Learning Contract

What is a learning contract?

A learning contract is a jointly written agreement between a student and a learning facilitator that focuses and defines what is to be learned, how it will be learned, and how that learning will be evaluated.

In many cases, the learning contract is used to focus self-directed learners for a specific learning experience. The use of the learning contract is seen most often in teacher-student situations on the continuum between pedagological and andragological learning situations.

The extent to which the facilitator is involved in this process is defined at the beginning of the learning time and dictated by specified objectives and goals. In some cases the student is more in charge and in others, the facilitator is, depending on the definition of the course syllabus and group size. If no syllabus or expectation is given, the student creates with the guidance of the facilitator what may be expected of oneself, but not what will happen. Directional variance is and should be expected when creating contracts for oneself.

What is important to realize in a learning contract is that the student is given "freedom to choose," but given the nature of the contract, it really becomes a contract with oneself on a direction of learning, in other words, autodidactic in practice, thus the evaluative process on whether or not you kept a contract with yourself is really up to the contract creator, which is yourself.

The information learned during the contract is designed to help focus energies on what the learner wants to accomplish and not the facilitator, which is part of Process Learning.

On how to set up contracts and how they may look, please go to the following links:


Worchester Polytechnic Institute
http://www.wpi.edu/academics/ATC/Collaboratory/Idea/contractbenefits.html

Michigan State University--Using Contracts in the College Classroom
https://www.msu.edu/user/coddejos/contract.htm