Online Course Contact Hours

Online Course Instructional Contact Hours 

Online courses should have the equivalent amount of contact hours per student credit hour as those delivered in other modalities.  As noted by SACSCOC, and the Alabama A&M University Academic Policy and Procedure Manual a 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: 

1. One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction (defined as a nominal 50-minute classroom hour) and a minimum of two hours of out‐of‐class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester hour of credit or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; oR 

1. At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution, including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.  

This definition applies in every instance in which academic credit is awarded to students, regardless of whether instruction is delivered face-to-face, online, hybrid, or by some other delivery mode. 

For the typical three credit class, it is expected that a student will be engaged in classroom learning experiences of 150 minutes x 15 weeks = 2250 minutes. This means the student should spend the equivalent amount of time within their online classroom participating in discussion boards, taking quizzes/examinations, viewing instructional video or PowerPoint slides, reading information from linked web sites, reviewing instructor lectures or any other items that engage the student within the online classroom. Recommended calculations for time-per-online activity can be found in the attached table [see following page].  

Homework hours at AAMU should equate to approximately two hours per every in-class contact hour for any given course. Items that fulfill the homework hours are reading the course text, completing formal writing/ research assignments, answering questions on text readings, conducting research, studying for examinations, and other out-of-classroom course requirements. These activities are considered non-contact activities and do not count toward contact hour calculations. 

 

 

AAMU ONLINE COURSE INSTRUCTIONAL CONTACT HOUR ACTIVITIES 

All asynchronous courses must have faculty recorded instructional videos created and conducted by the AAMU credentialed faculty person, in accordance with the AAMU Course Certification Tool’s requirements. 

All courses will achieve their respective instructional contact hours per week, through a combination of the activities listed below. (i.e. 3 hours/week for 15 week courses and 6 hours/week for 8 week courses.) 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITY	DESCRIPTION	RATE OF EQUIVALENCY	EXAMPLE(S)
Faculty Instructional Videos (Required)	Instructors provide students with instruction, through recorded instructional video presentations.	1 to 1    1 hour = 1 hour instruction	Narrated Power Point Presentation by the instructor.    Video recording of the instructor working out a problem or exercise such as in a math course.    Live video presentation of models and artifacts related to the topic of study. For example, a communicative sciences faculty person shares a live video explaining the model of the ear     Faculty moderation of other video content from sources such as YouTube.
Interactive Instructional PowerPoint presentations, videos	Instructor-mediated content is made available in an alternative delivery format for students to view/interact with in order to expand upon and clarify course concepts and objectives.	Student reviews content and completes interactive activities    1 unit of content = 1 hour instruction	Nearpod Lesson of PowerPoint Slides with Interactive Elements     Articulate Micro-Lesson
Case studies and problem-solving scenarios	Instructor leads students in performing in-depth analysis utilizing higher-order analytical skills, which relate to course objectives. Analysis is shared with instructor and/or classmates for feedback and assessment.	1 case study analysis and post = 1-2 hours	Instructor records video of an overview of the case study and questions to consider during analysis. Instructor includes think-aloud moments to demonstrate how students should think during the analysis.  Students post their analysis of the case study as a discussion board thread or journal entry.
Video Conference Sessions (Zoom, Teams, Collaborate etc.)	Instructor directs students in collaborative, synchronous discussion with specific expectations for participation.	1 hour session = 1 hour instruction
Discussion board	Instructor guides/mediates threaded discussion, engaging learners with content that directly relates to course objectives and that has specified timeframes, expectations for participation, and thoughtful analysis.	1 post/reply = 1 hour instruction     2 posts/2 replies =2 hours instruction
Reflection paper or article review	Instructor-guided activity whereby students apply learned concepts to personal experiences or apply higher order analytic skills in assessing scholarly articles or professional journals.	1 private post = ½ hour instruction     2 shared posts (required to read all classmates’ posts) = 1.5-2 hours instruction