Trails to Literacy: PHASES
There are several examples of Intentional Learning that are quite applicable to the Trails to Literacy platform:
A learning contract is a written agreement that defines learning goals and how they will be successfully accomplished. The contract is a collaborative effort between the learner and their tutor, facilitator or the group. It is used to negotiate the learning goals for activities done within the Trails project. Plans can be broken down for individual activities, for thematic sections or for the learner's whole involvement period. Examples in our LBS programs are Training Plans and, to a lesser degree, Lesson Plans The four key elements of learning contracts are:
The contract encourages learning that is intentional by allowing the learner to address individual needs, objectives, and approaches to learning. Completing learning contracts requires self-analysis, self-evaluation and reflection.
All PBL problems should be created with the following components. These descriptors are for use by facilitators, not students. It is important to have a facilitator's guide and a student's copy of the problem.
The ability to solve problems is more than just regurgitating knowledge and following rules; it is the development of flexible thinking strategies and analytical skills to produce meaningful solutions. This piece is often missing from instruction. Many learners are not adequately prepared when they encounter problems in which they need to transfer their learning to new domains, a skill required to function effectively in society (Reich, 1993).
Real-life problems aren't usually well-structured problems. In real life, we seldom repeat exactly the same steps to solve problems. Learners need to be able to solve more than the traditional school-based problems.