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What question are we answering?
• Will a quarter calendar or a semester calendar be better for Eastern’s students?
OR
• Is changing from quarters to semesters the best way to invest our time and energy to make the situation better for Eastern’s students?
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The answer to both questions is the same:
Sticking with the current calendar and using the time and money to improve student success is the best thing to do.
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Comparing quarters and semesters
• Mostly 5 credit classes
• 50 contact hours
• 10 weeks + finals
• Students take 3 classes
• So they have fewer weeks
• But are managing fewer classes at a time
• Faculty teach 2-3 classes (10-15 credits)
• Mostly 3 credit classes
• 45 contact hours
• 15 weeks + finals
• Students take 5 classes
• So they have more weeks
• But are managing more classes at a time
• Faculty teach 3-4 classes (9-15 credits)
Quarters Semesters
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The most striking thing is the lack of data:
• There are lots of anecdotes about quarters and semesters
• And gut feelings about which is better• But data don’t bear most of them out
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An example of the data problem
So what percent of schools are actually on quarters? No one can tell.
Sources: Mayberry, Kit, Quarter to Semester Calendar Conversion, unpublished document, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2009 (http://www.rit.edu/conversion/media/documents/CalendarConversionReportbyDrMayberry.pdf).
Inside Higher Ed, “Strength in Numbers,” 2012 (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/07/colleges-increasingly-switching-quarters-semesters)
Cal Poly, Presidential Semester Review Task Force Final Report, unpublished document, 2012 (http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/SRTF_FinalReport.pdf).
Source % of schools on quarters
% of schools on semesters
Their data came from:
Mayberry Report Less than 10% Over 90% ??
Inside Higher Ed 14.7% 71.2% Bookstores
Cal Poly Report 17% 68% IPEDS (4 year only)
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Calendar shift won’t improve graduation rates
• Cal Poly used IPEDS data to compare graduation rates for 2680 BA granting institutions
• After controlling for selectivity, type of school, etc., quarters had higher graduation rates:– Quarters had 0.46% higher 4 year graduation rates– Quarters had 1.94% higher 6-year graduation rates
• The difference isn’t statistically significant (p=.22), but it’s sure hard to argue semesters are better
Cal Poly, Presidential Semester Review Task Force Final Report, unpublished document, 2012 (http://president.calpoly.edu/semesterreview/SRTF_FinalReport.pdf).
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Calendar shift won’t improve graduation rates
Source: “UCLA Section 6,” unpublished document of unclear date, http://sharepointes.ewu.edu/sites/q2s/Document Library/1/Other Colleges and Universities Efforts/UCLA section6.pdf
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Calendar shift won’t improve learning
• Reviews of studies found evidence that 8-10 week courses (and even shorter) get better learning than semesters
• For example, Davies et al. 2006 reviewed existing studies:– 9 found 10 week or shorter courses had better
learning outcomes– Only 1 found semester courses had better learning
outcomes– 13 found no difference; 1 was unclear in reporting
Source: W. Martin Davies, Intensive teaching formats: A review, Issues in Educational Research, Vol. 16, 2006 (http://www.iier.org.au/iier16/davies.html).
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And schools know this
Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed, “Academic Calendars Enter a Season of Change” (http://chronicle.com/article/Academic-Calendars-Enter-a/141895/) /
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Things we’d like to believe about semesters (but can’t prove)
• Musical consorts and other group work would benefit from more time to gel
• Student teaching placements would be easier on semesters
• Semesters get students out on the job market a few weeks early
• Semesters would make it possible to have a highly compressed January or May term
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Things we’d like to believe about quarters (but can’t prove)
• Field-based lab courses benefit from the fair weather during all of spring term
• Having three terms in the year makes it easier to create certificates and minors that can be completed in a single year
• Quarters attract more part-time students and people with complex lives, because the commitment for each course is shorter
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Investing time and money for the change• The administration report estimated $8.7 million, but
salaries have gone up• Faculty will need to revise:
– over 180 majors, minors, and certificates– nearly 5000 courses
• All will have to be approved by CPAC and administrators
• Changes will have to be made in many other areas as well to make this work
Sources: Voves, et al., Eastern Washington University: Quarter to Semester Conversion Analysis: Costs and Savings, 2012 , http://sharepointes.ewu.edu/sites/q2s/Document Library/1/Quarter to Semester Cost Committee Final Report.pdf
EWU, “Student Facts at a Glance,” http://www.ewu.edu/Documents/Marcom/Facts/stufacts12-13.pdfPersonal communication, Linda Kiefer
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What we’ll give up
• Instructional hours per class would decrease by 10%
• The number of courses students take at a time would increase by 60% on average
• Instructors would teach 33-100% more students at a time
• That’s not a formula for a student-centered education
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What we should do instead
• Invest our time andmoney in student successinitiatives backed by data –so that we can be sure they’ll be successful
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What we should do instead
• General education review and reform• A robust First Year Experience• Better mentoring of students by faculty and
peers• Solving problems with student routes through
the curriculum• Early warning system• Improved advising
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What we should do instead
And faculty will have more time in the next 3-5 years to:•Mentor students•Help students with undergraduate research•And help them find internships, jobs, and graduate programs