what are course contact hours

by Millie Aufderhar 3 min read

Contact hours are the total hours of class/lecture, lab and clinic coop/shop required per week in a course. Contact hours are used to calculate the amount of credit hours a course may be worth. Credit hours are used to calculate tuition and are a factor in a student’s grade point average (GPA).

A contact hour is a measure that represents an hour of scheduled instruction given to students. A semester credit hour is normally granted for satisfactory completion of one 50-minute session (contact hour) of classroom instruction per week for a semester of not less than fifteen weeks.

Full Answer

What is contact hours at USC?

How to plan contact time with students?

What is a faculty mediated discussion forum?

How to fulfill contact time?

What is a video lecture?

How long is a Zoom meeting?

How many hours of literature review for final project?

See 4 more

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What are contact hours for online courses?

Contact hours quantify the amount of regular and substantive interaction between students and their instructor, and are most traditionally associated with the number of hours that a class meets on campus. In the online format, this can be interpreted as the number of hours of synchronous online instruction.

How many contact hours do you need for a 2 credit course?

Contact and Non-Contact Hours per TermCourse UnitsContact HoursNon-Contact Hours112.52522550337.575437.5*112.5

What does 45 contact hours mean in college?

One credit hour is typically equivalent to 15 contact hours, and three credit hours is typically equivalent to 45 contact hours. This is the total amount of time spent in official lecture or lab during a specific duration.

What is a contact course?

Contact course means a classroom presentation, seminar, lecture, or teleconference with monitored attendance and an instructor present.

How many contact hours is a 4 credit course?

Four credit units require students to work on that course for about 180 (45x4) hours in some combination of class/instructional time and out-of-class time. This definition does not vary with instructional mode.

How do you calculate contact hours?

The contact hours should be calculated on a per week basis. For example, one contact hour per week of lecture for 15 weeks equals one credit hour (e.g., a three semester credit hour course meets for 45 contact hours). VSU categorizes course section offerings by the teaching approach employed.

How many hours is 1 credit hour?

Each credit hour corresponds to a minimum of 3 hours of student engagement per week for a traditional 14-week course or 6 hours per week for a 7-week course. This time may be spent on discussions, readings and lectures, study and research, and assignments.

How many hours is a 3 credit course?

College courses are measured in credit hours. A 3-credit course meets for 2.5 hours per week. Balancing the course load is vital to academic success.

Is 4 credit hours a lot?

A course is measured in the number of credit hours needed to complete it. For an undergraduate degree, basic courses may have 1 credit or 2 credits. In a Master's degree, including MBAs, most courses are either 3 or 4 credits. A standard full-time study load is usually 30 credit hours per year.

How are teaching hours calculated?

Examples of the hour equivalency calculations: If a part-time faculty member is teaching three credit hours for the full 15-week semester, the work hours per week is 8.01. If a part-time faculty member is teaching three credit hours for 10 weeks in a standard 15-week semester, the work hours per week is 12.02.

How do you calculate credit hours generated?

The total credit hours generated by a course equal the number of credit hours associated with the course multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the course, as measured following the fourth week of classes.

Are the Coursera courses free?

Coursera offers free online courses, many of them led by top colleges or companies like Google. Learners can access all course materials and there's a small fee for a certificate of completion.

How many hours is 1 credit hour?

Each credit hour corresponds to a minimum of 3 hours of student engagement per week for a traditional 14-week course or 6 hours per week for a 7-week course. This time may be spent on discussions, readings and lectures, study and research, and assignments.

How many hours a week is a 3 credit course?

2.5 hours per weekA 3-credit course meets for 2.5 hours per week. Balancing the course load is vital to academic success. In addition to time spent in class, some courses which carry only one credit are often as time-consuming as a lecture class.

How many hours of instruction is a 3 credit course?

2.5 hoursIn a traditional semester, a typical 3-credit-hour class meets 3 times a week for 50 minutes, which is 2.5 hours (representing 3 hours of face-to-face instruction, assuming no breaks).

How many hours is a 5 credit course?

Quarters: Students generally attend a single class one hour per day, five dyas a week, or two classes, 2.5 hours per week to earn 5 credits. Each student takes about 3 classes each quarter to equal 15 credits.

QUAnTIFYInG OnLInE LEARnInG cOnTAcT HOURS

ADMINISTRATIVE : D UCATION, ACTICE, CH 81 Powell ephens Ic 1059292012227 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 E Institutional Background Originally founded in 1991 as American Military University (AMU), APUS’s main focus was to meet the educational

Online Course Contact Hours | Office of Digital Learning

Online courses should have the equivalent amount of contact hours per student credit hour as those delivered in other modalities. The student credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:

CALCULATING CREDIT HOURS IN ONLINE AND BLENDED LEARNING

Learning Objectives: Calculating Credit Hours in Online and Blended Learning Following this presentation you will be able to: • Know the history of online training

Dornsife Resource for Calculating Contact Hours

Course Type: Contact Hours: Non-Contact Hours: Total Hours : Sync Combo - Example 1. Recorded Worked-Out Examples-Instructor-created videos that work out math problems: 6 recordings per week (~10 minutes each). Zoom Meetings to discuss problems that students encountered and application to real world: MWF - 30 minutes per meeting. 6.5 hours of homework. Six, 10-minute quizzes

How to Calculate: Credit Units / Class Time / Course Classifications ...

