Teachers’ and students’ views on higher education workload determination practices

Determining appropriate workload is an integral part of educational planning in higher education. These estimates are often based on defining a specific ratio of study work per available study time. However, teachers’ ways of estimating student workload and students’ perceptions of them have been underexamined. In this study, teachers and students from two Finnish universities were surveyed on their views on workload determination. Workload estimations for courses were based mainly on teachers’ experience, employer instructions, and students’ feedback. Estimating the difficulty of study work and study time was found challenging. Student feedback, teachers’ skill and autonomy, and collegial support were considered central to successful workload estimates. Teachers were more confident about the appropriateness of the workload estimates than students. Students’ views on the appropriateness of workload estimates were barely related to their study time, workload experience, or learning. The results imply critically reconsidering higher education student workload determination practices critically.