Developing a Learning Contract

The Learning Contract that you develop for this Capstone course is intended to be designed by the individual student to meet his/her specific learning needs related to his/her focus of interest in Health Services Administration. You now have a good idea of just what a learning contract is; simply stated, the “learning plan” provides a means to specify what is to be learned, how it is to be learned, and how the learning will be verified.

A typical Learning Contract specifies:

1. Learning Outcomes (objectives): the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to be acquired by the learner

2. Learning resources and strategies: how these objectives are to be accomplished

3. A target date for completion of the contract

4. Evidence that will be presented to demonstrate that the objectives have been accomplished

5. How the evidence will be validated

What do we mean by a Measure?

A Measure is a way to demonstrate an outcome. In the case of this course, you will be providing evidence of meeting your objectives. These work products or deliverables will be submitted to the instructor as examples of the student learning that took place outside of the classroom. These products or deliverables will also be provided to the mentor so that it may be utilized beyond your Capstone experience. It is essential that the measures are submitted to your instructor for approval prior to presenting to your mentor.

Examples of Measures include:

Literature reviews/annotated bibliographies

PowerPoint presentations for training

Training certificates (i.e., agency training programs)

Survey/interview results

Flow charts of work processes

Graphs/charts/tables of data gathered for the project

Summary reports with recommendations

Here are some Learning Contract Samples.Do not copy these directly as each project is different. Create a learning contract unique to your specific project:

Capstone Project Sample ALF

Capstone Project Sample Event Planning

Capstone Sample LC in Hospital

Learning Contract Directions

Follow these steps in filling out the Learning contract:

1. Download and Save to your computer the Learning Contract Template found in the Learning Contract Module. Be sure to include your last name in the document title as well as your revision number (i.e., learningcontract_butz_revision1). This will help me to identify your contract when I re-upload from my computer. Your first Draft is due Sunday of Week 2.

2. Type in the information at the top of the form- name, mentor, etc. The Anticipated Completion Date is the date that you intend on completing this contract along with the 60 hours of documented time.

3. Write a goal statement for the Capstone project. Under the word GOAL, write a 1 or 2 sentence goal statement. Next, under the General description of proposed Capstone project experience section, expound on goal statement by giving an overview of the learning plan that you designed. Include information on your area of interest, and the learning experiences and activities (projects, research, teaching, shadowing, observing, etc.) that will help you to achieve your goal. This is meant to give your facilitator an overview of your particular Capstone project.

4. Learning Objectives: You will now write 2 objectives that will identify how you will accomplish your goal. For the purposes of this course, the learning objectives may include the broad domains of knowledge and understanding, skills, attitudes, and values. Be sure that your objectives describe what you will learn. The objectives should be clear, understandable, in terms that can be measured, and at the baccalaureate degree level. Each objective must be stated in complete sentences.

5. Learning Strategies and Resources: For each of the 2 outcomes, identify learning resources/strategies that will help you accomplish each objective. Learning resources may be either human or support material materials of various types. For example, a human resource could be your mentor or any other professional related to your Capstone project. Support materials include things like journal readings, books, films, video, CD’s or other materials that will offer insight and understanding in fulfilling your objectives. Learning Strategies refers to the tools or techniques used in accomplishing each objective. Examples might include: taking a field trip, or completing a literature review. Each of your two objectives must have a minimum of two learning strategies.

6. Measures: For each of the 2 objectives, describe what evidence or product you will collect or present that demonstrates you have attained your objective. This can take a number of different forms- for example, for an objective written in the knowledge domain, you might prepare a written report or present an oral presentation, lecture, or PowerPoint. For the psychomotor domain, you might prepare a demonstration or complete some type of skill. Also, specifically state how this will be validated by your Capstone facilitator–indicate what you will submit as your outcome to your facilitator. For example, if you developed a PPT presentation for a lecture, then you could submit the PPT to your facilitator as validation of accomplishing this objective. You will complete it, submit it for a grade BEFORE giving it to your mentor. Another measure example is submitting a Pamphlet that you developed as part of your Capstone experience.