Learning Agreements

How do you create individual and collective accountability in your courses? According to accountability theory (PDF), it is common for members of a group (i.e. college classes) to develop a need to justify one’s behaviors to others, which causes one to consider and feel accountable for the process by which decisions and judgments have been reached. One way to cultivate accountability is by using learning agreements in your courses.  

Learning agreements (PDF), also sometimes called Community Agreements, enhance students’ education by helping them understand the importance of defining, understanding, and adhering to their own best practices and goals.

Learning agreements have also shown to:

• Create individual and group accountability
• Enhance students’ investment in their education
• Develop personal and community connections to collective successes
• Develop a guide for student to content engagement 
• Build community

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• RESEARCH

  Examine selected research on Learning Agreements 

  MacDonald, J. (2012). Identify learning outcomes for learning agreements. Education for Primary Care, 23(2), 128–130. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Janet-Macdonald/publication/221980490_How_to_Identify_learning_outcomes_for_learning_agreements/links/541fd23a0cf2218008d3fd32/How-to-Identify-learning-outcomes-for-learning-agreements.pdf (PDF)

  Gibbs, P. (2009). Learning agreements and work-based higher education. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 14(1), 31-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/13596740902717382

• APPLICATION

  Ready to apply Learning Agreements to your teaching? Here are some ideas and strategies to get you started:

  As the instructor, you can share two agreements you feel would be useful for the course, then ask students to add their agreements. Often creating course agreements is often useful to do the first week of the term, followed up during the second week with time for everyone to review and agree on agreements to that time.

  In order to maximize course learning agreements, it is important that everyone has access to them, that the document can be amended during the semester. As the instructor, it is important to revisit them weekly during a class meeting, announcement, email, or text. Revisiting them can be resharing the link to your course learning agreement document, highlighting one or two agreements each week in a message or during class time.

  In creating learning agreements, consider the following practices:

  Learning Contracts: A Tool for Managing Knowledge (Article) (PDF)

  Developing Learning Agreements (Website)(opens in new window)

  Learning Agreement Example (Google Doc)

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