Een nieuw onderzoek van Dana F. Lindemann en Colin R. Harbke beschrijft hoe werken met een contract waarbij studenten zelf hun doel en programma van een cursus vaststellen tot betere resultaten leidt dan een cursus waarbij traditioneel geëvalueerd wordt.

Hoe gaat dit in het werk?

“Those assigned to the contract system signed a contract at the beginning of the semester in which they indicated what grade they were aiming to receive and specified which assignments they would complete to receive that grade. Students who wanted to receive a better grade had to complete more assignments and receive a higher score on exams than those aiming for a lower grade. “

Alhoewel de cursus en lessen identiek waren, bleek de groep die via het contractsysteem werkte 3 keer meer kans te hebben op de hoogste score, en 1/3 minder kans op falen, verder steeg de betrokkenheid en het welbevinden.

Abstract van het onderzoek dat je hier gratis kan downloaden:

The use of behavioral techniques in college teaching has declined during the past three decades. The purpose of this study was
to compare a behaviorally based grading approach with a traditional point-based system. A total of 40 college freshmen were
randomly assigned to a Traditionally Graded or Contract Graded Introductory Psychology course. Contract graded students
were one third as likely to fail or withdraw, 3 times more likely to earn an A grade, and were more likely to perceive a high
degree of control over their grade. These findings support use of a contract grading system in the contemporary college
classroom.