Condensed or traditional semester format: Does it make a difference in academic performance?

Statement of the Problem

Cross (1982) characterizes the proportion of representation of adult learners in high education as a "pyramid." Constituting the base of the pyramid are self-directed learners of all types; in the mid-layer are adult learners who take part in some organized instruction each year; and at the top are a small proportion of adult learners enrolled full-time in additional and non-traditional programs. Certainly, adult learners enrolled full-time in traditional and non-traditional programs. Certainly, adult learners in all forms have come as a blessing in the past decade to many colleges and universities faced with declining enrollments among the traditional college-age students (18-22). According to the latest statistics, 57% of all college students enrolled in the Fall of 1992 were beyond the age of 22 (Chronicle of Higher Education 1994). That percentage included graduate students, almost all of whom (98%) were beyond the age of 22. Even excluding graduate students, the proportion of representation by undergraduate adult learners was still the majority.

Another emerging pattern of enrollment is that a greater proportion of undergraduate adult learners attend part-time compared to the additional college-age students. According to the latest figures, 78% of part-time enrollees in 2-year colleges and 87% of part-time enrollees in 4-year colleges in 1992 were adult learners. Among graduate adult learners, however, the proportion of those attending part-time compared to those attending full-time was better balanced--45% attended full-time and 55% part-time (Chronicle of Higher Education 1994).

Given that adult learners have become the "new majority," many campuses are realizing that many existing institutional policies, traditions, curricula, and support programs that were once appropriate to traditional college-age students may not be serving the needs of adult learners. Colleges will be a long way away from enhancing the enrollment, persistence, and academic success of adult learners. Colleges will be a long way away from enhancing the enrollment, persistence, and academic success of adult learners unless a greater understanding of their needs is generated into beneficial institutional policies programs. For example, if some form of financial aid could be made available to part-time adult learners, as even greater number of adult learners could potentially be persuaded to participate in higher education. Many more adult learners could visualize themselves as college students if baby-sitting or child care services were made available to them while they are attending classes. Evening and weekend classes may be another change appealing to adult learners who cannot get away from their employment or family matters during the day. Many adult learners also may like classes that meet only once a week rather than thrice a week. Yet others may prefer a condensed format in which the class meets the required contact hours but over a shorter duration. Another strategy may be to bring academic programs in closer proximity to those who are not mobile, either due to job commitment or location. Distance education courses done through televised instruction, talk back television, or correspondence may also be appealing to those who cannot attend classes at all on campus. Yet there are others who like classes during the intersessions (between semesters) or during the summer months only.

It is clear that many options are available to institutions in meeting the needs of adult learners. At the Main Campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, for example, many undergraduate and graduate programs how have evening and weekend classes, both on and off-campus. The preliminary observation is that students are taking advantage of these options. According to information kept by the Office of Institutional Research, in the Fall of 1993, only 32.2% of students attended day classes only. The rest were distributed between night classes (30.6%), combination of day and night classes (28.8%), weekend classes (4.5%), and arranged classes (3.9%) (Office Institutional Research, 1993).

To be sure, adult learners impacted the above distribution, which is a reflection of the University of Oklahoma's concerted attempts to meet the growing needs of adult learners in the State and region. The University created a separate and special College of Liberal Studies catering primarily to part-time adult learners who can take an interdisciplinary approach toward a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Liberal Studies on campus. The University's rather large and innovative Center for Continuing Education (OCCE) caters to an even larger and more diverse adult learners. In addition to its extensive array of continuing education, certificate, and non-credit programs, OCCE coordinates the delivery of several graduate programs off-campus and abroad. Called Advanced Programs, OCCE coordinates weekend master's degree programs in Communications, Instructional Psychology and Technology, Public Administration, Social Work, Economics, Human Relations, Educational Administration, and Adult and Higher Education. Most Advanced Program classes meet at OCCE or designated military sites domestically and abroad, with the exception of the latter two programs which are offered exclusively abroad. All eight master's degree programs are also offered on the Main Campus along a more "traditional" setting, in terms of class formatting and scheduling.

