Comparison of Workload for University Core Courses Taught in Regular Semester and Time-Compressed Term Formats

Lyndell Lutes,Randall Davies

doi:10.3390/educsci8010034

Abstract

This study compared student workload and perceived value of coursework assigned for a matching set of semester and term general education courses at Brigham Young University. Statistically significant differences in workloads were found between most semester and term courses. While term workloads were slightly lighter in general, both could be called “university lite,” in that students did not spend the expected two hours outside of class per hour in class. Math and physics courses came closest to meeting the expected workloads, which tended to remain constant between semesters and terms. Differences in the value students reported for homework varied significantly by the autonomy of the instructor to adapt his own course section. Some of the curricular differences between sessions might be attributed to efficiencies instructors incorporated for shorter sessions without affecting overall course quality. Typically, reading- and writing-intensive courses showed the most negative impact when offered in a term format. The findings from this study suggest that, while some subjects lend themselves well to a compressed-time format, not all courses are suited to being taught in this way.

Highlights

To give students greater flexibility in scheduling classes and to accommodate the demand for general education courses, many universities offer classes in time-compressed formats
Many might speculate that term courses may be less work than the same courses taken during a regular semester
Number of credit hours is supposed to provide an indication of the workload for a course [8; 9; 10], few students seem to understand how to consider credit hours in estimating course workload

Summary

Introduction

To give students greater flexibility in scheduling classes and to accommodate the demand for general education courses, many universities offer classes in time-compressed formats. These courses are variously referred to as intensive [1], short term [2], accelerated [3], abbreviated [4], summer [5], and block [6]. In addition to time spent in class, students are expected to spend approximately two hours per credit hour per week studying and doing homework: approximately six hours outside of class per week in a typical three-credit semester length course or 12 h per week during a 7.5-week term. Term courses are often criticized by faculty as “result[ing] in a reduction of academic rigor” (12, p. 31)

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