Class Scheduling and Academic Performance for Business Majors

• In Event: Input/Output quality in academia and Non profits
  In Dialogue Session: Input/Output Quality in Academia and Nonprofits

Abstract

Recent research indicates that class scheduling has an impact on academic achievement in the higher education setting. Specifically, the literature reports that grades are lower for early morning classes than for classes held later in the day, all else being equal. Building on this finding, we show that class scheduling has a larger impact on student performance for quantitative business classes than for qualitative business classes. Our analysis indicates that for business students, the class scheduling effect is largely confined to quantitative disciplines such as accounting and finance. It also suggests that the scheduling effect is more pronounced for single-section classes than for multiple-section classes, which is consistent with a self-selection effect that acts to mitigate the adverse impact of early morning classes on grades. It appears that when confronted with a choice between multiple sections of a class with different start times, students select the start time in a way that leads to better grade outcomes on average.

Authors

• Adriana S. Cordis, Winthrop University

• Barbara Gugliotta Pierce, Winthrop University