ABSTRACT
Learning contracts must be judged not only by what they deliver in the best circumstances, but what is possible in the typical context. Learning contracts helps students work with others and encourage substantial initiatives in promoting learner autonomy. In multicultural societies staff may be faced with a type of resistance to the idea of negotiated learning which has its basis in language and culture. The individualistic nature of most learning contracts, and the communication skills required to develop and negotiate the contract proposal, may present real difficulties for some learners. The 'learning objectives' and 'assessment criteria' of a learning contract can look a lot like the behavioural objectives and performance criteria of the mechanistic, systematized approaches to group training inherited from government and the military. In traditionally more prescriptive disciplines such as engineering and science, the chance to work on projects of personal interest is a great source of motivation for most students.
