Building Life Skills through Hands-on and Cooperative Learning

The Issue
Life skills give children the tools they need to respond to a diversity of life situations and to achieve their personal goals. Well-developed life skills are associated with a higher sense of self-worth and competence, and an enhanced ability to work well with others, express feelings, solve problems and welcome new experiences. There has been some debate among experts about the process through which after-school programs benefit child development and life skill acquisition.

What has 4-H Done?
The UC ANR After School Workgroup adapted a Web-based evaluation tool that was developed by Washinton State University. The survey measures the effectiveness of after-school programs in assisting youth in the acquisition of life skills. A pilot study of the evaluation was administered to 363 children ages 5 to 13 who were enrolled in 4-H after-school programs in Placer, Nevada and San Diego counties. Decision making, communication skills, accepting differences and making healthy choices were some of the life skills measured.

The workgroup was also interested in developing a user-friendly evaluation tool that could aggregate data from multiple programs. The use of this survey format and Web-based data entry was studied and found to be an easy process for after-school program staff to use to measure their students' life skill acquisition.

The Payoff
The new evaluation revealed that participation in after-school programs that use hands-on and cooperative learning and that provide interaction with competent adults enhances children’s life skills. The study also found that the gains over time differed depending on the children's age, gender and ethnicity. For example, the study found that Hispanic children acheived greater gains in making healthy choices because of the program than all other children surveyed.

In addition, as a result of this project, UC's 4-H Youth Development advisors and other youth program administratiors all over the state now have access to a pilot-tested life skill evaluation survey they can use to measure the effectiveness of after-school programs.

Author: Sharon Junge and Sue Manglallan
Posted January 2006
For more information, contact the Placer 4-H Office at 530-889-7386 or ceplacer@ucdavis.edu.

To submit a 4-H Delivers story, please contact the State 4-H Office at 530-754-8518 or fourhstateofc@ucdavis.edu.