First Published in 1987. The assumption about the purpose of education, to which the authors of this book subscribe, is that it is to produce autonomous lifelong learners. This book is about a very important goal of education and how it can be translated into practice. It concerns ways in which teachers in higher education can enable students to become more autonomous in their learning; that is, assist students to learn more effectively without the constant presence or intervention of a teacher.

Part 1 Issues; Chapter 1 Moving Towards Autonomy, David Boud; Chapter 2 Planning Learning Experiences to Promote Autonomous Learning, Joy Higgs; Chapter 3 On the Attainment of Subject-matter Autonomy, Philip Candy; Chapter 4 Assessment Revisited, John Heron; Chapter 5 Technology and Lifelong Learning, Christopher Knapper; Part II Case Studies; Chapter 6 Reducing Teacher Control, J P Powell; Chapter 7 Independent Study: A Matter of Confidence?, Harry Stanton; Chapter 8 One-to-one Learning, David Potts; Chapter 9 'Parrainage': Students Helping Each Other, Marcel Goldschmid; Chapter 10 Student Autonomy in Learning Medicine: Some Part Icipants' Experiences, Barbara Ferrier, Michael Marrin, Jeffrey Seidman; Chapter 11 The Negotiated Learning Contract, Catherine Tompkins, Mary-Jean McGraw; Chapter 12 Struggling with Self-assessment, John Cowan; Chapter 13 The Experience of Independent Study at North East London Polytechnic, John Stephenson; Chapter 14 On Leadership, Change and Autonomy, Richard Bawden; Chapter 15 Putting it into Practice: Promoting Independent Learning in a Traditional Institution, Malcolm Cornwall;