A model of student workload

• Published in: Journal of higher education policy and management Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 239 - 258
• Main Author: Bowyer, Kyle
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 01.06.2012; Routledge; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Australia; Business Education; Colleges & universities; Commercial law; Curriculum; Curtin University of Technology; Education Work Relationship; Foreign Countries; Law Students; Learning; Legal education; Legal Education (Professions); Literature Reviews; modelling; Performance Factors; Performance Technology; Postsecondary education; Student assessment; Student attitudes; Student Characteristics; Student workload; Tertiary students; Time Factors (Learning); Time on Task; Undergraduate Students; University students; workload factors; workload formula; Workloads; Australia; Western Australia
• ISSN: 1360-080X; 1469-9508
• DOI: 10.1080/1360080X.2012.678729

Student workload is a contributing factor to students deciding to withdraw from their study before completion of the course, at significant cost to students, institutions and society. The aim of this paper is to create a basic workload model for a group of undergraduate students studying business law units at Curtin University in Western Australia. In doing this, the paper explores the concept of undergraduate student workload by reviewing the literature on the subject, identifying factors that have an impact upon student workload, quantifying those factors, and creating a basic model of factors to be taken into account when assessing student workload.