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,…

Since January 1971, a number of colleges and universities have announced time-shortened degree programs. In the interest of examining and clarifying the various approaches to and understanding of time-shortened degrees, this brief analysis is offered. There appear to be 4 approaches to the reduction of time spent on the way to the B.A. degree, one…

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)

PROTEACH is a newly redesigned five-year preservice teacher preparation program at the University of Florida. During progress through the program, the bachelor's degree is obtained, and the program culminates on completion of the master's degree. Program features include emphasis on research and study in fields supplementary to education-related…

Red Ink College is a hypothetical, private, coeducational institution located in the northeastern United States. The college is operating at a deficit that increases each year. A faculty curriculum committee is investigating the idea of introducing a time-shortened baccalaureate. Considerations involved in the decisionmaking are the history of…

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)

The trend toward expanding the normal four-year teacher education program into a fifth year is discussed, and the University of Kansas extended program is described. A major criticism of the Kansas program was that a better analysis of educational needs should have preceded implementation of the lengthened teacher education program. (PP)

A study indicates that spending less than nine weeks of instructional time on a death education unit does not change students' attitudes. College students were given three-, six-, or nine-week sessions on death education. Only students in the longest session displayed any change in death attitudes. (Author/PP)

Reports on college-level microeconomic classes to compare learning in short-term intensive course with traditional semester-length course. Found students in three-week courses performed better on achievement tests than those in traditional semester courses but this advantage disappeared when knowledge retention was measured. Raises policy…

Based on questionnaire response from 105 medical schools (33 of which offer 3-year programs) the author concludes that the programs have been a productive and valuable medical educational experience, that more objective studies are needed to evaluate the products, and that they should remain an option. (JT)

During the past ten years, a series of small studies have been conducted at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada) to examine the influence of varying the length of the student teaching practicum on the self-concept of teachers and their motivation towards the profession. Measures of self-concept and motivation have been taken by student…

A University of South Florida program giving medical students four years of primary care training was found to have little effect on specialty choice of its graduates (n=93 students), when compared to students who volunteered for the program but did not enter it or who did not volunteer. (MSE)

Education majors (n=61) took General Special Education Programming in various concentrated time formats. Those in 2- and 3-week formats made greater gains than those in 5- and 15-week formats, and all indicated that they learned as much or more as in regular-format teacher education courses. (SLD)

A study at Middle Tennessee State University investigated the relationship between the length of a student's suspension from college and academic success upon return. Analysis of academic records of 765 students suspended between fall 1991 and summer 1993 semesters then allowed to reenter the university within 1 year found suspension length…

A reform effort in the initial preparation of teachers has focused upon extended teacher education programs. Future teachers must know academic subject matter thoroughly, have a comprehensive understanding of the principles of human development and learning, and be able to apply their education and training effectively prior to becoming fully…