Student work: a re-conceptualization based on prior research on student workload and Newtonian concepts around physical work

In this article, we propose a new model of student workload. We conducted an extensive literature review of student workload, its impact on students’ lives, factors influencing student workload, objective and subjective measurements. The previous conceptualizations of student workload conflate student work and course workload, two related but distinct concepts. By synthesizing prior research and concepts from Newtonian physics such as work, force, and distance, we have discovered a model that better explains and differentiates the nature of and the various factors contributing to student work and load. We re-define student work as the product of student academic effort and their achievement in the course. In this model, student academic effort is generated to meet course demands in four domains (cognitive, physical, social, and psychological) with specific challenges and resources associated with each one. This new model will help us to better understand the student experience of academic work, effort, and the challenges students face so that we can make changes to enhance learning.