Notre Dame of Maryland University confirms its commitment to quality learner experiences as well as compliance with regulations put forth by the Department of Education (DOE), Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), and Maryland discipline specific standards for all academic courses offered at Notre Dame of Maryland University.
Policy
NDMU awards academic credit to students who demonstrate they have met the learning objectives and outcomes specified in a course syllabus during the term of the course. Assurance that academic courses fulfill the workload expectations outlined in this policy is the responsibility of the faculty course developers and the Chair or Dean to whom the faculty reports.
Definitions
Credit-Hour
A credit-hour is an amount of work represented in the learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:
- 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, online instruction, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
NDMU follows the Carnegie unit of measure for assigning credits to undergraduate and graduate academic courses: One hour of ‘faculty-directed instruction’ (instruction provided by a faculty member, maybe live or online) is no less than 50 minutes long. To earn one “credit- hour” in a traditional 15-week semester, an NDMU student must receive at least 50 minutes of direct instruction and spend 100 minutes preparing for each session of direct instruction, per week for 15 weeks.
An equivalent amount of work is required in accelerated or compressed-term courses and other academic activities where classroom instruction is not the primary mode of learning, including online courses, hybrid courses, laboratory work, independent study, internships, practica, and studio work. See Table 1.
Table 1: Minimum student engagement/ prep. Time
Credits | Hours | Hours |
|---|---|---|
1 | 12.5 | 25 |
2 | 25 | 50 |
3 | 37.5 | 75 |
4 | 50 | 100 |
5 | 62.5 | 125 |
6 | 75 | 150 |
Faculty-Directed Instruction
Direct instruction is defined as faculty led or assigned activities that lead to student learning. This may include but is not limited to traditional lecture, facilitating seminars, giving feedback on individual or group projects, reflection/feedback of student work, feedback on group work, individual or group project feedback/facilitation, reviewing drafts of papers, or projects and other activities that engage the students in learning the material. This description will be noted in the course syllabus.
Student Preparation Time
Students are expected to prepare for faculty instruction at a ratio of two hours per every one hour of instruction as noted above in Table 1. This expectation will be noted in the course syllabus. This is any activity the student does to prepare for engagement and assessment of the course. Activities include reading, researching and writing for papers, developing projects, practicing techniques and skills, and other activities that engage the students in learning the material.
Application of Federal Credit-Hour Policy to NDMU Instruction
Accelerated Sessions: Courses offered within the standard semester in which the credit hours offered are the same as standard semester courses. The content and substantive learning outcomes are the same. These courses have the required 2250 contact minutes, and/or meet in hybrid or onine format.
Lecture/Seminar: Course focuses on principles, concepts or ideas, lecture, discussion, and demonstration. A semester credit hour is earned for fifteen, 50-minute sessions of direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of student preparation time outside of class per week throughout the semester. A typical three-credit hour course meets for three, 50-minute sessions or two, 75-minute sessions a week for fifteen weeks. Most lecture and seminar courses are awarded 3 credits.
Laboratory: Practical application type courses where the major focus includes “hands on” experience to support student learning (use of equipment, activities, tools, machines generally found in a laboratory). 1- 2 Laboratory credits represents a minimum of 1 hour per week of lecture or discussion plus a minimum of 2 – 4 hours of scheduled supervised or independent laboratory work.
Internship/Field Experience: Courses developed for independent learning and the development and application of job related or practical skills in a particular discipline. These courses allow for observation, participation, and fieldwork, and are generally offered off campus. Internship time includes a combination of supervised time by approved experts outside the university, student assignments, and time supervised by a university instructor. A 3 credit internship equals a minimum of 150 hours.
Practicum/Student Teaching: Courses developed for independent learning and the development and application of job related or practical skills in a particular discipline. These courses allow for observation, participation, client evaluation, fieldwork, and are offered off campus. Internship time includes a combination of supervised time by approved experts outside the university, student assignments, and time supervised by a university instructor. Practicum/Student Teaching hours comply with professional accreditation (ACEN/NCATE requirements).
Clinical Placement: Supervised experiences where students are afforded an opportunity to apply skills and techniques acquired from assessment and intervention-oriented course material. The number of hours varies by academic program based on clinical placement, accreditation requirements, site hour requirements, and student assignments.
Independent Study: Courses that permit a student to study a subject or topic in considerable depth beyond the scope of a regular course. Students meet periodically, as agreed upon with the faculty member for the duration of the course. University faculty provides guidance, criticism, and review of the student’s work. Students demonstrate competency through the completion of a final assessment either by submitting a final paper, project, or portfolio, etc. as required by the faculty member. Credit hours are assigned based on the amount of activity associated with the course, faculty supervision, and amount of student outside work. Credits conform to the standard minimum of 50 minutes of student work per credit hour, per week, for the course of the term or the semester. For a 15-week semester, this would be equal to 112.50 hours for a 3-credit independent study.
Hybrid: A course that is composed of both online learning and classroom learning to meet the learning objectives of the course is considered hybrid. In a hybrid course, approximately half of the course is scheduled as face-to-face, and 49% or less of the course is to be scheduled through distance education.Or, the hybrid course includes mor than 49% distance education but less than 99%. Hybrid courses stypically run synchronously and are aligned to the face-to-face schedule.
For a three-credit 15-week course that is scheduled to be less than 49% distance education, up to 76.50 minutes (1.275 hours) a week are scheduled face-to-face and up to 73.50 minutes (1.225 hours) per a week are scheduled online equaling a total of 150 minutes of instruction per week.
Distance Education - Online: Approved online courses must demonstrate instruction and student learning through asynchronous interactive methods to include tutorials, group discussions, virtual study/project groups, discussion boards, chat rooms, etc. Credits hours assigned to a course delivered online must equal the number of credit hour equivalency for the same course delivered face-to-face. Quality Matters standards for the design and delivery of online courses are often used in online course development and faculty who teach online courses have been trained in online teaching pedagogy.