The learning contract is an agreement or “contract” between the learner and the educator or supervisor that is signed by each after it has been approved. The learning contract is written by the learner and outlines what they will learn and how they will show they learned it. The learning contract can come in many forms and involve the learner 100% creating the contract or only be creating part of it. The learner is then responsible for meeting the objectives or goals they set for themselves and are more motivated since they created them. The learner is held accountable for the objectives because the educator has signed off on it as well. The contract allows educators to keep track of learners progress and have check-ups with a student. The learner can also work at their own pace, allowing learners to excel or exceed their own expectations if they choose. The educator must become a facilitator in order for the learner to grasp the self-directed learning the contract is instilling.
Application:In an introductory university course that I may be teaching as an advisor, many of the assignments could be done in several different ways. A learning contract would allow me to structure the course in a way that allows students to learn exactly what they are wanting, while also completing the necessary tasks. I could do the version that was involving the learner for part of the contract, so that they get options and are also still on track. The intro courses are often not taken seriously, and this would provide students to feel involved in the learning and motivated to complete tasks. I could for example say that the students have to attend a campus organization meeting and they could either do a presentation or a video to demonstrate what they learned about that organization. This would allow the students who aren’t comfortable presenting in front of an audience an alternative and would still be of equal time and effort. These presentations would benefit the students more than a sort of assessment because then the other students’ could learn about organizations and see everyone else’s experiences.
Assessment: What? So What? Now What? Journal (Barkley & Major, 2016, pp. 388-392)A presentation or video project assessment would allow the students to still have a choice in the project, while also allowing me to be able to grade them similarly. The preparation on my end would involve a rubric including my requirements for the “What?” when describing the organization, the “So What?” when talking about if they enjoyed the organization and what they did during the meeting, and “Now What?” when giving a conclusion of if everyone should join the organization and the contact information to do so. This assessment would allow the students to have a purpose during the meeting they attend and force them to retain some of the information, hopefully causing them to stay involved. The analysis at the end would be the most work for me because I would have to decide if each student’s project met the rubric requirements.