Guidelines for Good Practice: Effective Instructor-Student Contact in Distance Learning

Spring 1999

1998-99 Technology Committee
Ian Walton, Chair, Mission College
Marsha Chan, Mission College
Ric Matthews, San Diego Miramar College
Kathy O'Connor, Santa Barbara City College
Karen Owen, San Diego Community College District

1998-99 Curriculum Committee
Beverly Shue, Chair, Los Angeles Harbor College
Luz Argyriou, Napa Valley College
Donna Ferracone, Crafton Hills College
Diane Glow, San Diego Miramar College
Jane Sneed, City College of San Francisco
Bob Stafford, San Bernardino Valley College
Ron Vess, Southwestern College
Joyce Black, CIO Representative
Sergio Carillo, Student Senate Representative

Table of Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Title 5 Regulation Change
Good Practice in Technology Mediated Instruction
Effective Contact for Distance Learning
Curriculum Committee Implementation
Bargaining Implications
Recommendations
Bibliography
Appendices

ABSTRACT

This position paper of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges further elaborates the Academic Senate´s existing positions on distance education and the effective use of technology in instruction. In particular it examines the implications of a 1998 change in the Title 5 regulations governing distance education in California community colleges, especially with regard to instructor-student contact. The paper begins with a review of good practices in technology mediated instruction and proceeds to consider and make recommendations on effective instructor-student contact. Many of the recommendations apply equally to courses offered in any mode of instruction, but the paper specifically addresses local curriculum committees as they decide how to apply these recommendations in their review of distance education course proposals. The paper briefly mentions some unresolved issues in the area of faculty collective bargaining. Finally the paper makes recommendations for action by local academic senates to ensure that the curriculum review process for distance education courses separately documents effective instructor-student contact, technical support, accessibility and provision of support services to students.

INTRODUCTION

The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has already been involved in many aspects of the successful introduction and implementation of technology in the learning process. In Fall 1997, the position paper Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction was adopted at the Plenary Session. That paper addressed good practices for all types of technology mediated instruction, whether it occurs in the classroom on campus, or involves distance learning. Earlier that year plenary session resolutions also called for more specific guidelines for curriculum committees as they review distance education course proposals.

S97 9.05 Curriculum Model

Whereas California community colleges must respond to the needs of a changing student body population, and
 

Whereas because of welfare reform, many students will have increasingly limited time to attend traditionally scheduled and offered classes, and

Whereas the need to develop alternative approaches to the delivery of education is of paramount concern to faculty, and

Whereas alternative educational institutions such as National University, other private institutions, and the virtual university are competing for our students,

Therefore be it resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the Executive Committee to develop a model for dealing with curricular review of changing modes of delivery and methods of instruction, i.e., new class size, new hours of instruction, new electronic ways of delivering instruction, and ways of packaging courses, and

Be it further resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to develop a faculty-driven process, in consultation with their local curriculum committee, by which curricular decisions are made concerning new modes of offering, teaching, and packaging courses, and

Be it finally resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the Executive Committee to develop minimum standards for faculty equipment, faculty training, and faculty support for purposes of technology mediated instruction.

S97 9.06 Adherence to Distance Education Curriculum Review Requirements

Whereas Title 5 '55378 states, "Each proposed or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed and approved according to the district's certified course approval procedures," and

Whereas the Academic Senate has published guidelines for implementing curriculum review and approval of courses delivered by distance education in its paper "Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections" (November 1995), and

Whereas chief executive officers of some community colleges and districts have sought to implement distance education courses without such a curriculum committee review and approval, and

Whereas some at the University of California and the California State University have called into question community college distance education courses which have not had their quality assured by full curriculum committee review and approval,

Therefore be it resolved that the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local senates to seek the timely review and approval of distance education courses in line with Title 5 ''55316-55380 and to follow guidelines in the Academic Senate paper "Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections" (November 1995), and

Be it further resolved that Academic Senate for California Community Colleges direct the Executive Committee to identify models of good practice currently in place, which curriculum committees could use to develop their own guidelines for approval of technology mediated instruction that ensure a quality curriculum with appropriate methodologies for interaction between faculty and students.

