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Assignment Two: Develop a Learning Contract
The contract method used in this course is explicitly designed to deeply involve students in formulating and assessing their own learning goals, developing learning activities and gathering evidence at every step of the way. The course syllabus is seen as a blueprint or framework to support the development and implementation of the personal learning contract. The contract development process is iterative, moving through 8 interrelated steps that are refined and negotiated throughout the life of the course. > > =I want to do this kind of Learning Contract!= >
 * 1) Diagnose learning needs through the development of a compentency model.
 * 2) Specify learning objectives which respond to those learning needs.
 * 3) Specify learning resources (human and non-human)
 * 4) Specify educational accomplishments in terms of knowledge, skills, understanding, attitudes and values.
 * 5) Specify how the evidence will be collected and validated.
 * 6) Review the contract with consultants.
 * 7) Carry out the contract, evaluating and adapting as various learning activities are completed and evidence is collected on performance. A typical contract at this level will include 5-7 activities, active participation in class sessions and a term project. The contents of the contract is open to negotiation at any time as the class unfolds.
 * 8) The contract is mutually evaluated by the student, the instructor and any content experts who were enlisted to assist

Then there was the learning contract in the desert. Thanks to EvergreenState College, I was able to explore the world for awhile as JackLondon and Ernest Hemmingway did, on a much smaller scale. It was atruly liberating experience physically, mentally, emotionally,spiritually.. all those "ally's". And it was HOT! I had to give up anyideas of walking around in the desert during the day and spent the timein my tent reading and writing, only to come out in the late afternoonor early morning. All of those stories you've heard, comparing thedesert to the inside of an oven: they're true! But so are the storiesof the desert's fragile beauty.