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Spring 1999
1998-99 Technology Committee
Ian Walton, Chair, Mission College
Marsha Chan, Mission College
Ric Matthews, San Diego Miramar College
Kathy O'Connor, Santa Barbara City College
Karen Owen, San Diego Community College District
1998-99
Curriculum Committee
Beverly Shue, Chair, Los Angeles Harbor College
Luz Argyriou, Napa Valley College
Donna Ferracone, Crafton Hills College
Diane Glow, San Diego Miramar College
Jane Sneed, City College of San Francisco
Bob Stafford, San Bernardino Valley College
Ron Vess, Southwestern College
Joyce Black, CIO Representative
Sergio Carillo, Student Senate Representative
Table of
Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Title 5 Regulation Change
Good Practice in Technology Mediated Instruction
Effective Contact for Distance Learning
Curriculum Committee Implementation
Bargaining Implications
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices
Abstract
This position paper of the Academic
Senate for California Community Colleges further elaborates the
Academic Senate´s existing positions on distance education
and the effective use of technology in instruction. In particular
it examines the implications of a 1998 change in the Title 5 regulations
governing distance education in California community colleges, especially
with regard to instructor-student contact. The paper begins with
a review of good practices in technology mediated instruction and
proceeds to consider and make recommendations on effective instructor-student
contact. Many of the recommendations apply equally to courses offered
in any mode of instruction, but the paper specifically addresses
local curriculum committees as they decide how to apply these recommendations
in their review of distance education course proposals. The paper
briefly mentions some unresolved issues in the area of faculty collective
bargaining. Finally the paper makes recommendations for action by
local academic senates to ensure that the curriculum review process
for distance education courses separately documents effective instructor-student
contact, technical support, accessibility and provision of support
services to students.
Introduction
The Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges has already been involved in many aspects of
the successful introduction and implementation of technology in
the learning process. In Fall 1997, the position paper Guidelines
for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction was adopted at
the Plenary Session. That paper addressed good practices for all
types of technology mediated instruction, whether it occurs in the
classroom on campus, or involves distance learning. Earlier that
year plenary session resolutions also called for more specific guidelines
for curriculum committees as they review distance education course
proposals.
S97 9.05
Curriculum Model
Whereas California community
colleges must respond to the needs of a changing student body population,
and
Whereas because of welfare reform,
many students will have increasingly limited time to attend traditionally
scheduled and offered classes, and
Whereas the need to develop
alternative approaches to the delivery of education is of paramount
concern to faculty, and
Whereas alternative educational
institutions such as National University, other private institutions,
and the virtual university are competing for our students,
Therefore be it resolved that
the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the
Executive Committee to develop a model for dealing with curricular
review of changing modes of delivery and methods of instruction,
i.e., new class size, new hours of instruction, new electronic ways
of delivering instruction, and ways of packaging courses, and
Be it further resolved that
the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local
senates to develop a faculty-driven process, in consultation with
their local curriculum committee, by which curricular decisions
are made concerning new modes of offering, teaching, and packaging
courses, and
Be it finally resolved that
the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the
Executive Committee to develop minimum standards for faculty equipment,
faculty training, and faculty support for purposes of technology
mediated instruction.
S97 9.06
Adherence to Distance Education Curriculum Review Requirements
Whereas Title 5 '55378 states,
"Each proposed or existing course, if delivered by distance education,
shall be separately reviewed and approved according to the district's
certified course approval procedures," and
Whereas the Academic Senate
has published guidelines for implementing curriculum review and
approval of courses delivered by distance education in its paper
"Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections"
(November 1995), and
Whereas chief executive officers
of some community colleges and districts have sought to implement
distance education courses without such a curriculum committee review
and approval, and
Whereas some at the University
of California and the California State University have called into
question community college distance education courses which have
not had their quality assured by full curriculum committee review
and approval,
Therefore be it resolved that
the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local
senates to seek the timely review and approval of distance education
courses in line with Title 5 ''55316-55380 and to follow guidelines
in the Academic Senate paper "Curriculum Committee Review of Distance
Learning Courses and Sections" (November 1995), and
Be it further resolved that
Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the Executive
Committee to identify models of good practice currently in place,
which curriculum committees could use to develop their own guidelines
for approval of technology mediated instruction that ensure a quality
curriculum with appropriate methodologies for interaction between
faculty and students.
