To facilitate student learning and ensure financial stability, leaders in higher education institutions offering online degrees and programs are adopting flexible course schedules with shorter terms. The literature does not include many evaluations demonstrating how shorter duration terms and courses might affect student achievement. In this…

This paper explores the issue of whether assimilation time has any bearing on the performance of students. Assimilation time is defined as the number of times during the week that a class meets. This study examined whether students would perform better in a 50-minute class that met three days a week versus a 75-minute class that met just two days…

The amount of time allocated for learning and the way that time is used is one of the few variables that can be influenced rather directly by school leaders. Fortunately, it is also a variable that has shown consistent links to student performance. Now that schools are focused directly, and in some cases exclusively, on student achievement, there…

Faculty and administrators often believe that abbreviated courses are less effective than the same courses taught during a full semester. This study examined student academic performance and course evaluations for identical courses taught during abbreviated summer sessions or during regular semester sessions. Contrary to popular convention,…

Examines effects of academic year division on junior high school student satisfaction. Reports no relationship between semester organization and student satisfaction or achievement, although students report dissatisfaction with the length of certain classes. Advanced English students were more satisfied with semester courses than general English…

A graduate course in educational philosophy, having a uniform number of hours and the same instructor, was taken by eight different groups over three different periods of time: 15 weeks, 7-8 weeks, or 4 weekends. No significant differences were found in final examination scores among any of the groups. (GDC)

Compares the relative effects of three different kindergarten schedules (all-day, half-day, alternating day) on 216 children's end-of-the-year achievement and prosocial classroom behaviors. All-day kindergarten children scored higher on achievement than the other groups. Alternating day kindergarten children were lower on negative social behavior…

A study of the achievement of medical students taking a reduced medical school course load for one or more years showed that an extended program may be useful for students pursuing personal or extracurricular interests and for some with academic problems but not for students with major emotional disturbances. (MSE)

Problem areas with the curriculum at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School were identified: imbalance in class hours in the academic schedule, excessive number of lectures, and need for more small group sessions during the basic science education. (MLW)

Recent research by Smith and Glass indicates that academic achievement is often correlated with class size. Findings from the Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study suggest that teachers can do a better job with smaller classes partly because they are able to individualize instruction. Yet the possibility of reducing class size significantly is…