On Thursday, February 17th 2022, I co-hosted a workshop with special guest Leigh Graves Wolf on “Time on Task – how much is it, really?”
This workshop introduced participants to a tool they can use right away to see how long students spend completing work in their classes now and in future courses. We were joined by Leigh Graves Wolf, Clinical Associate Professor in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University.
Conversations around the 3-4 credit hour change prompted us to get curious about questions of time in class.
Federal Definition of a Credit Hour:
- “one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of 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 required in paragraph (1) of this definition 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.”
OK, well – if that’s what students have to do to satisfy the regulations – how do we know they’re doing it!? What’s one hour of direct instruction if there’s no synchronous meetings? With the campus initiative to move from 3 to 4 hour credit classes, the enigma of understanding “Just how long do students spend on work in my class?” has come to the front of many of our thoughts.
And how in the world do our students know how much time something should take?
Want to clear things up?
First read the blog post: Considering Time on Task with Leigh Wolf
Then, if you’re interested, you can view the slides here (U of M login required) or watch the video of the presentation below.
If you want to follow up with some individual support in the process of evaluating just how long your students spend on work in your class, feel free to schedule an appointment with our team of instructional designers.
Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash