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…

The Colorado College Plan was designed to reconstitute the academic calendar so that student and faculty time would be used more productively. Courses are offered one at a time, rather than simultaneously, in nine blocks, each 3 1/2 weeks in length. The fall semester encompasses four of these blocks and the spring semester contains five. Each…

The Concentrated Study (COS) program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is fulltime study of a single subject for a short period with no concurrent academic commitments. Chapter one describes the first trial of COS at MIT. Emphasis is placed on planning and preparation, description of course work and activities, and evaluation.…

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,…

Colleges and universities are attracting and retaining a significant adult market partly by scheduling classes to conform to adult life-styles, including lengthening the academic day, week, and year; altering the timing patterns, sequencing, and distribution of courses; and offering courses at a variety of locations. (MSE)

Intensive scheduling has been shown to be an effective educational medium. The Institute for Personal and Career Development at Central Michigan University has developed an external degree program for adults that uses various innovative approaches including intensive scheduling. Several scheduling patterns are offered. A number of studies have…

Arguments for and against extension of dental education to a mandatory five years because of current overcrowding of dental curriculum are presented in debate form. Affirmative arguments center on the inefficacy of restructuring existing curricula, and arguments against focus on current curricular inefficiency, costs, and other practical…

A general discussion is given concerning revisions in hours and schedules for evening and correspondence school students engaged in higher technical education. The teaching plan for the evening system consists of two parts: one for instruction in the first three years, and the other for the next three. The plan for correspondence study provides…

This document describes a learning modules review process implemented at Governors State University. The review process was designed to: (1) assess the relevance of each learning module to instructional program needs; (2) enhance the quality of the content of each learning module; (3) improve the effectiveness of competencies and instructional…

This report summarizes the key discussions of a Conference of Directors of Carnegie-Funded Time-Shortened Baccalaureate Programs. Discussion centered on five major concerns, the nature of the baccalaureate; time shortening: where, when, and how; financing higher education; evaluation; and the dynamics of change. The report suggests that a number…

A proposal is made to reduce the traditional three-year law program to two calendar years, providing both educational and financial advantages: student stimulation; earlier employment, more intensive teaching but more free faculty time, and more continuous use of facilities. (Journal availibility: ABA, 77 S. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606.) (MSE)

A national survey of colleges and universities gathered information on variation in academic calendars across schools and over time; how many days, weeks, or minutes are considered necessary for a semester or a unit of academic credit; and who sets those standards. Results suggest little standardization and a shrinking semester. (MSE)

This study examined reasons that some full-time students take longer than normal to complete a bachelor's degree, and whether students who extend their program are more like those who take only 4 years to graduate or are more like dropouts. One part of the study reviewed 64 transcripts of all traditionally-admissible new freshmen who entered the…