Tools | Methods: Mosaic as a fundamental pattern

Mosaic design in the discipline of permaculture refers to the use of spatial distribution of beneficial assemblies of plants and animals (guilds) to martial two powerful interactive strategies : edge harmonics & species compatibility. Many small areas of difference are created where a few mistakes occur but on average benefits result.
[ after B Mollison, Permaculture, A Designer's Manual, 1988]

This description of landscape development practice strikes me as applicable to other forms of community development, a connecting feature between fractal math (making use of roughness or variability) and learning theory. I see this as useful in developing patterns for Community Learning System Development.

Template for Project Definition

This template is comprised of six parts inspired by Buczynski & Fontichiaro's model of inquiry-based learning described in Story Starters & Science Notebooking, 2009.

1. Context, frame
2. Who; for whom, with whom
3. What; objective, solution set sought, elements produced
4. With what; tools, materials, activities
5. So what; why it matters
6. Now what; conclusions, next steps

The goal of this framework is to increase connective tissue between people and knowledge-building projects without oversimplifying (respect for roughness which can be source of useful insight later).

Performance Verbs -Bloom's Taxonomy,Piskurich

This matrix can be used to construct inquiry-based learning experiences.

See examples of its application in Projects>ThunderPuppets Players or  Y-Gardens.


ref: G. Piskurich, Rapid Training Development, p 133

Connective tissue

Exploring intuition that fractal principles can be applied to challenges of learning network generation. I want to be like the bee or spider architect who generates connective tissue in economical patterns in alignment with natural law: self-similarity, scale independence mirroring the roughness all around, inside and outside, not the oversimplified smoothness of the common [human-] built environment.

[ref: B. Mandelbrot]