Courses at Doane may be offered in a variety of formats.
The Deans request that all faculty add--at minimum--these three items to their LMS course shells for each term. This is a requirement for all courses, whether or not the LMS is used for active instruction. The minimum information is:
- Faculty contact information
- The course syllabus
- A basic grade book in which final course grades are posted.
Helpful Definitions:
- LMS - Learning Management System
- Doane University uses Canvas
- Asynchronous
- Not synchronized: Instruction and learning happen on a student's own schedule which does not require consistent real-time interactions with an instructor. However, it does occur within a specific timeline.
- Synchronous
- Synchronized: Instruction and learning occur in real-time with an instructor within a specific timeline.
- Contact hour
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50 minutes of classroom time. For most classes, 750 minutes of contact time is required for every credit hour earned--or 15 contact hours per credit hour. The Department of Education expects that, for each contact hour, a course will require a minimum of two additional hours (100 minutes) of work--or 1500 minutes total for each credit hour. This means that each credit hour represents a minimum obligation of 2250 minutes, or 45 hours.
Online, Hybrid and Hyflex classes convert some or all of the contact hours to other, asynchronous instructional activity; however, these course modalities will still target a total of 2250 minutes of work for each credit hour earned.
On Ground/On Campus
100% of required course instruction, content, and activities are delivered in a synchronous, active on-ground classroom. The LMS may or may not be used to support instruction.
Online
100% of required course instruction, content, and activities are delivered asynchronously, online in the LMS. No synchronous sessions are required.
Distance Learning
A course with required, regularly scheduled, live web conference sessions that completely replace the required, regularly scheduled face-to-face classroom sessions. The LMS is used for course activities and content.
The primary distinction between Distance Learning and Hybrid is that Distance Learning courses simply replace live, face-to-face classroom meetings with live web meetings.
Hybrid
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A course that employs both live class meetings and asynchronous online instruction. Scheduled class meetings are conducted in the live classroom. Some portion of the regularly scheduled contact time is displaced with asynchronous online instruction. All other content and activities can be completed online, in alignment with the schedule in the LMS.
The primary distinctions between Distance Learning and Hybrid are that:
- Hybrid reduces the regular contact hours for a course and shifts those hours to asynchronous online instruction.
- Hybrid course meetings take place in a physical classroom.
Flipped
A course that meets in a live, face-to-face classroom for the same amount of time as a traditional on-ground/on-campus class worth the same number of credits (e.g. a three-credit flipped course would still meet for three hours a week in a 15-week semester). Lecture and content is delivered through the LMS for students to engage with outside of scheduled class time. Scheduled class time is used for active application of skills, active discussion, practice, or other types of engagement that would benefit from faculty moderation and guidance. This is more of an instructional strategy than a delivery mode.
Hyflex
An online course fused with an on-ground course. Students can choose (daily, if desired) in which mode they would like to engage with the course. Live classroom sessions are broadcast as well as recorded. Students may participate in direct, active instruction in face-to-face sessions (in the classroom), synchronous sessions (live broadcast), asynchronous activities (using engaged online instruction methods - note that this is not the same as requiring a student to view the recording of a live class session), or a mix of these. Students are required to engage with the course in equivalent ways, regardless of the mode of engagement. There is significant use of the LMS for course activities and content.
Split Classroom
A type of hybrid course. Classes are split into smaller groups to increase physical distance in the classroom. Students are required to attend specific live classroom sessions in their assigned group each week. The LMS is used to support additional instruction and activities.