Assessing student academic time use: assumptions, predictions and realities

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Higher Education Research
• Curriculum Design

Background:

• Medical education reform necessitates understanding student academic time allocation for evidence-based curriculum improvement.
• Time logging offers a quantitative method to analyze student academic time use, informing curriculum design decisions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate faculty and student predictions of student academic time use.
• To assess students' reported academic time use within a redesigned curriculum.

Main Methods:

• Graduate students participated in a time use exercise including prediction, logging, and reflection over two semesters.
• Faculty members also predicted students' weekday academic time use.

Main Results:

• Student time use predictions strongly correlated with reported use (r=0.55-0.53).
• Faculty predictions did not correlate with student reported time use.
• Despite motivation to change, students' reported academic time use remained consistent (approx. 7.8-7.9 hours/weekday).

Conclusions:

• Time logging quantifies student academic time use, aiding curriculum reform.
• Student time use appears inelastic, with minimal changes despite expressed desires.
• Educators should consider these findings when designing curricula and setting academic expectations.