The Academic Senate's Fall 1993 position paper Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections has already addressed the more general aspects of distance education course review. This current paper will address changes caused by the introduction of new technology, and also by the 1998 revision in Title 5 regulations regarding distance education. In particular the paper will consider appropriate curriculum committee review of effective instructor-student contact in distance learning courses.

Instructor-student contact is at the very heart of all college courses. The Academic Senate's recently adopted Fall 1998 position paper The Future of the Community College: A Faculty Perspective states:

• the greatest strength of the community college lies in the quality of instruction, and

• the Academic Senate maintains that technology, both now and in the future, is a marvelous enhancement to instruction, and would urge that its potential continue to be explored and utilized.

Ensuring that this instructor-student contact is as effective as possible should be a primary goal of the curriculum review process for all courses. It should also be an important aspect of the peer review process for instructors. In both cases, the standards for distance education courses should be no different from the standards for any other course. The goal is to implement sound pedagogy. However, the use of technology may allow an instructor to meet that goal in a greater variety of ways and to tailor methods to individual students. Since Title 5 regulations call for separate curriculum committee review of distance education courses, this paper examines the challenges of and opportunities for effective instructor-student contact in that setting.

TITLE 5 REGULATION CHANGES

One of the forces motivating this discussion of curriculum committee procedures for review of distance education course proposals was the 1998 change in Title 5 regulations.

Prior to 1998 language distinguished between associate level courses and transferable level courses as follows (emphasis added):

  Old Language

 55376. Instructor Contact.

 . . . district governing boards shall ensure that:

 (a) Each section of a credit transferable course which is delivered as distance education shall include regular personal contact between instructor and students, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, or other in-person activities. Personal contact may be supplemented by telephone contact and correspondence.

 (b) All other approved courses offered by distance education shall include regular contact between instructors and students consistent with guidelines issued by the Chancellor pursuant to Section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors.

Following considerable work by the Academic Senate's Technology Committee and Educational Policies Committee, proposals to change Title 5 regulation language were debated at the Fall 1997 Plenary Session and a modified proposal was approved by delegates.

 After the consultation process, the following revised Title 5 regulation was adopted by the Board of Governors in July 1998 (emphasis added):

 Current Language

 55376. Instructor Contact.

 . . . district governing boards shall ensure that:

 (a) All approved courses offered as distance education shall include regular effective contact between instructor and students, through group or individual meetings, orientation and review sessions, supplemental seminar or study sessions, field trips, library workshops, telephone contact, correspondence, voice mail, e-mail, or other activities.

 (b) All distance education courses shall be delivered consistent with guidelines issued by the Chancellor pursuant to Section 409 of the Procedures and Standing Orders of the Board of Governors. Regular effective contact is an academic and professional matter pursuant to Title 5 '53200. 

Notice that the main effect of the new language was to replace the requirement for "in-person" contact (commonly referred to as "face to face," although these words never appeared in regulation) with a requirement for "regular effective contact." Moreover, "regular effective contact" was defined as an academic and professional matter, which places it in the purview of the local academic senate and collegial consultation. Also, the distinction between transferable and other credit courses was removed.

The Academic Senate's original proposal also included the following additional language, but it was not adopted by the Board of Governors:

Senate Proposal - Not Adopted

Separate Course Approval.

Districts are to review courses with a specific emphasis on regular effective contact between instructor and student pursuant to Title 5 '55376.

However the following existing language was retained:

Adopted Language - Unchanged

55378. Separate Course Approval.

Each proposed or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed and approved, according to the district=s certified course approval procedures. 

This language, therefore, still requires curriculum committees to perform a separate review of distance education courses. Combined with the "academic and professional matter" language,

'' 55376 and 55378 together provide curriculum committees with the opportunity to oversee the implementation of the new effective contact regulation as part of their local curriculum approval process.

GOOD PRACTICES IN TECHNOLOGY MEDIATED INSTRUCTION
 

Much of the background to effective technology mediated instruction has already been described in detail in the Fall 1997 Academic Senate paper Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction and the works it references.

In the many specific techniques suggested in that paper, the principal purpose is to provide the most effective learning experience for the student. This purpose, of course, should be the goal of all instruction, no matter the mode of instruction, and most good practices apply to all courses. Effective instructor-student contact is a universal requirement for instruction. However, since the determination of effective instruction is not an easy task in the planning and discussion of any course, it is important that technology mediated courses should not be held to a higher or different standard than other courses.

