IntroductionWhile there are few reliable data on exact proportions of full-time and part-time faculty in entertainment and music business programs, MEIEA (Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association) institutional data suggest entertainment and music business programs have historically relied heavily on part-time (adjunct) professionally-oriented faculty for delivery of their programs (MEIEA 2014). Additional study of full- and part-time faculty between 1987 and 2003 revealed a steady increase in the percentage of part time faculty in four-year, higher education institutions; specifically, increases in fine arts and business were 7.5% and 6.2% respectively (NEA Update 2007). Given that music and entertainment industry programs in the United States are typically housed in either a department of fine arts or business, the increase in the number of part-time faculty may impact student perception of course rigor, anticipated and earned final grades, faculty accessibility and support, and the amount of time students spend outside the classroom preparing for class. Most institutions utilize some form of course evaluation that measures these points, with the intent of improving course content and instructional practices. Most often, those data are generated by students via questions that may suggest conclusions about instructional clarity, helpfulness of the faculty, relevance of homework assignments, and so on. Rigorous course content often defined as being demanding, with time spent outside the classroom preparing. Studies also suggest students tend to over-estimate the amount of time they spend preparing for class, and students expect higher grades for more classes, and students' anticipated grades are often greater than their actual final grades. In addition, it also widely assumed that faculty members who were more and supportive award higher grades than those who were less accessible and less supportive, and part-time faculty award higher grades than their full-time counterparts.This study used nine matrices to three semesters of faculty course evaluations and surveys in order to examine the relationship between perceived course rigor, anticipated and earned final grades, faculty accessibility and support, and the amount of time students spent outside the classroom preparing for class. Finally, this relationship was compared between full- and part-time instructors.Literature ReviewRigor has been simply defined as the degree or amount of time that students spend in learning that requires higher order thinking (Bogess 2007). Blackburn (2008) expands upon this by claiming that instructional rigor is an environment in which each student expected to leam at high levels, each student supported so he or she can leam at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels. More specifically, Wagner (2006) defines the outcomes of rigorous instruction as creating a 'jury-ready' populace who can analyze an argument, weigh evidence, recognize bias (their own and others), distinguish fact from opinion, and be able to balance the sometimes competing principles of justice and mercy. After plotting course outcomes against Bloom's revised Taxonomy Table, Wagner concluded that college- and career-ready students should be able to and evaluate conceptual knowledge and apply underlying procedures for concluding a verdict-hence, the result of a rigorous curriculum.In 2005, Higgins, Hall, Baumfield, and Moseley examined twenty individual studies of students' academic achievement in secondary schools and its relationship to cognitive rigor. They found substantial evidence that indicated higher cognitive rigor was associated with greater academic achievement. A study conducted by Meyer, Spencer, and French (2009), concluded that student perception of academic rigor often influenced by the information received from close, interpersonal sources, such as family members and close friends. …
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