The Academic Senate's Fall 1993
position paper Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning
Courses and Sections has already addressed the more general aspects
of distance education course review. This current paper will address
changes caused by the introduction of new technology, and also by
the 1998 revision in Title 5 regulations regarding distance education.
In particular the paper will consider appropriate curriculum committee
review of effective instructor-student contact in distance learning
courses.
Instructor-student contact is
at the very heart of all college courses. The Academic Senate's
recently adopted Fall 1998 position paper The Future of the Community
College: A Faculty Perspective states:
-
the greatest strength
of the community college lies in the quality of instruction,
and
-
the Academic Senate maintains
that technology, both now and in the future, is a marvelous
enhancement to instruction, and would urge that its potential
continue to be explored and utilized.
Ensuring that this instructor-student
contact is as effective as possible should be a primary goal of
the curriculum review process for all courses. It should also be
an important aspect of the peer review process for instructors.
In both cases, the standards for distance education courses should
be no different from the standards for any other course. The goal
is to implement sound pedagogy. However, the use of technology may
allow an instructor to meet that goal in a greater variety of ways
and to tailor methods to individual students. Since Title 5 regulations
call for separate curriculum committee review of distance education
courses, this paper examines the challenges of and opportunities
for effective instructor-student contact in that setting.
Title 5
Regulation Changes
One of the forces motivating
this discussion of curriculum committee procedures for review of
distance education course proposals was the 1998 change in Title
5 regulations.
Prior to 1998 language distinguished
between associate level courses and transferable level courses as
follows (emphasis added):
Old Language
55376. Instructor Contact.
. . . district governing
boards shall ensure that:
(a) Each section of a
credit transferable course which is
delivered as distance education shall include regular
personal contact between instructor and students, through
group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental
seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, or other
in-person activities. Personal contact
may be supplemented by telephone contact and correspondence.
(b) All
other approved courses offered by distance education shall
include regular contact between instructors
and students consistent with guidelines issued by the Chancellor
pursuant to Section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of
the Board of Governors.
Following considerable work
by the Academic Senate's Technology Committee and Educational Policies
Committee, proposals to change Title 5 regulation language were
debated at the Fall 1997 Plenary Session and a modified proposal
was approved by delegates.
After the consultation
process, the following revised Title 5 regulation was adopted by
the Board of Governors in July 1998 (emphasis added):
Current
Language
55376. Instructor Contact.
. . . district governing
boards shall ensure that:
(a) All approved courses
offered as distance education shall include regular
effective contact between instructor and students, through
group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental
seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone
contact, correspondence, voice mail, e-mail,
or other activities.
(b) All distance education
courses shall be delivered consistent with guidelines issued by
the Chancellor pursuant to Section 409 of the Procedures and Standing
Orders of the Board of Governors. Regular effective
contact is an academic and professional matter pursuant to
Title 5 '53200.
Notice that the main effect
of the new language was to replace the requirement for "in-person"
contact (commonly referred to as "face to face," although these
words never appeared in regulation) with a requirement for "regular
effective contact." Moreover, "regular effective contact" was defined
as an academic and professional matter, which places it in the purview
of the local academic senate and collegial consultation. Also, the
distinction between transferable and other credit courses was removed.
The Academic Senate's original
proposal also included the following additional language, but it
was not adopted by the Board of Governors:
Senate
Proposal - Not Adopted
Separate Course Approval.
Districts are to review courses
with a specific emphasis on regular effective contact between instructor
and student pursuant to Title 5 '55376.
However the following existing
language was retained:
Adopted
Language - Unchanged
55378. Separate Course Approval.
Each proposed or existing course,
if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed
and approved, according to the district=s certified course approval
procedures.
This language, therefore, still
requires curriculum committees to perform a separate review of distance
education courses. Combined with the "academic and professional
matter" language,
'' 55376 and 55378 together
provide curriculum committees with the opportunity to oversee the
implementation of the new effective contact regulation as part of
their local curriculum approval process.
Good Practices
In Technology Mediated Instruction
Much of the background to effective
technology mediated instruction has already been described in detail
in the Fall 1997 Academic Senate paper Guidelines for Good Practice:
Technology Mediated Instruction and the works it references.
In the many specific techniques
suggested in that paper, the principal purpose is to provide the
most effective learning experience for the student. This purpose,
of course, should be the goal of all instruction, no matter the
mode of instruction, and most good practices apply to all courses.
Effective instructor-student contact is a universal requirement
for instruction. However, since the determination of effective instruction
is not an easy task in the planning and discussion of any course,
it is important that technology mediated courses should not be held
to a higher or different standard than other courses.
