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TLRI and its Mission
Our mission is to fundamentally change the educational experience in America: the process, methodology, use of technology, and content.

Total Learning Research Institute, Inc. (TLRI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational and scientific organization dedicated to solving the problem of American and world illiteracy and competitiveness through systemic educational reform and the intelligent application of learning technology.

For a quarter century, TLRI has innovated and researched curricular content and process, created programs, and inspired learners across the nation with exciting simulation and team-based learning experiences.

The Institute has been supported by grants and cooperative agreements from Federal and private sources and the programs have touched the lives of thousands of learners. From high-fidelity space shuttle simulators to virtual Mars bases, students are engaged in high-performing team environments designed to inspire and educate. As we like to say to students as early as the fourth grade: “If you can launch the space shuttle or put a lander down on Mars, what can’t you do?”

Our programs are based on real science and technology.

Our programs create real STEM high-technology workplace experiences.

Our programs model what education can and should be.


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TEAMING
TEAMING can be a game changer for education.
TLRI’s TEAMING program has the potential to impact both the how and why of the educational experience. It is the ultimate school-to-work skillset, since today’s workplace is defined by team-based operation and productivity. Unlike traditional “cooperative learning” used widely in schools today, TEAMING is based on industry-standard six-sigma continuous improvement principles.

TEAMING
  • can improve classroom management and let teachers concentrate on teaching rather than on discipline.
  • invests students in each other’s learning, creating a cooperative environment.
  • promotes diversity and campus coherence.
  • is a robust collaborative environment, promoting mastery and supporting student’s social networking and learning styles.

In the Classroom and School-to-Work
Through the use of process teams introduced at appropriate levels, students develop a fundamental set of contemporary workplace skills while creating a more interactive classroom.

In the Workplace
The ability of workers to work together, to be good leaders and collaborators, and to increase efficiency and productivity through the use of TEAMING and successful interpersonal interaction is critical to the success of the modern business or government enterprise.

The millennial workplace is one where the work is more important than the job, and knowledge is the principle product. This requires more interdependency and sharing than ever before. And it will require all workers to understand intra-group and inter-group processes in a new way. TLRI’s TEAMING program trains teachers, students, and adults to function in high-performance work teams to achieve learning goals.

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Learning Principles
Best practices of what is working in education drives all of our programs, research efforts, and support efforts. These can be summarized in basic learning principles that guide everything we do, whether for a half dozen students in a space shuttle simulator, or a whole school project done by a hundred student teams working toward a common goal.

Students and Employees experience the thrill and understanding of STEM competencies and learning through hands-on, team-based simulation.

A TLRI program must include an awareness and mastery of:
  • The critical nature of teamwork
  • The importance of clear and effective communication
  • Solving real problems in real time, enhancing critical thinking skills
  • The nature and workings of high technology systems
  • The detail and complexity of operational systems
  • A real goal! Mastering a high-stakes challenge

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View of Literacy
For a quarter century TLRI has realized the necessity for integrating subjects and skills. Our approach has been to identify competencies based on the fundamental disciplines needed for the success of the American economic enterprise.

We refer to these as “literacies.” Before there was “STEM”, TLRI identified Five Literacies which have become the core of any TLRI product. We believe that the content indicated by “STEM” needs to be surrounded and enhanced by other literacies. In a STEM workplace, integration of these literacies is essential.

Comprehensive learning skills for the contemporary workplace include competence in the following areas:
  1. Language Literacy - (Communication)
  2. Mathematical Literacy - (Reason and Logic)
  3. Scientific Literacy - (Inquiry and Critical Thinking)
  4. Technological Literacy - (Problem Solving)
  5. Interpersonal Literacy - (Teams)
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Our Greatest Resource - Our Team
Combined, the Senior Fellows at the Institute have more than a century of educational leadership, creativity, and success.

TLRI Fellows have been involved at the local, state and federal levels responsible for program creation, development, administration, and evaluation for the U.S. Department of Education, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, The Smithsonian Institution, and the White House.

Programs developed by this team have touched every state in the nation, have been copied in foreign countries, and have touched the lives of millions of school-age learners. Institute Fellows have served on the faculties of over a dozen institutions, and as advisors and mentors to a generation of educators.

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Programs
Mars City
Teaming
Space Explorers
Mars City
Teaming
Space Explorers