Jason and all:

Yes, this is a demanding course for most people. My strong sense is that it, like other statistics courses, should only be taught in the 15-week format. I say that knowing the strong preference among adult students for 8-week or shorter courses they can more quickly check as “Completed” on their degree To Do list.

We need to remember that regionally-accredited degree programs require courses to satisfy the Carnegie credit system in which a credit-hour represents the equivalent of 3 student work hours per week for 15 weeks. (Silve & White, 2015) Thus, this 3-credit-hour course must require 9 student work hours per week in the 15-week format, which equates to about 17 hours per week in the 8-week format.

Again, my strong sense is that most adult students rationalize “they” can get the work done in less time either consciously or subconsciously. And that can lead to stress when the inevitable work/life issues occur which disrupt our plans. I believe that this type of added stress does not help people learn.

A second reason I believe this quant course should be taught in only 15-week terms is that stats is a subject in which time is needed to process and to really learn the concepts. There are two aspects of this:8 vs 15-week Intro Stats Courses