ESU Adds 7-Week Accelerated Classes to Give Students Flexibility

Starting in January, East Stroudsburg University is adding accelerated seven-week courses in numerous subjects, with many of them completely online. The initiative is designed to give students more flexibility; they have the option to take classes that don’t require them to be on campus each week and they can do their coursework around their job and family schedules.

The accelerated seven-week classes will earn the same amount of credit as semester-long courses in the same subjects. Approximately 20 classes will be offered in this format in the Spring 2022 semester.

Margaret J. Ball, D.M.A., ESU’s interim provost and vice president of academic affairs, said the shorter classes are in part a response to the changing demographics of higher education. Across the country, universities are seeing a surge in adult learners who are returning to college to complete their degrees.

Colleges that have tried the accelerated courses have seen an improvement in recruitment and retention of students. The accelerated classes can help students stay more focused and engaged, which increases retention, Dr. Ball said.

Andra Basu, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said some ESU academic departments, including psychology and reading education, have pioneered the accelerated seven-week course model with certain classes over the past year as a way to accommodate busy students from different walks of life.

“When we’re looking at non-traditional learners who are working full time during traditional work hours and have families and other community obligations, they are looking for a schedule that can help them meet their own personal and professional goals by completing a degree,” Dr. Basu says. “This is a much easier way to do that than by traditional courses between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. It provides them with a lot of flexibility. Students say that’s really a lifesaver for them in what they want to accomplish and achieve.”

The Master of Education in Reading program has piloted the accelerated classes, offering these type of courses over the last two semesters. The students — several of whom are teachers and parents — are given assignments and then once a week meet for two or three hours with faculty online or in person.

“It’s very much a version of a flipped classroom, in which all the reading and all the videos and all the preparation are done with our students before they meet with us,” said Shawn L. Watkins, Ed.D., associate professor of Reading and department chair.

The accelerated courses can enable students to advance to higher level courses sooner, Dr. Watkins says.

“We have prerequisite courses for some of our classes and they’ve been able to take the prerequisite course in the first half of the semester and then take the advanced course in the second half of the same semester,” she said. “They will be able to get through the program quicker.”

Basu said the accelerated courses can help with learning continuity.

“If you are taking a beginner math course and then you go into the next level of math courses in the second part of the semester, you tend to do much better because you haven’t had the summer off where you’ve forgotten those skills,” Basu said.

That’s also true for subjects such as English literature and modern languages in which one course provides building blocks for the next one.

“You are taking material you learned in the first seven weeks and applying it right away in the second seven weeks,” Basu said.

The seven-week classes are not simply condensed versions of semester-long courses. The accelerated courses have been redesigned by faculty to hone in on the goals of the course and desired outcomes.

“It really forced us to look at the assignments and what we’re doing and what we’re having students do,” Watkins said, adding that faculty create fewer assignments but deeper ones. “We’re not compromising on any of them.”

Tara Treon and Ali Kalinowski, both kindergarten teachers with the Nazareth Area School District, have taken accelerated classes as they work towards a Master of Education degree in reading with a Reading Specialist certification.

“These types of classes have given me the opportunity to take two classes a semester which I can manage financially all while speeding up the process of the program,” Kalinowski said.

Treon said the accelerated classes mean she can work towards her master’s degree without shortchanging the demands of her teaching position or other areas of her life.

“I love that this model allows me to only have grad class sessions once per week to allow me time for family, friends and to participate in activities going on at my school,” Treon said.

Sarah Maiorino, a third-grade teacher for Nazareth Area School District and an ESU grad student, says she’s a big fan of the accelerated courses. They allow her to take two courses a semester without being overwhelmed by the classwork and her full-time job.

“All of higher education is designing ways to serve and attract students, to support their personal and professional goals,” Ball said. “This is one of the ways we can do it.”

Registration for the spring semester begins November 4. For more information about applying to ESU and enrolling in accelerated courses visit esu.edu/admissions.

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