EXPERIMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EHEA: THE LEARNING CONTRACT AS A TOOL FOSTERING AUTONOMOUS LEARNING AMONG BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE

University studies throughout Europe are undergoing changes aimed at fostering student and staff mobility. By 2010, the model in force will be based on short degrees and highly specialized postgraduate courses. The key lies in flexible programmes and swift recognition; however, universities must also adapt to new ways of teaching, which as of today still focus on formal lecturing, and move towards student active learning. Tutorials, group work or practice must become part of the curriculum, and this will be assessed by means of both internal and external quality controls. Hence, the university reform required by the European convergence process requires the introduction of specific tools or instruments increasing learners’ autonomy. This paper mainly attempts to present some of the specific aspects of an ongoing project, within the University Teaching Research Networks Project at the University of Alicante, in order to analyze the suitability of one of its instruments: the learning contract, considering the twofold function it may have according to authors like Franquet Sugrañes et al. (2006). On the one hand, “as an instrument motivating students towards learning by making them responsible as active agents of such learning”; on the other, “as a mechanism showing the commitment towards learning objectives which so far had not been accepted as such by the student, as is the case with general competencies, in addition to other specific ones”.