The Adult and Higher Education program (EDAH) for example, is a master's degree program offered both on the Main Campus and abroad. On the Main Campus, it caters mostly to adult learners, many of whom are already practicing professionals in the field or are contemplating careers in adult or higher education. In order to facilitate their greatest participation, most EDAH classes are offered during the evenings (after 4 p.m.) and some during the weekends. Evening classes meet three hours a week over a 16-week semester. Weekend classes generally meet for half a day on Fridays, all day on Saturdays, and half a day on Sundays over a three-week period. The number of student contact hours in both the evening and weekend formats is the same as any three-credit-hour semester-long course on campus.

In addition to its on-campus evening and weekend formats, the EDAH program also offers a master's degree program abroad, on three U.S. military bases in Germany, one in the Netherlands (also a NATO base), and another in Italy. This program started in the Fall of 1993, as part of a five-year contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. Almost all students in the program are U.S. military personnel, some are military dependents, and a handful are civilian workers in the Defense Department. These students, like those on the Main Campus, are adult learners. As a matter of policy, all students admitted in the master's program in Europe are subjected to the same admission and degree requirements as those enrolled on the Main Campus, including minimal undergraduate grade-point-average, core requirements and the number of hours required for graduation, and the passing of the master's comprehensive exam during the last term of enrollment. Different from many degree programs offered in Europe by other U.S. institutions of higher education, the philosophy of the EDAH program in Europe is that courses, especially the core ones, are instructed by regular full-time professors coming from the United States. There are no in-resident faculty living and teaching in Europe full-time. This is done primarily to ensure course comparability with the Main Campus as well as to serve as a better quality control mechanism.

While the instructors are the same for both the Main Campus and in Europe, the courses in Europe however are structured differently. Instead of meeting 40 hours in a typical three-credit hour course, professors meet with their classes for 27 hours and students earn two credit hours only. Students can sign up for a third credit hour through a companion directed reading, in which they are required to write a term paper or a research prospectus, or do further reading in the subject matter to be followed up by a written report. Their reports are typically due 30 days from the last day of lecture. The third hour is required for all core courses (there are four of them). The third-hour component of each course is graded satisfactory or unsatisfactory whereas the two-hour component is letter-graded.

In addition to the 2 = 1 format, the courses in Europe have two different meeting schedules: (1) classes meet every day for four hours during the weekdays and all day on Saturday and Sunday; or (2) classes meet on weekends for two consecutive weekends. These schedules appear to have worked well, both for the students and the faculty. For the faculty, it is the only way regular professors can get away from the Main Campus to meet their teaching obligations in Europe. For most of the students, it is a viable way to earn a graduate degree while on active duty.

Preliminary anecdotal information tells us that the program is meeting the needs of our U.S. military personnel in Europe, but a more pressing question is whether the program is doing a good job in bring out desired outcomes in students. To be more specific, are students in the off-campus European program learning as well as our Main Campus students Does a different course format make a difference in their academic performance?

Sample and Methodology

To answer the above questions, graduate students enrolled in Research to Adult and Higher Education, one of four core courses required in the master's program in EDAH, were chosen as the targeted population. About 95% of this research course dealt with methodological and sampling issues related to conducting research in the area of adult and higher education, and 5% dealt with statistical applications. This course was offered by me both on the Main Campus and in Europe. The course covered the same content areas and had identical reading assignments and class exercises. Students on both locations also took the same mid-term and final exams, both multiple-choice. The mid-term exam consisted of 57 questions and the final exam 40 questions.

Two sub-groups were formed in order to ascertain if the difference in course format made a difference in the students' academic performance. The first sub-group consisted of students who took the Research course on campus (n=33) based on the long format. This consisted of students enrolled in three class sections offered in 1990 through 1993. The second sub-group consisted of students in Europe who took the same course but structured on a one-week condensed format (n=79). There were four sections of this course, which were offered from 1993 to 1994. Even though the off-campus group consisted of essentially military personnel or military dependents, their characteristics in terms of their academic background and prior knowledge of research methodology and statistics were no different from the on-campus group. ANOVA was used to determine if the differences in the mid-term and final exam performances were statistically significant for both sub-groups of students.

