Contracting to learn: an evaluation of the effectiveness of learning contracts in sustainability education

This paper is based upon a survey carried out for the UK Heads of Department group, CHOBE (Council of Heads of Built Environment Departments). Its membership represents approximately 45 departments in the UK that offer programmes in construction, property and surveying. The survey was aimed at finding out the perceptions of these heads of department on a range of topics that influence the resourcing of these departments. The survey asked questions about staffing, students, curricula, research, accreditation and assessment. Respondents were also asked to identify the three most important issues facing these disciplines at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It was not surprising that recruitment and retention of appropriately skilled and knowledgeable staff were identified as the most common and important issues facing these disciplines. This was followed closely by links with industry and industry engagement. Whilst there were some differences in opinion expressed between those departments that are research-led compared with those that concentrate more on the delivery of programmes, such differences were not in some cases distinctive.