” and requirements
- Recruitment
- Sponsorship & Partnership
- Competition
- Decision-making
Question | Reason for Asking |
---|---|
Who are you? | Background and self identification. |
How did your organization start, and where is it today? | Prompts storytelling, eases interviewee into mindset about both establishment of organization and its evolution. |
When you look around the room, who is there in your core organization? | Self-definition and demographics. |
Does your organization have a mission or core values? | Definition. |
[If yes] how do those play out in the day-to-day? | Uncover how values surface in the design of the organization. |
How do your members come together? | Social dynamics. |
When does someone "become" a member? | Onboarding. |
Question | Reason for Asking |
---|---|
If someone said “Learning the [organization’s name] way” what would that mean? | Pedagogical approach. |
Who needs to learn the skills you offer? How do you reach them? | Uncover target demographic and engagement strategy. |
What level are learners usually at when they come to your organization? | Demographics. |
How do you start learning activities? | Approach. |
What kinds of guides or prompts do you use? | Find out how content aligns with learning approach |
How were these developed? What problems were you looking to solve? | Surface pedagogical philosophy behind content. |
How do you help learners when they are stuck? | Approach. |
What tactics do you always use? | Approach. |
What tactics do you never use? | Approach. |
How do learners interact? | Peer interactions. |
Do learners help each other? How? | Peer interactions. |
How do learners get feedback? | Critique and support. |
Do you learners them to share their projects? In what kind of forum? | Peer interactions. |
How is your space designed to enable these kinds of interactions? | Peer interactions. |
When are learners "done"? What can they do by the time they leave? | Mastery and literacy. |
How do you know they know that? | Mastery and literacy. |
Do you ask learners to reflect? How and in what ways. | Approach. |
Question | Reason for Asking |
---|---|
How is your organization funded? Why? | Governance. |
How are decisions made about the organization? | Decision-making / governance. |
When's the last time an important strategy decision was made in your organization? | Decision-making / governance. |
How do you express new ideas to the wider network? | Decision-making / governance. |
How does someone create a satellite for your organization? What do they need to commit to? Report on? | Governance. |
When's the last time you shared a success story with the wider network? How did you do it? | Governance. |
A failure? | Governance. |
How do you decide what skills to teach? | Ethics. |
Do industry trends / requirements for skills play into your learning design? | Ethics. |
[If appropriate] Do you connect learners and recruiters? Why or why not? | Ethics. |
[If appropriate] How do you select sponsors? Is there a kind of organization that you'd never partner with? | Ethics. |
Are you “competing” with other informal learning organizations? | Ethics / governance. |
Are there other groups in your “space”? | Ethics / governance. |
Do you collaborate or cross promote? How does that happen? | Ethics / governance. |