1) The document discusses using learning contracts in an Italian academic course to develop student-centered learning, reflection, and participation. 2) It was found that learning contracts helped students organize their learning according to their interests and stimulated deep reflection on the learning process. 3) Learning contracts also facilitated interactions between students and the instructor. However, ensuring students understand what learning contracts are and why they are being used is important.

1. The Use of Learning
Contract to Develop a
Student-Centered
Learning, Reflection, and
Participation in an Italian
Academic Course.

2. The Italian academic context
The decrease in the number of degree programs does not allow to
develop a student centered learning and limits the possibility to participate
in individual learning activities due to the high number of enrolled students.
(National Council of Universities [CUN], 2013)
NumberofProgramDegree

3. The relation between number of instructors and number of students.
In Italy there is an average of 19 students per instructor against an average for the
OECD countries of 15.6 and an average for the European country of 15.9. Only
five nations have a worst ratio: Indonesia, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Belgium
and Slovenia.
The Italian academic context

4. Since 2011 we are engaged in trying to improve the situation giving our students
a more active role in their learning. With this mission we introduced in our
courses the Malcolm Knowles’ model of Learning Contract (LC).
This presentation reports our second attempt to introduce a methodology to allow
students’ independence and personalization in learning.
We are trying to understand:
• In which ways are LCs meaningful for students in the learning process?,
• How can LC facilitate students’ learning?,
• How we can use it in our context?
Our previous reports (Fedeli, Felisatti, & Giampaolo 2012; and Fedeli,
Giampaolo, & Coryell, 2013) describe the initial attempt we did in creating LCs
with Italian students.
The Learning Contract as
possible solution

5. The Learning Contract as
possible solution
Malcolm Knowles’ LC is an instrument (formatted as tables divided in columns) that
specifies the learning objectives, the learning resources and strategies to
accomplish these objectives, the target date for their accomplishment, the evidence
to accomplish the objectives, and the criteria to judge the evidence (Knowles, 1986).
Using a LC the “negotiation relationship between learners and instructors is
established” (Knowles, 1986. p.149).
“Learning Contracts are agreements negotiated between students and teaching
staff regarding the type and the amount of study to be undertaken and the type and
amount of assessment or credit resulting from this study” (Stephenson & Laycock,
1993, p. 17)

6. Participants
The research involved students enrolled in the second year of the
Master of Science Degree in Continuing Education at University of Padua.
The students attended the course called “Organizational Behavior” which lasted
42 hours, lasted four months from October 2012 to January 2013.
Students who created a LC were 17 out of 19 (14 F, 3 M), with an age range
between 23 and 48 years and an average of 35.5.
Procedure
Familiarization
(introduction)
Creation
Presentation
and
assessment
Negotiation
(sharing)
Narration
(feedback)

7. Data collection and analysis
1. The questionnaire with open and closed questions:
2. The on line discussion forum in which learners shared their opinions,
questions, and doubts about the use of LC.
• The number of answers to open questions (34 sentences) to analyze give a
clear idea of students’ opinion without necessity for the researchers to calculate
an inter rater reliability.
• The single sentence as unit of analysis (Stemler, 2001).
• Closed questions gave students the opportunity to answer on a four-point
ordinal scale where 1 = no agreement and 4 = strong agreement. We chose
to use a scale with 4 levels to divide “undecided” into favorable and contrary
(Lalla, 2001)
• Dedoose, a user friendly web based software developed for qualitative and mixed
method analysis.
• The single sentence as unit of analysis (Stemler, 2001).
• The value of the Pooled Cohen's Kappa coefficient, which shows the overall result
for the reliability tests that include more than one code
(de Vries, Elliott, Kanouse, & Teleki, 2008), was of .68.

8. Major themes identified
• Using LC to develop a student centered learning
Using LC to
develop a student
centered learning
Engagement in
finding other
resources to
develop and create
their evidences
The use of LC in
other different
contexts
Some example of students’ answer
“I have also found other resources on
internet like this one http://www.studiculturali...”
“I have also the possibilities to find an
Adult Education expert at the
University of Trieste”.
“Now, in my work, during the
preparation of each didactic module
I ask myself which are my
objectives? ?, which resources
I can use?, which criteria to validate
the evidences I will use?...”

9. Major themes identified
• Using LC to develop students’ reflection.
The Learning Contract offers the possibility to activate reflexive
strategies (Fedeli et al., 2013).
• Some example of students’ answer
“I realized that this methodology helps me to focalize the starting point and the result
that I want to achieve through a continuous learning process”.
“I’m discovering my emotional cycle of learning, I have the motivation and tension
toward something that I want to analyze”
“Creating my Learning Contract I had the possibility to understand again what I’m
learning in practice and reflecting on what I’m learning”.

10. Major themes identified
• Using LC to develop students’ participation
Using LC to
develop students’
participation
Debate with peers
Collaboration with
the instructor
“I lived an Initial confusion and uncertainty
solved with the help of the instructor and the
sharing with others students”
“The creation phase has been challenging.
I waited for my colleagues sharing their
Learning Contracts and for their feedbacks”
“The facilitator clarified our doubts,
specifying to not only focalize our
attention on the delivery date, but
on the active participation and on
the learning process we are
producing”
It is important to share not only the final evidence they
realized but also the evidence in progress to receive
suggestions.

11. Results to closed questions
The answers to the closed questions support the theme of a LC as a tool which
allows a student centered learning
41%
59%
The LC allows to organize your learning
strongly not in
agreement
not in agreement
in agreement
strongly in
agreement
47%
53%
The LC helps to fit the contents
of the course with your interests
strongly not in
agreement
not in agreement
in agreement
strongly in agreement

12. Results to closed questions
The possibility to develop reflection is supported by the answers to closed questions
24%
76%
the LC allows to reflect on your learning
strongly not in agreement
not in agreement
in agreement
strongly in agreement
6%
35%
59%
The LC allows an evaluation of your learning
strongly not in agreement
not in agreement
in agreement
strongly in agreement

13. Conclusions
In conclusion we sustain that learning contracts are a very effective didactic
tool to develop a personal learning process
1) We can observe that LC is very useful to centered learning on
students’ needs, allowing each student to design his/her personal project of learning
2) We can report the possibility to stimulate in students an in depth reflection on the
learning process, to reinforce and to develop the awareness of the students
regarding the importance of learning for their whole life
3) We can observe that LC facilitates the interactions between pairs and with the
instructor.
Weakness
The understanding of what really a LC is (general guidelines for a continuous
learning process and not a table to fill in) and why the instructor proposes this tool
is fundamental.

14. The future of our practice
It is important to underline for the future of our practice two other dimensions to
research more in depth:
(a) the size of the class, we had the possibility to test learning contracts with a
small group but we have to explore more and understand if it works with larger
class size.
(b) we have to continue to give more attention to relationships and to a
conducive climate in class but we have to reinforce communication and
relationships also outside of it.
To practice with us:
monica.fedeli@unipd.it
mario.giampaolo@studenti.unipd.it

15. The Use of Learning Contract to Develop a
Student-Centered Learning, Reflection, and
Participation in an Italian Academic Course.
Thanks for your attention !
Grazie per l’attenzione !