Meeting Carnegie Unit Requirements in an Online Environment

Social Work Distance Education ConferenceApril 16, 2015

Learning Objectives

By the end of this presentation, you will be able to:Outline a brief history of the Carnegie unit/student hour

Describe what other MSW programs are doing to meet Carnegie unit requirements

Access a list of resources describing activities that meet Carnegie units in an online environment

Brief History of Distance Learning1728 – Boston newspaper publishes offering of

correspondence course.

19th Century – advancement of postal service provided opportunities for correspondence courses by mail.

1951 – City Colleges of Chicago offer college credit for courses delivered via television

1994 – first fully online courses emerge. Students participate in discussions, lectures, and projects entirely through the computer.

What is Online Learning? Learning delivered by web-based or internet-based

technologies.

Platform for delivering course content.

Program suitable for working professionals.

Reaches a more diverse student population.

Provides 24/7 accessibility to course materials.

Enhances student-to-student and faculty-to-student communication via discussion boards, chats, and emails.

Resolves campus space issues.

Why Online Learning in Social Work?

What is a Carnegie Unit? The “Carnegie Unit” and “credit hour” are time-based references

for measuring educational attainment used by American universities and colleges

A Carnegie Unit assesses secondary school attainment

A credit hour (derived from the Carnegie Unit) assesses post-secondary school attainment

Credit hour = one clock-hour (50 minutes)of lecture time for a single student per week over the course of a semester

One hour of instruction + two hours of prep. For a 3-credit class, this translates roughly to 45 hours of instruction and an additional 90 hours of preparation

Does Time = Quality?Howard, H. (1965). The Carnegie Unit: Is this

bugaboo still with us?

Dettre, A. (1975). The Carnegie Unit: A doubtful practice.

Kiker, J. (2007). Move beyond “seat time” and narrowly defined knowledge and skills.

“All accredited programs are subject to the same accreditation standards and review criteria by the Commission on Accreditation, regardless of the curriculum delivery methods used” (CSWE, 2015, para. 1).

Activities that “Count” toward Academic Engagement Submitting an assignment

Listening to lectures or webinars

Taking an exam

Completing an interactive tutorial (or computer-assisted instruction)

Attending a study group assigned by the instructor

Contributing to an academic online discussion

Initiating contact with faculty re: academic subject

Conducting laboratory work

Activities that “Count” toward PreparationHomework

Reading and study time

Completing assignments and projects

NOTE: Academic engagement = 45 hours/semester whereas Preparation = 90 hours/semester for a 3-unit course

Resources & Best Practices Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Documenting credit hours

Online Teaching Activity Index

Your University’s Tech Office (Blackboard, Moodle, Softchalk, general training, etc.)

Require equivalencies in syllabi re: the mechanisms used to meet Carnegie Units

Evaluate based on standards, not just time (see SREB example)

Thank You!

THANK YOU!

Jodi L. Constantine Brown, Ph.D.Director of Online & Offsite ProgramsCalifornia State University, Northridge

jodi.brown@csun.edu818-677-6010 (direct line)