Two quotations from the 1993
Academic Senate position paper Distance Learning in California Community
Colleges are particularly appropriate:
-
innovation should always
serve the best interests of students, and
-
innovation should be initiated
by faculty when it enhances student success.
The use of innovative
technology offers an opportunity to simultaneously encourage progress
for the comfortable majority of students while at the same time
concentrating on the variety of individual and specific difficulties
encountered by smaller groups of students. Just as one lecture style
is not effective for every student, so one mode of technology is
not universally effective. The goal should be to make a variety
of options available for different students with different learning
styles.
Traditional ideas of good teaching
practices are important, regardless of methodology: they simply
need to be extended to new situations. Chickering and Ehrmann in
Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever (1996), point
out that instructor-student contact is a key component in the teaching
and learning process. Pure content can, for example, be conveyed
by a lecture, a text, a computer, a video or a CD-ROM. But it is
the instructor who conveys the relevance of information and sets
the context. Making the information come alive takes a dynamic interaction
between teacher and learner. A large lecture format is not necessarily
the best way to accomplish this dynamic interaction. By using more
technology for content delivery, the instructor may be made available
for more meaningful interactions with the student. The course approval
process for distance learning courses should seek to demonstrate
these possibilities, for example by asking about the nature of individual
interactions.
This distinction is particularly
the case with the use of "off the shelf" courses such as the traditional
television course. The college has both the opportunity and the
obligation to add value to the content material rather than to simply
transmit it. Most obviously, value can be added by the provision
of services to students, such as the dynamic instructor-student
interaction mentioned above, or library and counseling services.
The course approval process should document how these services will
be provided.
Another feature for consideration
in course design and review is accessibility. A course designed
to use technology or distance learning should make provisions to
accommodate disabled students in a comparable manner to regular
courses. One well known example is ensuring that websites used for
courses are accessible to screen readers for the visually impaired.
Current information on accessibility and the world wide web can
be obtained from the Web Accessibility Initiative at: http://www.w3.org/WAI/
In addition, the Center for
Applied Special Technology maintains a website at: http://www.cast.org/bobby/
which provides a means of checking
individual pages or sites for accessibility.
Effective
Contact For Distance Learning
The design for a distance learning
course should show attention to both parts of the learning experience:
the information transfer portion of the course and also the individual
instructor-student contact portion.
In Guidelines for Good Practice:
Technology Mediated Instruction, the following ideas are listed
for possible consideration during design and implementation of the
information transfer portion of the course.
The video, multimedia,
or web-based instruction can:
-
relate the new material
to previous student knowledge,
-
place new material properly
in relationship to the rest of the course content,
-
create logical sequences
for each element presented,
-
integrate introductory
statements, detailed content, examples and illustrations,
colorful asides designed to spur interest, and summative statements
into a well-paced, attention-holding package,
-
intersperse instructional
methodologies using different learning styles such as:
- logical/deductive style with
text-based material,
- verbal-visual style with well-explained
pictures and diagrams,
-
visual-kinesthetic style
with interactive exercises, and
-
anticipate areas of questions,
and supply appropriate and timely replies.
This paper is mainly interested
in the instructor-student interaction portion of the course. Students
need timely help with understanding course material and with skills
that are relevant to their goals; they need timely access to college
support services; they need timely access to faculty; and they need
to be engaged. Creatively used technology can significantly enhance
the individual experience for the student, and can improve the services
provided by the college and the instructor. For example, students
who correspond with the instructor once a week, or more, by e-mail
may in fact receive considerably more useful personal attention
than those who sit quietly in the back of a lecture all semester.
A student who participates electronically in a guided, threaded
online discussion will almost certainly experience a richer interaction
than that provided by a single question and answer in a traditional
classroom.
Guidelines for Good Practice:
Technology Mediated Instruction also lists the following possible
examples of individual instructor-student interactions:
-
Technology can foster
contact, providing additional vehicles for instructor-student
interactions and for placing the information in an appropriate
context.
-
Technology has given us
additional tools to foster interaction in a student-driven
manner adapted to the technology used, for example:
- Web based: frequently-asked-questions
that can be kept current ("FAQs"),
- Interactive: question-and-answer
("Q&A") areas or chat rooms,
- Phone based: phone-in office
hours or voice mail,
- Video based: video conferencing
with "smart" cameras which can focus on students asking questions,
- Internet based: e-mail distribution
lists, chatrooms or bulletin boards where threaded conversations
or guided discussions could be held, and
- FAX and e-mail based: exchange
of ideas and comments or communication of documents over distance.
