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.

ThunderPuppets Field Report Summary

ThunderPuppets Players
Field work Report, December 20, 2010
San Francisco

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

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]

What is Garden of Social Learning?

This resource collects information that may be useful for instructional design at the intersection of environmental education and social learning.

Investigations are layered. They include:

• cultivation of learning networks
• expression of learning networks as a form of adaptive resource management
• fostering spatial reasoning and analysis

Rather than investing further in developing abstractions I look to model different dimensions of this exploration in specific laboratory situations. They include:

• Thunderpuppets Players
• SYL Central Y Gardens
• Islais Creek Mosaic [MAMM]