Measuring Time Load Using a Mobile Application to Monitor Curriculum Workload

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Student Learning Analytics

Background:

• Insufficient learning time hinders student progress, particularly for weaker students.
• Curriculum design requires monitoring study time to prevent mismatches between student needs and provided time.
• European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits quantify academic workload.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure student time loads for learning activities.
• To compare measured student time loads with curriculum-defined workloads (ECTS).
• To investigate the impact of socio-demographic factors on student time pressure.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Studo mobile application for students to log time spent on attendance, self-study, and writing.
• Collected socio-demographic data including travel time, care obligations, and employment status.
• Analyzed data from 75 courses over six semesters (2018/2019-2021) with low response rates (8%-17%).

Main Results:

• Only 2 out of 75 courses exceeded their specified curriculum hours.
• 3%-34% of students reported part-time employment (≥10 hours/week).
• Students showed reluctance in consistently measuring their learning time.

Conclusions:

• No significant evidence of curriculum workload exceedance was found across evaluated courses, despite potential nonresponse bias.
• Part-time employment contributes to increased individual time pressure for some students.
• Monitoring the ratio of measured to estimated study time is crucial for improving student performance and learning outcomes.