Teaching Compressed-Format Courses: Teacher-Based Best Practices

Abstract

At a large public university in California, instructors who were recognized as successful summer-session teachers participated in interviews about their strategies for teaching compressed-format courses. The instructors identified best practices in the areas of restructuring courses, reconfiguring courses, organizing and planning for the term, capitalizing on smaller class sizes, and maximizing support to students. In restructuring course, the instructors recommended focusing on what needs to be covered and what students must know, dealing with the most important and complex topics early in the course, and modifying processes to fit the faster pace. Assignments should be reconfigured as more frequent and shorter, while long essays and primary research should be avoided. In organizing and planning, instructors should check regularly with the students about the pace of the course and coach students on time management. Instructors can capitalize on continuity and smaller classes by getting to know the students and not wasting so much time reviewing. In maximizing support to students, instructors should make themselves available and provide organizers, guides, and lecture notes.

The Effect of an Intensive English Program on the Vocabulary Size of Lebanese English Foreign Learners

“…Results show that this IEP is effective in improving students' English language proficiency as measured by the increase in their receptive vocabulary size, in line with the conclusions of many other studies on the effectiveness of intensive programs (Bédard & Thomas, 2010;Burton & Nesbit 2002;Carson & Kuehn, 1992;Daniel 2000;Grant, 2001;Hong-Nam & Leavell, 2006;Jacques-Bilodea, 2010;Kops, 2014;Nagano, 1995;Ping, 2014;Spade & Lightbrown, 1994). Over a period of 15 weeks, students' vocabulary size grew by 559 words and they advanced from the CEFR B1 level to the CEFR B2 level, which is equivalent to the level necessary for entrance into the next remedial English course of this university.…”

“…Several studies have investigated the effectiveness of intensive programs and reported positive results, including greater achievement of learning outcomes than regular, more traditional classes (Bédard & Thomas, 2010;Burton & Nesbit, 2002;Daniel 2000;Geltner & Logan, 2001;Grant, 2001;Jonas & Weimer, 1999;Kops, 2014;Martin & Culver, 2007;Mukundan, Mahvelati & Nimehchisalem, 2013;Scott & Conrad, 1992;Spade & Lightbrown, 1994).…”

‘Block teaching’ – exploring lecturers’ perceptions of intensive modes of delivery in the context of undergraduate education

“…In the first instance, some academics have professed misgivings, with a sense that block teaching is "educationally inferior" and prioritises convenience or economic drivers over supposedly real learning (Burton and Nesbit, 2008, p16. See: Daniel, 2000, p298;Kops, 2014;Scott and Canford, 1992). This is particularly the case in relation to those subjects in which there is a fundamental acceptance of the belief that more time is needed to take in information, such as the natural sciences (Daniel, 2000, p298; of the fact that (in the UK at least), time-shortened courses have their foundation in adult educationin institutions, in other words, "not home to traditional research-led academics" which are "therefore seen as being inferior" (Wlodkowski and Kasworm, 2003, p94).…”

Physical Therapist Assistant Student Success in Traditional 15- versus Seven-Week Courses at a Community College: A Single Institution Case Study

“…A challenge in engaging students in a compressed format is that students are required to understand information faster (Herrmann & Berry, 2016). Teachers report that success in engaging students in a compressed curriculum depends on removing superfluous content and focusing on the basics (Kops, 2014). In 2011, the director and founder of the PTA program identified that the pass rate of the graduate National Physical Therapist Examination (NPTE) was 82%, which was below the program's goal of 90% The NPTE's three-year average and the program's student retention rates of 65% were also below the program's goal of 90%.…”