Talk Tapes, Kolej Yayasan Saad, Melaka
Summary of Project:
Talk tapes is a program that utilizes both online and offline platforms to create all-rounded speakers. We aim to improve different aspects of speaking, such as brainstorming and confidence, through workshops, modules, and activities. We believe our project is able to collectively improving students’ critical and creative thinking skills.
Problem Statement:
As students who were molded and assisted into the realm of public speaking and poetry, we saw a huge difference in how we interacted and how we viewed our surroundings comparatively to others. It felt right for us to use this skill we have gained to assist others as well.
We also saw that it was too common for mentor-mentee programs and teachings, so we wanted to opt for different formats that affect students as well, in order to develop the minds of these individuals holistically.
In turn, we could also help them with their soft skills, confidence, mental health, and other aspects outside of the classroom while still being able to improve their learning recovery indirectly.
Participants Demographics:
For the debate crash course, we did not limit the number of participants who would want to join, and there were approximately 60 people who participated. For the other sessions, we had a maximum of 20 participants per session.
The participants consisted of Form 1 (13 years old) to Form 4 (16 years old) students who were interested in public speaking and were looking for a way to improve their soft skills.
Surprisingly, there were more girls than boys in the diversity of the participants. However, one of us thinks that was mostly due to the appeal of Ayra and Adeena (Omar is jealous).
The participants originally were hesitant in volunteering to talk in front of an audience. However, nearing the end of the sessions, we could see more people volunteering. This was caused by the positive reinforcement and safe space that we desired to create for them.
Project Impact & Impact Measurement Method:
Most of our impact measurement methods used were qualitative. We used surveys, and pre- and post-assessments to determine the participants' improvement, and obtain a general view of how well the participants could give a speech.
We could also determine how confident the students had become via interviews and video recordings. Quantitatively, we could use KBAT or HOTS scores as well as impromptu speech challenges to test their critical thinking ability.
Ultimately, Talk Tapes cannot guarantee that an immediate change can be achieved as we believe that confidence has to be consistently trained. However, this is a stepping stone for us to explore other methods in the future to develop more students’ potential and skills.
Changes Observed In Participants (Improvements/Progress):
We did not expect the participants to be bonded and close together by the end of the session because we observed that there was diversity in the participants' demographics, be it age, gender, or any other factor.
However, they all got together in the end during a final sharing session. It was heartwarming to see the huge impact we had on people when we created a safe space for them and allowed them to express themselves freely. It made them confident enough to look past their differences and to have fun while learning something beneficial.
Challenges/Setbacks Faced:
There are definitely big challenges having to juggle with school schedules on top of working on the project. In addition to events outside of school, we also had to run around and find teachers to discuss competitions, had two exams back to back and other commitments. Time constraint really serves as the main challenge here as it disallows us to have a proper meetup and discussion with our advisor.