Student Preferences for Class Scheduling: A Conjoint Analysis

The marketing concept is an effective tool by which college administrators can improve their educational product. This study portrays the class selection process as a consumer choice situation, and suggests that colleges can become more responsive to students' needs by considering factors which influence class selections. Students' preferences were found to be for small classes scheduled during the morning hours, offered two times a week, and taught by full-time faculty. These findings were based on a conjoint analysis which measured the relative importance of four classroom situation variables.