Two quotations from the 1993 Academic Senate position paper Distance Learning in California Community Colleges are particularly appropriate:

• innovation should always serve the best interests of students, and

• innovation should be initiated by faculty when it enhances student success.

 The use of innovative technology offers an opportunity to simultaneously encourage progress for the comfortable majority of students while at the same time concentrating on the variety of individual and specific difficulties encountered by smaller groups of students. Just as one lecture style is not effective for every student, so one mode of technology is not universally effective. The goal should be to make a variety of options available for different students with different learning styles.

Traditional ideas of good teaching practices are important, regardless of methodology: they simply need to be extended to new situations. Chickering and Ehrmann in Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever (1996), point out that instructor-student contact is a key component in the teaching and learning process. Pure content can, for example, be conveyed by a lecture, a text, a computer, a video or a CD-ROM. But it is the instructor who conveys the relevance of information and sets the context. Making the information come alive takes a dynamic interaction between teacher and learner. A large lecture format is not necessarily the best way to accomplish this dynamic interaction. By using more technology for content delivery, the instructor may be made available for more meaningful interactions with the student. The course approval process for distance learning courses should seek to demonstrate these possibilities, for example by asking about the nature of individual interactions.

This distinction is particularly the case with the use of "off the shelf" courses such as the traditional television course. The college has both the opportunity and the obligation to add value to the content material rather than to simply transmit it. Most obviously, value can be added by the provision of services to students, such as the dynamic instructor-student interaction mentioned above, or library and counseling services. The course approval process should document how these services will be provided.

Another feature for consideration in course design and review is accessibility. A course designed to use technology or distance learning should make provisions to accommodate disabled students in a comparable manner to regular courses. One well known example is ensuring that websites used for courses are accessible to screen readers for the visually impaired. Current information on accessibility and the world wide web can be obtained from the Web Accessibility Initiative at:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

In addition, the Center for Applied Special Technology maintains a website at:

http://www.cast.org/bobby/

which provides a means of checking individual pages or sites for accessibility.

EFFECTIVE CONTACT FOR DISTANCE LEARNING

The design for a distance learning course should show attention to both parts of the learning experience: the information transfer portion of the course and also the individual instructor-student contact portion.

In Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction, the following ideas are listed for possible consideration during design and implementation of the information transfer portion of the course.

 The video, multimedia, or web-based instruction can:

• relate the new material to previous student knowledge,

• place new material properly in relationship to the rest of the course content,

• create logical sequences for each element presented,

• integrate introductory statements, detailed content, examples and illustrations, colorful asides designed to spur interest, and summative statements into a well-paced, attention-holding package,

• intersperse instructional methodologies using different learning styles such as:

- logical/deductive style with text-based material,

- verbal-visual style with well-explained pictures and diagrams,

• visual-kinesthetic style with interactive exercises, and

• anticipate areas of questions, and supply appropriate and timely replies.

 This paper is mainly interested in the instructor-student interaction portion of the course. Students need timely help with understanding course material and with skills that are relevant to their goals; they need timely access to college support services; they need timely access to faculty; and they need to be engaged. Creatively used technology can significantly enhance the individual experience for the student, and can improve the services provided by the college and the instructor. For example, students who correspond with the instructor once a week, or more, by e-mail may in fact receive considerably more useful personal attention than those who sit quietly in the back of a lecture all semester. A student who participates electronically in a guided, threaded online discussion will almost certainly experience a richer interaction than that provided by a single question and answer in a traditional classroom.

 Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction also lists the following possible examples of individual instructor-student interactions: 

• Technology can foster contact, providing additional vehicles for instructor-student interactions and for placing the information in an appropriate context.

• Technology has given us additional tools to foster interaction in a student-driven manner adapted to the technology used, for example: 

- Web based: frequently-asked-questions that can be kept current ("FAQs"),

- Interactive: question-and-answer ("Q&A") areas or chat rooms,

- Phone based: phone-in office hours or voice mail,

- Video based: video conferencing with "smart" cameras which can focus on students asking questions,

- Internet based: e-mail distribution lists, chatrooms or bulletin boards where threaded conversations or guided discussions could be held, and

- FAX and e-mail based: exchange of ideas and comments or communication of documents over distance.

