The Effect of Immersion Scheduling on Academic Performance and Students’ Ratings of Instructors

Abstract

During the past decades, little research has investigated the effects of immersion scheduling on the psychology classroom. Therefore, we sought to compare academic performance of students in 2-week immersion psychology courses to that of students in traditional 16-week courses. In Study 1, students who received instruction in a 2-week immersion course significantly outperformed their cohorts in a traditional 16-week course. In order to address potential limitations in the first study, in Study 2, we controlled for individual differences variables (e.g., cumulative grade point average), and results indicated significantly higher academic performance for students in the 2-week immersion course. In both studies, students in the immersion courses consistently evaluated the courses and their instructors significantly higher than those students in the 16-week courses. In light of our results and in contrast to critics, immersion courses may be useful and effective when teaching psychology.