I will finish this contract on Tuesday and then I will discuss my experiments or activities in a conference with my Teacher.

Signed,

Student Date

Teacher

Level 2 MICHAEL

Michael is another 13-year-old student recently identified as gifted. He recently moved to the area from a school that valued independent learning, so he is familiar with this approach. He is able to identify the particular topic within an area of study and two, with the assistance of the teacher, develop different ways of studying the topic.

As Mr. Jones and Michael talk about possible learning activities, Mr. Jones noticed that Michael has never conducted formal research requiring a written review of more than one or two standard references or using a variety of sources. Mr. Jones suggested that Michael include both internet and print media (newspapers, magazine articles), and that he should also interview someone as a part of his project. Michael agreed. Based on this conversation, Mr. Jones decided to give Michael and some other students a short test to see how much they knew about citation style. Mr. Jones then presented a short mini lesson to fill them in on the details they did not know.

Michael Mr. Jones then scheduled a conference to discuss and develop a learning contract. The contract they developed was somewhat more open than Sarah's, but still had structure and clarity that Michael needed in order to work on his own. Mr. Jones was careful to build in specific skills and tools that Michael would need in order to advance his progress in independent learning. Michael was left to sequence the order of study on his own, and Mr. Jones reviewed the sequence before he signed the contract. He approved Michael's plan and helped him establish a timeline for completing his project. They both agreed that they would meet once a week for a quick progress report, and that the project would be done in three weeks.

The biggest problem Michael encountered was figuring out what criteria to use to evaluate his final product. He was more familiar with having a teacher grade his final work, so he was surprised to find that Mr. Jones expected Michael to complete a self-assessment first. Mr. Jones suggested that Tom look through research reports done by prior students, and to use those to identify the elements of high quality work. After spending two class periods reviewing other student reports, Michael met with Mr. Jones with a list of possible criteria. Together they agreed on the criteria best suited to Michael's project.

Contract for MICHAEL

I. Title and description of project

I plan to do research on the topic of Ebola and present my findings to the class. At the same time I am learning about the topic, I will also learn how to use different forms of reference citations.

Proposed topics of exploration:	II. Forms of information:
1) current outbreak of Ebola	1) Internet and newspaper articles
2) means of transmission	2) interview with doctor or nurse
3) forms of treatment	3) interview with doctor or nurse
4) previous outbreaks	4) books, Internet

III. Steps to be accomplished:

1) Create a list of high quality websites.

2) Collect articles from reliable magazines

3) Identify physician with knowledge about infectious disease.

4) Ask physician if he or she is willing to be interviewed

5) Read articles and take notes

6) Develop interview questions

7) Review interview procedures

8) Conduct interview

9) Draft outline for report

10) Review outline with teacher.

IV. Description of Product:

The product will be a written research report and an information brochure that has seven sections. They are: 1) What is Ebola? 2) How is the Ebola contracted? 3) How does people love become an epidemic? 4) How is Ebola treated? 5) How to protect yourself from Ebola period 6) What experts have to say, and 7) A list of references.

V. Evaluation of Product

Method	Person	Criteria
Checklist	Self	Completeness, accuracy, interest, use of references, organization
Checklist	Teacher	Same as above
Checklist	Maria	Same as above

VI. Dates to Conference with Teacher

Day	Time	Comments
Tuesday	8:30
Thursday	9:00
Tuesday	8:30
Thursday	8:15

Expected Due Date: _______________________

Signatures:

___________________________ ______________________________

Student Teacher

Progress Notes (attached on separate page)

Level 3 MARIA

Maria was in Mr. Jones's class 2 years ago when he taught fifth grade. She has always been independent, but she has also benefited from the opportunities for independent learning that Mr. Jones offers. She has developed skills in managing her own time, and is capable of working for on a project, self-motivated, for several weeks at a time with only minimal feedback from the teacher. Maria is a curious girl and always has a million ideas she wants to investigate. Her biggest problem is figuring out how to select one of all these ideas! Because Maria recognizes her own shortcoming, she goes to Mr. Jones for help in narrowing down a specific topic

Today, Maria has come running into class very excited to learn about color psychology. After their first conversation, Mr. Jones discovered that Maria wants to know how color tests are implemented, about the theory underlying color psychology, and how this connects to other theories of personality. She wants to try a color psychology test out on some people as well.

To help Maria choose what to study, and to ensure that she continues to develop her skills, Mr. Jones had Maria brainstorm a list of questions, and then prioritize which she found most appealing. Mr. Jones had Maria write each question on an index card and invited her to add more cards overnight. The next day, they looked at the cards together, sorting and resorting according to her interests. When Maria settled on a small group of questions to pursue, they identified the overarching generalization that united the questions—humans can use nature to influence behavior. Maria decided that her main fascination was with the validity of color psychology, but that she really wanted to do a live test as part of her assessment of validity.

Maria then had to design her investigation. She used her questions as a guiding framework for her contract and she developed a brief outline of the steps that she would complete. She was allowed two months to finish a project. The major contribution Mr. Jones made to Maria's contract was to ensure she checked in with him every other week, as well as when she needs help with resources or material. Maria is also expected to keep a project folder in the classroom, which Mr. Jones can check any time he feels it is necessary. Finally, Mr. Jones insists that Maria present her findings to a psychologist in town.

Contract for MARIA

Name: Maria

Topic: Color psychology

Purpose:

I will investigate the rules for conducting research and interpreting data on color psychology, and will discuss the ethics of using color psychology to manipulate behavior.

Questions

1. What are the important parts of color psychology theory?

2. How does color psychology affect behavior and moods?

3. What are different points of view regarding the impact of color on behavior?

4. What controversy is there about color psychology? What research has been conducted?

5. What tests are available? How reliable are they?

6. What would happen when I give a color psychology test to friends and classmates?

Sources

Psychology department at University, influential books (Lüscher), research studies

Materials needed

Internet access, interview protocol, construction paper, paint

Possible evaluation criteria

Interested class, interest to psychologists, accuracy and detail, presents many points of view, identifies prevailing theories, quality of authentic test, reasonable number of sources

	Stage 1 Sarah	Stage 2 Michael	Stage 3 Maria
Goals and Objectives (the content)
Assessment of Entry Behavior	.
Instructional Behaviors
Assessment