In order for effective instructor-student contact to occur in technology mediated courses, faculty development must include adequate training for both full-time and part-time instructors. Furthermore, ongoing responsive technical support must be provided to both faculty and students. If course delivery depends on technology, then all aspects of that technology must function properly whenever faculty and students require them. Colleges that offer distance learning courses must plan, prepare, budget and implement ongoing faculty development and technical support in a timely, systematic manner.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE IMPLEMENTATION

In the words of the 1995 Academic Senate position paper Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections:

 ACurriculum committees must make a judgment as to the quality of the course based on a review of the appropriateness of the methods of presentation, assignments, evaluation of student performance, and instructional materials. Are these components adequate to achieve the stated objectives of the course?@

 This statement, of course, applies to curriculum committee evaluation of any course. More particularly, the purpose of curriculum committee review of distance education course proposals should be to assure that both information transfer and instructor-student interaction are well planned. The review process should be designed to document this assurance.

 The information transfer portion would normally be covered in traditional sections of the course outline on Student Objectives and Course Content. For example, this might well specify the number of hours spent studying material from a CD-ROM and should show the correct relationship to the Carnegie Units of credit for the class. (See for example, Appendix 1 and Appendix 4.) Title 5 defines the Carnegie Unit as follows:

55002 Units.

The course grants units of credit based upon a relationship specified by the governing board between the number of units assigned to the course and the number of lecture and/or laboratory hours or performance criteria specified in the course outline. The course requires a minimum of three hours of student work per week, per unit, including class time and/or demonstrated competency, for each unit of credit, prorated for short-term, laboratory, and activity courses. 

For a more complete discussion of Carnegie Units, see the Spring 1998 Academic Senate position paper Good Practices for Course Approval Processes.

 The instructor-student interaction portion of the curriculum review should be presented not as a challenge or an obstacle to the course originator. Rather it should provide an opportunity to show what interactions will be used and why they should be effective. This description should occur in the Methods of Instruction Section of the course outline where "types and examples" illustrate the appropriate classroom-based or distance education part. There is no need to demonstrate that distance education interactions are more effective than a traditional course format, but there should be an opportunity to include this data if the course originator desires. While "in-person" contact is no longer required by regulation, there are still situations where it remains effective and appropriate as an option. Checkbox lists of interaction methods may be used by the curriculum committee to organize responses, but are discouraged as a means of collecting information from the course originator. (See for example, Appendix 2 and Appendix 3). In particular, this information should clarify both the nature of "effective" and of "regular" for the instructor-student contact in the proposed course. Information is best collected from the course originator using more open-ended questions such as the following (See for example Appendix 1).

 Describe how the course content is delivered:

• describe the distance education methods (teaching modalities) used to deliver the course content and provide an approximate schedule of the time allocated to each modality. 

Describe the nature and frequency of instructor-student interactions: 

• provide examples of synchronous and asynchronous components of the course taught using distance education technology. List the criteria that will be used to substantiate student learning, and describe the methods of evaluating student achievement, 

• describe the number and frequency of different types of instructor-student interaction for students making satisfactory progress, and  

• describe the nature and methods of instructor-student communications designed to intervene when students are at-risk of dropping the course due to poor participation or low test performance. 

For each type of interaction listed above describe why you believe it will be effective: 

• describe how the interactions will facilitate and affect student learning and how students will benefit from the distance education modalities selected.

 Describe how the course design will accommodate students with disabilities: 

• describe the availability of appropriate devices such as screen readers and the design of web or e-mail material to ensure access, and

• describe the availability of support services for students with disabilities. 

Describe the availability of adequate technology and support to carry out the course design: 

• describe the adequacy of available technology to carry out effective distance education courses,

• describe the adequacy of support personnel to maintain hardware, software, media resources and to ensure uninterrupted access to the delivery system, and

• describe the availability of technical support for faculty and students.

 Describe the support services that ensure student success: 

• describe how students will access services such as tutoring, counseling, financial aid, etc., and

• describe how students will have access to course materials, library materials, learning resource materials, etc. 

Describe the use of assignments and methods of evaluation to ensure effective instructor-student contact: 

• describe an ongoing series of small interactions to ensure participation, such as regular e-mail or phone contact, and

• describe an ongoing series of evaluations that ensure verification of student learning and permit timely instructor intervention.
  Notice once again that almost all of these questions, and the information they seek to elicit, are appropriate for the review of all courses - not just for distance education.

