Joel Rauber's statement, "... it takes as much time outside of class as is
necessary" is the obvious connection between class time and homework time.
Certainly some students require more time than others, and certainly some
types of courses require more time than others.
The rule of thumb "two hours out of class for each hour in class" is helpful
in three ways... one is for the student, another is for the professor, and
the third is for the college/university.
* * * For the Student * * *
A typical student load in college is 15 hours. If the 2-hr guideline were
strictly adhered to, the student would spend 45 hours per week on coursework
(15 hours in class and 30 hours out of class). This is the same ballpark as
working a 40-hour week. Although students hate the thought of equating
college with being in the workforce, that's what professors historically
have felt students should do. If students cannot find time to "have a life"
while they are spending 40-50 hours a week on coursework, they aren't going
to have any life after they graduate from college and get a job that
requires 40-50 hours.
A problem more severe today than when I was in college is students want to
do too much. In addition to carrying 15 hours of courses they also want to
work 20 hours a week (or more) to pay for college and also for cars, hi-fi
systems, etc. They might even want to be on the football team and sing in
the choir. They also want a dorm life and many want to pursue dating. If
they insist on all these then there is no doubt sleep and course work are
going to suffer.
Students need guidance in time management and in being able to make wise
choices about what is reasonable and what is not. When they are trying to
learn time management they need to know how much time each thing they want
to do is going to take. They know how long football practice will take
because there is a schedule. There is also a schedule for band practice,
etc. For studying, the 2-hr guideline can be useful if we can get students
to see it as a realistic guide. We do a survey of incoming students and it
is common for them to imagine they will spend an hour a day studying (or
less). Students need to know this is unrealistic. On the other hand, if a
student finds her choice of classes is requiring a total of 70 hours per
week for coursework, perhaps she needs to consider a lighter load and go
through college in more than four years.
* * * For the Professor * * *
I sometimes have had professors assign so much work that a person already
knowledgeable in the field (for example the professor himself) cannot
complete the assigned work within the 2-hr guideline. When I have seen this
happen in my department I have had a talk with the professor to tell him he
needs to lighten up. A professor once literally told a class, "I own you
for 30-40 hours per week. If you cannot put that much time into this course
then you will not pass." Students complained to me, and rightly so. A
faculty member should not assign more work for a 3-hr class than can be done
in about 6 hours per week on average for a typical student.
I have also seen the opposite... professors who assign no outside work.
Students do nothing but show up for class and get an A. I have had talks
with these professors also.
* * * For the College/University * * *
Sometime it is difficult for a college to decide how much credit a course is
worth. I have seen professors submit new course proposals to the Academic
Programs Committee that are way out of line both ways... the professor wants
it to be a 5-hour course but only expects the students to come to class...
or the professor wants it to be a 1-hour course and expects the students to
write a 10-page research paper each week. Neither of these should get out
of committee without a significant overhaul.
I have copies of bulletins/catalogs from many colleges and universities.
I've always liked the wording I found in the Ohio State University Bulletin.
(It is a few years old, so I don't know if the current bulletin says this.)
It says course credit is assigned to a course on the basis that one hour of
credit requires an average student to spend three hours per week on course
related work (including class time) in order to earn the average grade of C.
It may difficult to assess who is an average student and what constitutes a
C grade, but if we have ideas about these then the OSU course-credit
guideline is quite clear. I particularly note the OSU Bulletin equates the
2-hr guideline with an "average grade of C." I think many students would
think they should be guaranteed an A before they would even dream of
spending that much time.
Michael Edmiston
Professor of Physics and Chemistry
Bluffton College, Bluffton, Ohio 45817