ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: Learning ...



ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: [pic]Learning Contracts [On-line] UK: URL provided at end of article. | | |

|Learning Contracts |  |

|Learning contracts are agreements between a teacher (or teaching team) and a learner (or occasionally a group of learners).| |

|They normally concern issues of assessment, and provide a useful mechanism for reassuring both parties about whether a | |

|planned piece of work will meet the requirements of a course or module: this is particularly valuable when the assessment | |

|is not in the form of a set essay title, or an examination. | |

|However, there is more to the principle of the learning contract than a convenient administrative device. It is based on |  |

|the principle of the learners being active partners in the teaching-learning system, rather than passive recipients of | |

|whatever it is that the teacher thinks is good for them. It is about their ownership of the process. | |

|Merely using the technique, however, does not automatically bring about this ownership and involvement. As Collins (1991) | |

|has pointed out, the contractual bargain is often one-sided, with all the obligations being on the side of the student, and| |

|none on the part of the teacher. The teacher does not even undertake unequivocally to award a pass mark to the resultant | |

|work: she will do so only if in her judgement it meets the required criteria. | |

|After all, all assessments are based on a contract, which usually remains implicit. It is of the order of: | |

|"The teacher undertakes that: | |

|if the student produces such work as the teacher specifies, | |

|to a standard which the teacher will determine (whether or not that standard is based on fixed criteria or personal whim, | |

|and regardless of whether the standard is known to the student), the teacher will award a mark to that work. The student | |

|indicates acceptance of this 'agreement' by producing the work" | |

|That is a slightly unfair version, but only slightly. Matters can be improved by being explicit and transparent about the | |

|marking scheme. Learning contracts seek to make explicit this implicit deal, which should at least expose any | |

|one-sidedness, and ideally provide a basis for addressing it. | |

|Initially, there may be considerable student resistance to learning contracts: they are not part of the rules of the | |

|educational game they are familiar with. The common cry is, "Just tell me what to do!" Nevertheless, if their negotiation | |

|is taken seriously (by the teacher as well as the student, and recognising the time which has to be put into tutorial | |

|consultations about them), they are very valuable ways of focusing attention on things which matter. | |

|Form of the Contract | |

|There are many forms which the contract can take (See Anderson, Boud and Sampson, 1996 for a guide), but the following | |

|represents a general example: | |

|     | |

|Student name and details | |

|This is pretty obvious | |

| | |

|Course name and level | |

|So is this, but the course level is important, because that sets the expectations of the piece of work: the level criteria | |

|should be set out clearly somewhere—perhaps in the handbook. | |

| | |

|Outcomes to be addressed | |

|They may not be expressed as outcomes, but this is where the student puts the course requirements about the piece of work. | |

| | |

|Form of submission | |

|It could be a project, a portfolio, a videotape of practice, an object the student has made, a computer program ... If the | |

|tutor signs the form, she is agreeing that a submission of this type will be acceptable. | |

| | |

|Outline of submission | |

|This is the crunchy bit: this is where the student sets out her intentions for the submission. Much of the rest of the form| |

|may be governed by course regulations, but this has to be original. It is a statement of the student's solution to the | |

|problem, "How am I going to produce evidence that I can meet these outcomes?" | |

| | |

|Resources and assistance | |

|So far, the contract has been one-sided, as Collins comments. This is where the student can request input from the tutor, | |

|such as looking over a draft, or providing copies of some material not in the library, or an introduction to an | |

|interviewee. | |

|This section is also the place to clarify complicating issues, such as collaborative work in a small group, and how marks | |

|are to be apportioned. | |

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|Signatures | |

|These are what make the magic work: the contract is not worth anything until it has been agreed and signed by both student | |

|and tutor. Usually the student keeps the main copy to submit with the completed work, but the tutor can keep one on file | |

|for security purposes if necessary. | |

|The tutor's signature makes explicit the implicit bargain above. She is agreeing that if the student delivers what is | |

|promised, credit will be awarded. | |

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|Practically, then, the contract allows for considerable variation in the form of submission, and clarifies in advance such | |

|thorny problems as collaborative working and how much help the student can expect from the tutor. | |

|At the level of principle, however, it changes the student from being merely reactive, in the sense of responding to set | |

|demands to produce a 4,000-word assignment on this or that, to being proactive in taking the initiative in proposing work | |

|to meet the requirements. | |

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| |To reference this page copy and paste the text below: |

| |ATHERTON J S (2003) Learning and Teaching: [pic]Learning Contracts [On-line] UK: Available: |

| |[pic]

| |ing_contracts.htm Accessed: [pic]28 August 2006 |

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