“Class” time (faculty contact time/instructional time) While the minimum amount of time students should be spending per unit of credit should be around 45

Credit and Contact Hour and Instructional Equivalencies Guidelines

Page 1 Send revisions/corrections to Revised July 8, 2022 assessment@valdosta.edu Posted online at www.valdosta.edu/academics/academic-affairs/documents/credit ...

What is contact hours at USC?

These units translate to earned credit hours that a successful student will receive at the end of the semester. Contact hours quantify the amount of regular and substantive interaction between students and their instructor, and are most traditionally associated with the number of hours that a class meets on campus. In the online format, this can be interpreted as the number of hours of synchronous online instruction. However, best practice dictates that a combination of synchronous and asynchronous class activities is preferred for online and hybrid courses. The general guideline is that in order to count as a functional equivalent of contact time, an asynchronous online activity must a) be required for all students (not optional), and b) involve substantive interaction with the faculty. Below are examples of such combinations and how they meet contact hour requirements.

How to plan contact time with students?

Live required office hours: Another way to plan contact time with students is to schedule required office hours during the term. These could be held individually with all students, or they could be broken into several times with smaller groups, such that all can participate during a given week. Note that office hours that are optional can’t be counted toward the required contact hours.

What is a faculty mediated discussion forum?

Faculty mediated online discussion forum: Students are asked to respond to prompts on a discussion forum, which faculty monitors and participates in at some level. Again, VoiceThread and other tools offer a video-based form of interactive discussion.

How to fulfill contact time?

Live class meetings: The most straightforward way to fulfill contact time is through live class meetings. For example, a 2-hour synchronous meeting might be useful during the initial class meeting to orient students to a course. Live sessions may also be useful during key points in the course, for example before exams or other major assignments such as student presentations.

What is a video lecture?

Video lecture of faculty or invited expert: Faculty or invited expert is recorded giving a mini-lecture which all students are required to view and then respond to in some way. Note that for an outside or invited expert or guest, this would need to be someone invited by the faculty and filmed for purposes of the course, as opposed to simply having students watch existing footage (e.g. watch a TED talk), which generally wouldn’t be deemed as equivalent to contact time with the faculty.

How long is a Zoom meeting?

Zoom Meetings: Discussions about problems that students encountered and application to real world: MWF, 30 minutes per meeting

How many hours of literature review for final project?

2 hours of literature review for final project. 2 hours of online journaling each week; students must add pictures from museum virtual tour or other relevant pictures and comment. 30 minutes of writing on the discussion board (at least one post and three responses to other students per week) 10 hours per week.

What is contact hour?

A contact hour represents the measure of scheduled instruction given to students and is dependent on the instructional format for the course.The contact hours should be calculated on a per week basis. Ex: One contact hour per week of lecture for 15 weeks equals one credit hour.

How many contact minutes per semester?

Credit and contact hours vary, but the minimum standard of 750 contact minutes per semester per credit applies.

What is required session?

A required session where students can discuss course material, get answers to questions and practice problems under the supervision of the instructor or teaching assistant. Describes a required and potentially graded course component of no more than 50-minutes per week that introduces no new or substantively more complex supportive material relative to the normative course component. Such component shall convey no credit hours.

What is a cooperative education course?

A course requiring students to participate in a partnership, professional employment, work experience, or cooperative education with an entity external to the institution, generally under the supervision of an employee of the given external entity .

How many credit hours per student?

Variable: Credit and contact hours are determined on an individual student basis with the assigned faculty member and department head but may be no more than 6 credit s per student.

What is contact credit ratio?

Contact/Credit Hour Ratio: These hours reflect the number of contact/credit hours per week in a fall/spring semester.

What is studio class?

Studio describes a class in which all students are engaged in creative or artistic activities, which are new and unique and not formulated in a lecture setting. Every student in the room is performing a creative activity to obtain a specific outcome. It is a course requiring visual- or aesthetic-focused experiential work where students test, observe, experiment, or practice a field or discipline in a hands-on environment. Because it is not instruction-based, this requires more minute-to-minute responsibility for the faculty member to engage individual students towards their goal.

How many contact hours are required for a 15 week semester?

Internships, field work and practicums use the following guidelines during a 15-week semester: 3-credit hour internship, field work course, or practicum = approximately 10 contact ...