BARGAINING IMPLICATIONS

Several issues around the successful design and review of distance education courses involve collective bargaining concerns and the provision of support services. 

For example, the class size is a crucial component. As in a classroom-based course, class size has implications for both educational effectiveness and faculty working conditions. Title 5 '55352, acknowledges that class size in distance education sections "shall be determined by and be consistent with other district procedures related to faculty assignment" and specifically mentions that such procedures "may include a review by the curriculum committee." 

Despite the hopes of some that budget savings will occur from the use of large classes in a distance education mode, there is little evidence that this has happened. In How Many Students are 'Just Right' in a Web Course? (1998), Judith Boettcher cites examples of distance education courses that have been accepted as effective and where the maximum class sizes are in the 15 to 20 student range. She also cites the growing evidence that faculty spend more time when they interact via e-mail or the web than in a traditional course. 

Issues of compensation for course development and intellectual property rights of faculty are also a concern. Details of compensation may be included in a bargaining contract or may be negotiated individually. The Academic Senate is currently working with faculty on a position paper that includes bargaining implications.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges recommends to local academic senates that they: 

1) ensure that the local Curriculum Committee performs a separate review of courses offered by distance education, as required by Title 5 '55378, 

2) ensure that this separate review considers both the information transfer and the instructor-student contact aspects of the course, 

3) ensure that this separate review of instructor-student contact addresses the methods to be used, their effectiveness, and their frequency, 

4) ensure that this separate review considers the availability of technical support for faculty and students, 

5) ensure that this separate review considers issues of access for students with disabilities, 

6) ensure that adequate support services are provided to distance education students, by consulting with counseling and library faculty, and 

7) consult with local bargaining agents on distance education issues that involve working conditions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "Curriculum Committee Review of Distance Learning Courses and Sections", Position Paper, adopted November 1995. 

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "Distance Learning in California Community Colleges: An Academic Senate Review of the Social, Fiscal and Educational Issues", Position Paper, adopted November 1993. 

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "Good Practices for Course Approval Processes", Position Paper, adopted April 1998. 

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "Guidelines for Good Practice: Technology Mediated Instruction", Position Paper, adopted November 1997. 

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "Stylistic Considerations in Writing Course Outlines of Record", Position Paper, adopted April 1998. 

Academic Senate for the California Community Colleges, "The Future of the Community College: A Faculty Perspective", Position Paper, adopted November 1998. 

Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, "Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Delivered Academic Degree and Certificate Programs", Adopted June 1996.(available March 1999 on the world wide web at http://www.accjc.org/HANDBOK1.htm# PRINCIPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE FOR ELECTRONICALLY DELIVERED ACADEMIC DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS) 

Boettcher, Judith V., "How Many Students are 'Just Right' in a Web Course?", Syllabus, August 1998. 

California Virtual University, "Academic Plan - Principles of Good Practice".(available March 1999 on the world wide web at http://www.california.edu/Faculty/AcademicPlan/academic_plan.html) 

Chickering, Arthur W. and Stephen C.Ehrmann, "Implementing the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever", American Association of Higher Education Bulletin 49, 1996.

Appendices

The following pages show a variety of forms, questions, answers and calculations that could be used by a course proposer or by a local curriculum committee. They are chosen to illustrate some of the points made in the text of the paper. They illustrate both good and bad practices. These examples are only a few of the many possibilities available and should not be interpreted as model forms or as the only option.

APPENDIX 1

Example of an "effective" Curriculum Committee Distance Learning Form for the course proposer, that includes "distance" and "in-person" contact, information on hours, and sample responses. There are many other possibilities. This is not intended as a "model."

DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE OUTLINE ADDENDUM

 COURSE TITLE & NO. Math C, Intermediate Algebra (4 units)

Each proposed or existing course, if delivered by distance education, shall be separately reviewed and approved by the curriculum committee prior to being offered. [Education Code '55378]

Address the following questions:

1. Need/Justification

What is the intent in offering the course by distance education?

How will learning be enhanced by the use of distance education technology?

