Drafting Your Learning Contract

Term

Employer/Organization

Location/Address

Job/Field Period title

Department (if applicable)

Start and end dates

Faculty advisor/evaluator email

Site Supervisor email, name, title, phone

Your major, grad year, email, phone number

Course number

• Field Period type and goal

  • Self-Exploration - Develop a better understanding of my own values, skills, and interests through a process of self-discovery.

  • Career Exploration - Develop a clearer understanding of my career values and ideal career environment.

  • Professional Experience - Develop a deeper understanding of the theoretical and applied knowledge necessary to thrive in a specific career orientation.

  • World Citizenship - Develop a greater sense of the interdependence of the world community through intellectual and cultural experiences.

What will be your primary activities during this experience?

What will you create for your unique documentation?

The key to learning objectives is that they are measurable. They are the new or enhanced knowledge, skills, or values outcomes that will be the result of the Field Period. The learning objectives should support the overall goal(s) for the experience. They are significant because they become what your evaluation will largely be based upon. The more quantifiable the learning objectives are, the easier it will be for you, your evaluator, and the site supervisor to measure whether the objectives were met. Obviously, the uncertain nature of Field Periods means that there may be additional learning, not predictable when the Learning Contract is written. And some learning objectives may not be accomplished. However, the learning objectives are a starting point, the best guess before the experience. They cause you to think about what you will learn and how that learning will be measured.  Take a look at the learning objectives below and notice how they align with a workplace activity.  It is often easier to begin with writing down your activities after you discuss the plans with your site supervisor, and from there, determine what you expect to learn from each one.