Title: 02.11.130-Clock Hour Conversion

Policy Number: 02.11.130

Policy Title: Clock Hour Conversion

Status: Active

Policy:

Higher education courses are traditionally measured according to Clock Hours, Credit Hours, or both.

CREDIT HOUR CONVERSION ASSUMPTIONS:

The institution calculates Credit Hours based upon §668.8(l)(2) Full Formula Option. If rounding is required, the calculations are rounded down on a course-by-course basis. In all cases. one semester hour must be equal to at least 37.5 clock hours.
In calculating lecture-based courses, a semester hour should be equivalent to one hour of classroom and two hours of out-of-class student-work each week in an approximately 15-week semester. In calculating non-lecture-based courses, per federal regulation §668.8(l)(2), the institution will use an established equivalency of an amount of student work represented in intended learning outcomes and evidence of student achievement that reasonably approximates minimum measures.

CLOCK HOUR CALCULATION ASSUMPTIONS:

A Clock Hour consists of 60 minutes which is comprised of 50 minutes of lecture/lab and 10 minutes of break time.

CALCULATION OF ESTABLISH EQUIVALENCY

Hybrid courses, blended courses, or online courses mimic the requirements of lecture-based courses. This institution defines a semester credit hour as an amount of work represented by intended learning outcomes and verified through evidence of student achievement in academic activities. The institution uses both the Experiential Method and the Proxy Method for estimating student engagement and student work. These research methodologies are combined in various ways to allow for a composite view of student engagement, and they include, but are not limited to, the following metrics:
1) The number of hours and semesters required at comparable institutions using primarily traditional instruction to achieve the same educational outcome or certificate. The assumption is that if the outcomes are equivalent, then the amount of student engagement is also roughly equivalent. (Proxy)
2) Curriculum objectives, and the associated assessment techniques provided for those objectives by third-party curriculum developers are used to establish equivalency and an estimate of student engagement for a given course. These developers, customarily use an assumption that the material in the course for a semester may be condensed into 45 hours of lecture per semester and require 90 to 100 hours of student preparation per semester. (Proxy)
3) The average number of minutes required to complete one online assignment is determined by in-house metrics and outside metrics published by educational researchers. External metrics gleaned from curriculum providers indicate that students may spend on average approximately 10 to 12 minutes per assignment. Internal institutional data tends to support as little as 5.7 minutes per assignment and up to 11 minutes per assignment. Measuring this metric is difficult. As a result, this metric is primarily used to check or validate other measures, and it provides an approximate basis for calculating engagement-to-preparation ratios. (Experiential)
4) Various engagement-to-preparation ratios include:
Lecture = 1:2
Online Academic Engagement = 1:2
Tutoring = 1:2
Academic Probation Call = 1:2
Academic Probation Remedial Assignment = 1:2
Student Success Call = 1:2
Capstone Experiences = 1:1
Clinical/Field Experiences = 1:1
Labs = 1:1
Test Preparation Exercises = 1:1
(Experiential)

The combination of these methodologies should assure stakeholders that equivalency has been established. The use of items one and two described above create a strong presumption of equivalency and will be used in cases in which data related to items three and four may not be readily available. In all cases, establishment of equivalency will be based upon minimum required student engagement, which routinely will be significantly less than actual student engagement because the institution offers highly personalized experiences for students based upon demonstration of competency. Minimum required student-engagement is only meaningful to students who are thriving and do not require supplemental, remedial, or enriching activities. Personalization efforts require students who are struggling to complete activities that exceed minimums.