Does the Number of Hours Studied Affect Exam Performance?

This article describes a study in which the number of hours that students studied (determined by askng them) was examined to see how it affected exam performance. The study covered two courses at different institutions over a total of six semesters. Using the overall exam averages and regression analysis, the researchers calculated that students needed to invest from 3.0 to 4.4 hours to earn an average score and from 4.5 to 6.4 hours to earn an A (90 percent or 45 points out of 50) on average. In addition, they determined that the ratio of hours studied to lecture hours needed to earn a score of 90 percent ranged from 1.5 to 2.1 hours with a mean of 1.7, less than the "Carnegie Rule" of 2 hours of outside study time per week for each course credit (where a course credit is equivalent to 1 hour of lecture). Educational levels: Graduate or professional