Contact Hours vs Non-Contact Hours: What is the difference?
Credit Hours
Jacksonville State University (JSU) defines a credit hour as 1 contact hour (direct instruction) and a minimum of two non-contact hours (out-of-class student work or study time) per week for approximately 14 weeks. Most classes at JSU are 3 credit hours per semester. Therefore, the typical 14-week semester requires 42 contact hours and 84 non-contact hours per semester for a total of 126 hours per 3-hour class.
- Contact hours = direct instruction
- Non-contact hours = out-of-class-student work, study time, and homework
Table 1 shows the number of contact or direct instruction hours per week that are required based on the number of course credits and the length of the academic term.
Table 1: Contact Hours per Week
|
Course Credits |
Contact Hours |
4-Week Term |
6-Week Term |
7-Week Term |
14-Week Term |
|
1 |
1 |
3.5 |
2.4 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
|
2 |
2 |
7.0 |
4.7 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
|
3 |
3 |
10.5 |
7.0 |
6.0 |
3.0 |
|
4 |
4 |
14.0 |
9.4 |
8.0 |
4.0 |
Non-contact or out-of-class student work or study time per week is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Non-Contact Hours per Week
|
Course Credits |
Non-Contact Hours |
4-Week Term |
6-Week Term |
7-Week Term |
14-Week Term |
|
1 |
2 |
7.0 |
4.8 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
|
2 |
4 |
14.0 |
9.4 |
8.0 |
4.0 |
|
3 |
6 |
21.0 |
14.0 |
12.0 |
6.0 |
|
4 |
8 |
28.0 |
18.8 |
16.0 |
8.0 |
Contact Hours
Contact hours quantify the amount of regular and substantive interaction between students and their instructor and are most traditionally associated with the number of hours that a class meets on campus. In some online formats (e.g., Synchronous class meetings using Teams), this can be interpreted as the number of hours of synchronous online instruction. However, in asynchronous online classes, which is the most common online delivery method at JSU, the general guideline is that an asynchronous online activity must (a) be required for all students, and (b) involve substantive and sustained interaction with the instructor to count as a functional equivalent of contact time.
Substantive interaction is defined as “engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion.” It must include at least two of five components:
- “Providing direct instruction”;
- “Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework”;
- Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency”;
- “Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency; or”
- “Other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency (Swartzwelder, 2020, p. 2).”
Regular interaction requires an institution to ensure, “prior to the student’s completion of a course or competency,” that there is “the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency.” The institution also is responsible for “[m]onitoring the student’s academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student (Swartzwelder, 2020, p. 2-3).”
Instructors may engage in several asynchronous activities that can be considered equivalent to contact hours. The list below provides a few examples:
- Video lectures: A lecture video, or series of lecture videos, recorded by the instructor that all students are required to view.
- Instructor-mediated online discussion forum: Students respond to discussion forum prompts in the Canvas LMS or through other technology.
- Instructor-mediated online video discussion forum: Students respond to discussions with recorded videos using technology such as FlipGrid or other technology.
- Assignment Feedback: Regular feedback is provided to students during the course of grading assignments. Feedback can be in the form of text or video.
- Email Responses: Responding directly to student email inquiries about course content, course procedures, due dates, etc.
- Live required office hours: Regularly scheduled office hours held through online technologies such as chat rooms, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or other online synchronous technologies.
- Live class meetings: Class meetings, such as student check-in meetings, assignment debrief meetings, project introduction meetings, clinical meetings (and more) delivered online through technology such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
- Live class lectures: Traditional lectures are delivered in an online, live format using technology such as Microsoft Teams or Zoom.
- Live required office hours: Regularly scheduled office hours held through online technologies such as chat rooms, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or other online synchronous technologies.
- Guided student groups: Situations in which instructors guide students through the completion of an assignment or activity with the use of guides and instructional materials using online technologies such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Breakout Rooms also count as a guided student group.
The table below outlines examples of synchronous and asynchronous contact hours, as well as examples of non-contact hour activities.
|
Contact Hours (3 hour Credit Course) |
Synchronous (Must Total 3 Hours) |
Asynchronous (Must Total 3 Hours) |
|
Contact Hours Per Week |
|
|
|
Non-Contact Hours Per Week (Must Total 6 Hours) |
|
|
|
Example 1 |
Synchronous Instruction & Interaction (Contact Hours – 3) |
Non-Contact Hours (6 Hours) |
|
|
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
|
Tuesday – Wednesday
Thursday – Sunday
|
|
Total Hours |
3.5 Hours |
6.5 Hours |
|
Example 2 |
Asynchronous Instruction & Interaction (Contact Hours – 3) |
Non-Contact Hours (6 Hours) |
|
|
Tuesday
Thursday
All Week
Saturday-Sunday
|
Tuesday – Wednesday
Thursday – Friday
|
|
Total Hours |
5.5 Hours |
6 Hours |
Use the workload estimator to assist you in planning instruction and learner interaction