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S E M E S T E R

A regular academic calendar year is broken into two segments called semesters which are composed of four classes per day for 80 instructional days.

 

Students may have up to four classes per term and the length of classes are approximately seventy-five minutes long.

Pros

  • Class length - seventy-five minute classes allows for content to be explored more in depth than a forty - forty-five minute class does but not as lengthy as a 3 hour class. 

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  • Four subjects - Focusing on only four topics is quiet manageable for students  

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  • Engagement - shorter class time means that students are sitting still for less time, and the length of time spent in class is proportionate to their attention span

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  • Chance for change -  Often this fresh start half way through the year is what students need to make it to the end of the school year 

Cons 

  • More than 3 subjects - students have to balance possibly four classes at once

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  • Frequent assessment - with the possibility of having four classes, this means students have more tests, homework, and quizzes to complete

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  • Learning gaps - If a student takes grade 7 science the first half of the year and then in grade 8 they get science in the second half of the year. There will be a whole year gap where the student does not learn science. This gap makes it harder to recall, and potentially hinders learning. 

The following data was collected from surveying grade 10 and 11 students from a High School in Calgary, Alberta.

GRADE 10 & 11

The following data was collected from surveying grade 9s from a rural Junior High in Southern Alberta.

GRADE 9

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