How many hours of instruction are required for 1 credit hour?

1 Minimum requirements for 1 credit hour are defined as 15 hours of instruction accompanying a minimum of 30 hours of out-of-class work. Hours of instruction and out-of-class work may be redistributed proportionately to reflect modified academic calendars, formats of study, and academic activities as established by the institution.

How many credit hours are there in a semester?

Semester credit hours are granted for various types of instruction as follows: 1 Lecture, discussion or seminar = one contact hour constitutes one credit hour (1: 1) 2 Self-Contained or Self-Directed laboratory = approximately 2 – 3 contact hours constitutes one credit hour (3: 1 or 2:1) 3 Studios = approximately 2 contact hours constitutes one credit hour (2: 1) 4 Private Lessons = 1 contact hour constitutes one credit hour (1:1)

How many hours of class is a semester credit hour?

A semester credit hour is normally granted for satisfactory completion of one 50-minute session (contact hour) of classroom instruction per week for a semester of not less than fifteen weeks . This basic measure may be adjusted proportionately to reflect modified academic calendars and formats of study. One credit hour should involve an input of ...

How many hours does a 6 credit internship take?

6-credit hour internship, field work course, or practicum = approximately 20 contact hours/week or 300 – 400 hours/semester. 12-credit hour internship, field work course, or practicum = approximately 40 contact hours/week or 600 – 750 hours/semester. It is recognized that some proposed courses will request contact hours during which a mix ...

How many sessions are in a three semester credit hour course?

Typically, a three semester credit hour course meets three 50-minute sessions per week for fifteen weeks for a total of 45 sessions (or two 75-minute sessions per week for fifteen weeks for a total of 30 sessions). This definition applies to all delivery formats.

How many hours is 4 60 minutes?

Hours listed may exceed minimum requirements. 4 60 minutes of out of class work is the equivalent of 1 “Clock Hour”. This unit of time is used only in the calculation of “Hours of Student Work Outside of Class” and should not be used in calculations of “Hours of Instruction”.

How many hours of coursework do you need to meet for a health science course?

Undergraduate, Graduate, Graduate School of Management, Health Sciences Professional: Classroom Based Courses: must meet a minimum of 50 minutes per credit, per week, and additional workload assigned to equal a minimum of 2 hours of coursework/activity outside the classroom for each 50 minutes of meeting time.

What time does the course schedule for graduate school of management meet?

This section of the Course Scheduling Policy regulates the scheduling of Undergraduate, Graduate, Graduate School of Management and Health Sciences Professional courses that meet in a classroom (general pool or restricted) and meet before 4:00 p.m. on Monday-Friday. Laboratory courses are excluded from this section of the policy.

What is section 2 of the course scheduling policy?

This section of the Course Scheduling Policy regulates the scheduling of Undergraduate, Graduate, Graduate School of Management and Health Sciences Professional courses that meet in a classroom (general pool or restricted) and that meet after 4:00 p.m. on Monday-Friday, or on the weekend.

What time do evening classes begin?

Evening and weekend courses must begin on the hour, half-hour or quarter hour.

How many hours per week for blended classes?

Blended and Non-Classroom Based Courses: must include some form of instruction, and/or homework, and/or activity that equals the minimum of 170 minutes per credit, per week. Those courses that meet in a compressed format (i.e., fewer than 15 weeks), must make up these hours within the time frame of the course offering.

How many minutes of instruction is required for law school?

The Law School is bound by the American Bar Association Standards of Accreditation of Law. Schools. The standards require a minimum course of study of 58,000 minutes of instruction time. Of these, 45,000 of these minutes must be by attendance in regularly scheduled class sessions at. the Law School.

Is study abroad field experience scheduling pattern in effect?

The study abroad/field experience scheduling patterns exception is in effect for these sessions as well; however, the contact hours policy applies to all classes.

How many hours of contact time is required for a 3 semester course?

The typical course has one unit of contact time with the instructor for every two units of preparation time by the student. As such, it is expected that three semester credit hours are equivalent to a combined total of 6300 minutes: 2100 minutes of contact (instructional presentation) time and 4200 minutes of preparation ...

How long is contact hour?

Contact Hour: 50 minutes of scheduled instruction presented to students.

How many hours of work is 3 semester credit hours?

In total, that three semester credit hour course totals approximately 126 hours of work (42 contact hours and 84 preparation hours).”.

What color is contact hours?

The matrix below allows you to identify the requisite number of contact hours/minutes (light blue), preparation hours/minutes, and combined contact and preparation hours/minutes (dark blue) for a given amount of semester credit hours.

How many weeks of class is Rice University?

