This mixed-methods study illustrates the implementation of Malcolm Knowles’s 1986 model of learning contracts in a current Italian University context. The study attempted to improve and adapt the tool to a master’s degree course at the University of Padua. Three professors conducted the integrated course, making extensive efforts to share the aims of their programs and involve the students in this research. The findings helped us reflect on how to improve the contract and better involve the students. Finally, the technology must be improved to be more user-friendly for use in blended courses.
BergerN.CaffarellaR. S.O’DonnellJ. M. (2003). Learning contracts. In GalbraithM. (Ed.), Adult learning methods: A guide for effective instruction (3rd ed., pp. 289-319). Melbourne, FL: Krieger.
2.
BoakG. (1998). A complete guide to learning contracts. Brookfield, VT: Gower.
3.
CaffarellaR. S. (2002). Planning programs for adult learners (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
4.
CresswellJ. W. (2008). Educational research. Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. Upper Saddle Creek, NJ: Pearson Education.
5.
Di NubilaR. D. (2005). Saper fare formazione, Manuale per giovani formatori [Knowing how to train, manual for young trainers]. Lecce, Italy: Pensa Multimedia.
6.
FabbriD. (1998). Narrare il conoscere. Appunti per una epistemologia della formazione [Narrating the knowledge. Notes for an epistemology of training]. In KaneklinC.ScarattiG. (Eds.), Formazione e narrazione, costruzione di significato e processi di cambiamento personale e organizzativo [Training and narration, construction of meaning, and processes of personal and organizational change] (pp. 5-20). Milano, Italy: Raffaello Cortina.
7.
FedeliM. (2008). Come generare valore nella formazione continua. I risultati di un’indagine fra testimoni privilegiati [How to generate value in continuing education. The results of a survey among privileged witnesses]. Lecce, Italy: Pensa Multimedia.
8.
FinocchiettiG. (2012, March). Sesta indagine Eurostudent: La diversificazione della popolazione studentesca [Sixth Eurostudent research: The diversification of the student population]. Paper presented at the meeting of Ministero dell’Istruzione Universita’ e Ricerca (MIUR), Roma, Italy.
9.
GlaserB.StraussA. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
10.
KnowlesM. S. (1970). The modern practice of adult education: Andragogy versus pedagogy. New York, NY: Association Press.
11.
KnowlesM. S. (1986). Using learning contracts. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
12.
KnowlesM. S. (1990). The adult learner: A neglected species. Houston, TX: Gulf.
13.
KolbD. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
14.
LallaM. (2001). La scala di Likert per la valutazione della didattica [The Likert scale for the assessment in teaching]. Rivista Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, 1(LV), 149-175.
15.
MezirowJ. (1985). Concept and action in adult education. Adult Education Quarterly, 35, 142-151.
16.
Ministero dell’istruzione dell’Università e della Ricerca (MIUR). (2011). Undicesimo rapporto sullo stato del sistema universitario [Eleventh report on the state of the university system]. Retrieved from http://www.cnvsu.it/_library/downloadfile.asp?id=11778
17.
MohammedM. R. (2010). Don’t give me a fish; teach me how to fish: A case study of an international adult learner. Adult Learning, 21, 15-18.
18.
TrincheroR. (2002). Manuale di ricerca educativa [Handbook of research in education]. Milano, Italy: Franco Angeli.