In order for effective instructor-student
contact to occur in technology mediated courses, faculty development
must include adequate training for both full-time and part-time
instructors. Furthermore, ongoing responsive technical support must
be provided to both faculty and students. If course delivery depends
on technology, then all aspects of that technology must function
properly whenever faculty and students require them. Colleges that
offer distance learning courses must plan, prepare, budget and implement
ongoing faculty development and technical support in a timely, systematic
manner.
Curriculum
Committee Implementation
In the words of the 1995 Academic
Senate position paper Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning
Courses and Sections:
"Curriculum committees
must make a judgment as to the quality of the course based on a
review of the appropriateness of the methods of presentation, assignments,
evaluation of student performance, and instructional materials.
Are these components adequate to achieve the stated objectives of
the course?"
This statement, of course, applies
to curriculum committee evaluation of any course. More particularly,
the purpose of curriculum committee review of distance education
course proposals should be to assure that both information transfer
and instructor-student interaction are well planned. The review
process should be designed to document this assurance.
The information transfer portion
would normally be covered in traditional sections of the course
outline on Student Objectives and Course Content. For example, this
might well specify the number of hours spent studying material from
a CD-ROM and should show the correct relationship to the Carnegie
Units of credit for the class. (See for example, Appendix 1 and
Appendix 4.) Title 5 defines the Carnegie Unit as follows:
55002 Units.
The course grants units of credit
based upon a relationship specified by the governing board between
the number of units assigned to the course and the number of lecture
and/or laboratory hours or performance criteria specified in the
course outline. The course requires a minimum
of three hours of student work per week, per unit, including class
time and/or demonstrated competency, for each unit of credit, prorated
for short-term, laboratory, and activity courses.
For a more complete discussion
of Carnegie Units, see the Spring 1998 Academic Senate position
paper Good Practices for Course Approval Processes.
The instructor-student
interaction portion of the curriculum review should be presented
not as a challenge or an obstacle to the course originator. Rather
it should provide an opportunity to show what interactions will
be used and why they should be effective. This description should
occur in the Methods of Instruction Section of the course outline
where "types and examples" illustrate the appropriate classroom-based
or distance education part. There is no need to demonstrate that
distance education interactions are more effective than a traditional
course format, but there should be an opportunity to include this
data if the course originator desires. While "in-person" contact
is no longer required by regulation, there are still situations
where it remains effective and appropriate as an option. Checkbox
lists of interaction methods may be used by the curriculum committee
to organize responses, but are discouraged as a means of collecting
information from the course originator. (See for example, Appendix
2 and Appendix 3). In particular, this information should clarify
both the nature of "effective" and of "regular" for the instructor-student
contact in the proposed course. Information is best collected from
the course originator using more open-ended questions such as the
following (See for example Appendix 1).
Describe how the course content is delivered:
Describe the nature and frequency of instructor-student
interactions:
-
provide examples of synchronous
and asynchronous components of the course taught using distance
education technology. List the criteria that will be used
to substantiate student learning, and describe the methods
of evaluating student achievement,
-
describe the number and
frequency of different types of instructor-student interaction
for students making satisfactory progress, and
-
describe the nature and
methods of instructor-student communications designed to intervene
when students are at-risk of dropping the course due to poor
participation or low test performance.
For each type of interaction listed above describe
why you believe it will be effective:
Describe how the course
design will accommodate students with disabilities:
-
describe the availability
of appropriate devices such as screen readers and the design
of web or e-mail material to ensure access, and
-
describe the availability
of support services for students with disabilities.
Describe the availability of adequate technology
and support to carry out the course design:
-
describe the adequacy
of available technology to carry out effective distance education
courses,
-
describe the adequacy
of support personnel to maintain hardware, software, media
resources and to ensure uninterrupted access to the delivery
system, and
-
describe the availability
of technical support for faculty and students.
Describe the support services that ensure
student success:
-
describe how students
will access services such as tutoring, counseling, financial
aid, etc., and
-
describe how students
will have access to course materials, library materials, learning
resource materials, etc.
Describe the use of assignments and methods
of evaluation to ensure effective instructor-student contact:
-
describe an ongoing series
of small interactions to ensure participation, such as regular
e-mail or phone contact, and
-
describe an ongoing series
of evaluations that ensure verification of student learning
and permit timely instructor intervention.
