Knowledge decay between semesters

Angela Dills, Rey Hernández-Julián and Kurt W. Rotthoff

Economics of Education Review, 2016, vol. 50, issue C, 63-74

Abstract: Summer learning loss has been widely studied in K-12 schooling, where the literature finds a range of results. This study provides the first evidence of summer learning loss in higher education. We analyze college students taking sequential courses with some students beginning the sequence in the fall semester and others in the spring. Those beginning in the fall experience a shorter break between the courses. We test whether the length of that gap explains the students’ performance in the subsequent course. Initial results suggest that a longer gap is associated with lower grades. However, including student fixed effects eliminates the observed knowledge decay with a few exceptions: knowledge decay remains for students in language courses, for students with below-median SAT Math scores, and for students with majors outside STEM fields.

Keywords: Knowledge decay; Sequential courses; (Summer) Learning loss (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:63-74

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.12.002

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