What are Contact Hours?

In preparing an online or hybrid proposal, an instructor will need to explain how each instructional hour will be implemented throughout each week of his/her online or hybrid course. This can be done using percentages or actual hourly increments. For example an instructor may determine that 25 percent of his/her course will offer lectures and presentations, (13.5 contact hours), while another 25 percent of the contact hours will be used in constructivist assignments or asynchronistic discussion and peer responses, (13.5 contact hours). These are the same kinds of methods of instructional contact that are often used in a face-to-face class.

The total number of contact hours in your course should approximate the equivalent number of hours required in an on-campus setting. For example, a 3-unit course typically meets on campus for 54 contact hours of instruction, assessment, discussion, and group activities, (Note: Instructional Hours are 50 minutes long). 

In accounting for contact hours an instructor needs to consider how each hour will be dispersed throughout each week of his/her online or hybrid course.

The following list illustrates some sample activities for an online class. These are suggestions and each instructor would use whichever activities, best suited to the type of course and discipline being offered:

Contact Hour or “In-class” Activities

• Read lectures/ content
• Participate in Discussion Board Forums
• Assessments – quizzes, tests, surveys
• Presentations From the Instructor
• View multimedia content
• Group Problem Solving
• Transformative Learning Activities in class: Responding to other learners in regard to certain questions that challenge a learner’s perspective on key issues in the course materials.
• Reading another Student’s Blog
• Posting feedback, Reading student posts, and Peer Reviewing other Student’s papers on the discussion board or group forum.
• Group Projects that include multiple posts to each group member within their designated group forum space.
• “In class” reading of short texts, scenarios or quick discussion questions.
• Reading another student’s presentation. (This would be the equivalent of listening and viewing a student presentation in a face-to-face class.)
• Constructivist Assignments that target real-life applications for class discussion on the Discussion Board.

In addition, students should be expected to spend two preparatory hours “outside of class” for every hour in class on reading, studying, preparing assignments, and other homework; these additional hours are not considered to be “contact hours”. Thus, you will need to account for the actual contact hours in your proposal.

Preparatory or “Outside of Class” Activities

• Read Textbooks
• Research
• Preparing assignments
• Viewing an internet site for one’s own research purposes.
• Individual Reflective Writing
• Journaling
• Writing /Composing a Blog
• Analyzing another student’s ideas individually.
• Using a WIKI for posting ideas to other class members in preparation for a Group Project.
• Outside reading of additional texts pertaining to the course subject matter as homework preparation.
• Preparing an individual class presentation.
• Reviewing class notes.

In summary, “contact hours” are usually those segments of instructional time where the student is actively engaged in learning activities and would reflect the same type of instruction implemented in a traditional face-to-face classroom. Therefore, instructors are encouraged to offer a clear breakdown of “contact hours” in the section of the proposal entitled, “Course Content Delivery”.

Sample Contact Hour Activities Plus Hours Conducted ONLINE

Reading through written course lectures or media (videos). These written lectures or media will be used to inform students about the different elements of the class, much like an on-campus lecture. Media may include interviews or discussions that relate to the ideas explored in the class and will always relate to an assignment (1 hour per week, 17 hours total).

Online threaded discussions via the Discussion Board. The expectations for each post will be explained in detatil for each forum. i will also require students to respond to the post of at least one other student per forum. Each Discussion Board post will be graded according to a posted rubric (Ranging from 1-1.5 hours per week, average of 1.25 hour each week - 22 hours total).

Online assessments (sometimes deemed "quizzes," other times an assignment/activity using the test function in Canvas) on reading assignments and/or writing conventions. These assessments, allow for employment serial to be emphasized. It will also assist with an evaluation of student progress (15 to 30 minute per week, average of 22 minutes each week = 6.5 ).

Peer review will also be used as a method of interaction between the students. Why would this can be a time-consuming process, collaboration with peers as an important aspect of a student-centered classroom ( 3 hours per semester).

 

Sample Contact Hour Activities Plus Hours Conducted IN-PERSON

Two on-campus meetings, approximately 2 hours each. The first meeting will be an introduction to the class and in-person writing sample. I also use this first meeting to verify identification check IDs in person. The last meeting will be an in-class writing at the end of the semester, four hours per semester.