THE CREDIT HOUR CALCULATOR

Harding UniversityApril 2013

Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke

Mr. Mike Chalenburg

Dr. Marty Spears

The Credit Hour Calculator

1. Concept2. Research Base3. Development4. Demonstration5. Policy Statement

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The Credit Hour Calculator1. Concept

Driven by two concerns:1. Federal Compliance

34 CFR §600 and § 668 …a 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 one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester or trimester hour of credit, or ten to twelve weeks for one quarter hour of credit, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time, or;

At least an equivalent amount of work as outlined in item 1 above 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. (§600.2)

A semester hour approximates one hour (or 50 minutes) of classroom time and two hours of out-of-class student work each week in a 15-week semester or its equivalent. (Report of the Meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, December 2010, U.S. Department of Education, pp. 25-26).

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The Credit Hour Calculator1. Concept

How might the regulations be enforced?

For example, as of July 1 of this year, the U.S. Department of Education has regulations in effect that formally define a credit hour as one hour of classroom ‘seat time’ and two hours of homework, she said.

“Your class could be sampled, and you’ll have to justify both the seat time and out-of-class time.”

Dr. Susan Phillips, University of Albany, State University of New York, as cited in Monitor on Psychology, October 2011, p. 16.

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The Credit Hour Calculator1. Concept

2. Course (Time) Consistency

How well do our courses utilize our students’ time? Is there equity in time requirements across courses? Are some courses more time consuming than others? How do we, as an institution, measure the time

commitments of various courses? How do we ensure course quality and time consistency

when there are so many course and term variations?

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Type of Instruction

Contact Hoursper week

(“class hours,” 50-minute segments)

 A

Weekly Prep Time(50 minute segments)

BA+B

Total Numbe

r of Weeks

  C

Total number of hours 

 (A+B) x

C

Number of credit hours

awarded45 = 1; 90 =

2135 = 3; 180

= 4Traditional Class

Lecture, recitation1 2 3 15 45 12 4 6 15 90 23 6 9 15 135 3

Supervised Group Activity

Lab, Group studio, Practicum

3 0 3 15 45 11 2 3 15 45 12 4 6 15 90 2

Field Trip6 12 18 5 90 26 12 18 10 180 4

Supervised Individual ActivityIndependent study, individual studio, dissertation

.5 2.5 3 15 45 1

.5 5.5 6 15 90 2

.5 8.5 9 15 135 3Full-time Independent StudyStudent teaching, practicum, clinical placement

0 45 45 1 45 1

Experiential Learning

Approved activities 0 45 45 1 45 1

Short Sessions

Summer sessions, intersessions, weekend sessions, workshops, seminars

12.5 10 22.50 2 45 118 27 45.00 1 45 18 15 23.00 4 92.0 28 15 23.00 6 138.0 3

21.25 44 65.25 2 130.5 3

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The Credit Hour Calculator2. Research Base

1. Starting with what we know: One credit = 45 total hours:

15 hours in class, and 30 hours outside of class.

In-class time One “hour” = 50 minutes

Out-of-class time Reading, writing, reviewing, preparing for labs, practicing

instruments, Etc.Etc.Etc.

Easy

Complicated!

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The Credit Hour Calculator2. Research Base

We developed two assumptions:

1. Faculty have a pretty good sense about the time needed/required for practicing music, lab prep, etc.2. Faculty needed a research-based tool to measure the length

of time necessary for assignments in reading and writing.

We found research regarding average reading times; however, we did not locate a similar body of research on writing, which is an iterative process.

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The Credit Hour Calculator2. Research Base

READING: Based on research from: Rosalind Streichler, Ph. D., Center for Teaching

Development, University of California, San Diego;

Karron G. Lewis, Ph. D., Associate Director, Center for Teaching Effectiveness;

Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment, The University of Texas at Austin; and

Cambridge University

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Harding University

The Credit Hour Calculator2. Research Base

Next step…..moving from the desire to ensure consistency, the need to meet federal mandates, and

the foundation of a research base……we worked to develop a tool to meet

our goals.

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The Credit Hour Calculator3. Development

Three iterations were developed, working collaboratively with our stakeholders:

CHC 1.0 A standard three-hour academic class

CHC 1.1 An experiential-based class

CHC 1.2 A database to ensure all courses meet our policy

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The Credit Hour Calculator4. Demonstration

Demonstration How does it work? How is the research base incorporated into

the formulas?

Course Examples Handout example: Math 200 Elementary

Statistics Handout example: POLS 435 Constitutional

LawHarding University

Screen shot

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5. University Credit Hour Policy

Initial proposal drafted jointly by provost council and deans council, but it was refined in response to rich conversations in academic leaders meetings. Like the federal regulation, the policy is two-

pronged, allowing for compliance with 1) time expectations or 2) equivalent work expectations.

Credit Hour Calculator was developed in response to feedback to address time expectations.

A syllabus statement was developed to help standardize, educate and motivate.

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5. University Credit Hour Policy

University Credit Hour Syllabus StatementFor every course credit hour, the typical student should expect to spend at least three clock hours per week of concentrated attention on course-related work, including but not limited to time attending class, as well as out-of-class time spent reading, reviewing, organizing notes, preparing for upcoming quizzes/ exams, problem solving, developing and completing projects, and other activities that enhance learning. Thus, for a three hour course, a typical student should expect to spend at least nine hours per week dedicated to the course. Harding

University

5. University Credit Hour Policy

Other Issues that arose in conversations Curriculum changes might be necessary to address

differences in time/work expectations among courses. Student committee members asked about consideration

of a maximum expectation for time/work in a course. The need to include non-traditional courses (i.e. part-of-

term, delivery mode, etc.) was discussed at length. Discussed a survey of faculty and students to investigate

time/work expectations across the curriculum Summer maximum load issue are being considered

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Next Steps

New courses CHC required

Existing courses CHC to be applied to all courses this

summer Non-traditional courses

Courses translated into a different part of term or delivery method

CHC can be used to demonstrate equivalent work