Findings

The hypothesis of a significant difference in academic performance between students enrolled in the long format and the condensed version could not be confirmed. There was no significant difference in their mid-term performance (Table 1) nor in their final performance (Table 2). (Table 1 and Table 2 omitted)

Even if initial comparability between the two sub-groups of students needed be established, the same pattern of differences emerged. When mid-term exam performance was used as the co-variate, there was no statistically significant difference in their final exam performance (Table 3). (Table 3 omitted)

Discussion and Implications

the ideal for a content-intensive type of course, such as a research methodology course, is to allow ample time and opportunity for students to digest the material, to engage in further or "peripheral" readings in order to develop a broader or deeper understanding of the subject matter, and to provide the support mechanism for students to learn from each other and the instructor through formal or informal interaction either inside or outside the classroom. Students exposed to condensed courses, on the hand, have less of these opportunities which can be a factor in their learning process. But what about the students just achieving the basic outcomes? The findings of this study seem to confirm the fact that course format made no difference in terms of bringing about basic desired outcomes in the students. Several factors may account for this.

One factor may be the nature of the subject matter itself. Since the course was more "technical" in nature, opportunities for in-depth understanding became less critical. In many academic courses to be sure, students, if given the time and opportunity, are more likely to go beyond the basics or the instructors' minimal expectations of them. For example, they may be more likely to indulge in "peripheral" readings and activities potentially making them better learners.

Another contributing factor may be due to the preparation of the students prior to the beginning of class. Students enrolled in the condensed format were more likely to have read the testbook in its entirety, sometimes two or three times over, since they knew that they would not have much time to do so as soon as class began. In my experience as the instructor, students who have read the textbook in its entirety, even if they did not understand it completely prior to the beginning of class, were better able to comprehend the various subject matters as they were gradually introduced in the classroom. Most of my students in Europe were told consistently by our field representatives that they must read the textbook before the start of lecture, and most, I suspect, did. Students enrolled in the semester-long format, on the other hand, like many other students I have come across on this campus, were not as likely to have read the required text in its entirety before the first day of class. Worse, there would always be a handful of students who did not even buy the textbook until after one or two weeks into the semester, and many readjust enough to keep up with the required weekly assignments only.

Another possible factor may be that in condensed courses, I often did not deviate much from the assigned topic of the day nor was there a freer exchange of ideas between me and the students. In a semester-long format, by contrast, students always had more opportunities and greater latitude in expressing themselves, whether what they wanted to say was directly related to the course content or not. The assumption here is that the students' opportunities to express themselves can contribute to a more active student learning and that frequent student feedback can enhance their learning. In the condensed format, I did solicit student participation but in a very structured format, leading the students to focus only on the topic of the day. Many students in my condensed courses felt the need and urgency of covering each day's course objectives and were very likely to ask pointed questions on areas they did not understand. I suppose my direct feedback to them may have helped them understand the basics of the course. At the least, it may have helped to facilitate active student involvement and to make up for any disadvantage resulting from the lack of opportunities to interact with me and other fellow students on a formal or informal basis.

Concluding Remarks

In spite of several limitations inherent with condensed courses, the findings of this study should be regarded as an encouragement to many institutions of higher education contemplating adding innovations to their curricula, course sequencing, or course formatting. This study provides evidence that courses do not need to run a full term since condensed courses can be just as effective in brining out desired student outcomes as long as they are conceptualized to minimize their limitations. Certainly, instructs of such courses should bear in mind that there are may other factors which can contribute toward the students' academic performance which this study did not examine. Such factors include student learning styles, student motivation, student confidence, student involvement in the learning process, and other social and personal factors which can affect the students' study habits and learning.

References

Chronicle of Higher Education (1994). Almanac issue. Vol. XLI, No. 1. Marion, Ohio: Chronicle of Higher Education.

Cross, K.P. (1982). Adults as learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Office of Institutional Research (1993). A Comparison of Fall 1993 students with those from previous semesters. Research Monograph I. Norman, Oklahoma: Office of Institutional Research, University of Oklahoma.

Copyright Project Innovation Spring 1996
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