Notice once again that almost all of these questions, and
the information they seek to elicit, are appropriate for the
review of all courses - not just for distance education.
Bargaining
Implications
Several issues around the successful
design and review of distance education courses involve collective
bargaining concerns and the provision of support services.
For example, the class size
is a crucial component. As in a classroom-based course, class size
has implications for both educational effectiveness and faculty
working conditions. Title 5 '55352, acknowledges that class size
in distance education sections "shall be determined by and be consistent
with other district procedures related to faculty assignment" and
specifically mentions that such procedures "may include a review
by the curriculum committee."
Despite the hopes of some that
budget savings will occur from the use of large classes in a distance
education mode, there is little evidence that this has happened.
In How Many Students are 'Just Right' in a Web Course? (1998), Judith
Boettcher cites examples of distance education courses that have
been accepted as effective and where the maximum class sizes are
in the 15 to 20 student range. She also cites the growing evidence
that faculty spend more time when they interact via e-mail or the
web than in a traditional course.
Issues of compensation for course
development and intellectual property rights of faculty are also
a concern. Details of compensation may be included in a bargaining
contract or may be negotiated individually. The Academic Senate
is currently working with faculty on a position paper that includes
bargaining implications.
Recommendations:
The Academic Senate for the
California Community Colleges recommends to local academic senates
that they:
1) ensure that the local Curriculum
Committee performs a separate review of courses offered by distance
education, as required by Title 5 '55378,
2) ensure that this separate
review considers both the information transfer and the instructor-student
contact aspects of the course,
3) ensure that this separate
review of instructor-student contact addresses the methods to be
used, their effectiveness, and their frequency,
4) ensure that this separate
review considers the availability of technical support for faculty
and students,
5) ensure that this separate
review considers issues of access for students with disabilities,
6) ensure that adequate support
services are provided to distance education students, by consulting
with counseling and library faculty, and
7) consult with local bargaining
agents on distance education issues that involve working conditions.
Bibliography
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning
Courses and Sections", Position Paper, adopted November 1995.
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "Distance Learning in California Community Colleges:
An Academic Senate Review of the Social, Fiscal and Educational
Issues", Position Paper, adopted November 1993.
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "Good Practices for Course Approval Processes",
Position Paper, adopted April 1998.
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated
Instruction", Position Paper, adopted November 1997.
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "Stylistic Considerations in Writing Course
Outlines of Record", Position Paper, adopted April 1998.
Academic Senate for the California
Community Colleges, "The Future of the Community College: A Faculty
Perspective", Position Paper, adopted November 1998.
Accrediting Commission for Community
and Junior Colleges, "Principles of Good Practice for Electronically
Delivered Academic Degree and Certificate Programs", Adopted June
1996.(available March 1999 on the world wide web at http://www.accjc.org/HANDBOK1.htm#
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ELECTRONICALLY DELIVERED ACADEMIC
DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS)
Boettcher, Judith V., "How Many
Students are 'Just Right' in a Web Course?", Syllabus, August 1998.
California Virtual University,
"Academic Plan - Principles of Good Practice".(available March 1999
on the world wide web at http://www.california.edu/Faculty/AcademicPlan/academic_plan.html)
Chickering, Arthur W. and Stephen
C.Ehrmann, "Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever",
American Association of Higher Education Bulletin 49, 1996.
Appendices
The following pages show a variety
of forms, questions, answers and calculations that could be used
by a course proposer or by a local curriculum committee. They are
chosen to illustrate some of the points made in the text of the
paper. They illustrate both good and bad practices. These examples
are only a few of the many possibilities available and should not
be interpreted as model forms or as the only option.
Appendix
1
Example of an "effective" Curriculum Committee Distance
Learning Form for the course proposer, that includes "distance"
and "in-person" contact, information on hours, and sample responses.
There are many other possibilities. This is not intended as a "model."
Distance
Learning Course Outline Addendum
COURSE TITLE & NO. Math C, Intermediate Algebra
(4 units)
Each proposed or existing course,
if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed
and approved by the curriculum committee prior to being offered.
[Education Code '55378]
Address the following questions:
1. Need/Justification
What is the intent in offering
the course by distance education?
How will learning be enhanced
by the use of distance education technology?
There are three main intentions
in delivering this class by distance learning:
-
to make the course available
to students unable or unwilling to attend class twice a week
on campus,
-
to make the course available
to students unable to meet the fixed class schedules, and
-
to make the computer-based
version of this course available to more students without requiring
an increase in the use or acquisition of computer equipment
available on campus.
