Understanding “class time”
This section offers a definition of “class time” in the context of blended courses and guidelines for scheduling.
Definition
“Class time,” also referred to as “contact hours,” is time where students have some form of interaction with the instructor(s). With blended courses, “class time,” or a “contact hour,” takes into account both synchronous (in-person and online) and asynchronous course activities, be they teaching strategies or graded assessment tasks.
What constitutes a “contact hour” may be better understood when contrasted with teaching strategies that would not be considered contact hours. Table 1 offers such examples.
Table 1: Examples of contact and non-contact hour teaching strategies
Contact hour | Non-contact hour | |
|---|---|---|
Synchronous (in person or online) |
|
|
Asynchronous |
|
|
Table 2 addresses the types of graded assessment tasks that can be considered as contact hours.
Table 2: Graded assessment tasks and contact hours
Graded assessment tasks | Contact hours |
|---|---|
synchronous, completed during class time (e.g., in-class quiz; oral presentation) with instructor present | 🗸 |
synchronous, completed outside regularly scheduled class time (e.g., final exam during exam period) | X |
asynchronous | X |
Scheduling
Typical in-person 3-credit courses have 39 contact hours: 3 hours/week x 13 weeks. Blended 3-credit courses that run over 13 weeks also require 39 contact hours, and these hours can be scheduled in a variety of ways. For example, three hours/week of class time/contact hours can be:
2 hours of synchronous activities (in person or online) + 1 hour of asynchronous online activities
3 hours synchronous, in-person activities some weeks and no asynchronous activities those weeks
1.5 hours of synchronous activities (in person or online) + 1.5 hours of asynchronous activities
When combined, synchronous (in-person and online) and asynchronous activities should total approximately 3 hours/week and must not exceed 3 hours/week for a 3-credit course over 13 weeks.
For an activity to fulfill contact hour time, it must be a requirement for all students. Required synchronous online activities must be held during regularly scheduled class time. Students who are unable to attend for a valid reason should be offered an accommodation. Required asynchronous online activities can be done during and/or outside regularly scheduled class time.
Course workload
“Course workload” is the time students spend on all course activities—during and beyond class time. For undergraduate courses at McGill, one credit is equal to about 45 hours of academic activity. Thus, a 3-credit course must not exceed 135 hours (3 x 45 hours) of total work, which would be an average of 10 hours/week for a 13-week term. For example, if class time is 3 hours/week, students should have no more than 7 hours/week of academic work outside class time. For blended courses, “course workload” includes synchronous and asynchronous activities.
To help gauge the amount of time course activities might take, use this Workload Estimator 2.0 (Wake Forest University). Although students will take varying amounts of time to complete activities, this resource provides a useful starting point for estimating workload.
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