Transitioning to a 7-Week Course Schedule

Many adults are turning to accelerated or intensive course formats to meet their educational needs. Conventional wisdom and scholarly critique suggest that material normally taught in a 16 week course cannot reasonably be presented and learned in a shorter 5 or 8 week term. This study investigates adult students' learning and attitudes in six accelerated courses at three private colleges. Several data sets are examined. First, 188 adult students responded to an end-of-course survey and indicated high levels of satisfaction with both the content and conduct of their accelerated courses. Second, a random sample of alumni from accelerated programs responded to the same survey and reported general satisfaction 1 to 2 years after completing their degrees. Third, current adult students completed content mastery and performance-based assessments. These measures indicate that 80% of these students demonstrated learning rated as satisfactory or above by faculty experts. Finally, researchers compared the learning and attitudes of younger (traditional) students enrolled in 16-week courses with the learning and attitudes of adult students enrolled in 5-week versions of the same courses. These results suggest that accelerated courses satisfy adult students' needs and provide levels of learning indistinguishable from those demonstrated by the younger students in traditional courses. Implications and further research needs are discussed.

In this study we explored faculty and student experiences of accelerated learning. We conducted interviews with faculty members who had delivered the same course in 12 and 6-week timeframes, and we analysed a student survey. Students reported overall positive experiences in the accelerated courses, particularly in the social aspects of learning, higher than usual motivation, and confidence in their learning. However, both faculty and students raised concerns about the scope and timing of assessment tasks, student workload expectations, faculty workload, and administration of courses. We offer recommendations regarding implementation, assessment practices, and management of learning in an accelerated timeframe.

Examines the role of accelerated learning in higher education. Comparison of accelerated learning with traditional learning; Reasons for the emergence of accelerated learning; Demerits of accelerated learning.

Provides a research-based overview of accelerated learning as a program and educational format in higher education. Purpose of accelerated learning programs; Reasons for criticism of the program by conventional academics; Methods used by researchers to collect data on the topic.

This article reports on the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP), a new model of basic writing that has produced dramatic successes for the basic writing program at the Community College of Baltimore County. Borrowing from mainstreaming programs, studio courses, fast track programs, and learning communities, ALP, for four consecutive semesters, has doubled the number of basic writers who succeed in passing first-year composition, has cut the attrition rate for these students in half, has allowed them to accomplish this in half the time, and has done it all at slightly less cost per successful student than traditional basic writing courses.

From Inside Higher Ed

From College Teaching. The present study investigated differences in the effectiveness of instructors from a variety of departments who taught the same course in both intensive and traditional formats within the same year, while controlling for many confounding variables. Results indicated that intensive courses did not significantly differ from traditional courses in overall instructor ratings on student evaluations of teaching effectiveness when confounding variables were taken into account. Conversely, intensive courses received significantly higher overall course ratings on student evaluations than did traditional courses, even after controlling for class size and probable grade in course. These findings provide further evidence that negative beliefs concerning intensive courses may be unjustified, and intensive courses may be as or more effective than those presented in traditional formats.

Presents a critical analysis of accelerated learning programs. Impact of reduction in class hours on learning; Condemnation of commodification of life by Herbert Marcuse, a critical theorist; Advantages of accelerated learning over traditional programs.

From the International Journal of Learning and Teaching. Accelerated online learning opportunities have shown great promise in many disciplines, but little is known about student performance in laboratory science courses completed in an accelerated, online format. This study of 347 community college students enrolled in online laboratory science courses reveals significantly higher final exam scores for students completing accelerated, 8-week online courses compared to 15-week online courses. When examined by semester, final exam scores of summer students are significantly higher than final exam scores completed during the traditional fall/spring academic year. Implications for student self-efficacy, retention, and graduation are presented. The potential financial impact of accelerated online learning on higher education institutions is discussed.

In an effort to improve developmental education students' outcomes, community colleges have been experimenting with acceleration strategies. Models of acceleration allow students to complete their developmental requirements in a shorter amount of time. However, there has been limited empirical research on the effects of accelerating students' progression through their developmental requirements. We examined the impact of a basic form of acceleration--enrollment in shorter versus longer developmental education sequences-- on access to introductory college coursework, performance in that coursework, overall college credit accumulation, and degree attainment at the City University of New York community colleges. In general, we found that accelerating students through developmental education in shorter sequences results in greater access to college-level coursework and long-term success but may have consequences for student performance in collegelevel coursework.

From Inside Higher Ed

From Journal of Economics and Finance Education. Using a database of over 45,000 observations from Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters, we investigate the link between course length and student learning. We find that, after controlling for student demographics and other characteristics, intensive courses do result in higher grades than traditional 16 week semester length courses and that this benefit peaks at about 4 weeks. By looking at future performance we are also able to show that the higher grades reflect a real increase in knowledge and are not the result of a “lowering of the bar” during summer. We discuss some of the policy implications of our findings.

From Diverse.

From Community College Journal of Research and Practice. In recent years, developmental education in the community colleges has received much attention. However, there has been little research examining the relationship between course length and course success in developmental education. Using historical enrollment data from a large, suburban community college in southern California, this study examines the relationship between course length and course success in developmental education when social and academic background characteristics are controlled. The study hypothesized that there would be no significant or practical difference in success rates for students taking compressed (i.e., courses less than eight weeks in length) or regular length developmental English, reading, or math courses when social or academic characteristics are controlled. Results demonstrate that developmental course length was associated with statistically and practically significant differences in course success observed across all categories of age, gender, and ethnicity. Students enrolled in compressed-format courses were more likely to succeed than students enrolled in regular-length courses. Higher successful course completion rates for compressed courses were observed across all departments, with the highest successful course completion rates in the eight-week format in English. Further, students—irrespective of age, race, or gender—were more likely to successfully complete compressed-format courses than their counterparts in regular-length courses. Findings point to an educational benefit for students who enroll in compressed courses. Future research in this area includes an examination of students' progress through a sequence of developmental education courses and a look into the effect of college experience and environment factors related to success in compressed courses.

From Achieving the Dream. As the demands on today’s students continue to evolve, the traditional 15- or 16-week semester model doesn’t always serve their needs. As students juggle work, family, and education, they need more flexible options to help them achieve their goals without sacrificing quality or momentum. This is where shortened academic terms come in. Research has shown that such flexibility can significantly improve retention rates, accelerate degree completion, and enhance academic outcomes for students who may struggle with the pace of traditional semester-length courses.

From Teaching and Learning Excellence through Scholarship. Researchers, organizations, companies, non-profits, practitioners, and to some extent, the public, are clamoring for massive reform in developmental coursework in higher education (American Association of Community Colleges, 2018; Edgecombe et al., 2014; Complete College America, 2012). One such reform is the push for integrated reading and writing (IRW) courses. The pressure for redesign of developmental reading and writing programs is intense, but other transformations in higher education are also shaping the future of developmental education. For example, as a result of joining Achieving the Dream's core program in 2019, the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) made a commitment to shift the majority of courses to a compressed 7-week format by fall term of 2021. After 18 months of implementation, CSM's new IRW curriculum in compressed terms appears to serve students about as well as the former multi-course, multi-level program. Even though the former program was robust, vigorous, and thorough, IRW in compressed terms appears to be equally effective in preparing students for success in credit-level courses, while saving them 15-30 weeks of time and up to 9 credits of cost, depending on where they were placed in the old system.