Reflective Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Reflective Analysis - Essay Example They are faced with anxiety and remain under pressure to keep up with the changes. Classroom lectures are insufficient and lack interaction. Learning should be an active process with active participation of both the student and the mentor alike. The mentor has to, at all times, urge and motivate the learner to participate in the process of education; to make the learner responsible for their own learning. Knowles defines contract learning thus: "Contract learning is, in essence, an alternative way of structuring a learning experience: It replaces a content plan with a process plan." Malcolm S Knowles (1991, p.39). While the learner faces a challenge to remain updated with the latest skills the mentor faces the challenge to provide an environment that provides active learning. In today’s situation unless the learner is actively involved he tends to withdraw. This has far reaching psychological impact on the overall learning process. Joseph R. Codde, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Michigan State University quotes Knowles in his abstract saying that â€Å"Contract learning is an alternative way of structuring a learning experience: It replaces a content plan with a process plan (Knowles, 1986). According to Knowles (1980), contract learning solves, or at least reduces, the problem of dealing with wide differences within any group of adult learners. Characteristically, in our field we get people with widely varying backgrounds, previous experience, interests, learning styles, life patterns, outside commitments, and learning speeds. Didactic teachers usually cope with this situation by "aiming at the middle," with the hope that those at the lower end will not get too far behind and that those at the upper end will not get too bored (Knowles, 1980). The solution is to help students structure their own learning. We can meet the needs of these widely varied students by the use of learning contracts†. Learning contracts when set up carefully offer benefits both