Workload in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Objective Situation Versus Subjective Report

• In Event: 16.058 - The Impact of Academic Workload on Students' Stress and Well-Being in Rigorous College Prep Programs

Abstract

Using data from the DP Student Workload Research Project , we measured objective workload in the DP using students’ participation in the 54 possible subject choices weighted by students’ and DP coordinators’ assessment of difficulty and time burden (including homework assignments). We then examined the relationship between objective workload with students’ subjective feelings of being overburdened by the programme. Control variables included gender, prior academic achievement, and socio-economic background. Results indicate that complaints of overburdening are concentrated in a limited number of subjects, and are primarily driven by the time burden of homework assignments.

The design of the project, with multiple students within schools, allowed us to examine the relationships between objective and subjective workload using a multi-level design that can separately assess individual and school mechanisms. We found significant variation between schools in the objective and subjective workload experiences of students. In the table below, between-school differences are expressed as percentages. For example, 17 percent of the differences between students’ time spent on regular lessons is due to schools differing in the amount of lessons for students.

Average workload Average range between students (95 %) Differences between schools
Weekly hours regular lessons 23 (18 – 29) 17 %
Weekly hours out-of-school lessons 1.5 (0 - 3) 2 %
Weekly hours homework 16 (8 - 23) 11%
Perceived workload
(scale 0 -1 (low- high)) .5 (.3 - .6) 8 %

Between-school differences in the subjective workload do not entirely coincide with differences in the objective workload. Although subjective workload increased with the number of hours spent on homework, this seems more a matter of individual differences than being due to the school context. Moreover, the number of DP courses and the share of high-level (HL) courses in their curriculum did not appear to affect the perceived workload either.

Given the same workload, students within a school differed in their assessment of the amount of work they have to do. We are currently investigating the causes of these differences, particularly those related to school variations. Two potential effects are: (A) assignments are unevenly distributed over the course of the school year and create periods with particularly high concentrations of workloads that differ across schools, and (B) students within a school influence each other’s evaluation of workload and create school-level norms regarding acceptable and non-acceptable levels of workload. We are further analyzing students’ responses to open-ended questions for potential interpretations and to refine our findings.

Authors

• Ineke Nagel, VU University Amsterdam

• Heike Schroeder, International Baccalaureate