Reports on Innovations and Best Practice

Pandemic Response: Impact of Accelerated English Courses on Student Achievement and Withdrawal Rates

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Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been efforts to modify teaching modalities to avoid interruption in the learning process. Previous studies determined a correlation between accelerated classes and student achievement, but there is a lack of research on the efficacy of accelerated learning in response to a pandemic. This study analyzed college student academic achievement and withdrawal rates in accelerated 8-week English courses to determine whether fast-paced courses were a better modality than 16-week courses. Quantitative methods were employed with collected archival data to establish comparative statistical relationships between students’ success and withdrawal rates in accelerated-term and full-term English courses. Nonrandom sampling was conducted to obtain intended data from 368 college students in a Texas public college in 2019–21. The results indicated that students in accelerated sections had higher success rates and lower withdrawal rates based on the characteristics and limitations of this study. Further research is required to focus on factors that might affect the outcomes, such as teaching styles and preparedness of professors to handle different modalities.

Keywords: accelerated learning, 8-week courses, accelerated English courses, COVID-19 pandemic, pandemic re

How to Cite:

Shehadeh, H., (2022) “Pandemic Response: Impact of Accelerated English Courses on Student Achievement and Withdrawal Rates”, Summer Academe: A Journal of Higher Education 15(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/sa.126