There are three main intentions in delivering this class by distance learning:

• to make the course available to students unable or unwilling to attend class twice a week on campus,

• to make the course available to students unable to meet the fixed class schedules, and

• to make the computer-based version of this course available to more students without requiring an increase in the use or acquisition of computer equipment available on campus.

Many of our Math C students have been unable to complete the course due to time commitments that arise during the semester: changes in job obligations, illnesses and other difficulties within their families. We believe that offering the course by distance learning will lessen this difficulty, as well as make the resources for learning the material available to students 24-hours a day.

Students will use a home, work or other Windows based computer, with a CD-ROM drive and Internet access to connect with a college server. They will use a set of CD-ROMs, and a set of workbooks, to learn the material of the course, with the server recording their work, including online quiz scores.

2. Methods of Instruction: Instructor-Student Contact

Regular Contact

Please indicate type and number of instructor-student contacts per semester and why you feel this will be effective.

e-mail communication

Individual 2 - 10 Via listserve _____
Via Chatroom 4 - 6 Via Bulletin Board _____
Via FAQS ____
Telephone contacts 4 - 6
Orientation sessions (in person) 1 (2 hrs, mandatory)
Group meetings (in person) 4 (2 hrs each, mandatory)
Review session (in person) 1 (2 hrs, optional)
Other (describe)

Contact with the instructor is to have four forms:

• A minimum of five on-campus meetings: orientation at the beginning of the semester, a midterm examination, two lecture classes on material not covered by the CD-ROMs and a final examination,

• Messages sent between the instructor and student via computer within the mathematics software,

• E-mail sent between the instructor and student, and

• Weekly real-time individual and group conferences via a web-based chat room.

 Describe how you will identify and respond to students experiencing difficulty:

• Test, online and homework scores will be monitored for signs of student difficulty, and

• Identified students will be contacted individually and encouraged to use optional group meetings, instructor office hours, or tutor programs.

Hours for Content Delivery and Interaction

Please show the approximate hours anticipated for student activities.

5 CD-ROMs = 60 hrs supplants normal lecture format

5 Mandatory meetings:

1 orientation session, sessions designed to assist students

1 mid-term exam, in understanding assignments and

2 lecture sessions enable instructor to evaluate

1 final exam = 10 hrs student progress

1 Optional meeting to review sessions designed to
assist students for exams, lecture on selected in learning
difficult material topics = 2 hrs

  Total = 72 hrs

3. Assignments

Please describe student assignments.

 In order for a student to be successful in this course it is anticipated that each student will need to spend time, aside from that necessary to do computer-based lessons and take exams, using the course workbooks. Consequently, although the majority of student time will not be spent attending class sessions at the college, students should still expect to spend approximately seven hours each week reading and completing the workbook, studying the materials and doing additional online work. In addition, at least one hour per week will be spent communicating via computer with the instructor and other students in the class using e-mail and chat rooms.

4. Methods of Evaluation

Please describe how you will evaluate students.

Testing will include computerized online tests as well as on-site classroom tests.
Participation in contact activities will be evaluated.
Project papers will require submission of drafts to document progress.
Written, comprehensive midterm and final exam.

5. Technical Support

What equipment and staff are necessary to support the course (for students and faculty)? Is it already available?

 Students will use a non-campus Windows based computer (at home or work) to access a college internet server, which has already been purchased. The chatroom periods will be handled by an existing college server. All needed equipment is currently available.

Faculty and students may call the District Information Services Helpline for technical assistance. Additional help will be provided by the instructor.

 6. Instructional Materials and Resources

Please describe how you will provide students with access to instructional materials and resources.

 Students may access the college library and instructional material center when on campus for orientation and testing sessions.

The college library catalog may be accessed over the internet.

7. Student Services

Please describe how you will provide students with access to counseling and financial aid services.

 Students may access counselors and financial aid assistance when on campus for orientation and testing sessions.

Web advising is available on a limited basis.

8. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Please describe how you will accommodate students with disabilities.

 Students may contact the DSPS program staff when they are on campus for orientation sessions, or by telephone at other times to make suitable arrangements.

Web site course material will be accessible to screen readers.

9. Additional Resources

Are additional resources/or secretarial support needed or anticipated to teach by distance learning?

 No.

 10. Class size

 30 (standard limit for Math classes taught in the on-campus computer lab)

(This Distance Learning Course Outline Addendum was modified with thanks to Mission College)