Many of our Math C students
have been unable to complete the course due to time commitments
that arise during the semester: changes in job obligations, illnesses
and other difficulties within their families. We believe that offering
the course by distance learning will lessen this difficulty, as
well as make the resources for learning the material available to
students 24-hours a day.
Students will use a home, work
or other Windows based computer, with a CD-ROM drive and Internet
access to connect with a college server. They will use a set of
CD-ROMs, and a set of workbooks, to learn the material of the course,
with the server recording their work, including online quiz scores.
2. Methods
of Instruction: Instructor-Student Contact
Regular
Contact
Please indicate type and number
of instructor-student contacts per semester and why you feel this
will be effective.
e-mail communication
Individual 2 - 10 Via
listserve _____
Via Chatroom 4 - 6 Via Bulletin Board _____
Via FAQS ____
Telephone contacts 4 - 6
Orientation sessions (in person) 1 (2 hrs, mandatory)
Group meetings (in person) 4 (2 hrs each, mandatory)
Review session (in person) 1 (2 hrs, optional)
Other (describe)
Contact with the instructor
is to have four forms:
-
A minimum of five on-campus
meetings: orientation at the beginning of the semester, a
midterm examination, two lecture classes on material not covered
by the CD-ROMs and a final examination,
-
Messages sent between
the instructor and student via computer within the mathematics
software,
-
E-mail sent between the
instructor and student, and
-
Weekly real-time individual
and group conferences via a web-based chat room.
Describe how you will
identify and respond to students experiencing difficulty:
-
Test, online and homework
scores will be monitored for signs of student difficulty,
and
-
Identified students will
be contacted individually and encouraged to use optional group
meetings, instructor office hours, or tutor programs.
Hours for
Content Delivery and Interaction
Please show the approximate
hours anticipated for student activities.
5 CD-ROMs = 60 hrs supplants
normal lecture format
5 Mandatory meetings:
1 orientation session, sessions
designed to assist students
1 mid-term exam, in understanding
assignments and
2 lecture sessions enable instructor
to evaluate
1 final exam = 10 hrs student
progress
1 Optional meeting to review
sessions designed to
assist students for exams, lecture on selected in learning
difficult material topics = 2 hrs
Total = 72 hrs
3. Assignments
Please describe student assignments.
In order for a student
to be successful in this course it is anticipated that each student
will need to spend time, aside from that necessary to do computer-based
lessons and take exams, using the course workbooks. Consequently,
although the majority of student time will not be spent attending
class sessions at the college, students should still expect to spend
approximately seven hours each week reading and completing the workbook,
studying the materials and doing additional online work. In addition,
at least one hour per week will be spent communicating via computer
with the instructor and other students in the class using e-mail
and chat rooms.
4. Methods
of Evaluation
Please describe how you will
evaluate students.
Testing will include computerized
online tests as well as on-site classroom tests.
Participation in contact activities will be evaluated.
Project papers will require submission of drafts to document progress.
Written, comprehensive midterm and final exam.
5.
Technical Support
What equipment and staff are
necessary to support the course (for students and faculty)? Is it
already available?
Students will use a non-campus
Windows based computer (at home or work) to access a college internet
server, which has already been purchased. The chatroom periods will
be handled by an existing college server. All needed equipment is
currently available.
Faculty and students may call
the District Information Services Helpline for technical assistance.
Additional help will be provided by the instructor.
6.
Instructional Materials and Resources
Please describe how you will
provide students with access to instructional materials and resources.
Students may access the
college library and instructional material center when on campus
for orientation and testing sessions.
The college library catalog
may be accessed over the Internet
7. Student
Services
Please describe how you will
provide students with access to counseling and financial aid services.
Students may access counselors
and financial aid assistance when on campus for orientation and
testing sessions.
Web advising is available on
a limited basis.
8. Accommodations
for Students with Disabilities
Please describe how you will
accommodate students with disabilities.
Students may contact the
DSPS program staff when they are on campus for orientation sessions,
or by telephone at other times to make suitable arrangements.
Web site course material will
be accessible to screen readers.
9. Additional
Resources
Are additional resources/or
secretarial support needed or anticipated to teach by distance learning?
No.
10.
Class size
30 (standard limit for
Math classes taught in the on-campus computer lab)
(This Distance Learning Course
Outline Addendum was modified with thanks to Mission College)
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