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A procedure for maintaining student progress in a personalized university course
L K Miller1, F H Weaver, G Semb
1University of Kansas.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
|April 1, 1974
Summary
Adding target dates significantly boosted student progress in a personalized university course, increasing lesson completion rates to 1.0 per day compared to 0.3 without this educational strategy.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Higher Education Pedagogy
Background:
- Personalized learning environments offer flexibility but can lack structure.
- Student self-regulation is crucial for success in self-paced courses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a target-date contingency on student lesson completion rates.
- To determine if a structured deadline system improves progress in personalized university courses.
Main Methods:
- Ten university students in a personalized course were assigned target dates for 26 lessons.
- A withdrawal contingency was implemented for repeated failure to meet deadlines.
- Lesson completion rates were compared with and without the target-date system.
Main Results:
- Students completed an average of 1.0 lesson per day with the target-date contingency.
- Without the contingency, the average completion rate dropped to 0.3 lessons per day.
- Most students completed minimal or no lessons without the target-date structure.
Conclusions:
- A target-date contingency is a highly effective method for maintaining student academic progress.
- Implementing deadlines significantly enhances engagement and completion in personalized learning.
- This strategy addresses self-regulation challenges in flexible educational settings.