Examines the importance of additional study hours to increase the
grade point average (GPA) of students. Effect of additional study hour on
GPA; Suggestions for instructors with regards to grading
structures.
By
Carin Gorrell, published on March 01, 2001
DEVOTION
HOPING TO BOOST YOUR GPA? IF SO, PUT YOUR SOCIAL LIFE ON
HOLD.
To make a noticeable improvement, you'll need to study for an
additional 40 hours each week.
That, according to Carl Zulauf, Ph.D., is what it takes to raise a
GPA by just one letter grade. An Ohio State University professor of
agricultural marketing, Zulauf asked 79 students to record the amount of
time they devoted to studying for one week. By comparing the
participants' time spent studying with their grades and time management
skills, he discovered that each additional hour spent studying per week
resulted in only a 0.025 increase in GPA. Zulauf's findings, appearing in
the Journal of College Student Development, raise a few important
questions.
"The United States has this embedded belief that if you work hard,
you should be rewarded," Zulauf says. "Are we really rewarding effort?
These students are already fulltime, so how much more should you ask of
them?" In light of his findings, Zulauf suggests instructors incorporate
more measures of effort into their grading structures.
Tags:
amount of time,
belief that,
college,
devotion,
effort,
gpa,
grades,
learning,
measures,
ohio state university,
participants,
state university professor,
students
