Success of Achieving Student Learning Objectives: Compressed vs. Traditional Courses

Abstract

Institutions of higher learning are offering varying course modalities to accommodate the changing needs of students. Notably, institutions of higher learning are offering an increasing number of compressed courses to meet student demand and remain competitive in higher education. The increase in the number of compressed classes presents the challenge of ensuring that similar academic rigor and breadth of knowledge are maintained in comparison to the traditional 16-week semester. The purpose of this research study was to determine if students enrolled in off-campus classes with compressed schedules are receiving a similar quality of instruction and achieving the equivalent student learning objectives (SLOs) as students enrolled in traditional on-campus 16-week courses. This study compared the course performance assessments of two groups of undergraduate students enrolled in the same SIU course delivered in two different modalities. The courses used the same course content and were taught by the same instructor. The data consisted of course grades associated with student performance assessments and student information collected using a student pre-course survey completed at the beginning of both courses and post-course survey completed at the end of both courses. Both the on-campus and off-campus students demonstrated a moderate to strong positive correlation between the final course grades. The statistical results from the study provided no evidence that suggests the delivery format of the course (traditional 16-week format or compressed weekend format) resulted in meaningful differences in the final course grades for the participating students. However, a closer analysis of grades on specific performance assessments, achievement of SLOs, and qualitative data yielded greater insight to determine the level of educational quality of the two modalities.