Rice University Academic Calendars are structured to provide 14 weeks of class instruction, a period of study days, followed by a week of final exams. 1. Typically, a three semester credit hour course meets for three contact hours (three 50-minute sessions or two 75-minute sessions) per week for the 14 weeks of a semester.

What is Syracuse University's contact hours policy?

The Class/Classroom Scheduling and Contact Hours Policy helps to ensure that Syracuse University classes have the space and time for effective instruction. The policy describes the Registrar Office’s role in scheduling all classes and in reserving instructional spaces for classes with an on-campus mode of instruction. The policy also describes the roles of the Registrar’s Office, Provost’s Office, academic departments, and the Senate Committee on Curricula in ensuring that instructors fulfill minimum contact hour requirements.

How many hours is a credit hour?

The University Senate Committee on Curricula has further clarified that one credit hour equates to 50 minutes of classroom time for a 15-week semester including a final examination.

How much time do you need to work outside of class?

The Senate Committee on Curricula recommends that faculty assign to students at least 100 minutes of work outside of class time per week for each credit hour. For lab or studio time, the Senate Committee on Curricula indicates that one credit equates to 150 minutes of time per week over a 15-week semester.

What is a semester hour?

(o) Semester hour means a credit, point, or other unit granted for the satisfactory completion of a course which requires at least 15 hours (of 50 minutes each) of instruction and at least 30 hours of supplementary assignments, except as otherwise provided pursuant to section 52.2 (c) (4) of this Subchapter. This basic measure shall be adjusted proportionately to translate the value of other academic calendars and formats of study in relation to the credit granted for study.

How many hours of instruction is required for a NYSED?

The NYSED recommends at least 15 hours (of 50 minutes each, for a total of 750 contact minutes) of instruction , including lectures, recitations, discussions, labs, and final examinations, and at least 30 hours of supplementary assignments for each credit hour. The term “credit hour” refers to the NYSED definition, defined below in Section V.DB.

What time does ARC studios open?

ARC studios are 1:00 – 5:00 pm. Classes that meet during the summer terms are not required to adhere to these scheduling requirements. However, it is expected that the scheduling of summer classes will support the University’s overall scheduling goals and objectives and is subject to adjustment by the Registrar’s Office.

Who is responsible for establishing the standard class meeting schedule?

The Registrar’s Office is responsible for establishing and enforcing the standard class meeting schedule or paradigm for each academic year. Using the published Academic Calendar, and in consultation with the Provost Office, the Registrar’s Office shall establish the standard class meeting schedule paradigm for each academic year to make effective use of instructional days and classroom space, to meet the needs of students and faculty, and to support the academic mission and vision of Syracuse University. The standard class meeting schedule or paradigm may be revised at the discretion of the University.

What is contact hours at USC?

These units translate to earned credit hours that a successful student will receive at the end of the semester. Contact hours quantify the amount of regular and substantive interaction between students and their instructor, and are most traditionally associated with the number of hours that a class meets on campus. In the online format, this can be interpreted as the number of hours of synchronous online instruction. However, best practice dictates that a combination of synchronous and asynchronous class activities is preferred for online and hybrid courses. The general guideline is that in order to count as a functional equivalent of contact time, an asynchronous online activity must a) be required for all students (not optional), and b) involve substantive interaction with the faculty. Below are examples of such combinations and how they meet contact hour requirements.

How to plan contact time with students?

Live required office hours: Another way to plan contact time with students is to schedule required office hours during the term. These could be held individually with all students, or they could be broken into several times with smaller groups, such that all can participate during a given week. Note that office hours that are optional can’t be counted toward the required contact hours.

What is a faculty mediated discussion forum?

Faculty mediated online discussion forum: Students are asked to respond to prompts on a discussion forum, which faculty monitors and participates in at some level. Again, VoiceThread and other tools offer a video-based form of interactive discussion.

How to fulfill contact time?

Live class meetings: The most straightforward way to fulfill contact time is through live class meetings. For example, a 2-hour synchronous meeting might be useful during the initial class meeting to orient students to a course. Live sessions may also be useful during key points in the course, for example before exams or other major assignments such as student presentations.

What is a video lecture?

Video lecture of faculty or invited expert: Faculty or invited expert is recorded giving a mini-lecture which all students are required to view and then respond to in some way. Note that for an outside or invited expert or guest, this would need to be someone invited by the faculty and filmed for purposes of the course, as opposed to simply having students watch existing footage (e.g. watch a TED talk), which generally wouldn’t be deemed as equivalent to contact time with the faculty.

How long is a Zoom meeting?

Zoom Meetings: Discussions about problems that students encountered and application to real world: MWF, 30 minutes per meeting

How many hours of literature review for final project?

2 hours of literature review for final project. 2 hours of online journaling each week; students must add pictures from museum virtual tour or other relevant pictures and comment. 30 minutes of writing on the discussion board (at least one post and three responses to other students per week) 10 hours per week.

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