Our Learning with PEDAL: Using a Rapid-cycle design and testing to develop the “Playtime with Books” programme
Strategic Lead for Service Improvement
Communications and Digital Officer
Dartington Service Design Lab partnered with University of Cambridge Centre for Research in Play in Education Development and Learning (PEDAL) to develop new virtual ways to support parents and children to engage in book sharing, which has traditionally been done face-to-face . We are now releasing the final report from this work and sharing our learning for others to put into practice.
This project aimed to test different approaches to delivery to improve accessibility for families facing higher socio-economic disadvantage and barriers limiting their access to early interventions. The PEDAL team hoped that virtual delivery could make the book sharing programme more accessible and flexible. We supported PEDAL to do this by assessing the feasibility of a virtual programme being facilitated by early years practitioners, and then developing the programme ready for scaling.
The need for a more flexible form of evaluation and testing was central to our role as a learning partner as we supported PEDAL to use our Rapid-cycle design and testing approach. During this learning partnership, our team coached PEDAL through this cyclic learning-focussed approach to programme improvement. Together, we moved through five structured steps (1. Assess, 2. Design. 3. Implement and observe. 4. Analyse and learn, and 5. Pause and Decide,) repeated over three cycles. The aim of this process was to address differing aspects of intervention development, which is explored further in the PEDAL journey map.
The Pedal research team shared: “We wanted to deliver the programme in a way that worked best for families and for services. Rapid-cycle design and testing gave us an opportunity to disrupt how we deliver interventions.”
Why choose Rapid-cycle design and testing to scale your project?
The PEDAL team were motivated to use Rapid-cycle design and testing because of its flexibility, which enabled them to identify barriers for families and practitioners trialling the intervention online in real-time.
Rapid-cycle design and testing supported the research team to focus on developing their as-intended delivery of the intervention by introducing early cycles of training support for practitioners, aligning this with their programme theory of change.
During the assess and design stages of the process we used co-production to understand what successful implementation of the intervention would look like. This pilot work supported reviewing the useability of data collection and monitoring tools before a wider rollout.
The speed of doing Rapid-cycle design and testing allowed the research team to move through three cycles of testing across the year and enabled book sharing activities to adapt much quicker to a virtual environment, expanding the programme’s reach. The team were grateful for this, and reflected that traditional methods of research and programme development moved at a much slower pace, often preventing timely integration of learning into the research process.
Additionally, the Rapid-cycle design and testing approach supported the development of a two-way dynamic between researchers and those at the centre of the work, bringing them closer to the community they were engaging with. The team were able to apply feedback from practitioners delivering the programme, during “implement and observe” stages to make change visible, sensitive, and meaningful to all involved.
How Rapid-cycle design and testing supports learning from practitioners and families
One of the main benefits of Rapid-cycle design and testing is its ability to incorporate feedback quickly and equitably, co-designing and learning the mechanisms of “what works” about the programme and where change can be made at pace to suit the needs of the people who are both delivering and those benefitting from work. In this case, the team were able to:
Be responsive to families’ needs
The research quickly confirmed the need for this type of activity, showing that parents valued dedicated time to explore books with their child.
More importantly, the structure and content of online materials were deemed feasible for families to complete within the intended time frames. During reflection sessions, families shared that adapting the programme to enable them to complete the activities flexibly around existing routines would better meet their needs.
Families explored how the online training provided the tools for them to recognise how to use the activities and respond to their child's needs. They also identified that the online video calls and feedback from facilitators supported their learning, and confidence in the intervention.
Developing practitioners as facilitators
Throughout the project, the PEDAL team recognised the need for practitioners to feel confident delivering the intervention. Practitioners’ lack of confidence or trust in the methods could present a barrier to delivery and future scale-up of the programme. Early cycles found that facilitators needed more support to complete enrolment and administration tasks related to the research. The team were able to respond by providing additional support and relieving the administration burden.
During “pause and decide” stages, we found the researchers had built positive relationships with the practitioners, and following feedback sessions, the research team recognised that the intervention could be led by practitioners to give them ownership of the programme. The opportunity to reflect on the programme delivery during the three cycles of testing created a space to develop and share their knowledge and learning with each other. This provided an understanding of practical implications for future-roll out, pre-empting needs and challenges for delivery.
The value of making change in real-time
The PEDAL team’s use of the Rapid-cycle design and testing has shown the value of collaborating with families and practitioners to support intervention design and delivery, and developing ownership of decision-making as progress is made through different cycles.
The team acknowledged that in traditional intervention programmes such as Randomise Control Trials, it is difficult to make change in real-time, and learning is not made explicit or given space. Using a Rapid-cycle design and testing framework allowed for responses to needs and challenges as the programme progressed and adapt the programme in real-time.
Dr Christine O'Farrelly, Senior Research Associate at PEDAL, said: “Our Rapid-cycle design and testing journey was really rewarding. Interestingly, we found the payoff requires a bit of a leap of faith. On the one hand, the method is really rigorous and is guided by your theory of change, so you have strong tools to navigate the path. At the same time, you are hoping to end up in a better destination from where you started based on the insights of others and rich and frequent collaboration within your team - so it's hard to predict where you will arrive at the outset. We were really struck by the amount we achieved in such a short timeframe.”
Where is the programme now?
We’ve shared more about using Rapid-cycle design in practice in our learning report and journey map produced following our partnership with PEDAL. This is just one project where we’ve applied Rapid-cycle design and testing to support developing a programme. Visit our website to explore ways Rapid-cycle design and testing could work for you.
You can find more information on the PEDAL website about the next stage of Playtime with Books as they begin testing the programme at scale with new Local Authorities.
If you have any further questions about our work with PEDAL – please contact tom.gallagher-mitchell@dartington.org.uk
