1. SCHEDULING: S TRATEGIES FOR O PTIMUM L EARNING O UTCOMES Everton Lewis Wilbert Nunes May 13, 2015

2. INTRODUCTION The University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) is a Government of Jamaica owned and operated polytechnic tertiary institution. UTech offers certificates, diplomas, bachelor’s and graduate degrees. Delivery is typically face-to-face full-time, part-time, modular, and summer semesters. Papine (main) campus and satellite centers Limited on-line and distance delivery modalities

3. UT ECH R ESPONSIBILITIES To provide, coordinate and manage the resources for learning. Through Scheduling Officers, UTech must combine: Lecturers, technologists and/or technicians Classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories, workshops, and sites Students minimum/maximum group size within or across faculties within or across year groups within or across programs

4. F ACTORS FOR M AKING A T IMETABLE Scheduling Officers:- represent the interests of the institution. Should appreciate the role a schedule can have on learning outcomes. Should be sensitive to the needs and concerns of both students and staff. Should understand how learners learn effectively and efficiently. The role of the Scheduling Officer is not fully appreciated.

5. S TUDENT P ROFILES Historically, University students: were mature individuals had established families had considerable work experience were highly self-motivated individuals anticipated higher-paying jobs and/or promotions were less dependent on loans to fund their education

6. S TUDENT P ROFILES Many current students: are younger, immature, first-time home leavers have families, dependents, and care-giver responsibilities have little or no work-experience are overly concerned about employment opportunities are very heavily dependent on student loans lack family economic support are easily influenced and distracted by external factors are coming from protected environments are commuters

7. L ECTURER P ROFILES Typical UTech lecturers tend to be: full-time (15 hours plus overtime) and part-time increasingly younger professionals establishing families many have younger children seeking to optimise income(s) extensive loan repayments studying part-time unaccustomed to and intolerant of ‘flexible’ work schedules teachers and researchers

8. R ESOURCE R EQUIREMENTS International standards: 1 hour direct lecturer instruction = 1 credit 3 hours laboratory/workshop instruction = 1 credit Bachelor’s degree = 120-128 credits Classrooms, computer laboratories and workshops specialist lecturers proprietary software or equipment specific sites

9. S CHEDULING I MPACT Golden Rule :- It is impossible to satisfy the preferences of everyone! Class schedule per se is not a predictor of student outcomes, and there is little evidence that various scheduling options will adversely impact student outcomes (Fike & Fike, 2013) Scheduling does affect attendance, teaching strategies, as well as teacher and student satisfaction (Pisapia & Westfall (1997) Scheduling has an indirect impact on learning outcomes (e.g. attendance)

10. SURVEY FINDINGS Twenty-two (22) lecturers were surveyed across the UTech main campus Forty-three (43) students were surveyed across the UTech main campus Participants were selected via means of a convenience sampling

11. W HAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR CURRENT TIMETABLE ? LECTURERS 41% - Good 45% - Average 5% - Poor 9% - no response STUDENTS 37% - Good 49% - Average 14% - Poor

12. D ISCUSSION ( RQ1) Lecturers and students have similar perceptions of their time tables, with the students slightly more skewed to being less favorable.

13. H OW SATISFIED ARE YOU WITH THE TIMETABLE SCHEDULE GIVEN TO YOU ? Lecturers 9% - Excellent 50% - Good 41% - Average Students 5% - Excellent 34% - Good 47% - Average 14% - Poor

14. D ISCUSSION ( RQ 2) Lecturers appear to be slightly more satisfied with their time tables than are the students

15. W HAT ARE YOUR PREFERRED CLASS TIMES ? Lecturers 59% - Mornings 18% - Afternoons 14% - Evenings 9% - Nights Students 33% - Mornings 48% - Afternoons 19% - Evenings 0% - Nights

16. D ISCUSSION ( RQ 3) The lecturers surveyed indicated a preference for morning classes, decreasing progressively as the day proceeds. Most students indicate a preference for afternoon classes, than morning and evening classes. No students surveyed indicated a preference for night classes. There is a preference disparity between the lecturers and the students.

17. A RE YOUR PREFERRED CLASS TIMES SATISFIED BY YOUR CURRENT SCHEDULE ? Lecturers 5% - All of the time 45% - Most of the time 45% - Sometimes 0% - None of the time 5% - no response Students 7% - All the time 42% - Most of the time 49% - Sometimes 2% - None of the time

18. D ISCUSSION ( RQ 4) Both the lecturers and the students surveyed indicated that their AY 2014/5 time-table preferences were basically met. In general, the lecturers responses suggest that their preferences were marginally more favorable than those of the students.

19. D O YOU THINK THAT CENTRALIZING THE TIME - TABLE HAS IMPROVED ITS FRIENDLINESS ? 0% - Strongly Agree 27% - Agree 23% - Fairly Agree 45% - Do Not Agree 5% - no response These findings suggest that the majority of the lecturers actually perceived that their time-tables were more friendly before centralizing of the time tables occurred.

20. E XAMPLE OF A STAFF MEMBER ’ S TIMETABLE

21. E XAMPLE OF STUDENT ’ S GROUP TIMETABLE

22. QUESTIONS TO CONTEMPLATE Can UTech afford to accommodate working students and students with families? Can UTech afford not to accommodate working students and students with families? Students now have more options than ever, and without students, there can be no UTech.

23. SUMMARY It is impossible to satisfy the preferences of everyone (i.e. Lecturers and Students). Class scheduling does not directly predict student outcomes. Scheduling does affect attendance, teaching strategies, as well as teacher and student satisfaction levels, etc. Scheduling has an indirect impact on learning outcomes (e.g. attendance).

24. BIBLIOGRAPHY Pisapia, J. and Westfall, A. (1997). Alternative High School Scheduling: Student Achievement and Behavior. Research Report. Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, Richmond, VA. Fike, D.S. and Fike, R. (2013). A multilevel analysis of the association of class schedule with student outcomes in community college developmental math. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 37( 11 ), pp. 816- 827.