See also Credit Hour, Class Meetings , Attendance and Final Examinations (Credit Hour Policy)and Distance Education Policy
Table of Contents maxLevel 1
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish address the following concerns:
- Verification of distance education student identity
- Protection of privacy of distance education students
- Accurate reporting of distance education headcount enrollment
- Establish criteria for appropriate educational activities in non-traditional and distance
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- education contexts.
Definition of Non-Traditional:
The non-traditional learning context includes intensive courses, accelerated learning in the cohort model, and other delivery modes that differ from the traditional face-to-face classroom context; distance learning refers to online course delivery.
Policy Statement
Beliefs that underlie this policy:
- While time spent should be a consideration in granting credit, more important is achievement of outcomes.
- There are many ways to achieve the same outcome.
- Different students have different learning styles, all of which are legitimate ways of learning.
- Courses ideally accommodate a variety of learning styles so that each student can use their preferred learning style some of the time while also being challenged to develop their non-preferred styles.
Criteria for activities in non-traditional and distance learning courses:
- The activities lead to the achievement of the course objectives or expected outcomes.
- Achievement of outcomes can be evaluated.
- The level of cognitive achievement is appropriate for the level of the course.
Principles related to time and credit allocation for activities:
- There is a one-to-one relationship between classroom, non-traditional, and distance learning equivalent activities in terms of time.
- Hours devoted to practica, internship, field experience, and laboratory experiences may or may not result in an equivalent number of credits, depending on the discipline. In some disciplines these hours are given the same credit as classroom hours, while in others they are given only one-third or one-half the credit of classroom hours. Thus, the usual practice in the discipline should be followed for granting credit in the classroom, non-traditional, and online contexts.
- In face-to-face instruction, students are expected to engage with a course both in and out of class: at the undergraduate level, this expectation is for the student to spend 2 hours in preparation, reading, and assignments outside the classroom for every hour spent in interactions with faculty, students, and course materials in the classroom; at the graduate level, the expectation is 2.5 to 3 hours outside of class for every hour in class. In the non-traditional and distance learning contexts, students are expected to engage with their courses for the same amount of time as they would in face-to-face instruction. For more information and a table with time expectations for various course scenarios, see Class Meetings, Attendance and Final Examinations (Credit Hour Policy).
Assignments in distance learning courses are similar to those in classroom-based courses and typically consist of reading in preparation for online work. Assignments that are graded in distance learning courses are similar to those graded in classroom-based courses: papers, projects, exams, participation in discussions (quantity and quality), etc. In order to comply with federal requirements, it will be verified that each student enrolled in a distance learning course is the same student who participates in and receives credit for the course..
Definition of Distance Education:
Distance Education is defined as a formal educational process in which the majority of the instruction (interaction between students and instructors and among students) in a course occurs when students and instructors are not in the same place. Instruction may be synchronous or asynchronous. A distance education course may use the internet, audio conferencing, or video conferencing. Interaction between the instructor and the student is regular and substantive. See Appendix II for guidance on the classification of courses with regard to distance education, and Appendix III for guidance on the classification of programs with regard to distance education.
Policy Statement
- Verification of Student Identity: The institution verifies the identity of a student who participates in class or coursework and notifies students of any projected additional charges associated with verification of student identity.
- Protection of Privacy: The institution protects the privacy of students enrolled in distance education courses or programs.
- Institutional Reporting: The institution accurately includes distance education headcount enrollment on its annual Institutional Profile submitted to the Commission.
- The institution applies the SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation to all programs of the institution, regardless of mode of delivery. Guidelines for Equivalent Instructional Activities for Non-Traditional and Distance Education Programs are included in Appendix I of this policy. Guidance on formally classifying course instructional mode is provided in Appendix II, and incorporates definitions from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to which EMU reports data annually.
Approved by President’s Cabinet, November 7, 2000
Approved by Academic Cabinet January 29, 2013; reported to President’s Cabinet, February 11, 2013
Updated and approved by Provost's Council, March 2020
Responsible Party
The Provost is responsible for this policy.
Policy Review
This policy is to be reviewed every three years or sooner as necessary.
Distribution
Faculty/Staff Handbook
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A semester hour represents a unit of curricular material that can normally be taught in a minimum of 14 hours of classroom instruction, plus outside preparation of equivalent as determined by faculty. (See Credit Hour, Class Meetings and Distance Education Policy).
Thus, a 3-credit non-traditional or distance education course should have 42 hours of classroom instruction or its equivalent, not including final examination or homework.
