The Relationship between Student Load and Achievement

Abstract

SEVERAL INVESTIGATORS have studied the relationship between student load and achievement, particularly at the undergraduate level. The preponder ance of evidence supports the conclusion that scholarship, as reflected by grades earned, is not impaired when excess schedules are carried (2, 3, 4, 6, 8). To the contrary, it would seem that students who increase their academic load are provided with an additional incentive for a higher level of scholastic performance. This study is unique in that it attempts to ascertain the relationship between student load and the achievement of foreign graduate students. The data were collected during the first semester of the academic year, 1953-54. The orig inal population consisted of the entire array of 596 foreign students who were enrolled in the Graduate School of the University of Michigan at any time dur ing the academic years of 1947 to 1949, inclusive, but not during the semester in which the data were collected. However, five of the 596 individuals were visitors and received no credit for the work pursued. These were exclud ed, as were four others, who dropped all courses during their first enrollment. Thus the original number was reduced to 587 students, 257 of whom were pro bationary and 330 non-probationary. Of the 257 probationary students, 163 earned a Master's degree; 13 earned a Doctor's degree; and 81 were not awarded a degree. Of the 330 non-proba tionary students, 240 earned a Master's degree; 69 earned a Doctor's degree, and only 21 failed to earn a degree. For our purposes, probation was defined as disciplinary action due to scho lastic deficiencies. At the University, graduate students whose academic standing falls below a B (5. 00) for any given semester are warned. An additional term should be defined. As employed in this study, enroll ment referred to either of the two semesters in the academic year or to a single summer session. The latter can be either of six or eight weeks' duration and, by and large, is equivalent to one-half of a regular semester. The basic question which determined the statistical design employed in the subsequent analysis of our data may be stated somewhat as follows: Are there any differences between probationary and non-probationary students in the num ber of hours attempted and earned? The results obtained would have important implications for the academic personnel who render decisions of major conse quence in the lives of foreign students. The mean number of hours attempted during the first four enrollments by probationary and non-probationary students in the three degree categories are indicated in Table I. A closer inspection of the data reveals that the non-pro