Humanizing college learning

the long version

This 1972 book is an account of the pitfalls inherent in attempting to change a traditional teacher-centered college psychology course into a student-centered one patterned after the "Freedom to Learn" model proposed by Carl Rogers in 1969). It details reactions by students and faculty to changes that mainly consisted of informalizing the student-teacher relationship, eliminating customarily obligatory requirements like attendance, tests and quizzes, term papers, formal lectures, and teacher-determined grades. It encouraged learners to work in groups or temporary "clusters" on projects that interested them. After initial individual conferences, students could select their own learning goals and specify the grades they wanted to receive if they presented preagreed-upon qualitatively acceptable documentation that they had fulfilled their contracts. Both positive and negative data is reported.