Equivalent Instruction Activities should be:
- Directly related to the objectives of the course/program
- Should be measurable for grading purposes
- Should have the direct oversight or supervision of the faculty member teaching the course
- Should in some form be equivalent to an activity conducted in the classroom
Below is a chart defining activities that are considered equivalent in the classroom, non-traditional, and distance learning contexts. All activities have a one-to-one relationship in terms of time.
Non-Traditional or Distance Learning Activity | Equivalent Classroom Activity |
Synchronous class with lecture | Lecture |
Read and/or view a faculty presentation | Lecture |
Complete learning packages such as programmed instruction (PI) or independent module (MOD) with questions to answer. Note: hours designated on individual package | Lecture |
Listen to a podcast or webcast | Lecture |
Research relevant practitioner input on the web. Join online discussion by posting findings and applying to own setting, including analysis and synthesis (see Bloom’s taxonomy). |
Note: research hours according to teacher’s estimate of parallel time for a lecture | Guest lecture on a topic relevant to course content with a practitioner focus followed by discussion |
Online discussion | Group discussion |
Small group work online or in person | Small group work on a project during class time |
Case study presentation and discussion online | Case study presentation and discussion |
Post online executive summary of paper/project along with a discussion question and lead discussion for a designated period | Student presentation |
Look at video (online or other) | Show video |
Complete online simulation | Complete simulation |
Independent field trip or interview of a practitioner | Field trip |
Online lab | Studio activity |
Practicum/internship/field experience | Practicum/internship/field experience/ laboratory |
Responsible Party
The Provost is responsible for this policy.
Policy Review
This policy is to be reviewed every three years or sooner as necessary.
Distribution
Faculty/Staff Handbook
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The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) provides guidance to inform EMU's mandatory reporting on course instructional format. That guidance is provided below along with further details as it pertains to the EMU context.
Code | Method | SCHEV Description | EMU Notes |
A | Predominant Face to Face; Synchronous | The instructor and learner share the same physical space more than 50% of the time (understood in terms of Carnegie credit hour equivalency). The instructor and learner interact mostly at the same time. | This covers most courses offered by EMU. Note that to be anything else over half of the content must be delivered in some other way, so what faculty might consider a hybrid course may still belong here. |
B | Distance-Hybrid; Synchronous | The instructor and learner share the same physical space less than 50% of the time. Electronic delivery is used for the balance of instruction. During electronic interaction, the instructor and learner interact mostly at the same time. | These courses would almost always be using our specialized technology classrooms. The course type classification is very likely a standard lecture or seminar. |
C | Distance-Hybrid; Asynchronous | The instructor and learner share the same physical space less than 50% of the time. Electronic delivery is used for the balance of instruction. During electronic interaction, the instructor and learner interact mostly at different times. | This covers courses with occasional class meetings and will likely be scheduled in any available classroom. |
D | Distance-Electronic; Synchronous | Apart from a face-to-face orientation or initial class meeting (and possibly testing), for formal instruction, the instructor and learner use electronic means to interact 100% of the time. During electronic interaction, the instructor and learner interact mostly at the same time. | These courses would either need to use our specialized technology classrooms or specific meeting coordination software. The course type classification is very likely a standard lecture or seminar. |
E | Distance-Electronic; Asynchronous | Apart from a face-to-face orientation or initial class meeting (and possibly testing), for formal instruction, the instructor and learner use electronic means to interact 100% of the time. During electronic interaction, the instructor and learner interact mostly at different times. | These are the on-line courses primarily using videos, email, message boards, etc. and would get a course type classification of ID (internet-delivered). |
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EMU classifies instructional programs with regard to distance education using a two-level framework. This classification framework is informed by federal definitions that guide the university's annual reporting to the government's Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS). EMU's degree and certificate programs must be classified into one of the two categories described in the table below.
| Distance Education Categorization | Definition | EMU Notes |
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| Distance education program = Yes | A program for which all the required coursework for program completion is able to be completed via distance (non-hybrid) education courses (i.e. categories D and E in Appendix II) | Note that required face-to-face orientation, initial class meeting, or testing sessions do not make a program non-distance education. |
| Distance education program = No | A program for which at least some of the required coursework for program completion must be completed via predominant face-to-face or distance-hybrid courses (i.e. categories A, B ,C in Appendix II) | Any program for which there is an expectation that students attend classes in-person with regularity or for an extended period of time is not considered to be a distance education program (even if the program also maintains an expectation of some distance education courses or class sessions). |
Definitions based on IPEDS glossary entries for distance education program and distance education course, updated July 2020:
- Distance education program - A program for which all the required coursework for program completion is able to be completed via distance education courses.
- Distance education course - A course in which the instructional content is delivered exclusively via distance education. Requirements for coming to campus for orientation, testing, or academic support services do not exclude a course from being classified as distance education.