Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Keywords
academic achievement, academic performance, administrators, adult student, alternative hypothesis, Animal Biology, Bangor, Bremerton, comparison, course length, courses, data collection, educational program, examination scores, ex post facto research, faculty, final examination, hypothesis testing, instructional effectiveness, intensive courses, investigation, mean scores, Military Education Program, Naval Station Bremerton, Naval Submarine Base Bangor, nontraditional students, null hypothesis, P value, Plant and Animal Biology, research design, research hypothesis, research question, sample means, sample subjects, scheduling, semesters, significance level, statistical testing, students, t-test, traditional formats, Vincennes University, Washington, Washington Military Education Program
Abstract
The Vincennes University Military Education program in Washington has semesters of different length. The growing presence of intensive six-week courses generated disapproval among faculty and administrators. While promoting intensive courses that better accommodate the schedule of the nontraditional adult student, the impact of course length had not been determined. The problem was that it was unknown whether there was a relationship between academic performance and course length.
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference final examination score of students who attended a 6-week course as compared to students who attended the same course during a 10-week semester. The research question was: "Is there a significant difference in academic performance based on final examination scores of students who attended Plant and Animal Biology during a 6-week course and students who attended the same course during a 10-week semester?"
An ex post facto research design was used to conduct the study. Data were collected from the Vincennes University Military Education Program office in Bremerton, Washington. Records indicated that Plant and Animal Biology had been taught during a 10-week semester at Naval Station Bremerton and at Naval Submarine Base Bangor during a 6-week semester. The sample consisted of 35 subjects. A two-tailed t-test was used to determine the level of significance between the final examination scores of students that attended Plant and Animal Biology during a 6-week semester compared to the final examination scores of students that attended Plant and Animal Biology during a 10-week semester.
Comparison of the two sample means produced a P value of 0. 3308. Based on the results of statistical testing, the research hypothesis, stating that there would be a significant difference in academic performance, was rejected. Based on the t-test results, the null hypothesis, stating there was no significant difference between the scores, was failed to be rejected at the .05 level of significance.
Several conclusions were drawn from the study. One conclusion drawn from the results included rejecting the alternative hypothesis, stating there is a difference in the two groups of mean scores. The results support the continued scheduling of intensive courses.
As a result of this investigation, it was recommended that no change in the length of the semesters be made at this time. It was also recommended that further studies be conducted to examine the various components of academic achievement. In addition, an examination of long-term differences in instructional effectiveness between intensive and traditional formats should be conducted.