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Hybrid / Low Residency Model
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things you should know about Hybrid / low residency model
Hybrid or Low Residency Model or programs are an excellent option for students who want to pursue their career/internship/consultancy without giving up on academic dreams. They give the benefits of a rigorous residential program without students quitting their jobs.
Hybrid or Low Residency models are in a space between strictly online programs and conventional education. Conventional programs require the students to stay in the campus for almost 2 years. Even night schools or every weekend program are completely face to face.
The terms for a Student or Exchange Visitor program is one online course per term. Full time course means 6 hours per term. For the hybrid model – one face to face course and one online course is integrated.
With so much information on Hybrid or Low Residency Model, students who pursue the Hybrid Model are well aware of the learning outcomes as there are alternative participation modes involved. A Hybrid Model allows students to pursue their educational goals and also prevent enrollment barriers due to its flexibility.
This model gives ample opportunities for students to pursue their work or take care of their family while accomplishing their academic goals. With a different approach to learning and teaching with the aid of technology it provides opportunities to teachers and students to rethink education from a different perspective.
Example of the Hybrid / Low Residency Weekend Schedule and Hours
Standard Practice for a credit hour (Carnegie Unit) is:
1 credit hour is 50 minutes of contact per week
3 credit hour class over 15-week normal semester =2,250 minutes or 37.5 contact hours
Hybrid or Low Residency models are in a space between strictly online programs and conventional education. Conventional programs require the students to stay in the campus for almost 2 years. Even night schools or every weekend program are completely face to face.
The terms for a Student or Exchange Visitor program is one online course per term. Full time course means 6 hours per term. For the hybrid model – one face to face course and one online course is integrated.
With so much information on Hybrid or Low Residency Model, students who pursue the Hybrid Model are well aware of the learning outcomes as there are alternative participation modes involved. A Hybrid Model allows students to pursue their educational goals and also prevent enrollment barriers due to its flexibility.
This model gives ample opportunities for students to pursue their work or take care of their family while accomplishing their academic goals. With a different approach to learning and teaching with the aid of technology it provides opportunities to teachers and students to rethink education from a different perspective.
Example of the Hybrid / Low Residency Weekend Schedule and Hours
Standard Practice for a credit hour (Carnegie Unit) is:
1 credit hour is 50 minutes of contact per week
3 credit hour class over 15-week normal semester =2,250 minutes or 37.5 contact hours
Calculation for Hybrid Model
A hybrid course model has face to face classes from Monday to Wednesday and online classes from Friday. This means 25 hours face to face classes and 12.5 hours of “direct faculty instruction” online.
In a residency course model 60% of the 25 classes = 15 hours. So 20 hours of classes means it is above the mandated minimum of classes and there is no need for individual state authorization.
Bi Term or Condensed courses
In this format, the intensified learning experience of students is different or rather strong. The activities, assessments and content are developed in a way to maintain academic rigor and make the courses on par with the regular 15 week conventional courses offered by the University.
Suggested Weekend Schedule
Friday 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM (5 hours)
Saturday 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (4 hours) (or) 1:30 PM – 7:00 PM (5.5 hours)
Sunday 8:00 AM – 1:30 PM (5.5 hours)
Condensed courses are judged by the engagement hours. Engagement hours means assigned work for the class + class time. The logic behind the equivalency to regular courses must be provided to the Catalog and Curriculum Committee for approval.
Learning outcomes is one of the main concerns of both traditional and condensed or online courses. Hence, it is structured around the same or complementary learning activities. Along with this, similar types of assessments of student performance should be applied and the data gathered should be used in the program and courses. This creates an equivalence in student activity, content and evaluation. In turn the University is able to validate the parallel quality of learning experiences in the online courses and also the credit equivalence is awarded to condensed courses in comparison with traditional course work.
Suggested Weekend Schedule
Friday 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM (5 hours)
Saturday 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM (4 hours) (or) 1:30 PM – 7:00 PM (5.5 hours)
Sunday 8:00 AM – 1:30 PM (5.5 hours)
Condensed courses are judged by the engagement hours. Engagement hours means assigned work for the class + class time. The logic behind the equivalency to regular courses must be provided to the Catalog and Curriculum Committee for approval.
Learning outcomes is one of the main concerns of both traditional and condensed or online courses. Hence, it is structured around the same or complementary learning activities. Along with this, similar types of assessments of student performance should be applied and the data gathered should be used in the program and courses. This creates an equivalence in student activity, content and evaluation. In turn the University is able to validate the parallel quality of learning experiences in the online courses and also the credit equivalence is awarded to condensed courses in comparison with traditional course work.
Online courses
Students who take up 3 credit hours of online course work are required to:
Engage in online classroom activities
Engage in independent homework activities.
The above should be equivalent in quality and variety to a traditional in-seat course at the same educational level. The Catalog and Curriculum committee will look for this rationale of equivalency when the course is presented for approval.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) policy utilizes the words and phrases like ‘reasonably approximates’ in the definition of a credit hour. There is also flexibility to gauge credit on part with documented student learning, which is calculated on the number of hours the student is academically engaged.
Higher Learning Commission (HLC) policy
To ensure all the courses offered in higher education are equal, Institutions can equiate its learning experiences, semester or term credit hours by using common practices in other Institutions. The same method can be used for justifying the length of program, program cost, program objectives and the like. Major changes in the relationship among tuition, credit and program length should be notified to the Commission.
You can read the full policy here.
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