Nontraditional Students, Accelerated Programs, Grade Expectations, and Instructor Evaluations

This article is intended as both a cautionary tale and an encouraging guide for instructors who are beginning to teach in accelerated programs designed to attract nontraditional students. This article is based, in part, on classroom action research conducted through surveys, observations, exams, and assessments, in an introductory business law course taught in two different universities. Initially, this article seeks to define and examine the particular issues of the nontraditional student using demographic and anecdotal data gathered on nontraditional students at the University of Cincinnati and traditional students at Southeast Missouri State University. Special attention is given to the role of gender and role strain in nontraditional students. Role strain has three dimensions: (1) role conflict from simultaneous, incompatible demands; (2) role overload (insufficient time to meet all demands); and (3) role contagion or preoccupation with one role while performing another. The article also examines the relationship between grade expectations/grade inflation and instructor evaluations.