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What was the reason for the research?
The research was prompted by a report from De Jonge Akademie, which argued that the duration and structure of the academic year in the Netherlands contribute to the high workload of students and teachers. In cooperation with Oberon and Cheps, we were asked to investigate whether the Dutch academic year is indeed longer and more demanding than that of other countries, and whether this is linked to the high work and study pressure. We were also tasked with creating a sort of 'blueprint' for a smarter academic year.
How did you approach the research?
We selected five Dutch programmes at five different universities: Biomedical Sciences, Electrical Engineering, History, Psychology, and Chemistry. We intentionally chose a mix of both humanities, science, and medical disciplines to capture typical differences such as the number of contact hours and examination methods. Subsequently, we selected five European universities comparable to the Dutch universities and offering some of these programmes. This way, we could compare each Dutch programme with three foreign counterparts.
This comparison was based on both public sources (such as academic calendars, programme websites, etc.) and interviews with representatives of the programmes. The combination of the 'paper reality' and the interviews was crucial for us. The interviews provided insights into aspects not found in public sources and highlighted areas where things operate differently in practice than on paper. For example, we discovered that the formally documented workload is often significantly higher than the actual time spent in practice, especially abroad.
What were the notable results?
The research confirms the assertion of De Jonge Akademie that the Dutch academic year is long and demanding. The figure below illustrates this well. The examined Dutch programmes all have a longer academic year than their foreign counterparts. A striking difference is that Dutch programmes are the only ones using a system with a minimum of four terms, while other institutions operate with a two-term system. This results in significantly more exam moments for Dutch students. Additionally, the handling of resits differs: Dutch programmes offer many more resit opportunities than their foreign counterparts. Foreign programmes generally limit retakes to one moment per year.
Therefore, we see that the Netherlands has a longer academic year with more (re)exam moments. However, it is challenging to directly correlate this with a heavier workload. We observe that this pressure also exists in foreign programmes. The 'context' in a country or around an institution is also a significant factor. For instance, does a student need a part-time job to make ends meet, or are teachers under pressure due to research tasks? Therefore, our comparison could not make statements about what the 'ideal' academic year should entail. Nevertheless, we identified several areas for potential adjustment.
You have proposed some recommendations. Which one did you find most interesting?
To reduce workload, it may be necessary to make choices that are suboptimal from a pedagogical-didactical standpoint.
There is sometimes a balance between workload and pedagogical-didactic performance. The research often cited the frequent testing in the Netherlands as a reason for both high work and study pressure. It creates a kind of 'breathlessness' among students and requires a lot of grading from teachers. However, research shows that continuous testing leads to better learning outcomes than a single exam at the end of a long semester. The same applies to the length of the academic year. Any potential shortening would affect educational material. This poses an important trade-off where programmes must ultimately make a well-considered choice.
Want to learn more about the research? Read the report here.