Determining Instructional Time in Blended Courses

Owned by Liam Mason (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Jun 14, 2023 by Alyssa Goudy
2 min read

Time-on-task can be defined as the amount of time you spend being actively involved in the learning process; acquiring new skills, knowledge, values, and attitudes.

Discovering the expected time commitment for completing a course is essential. The following information provides definitions and guidelines to estimate the time a student would spend on satisfactory work. Understanding these calculations ensures effective time management. Let's explore the key aspects of workload estimation for a course!

Essentially… “how much time a student doing satisfactory work would take to complete the work of the course” - Thanks, The Management

Know the Definitions

The following sets of definitions and calculations will aid in describing various aspects related to course completion time: Hours per Week Calculation, Instruction Time Examples, Workload Calculation for 8-week Hy/brid/flex* Courses, Workload Calculator, and Documentation Methods.

(*For asynchronous courses, the live class is pre-recorded.)

  • 45 hours per 1 credit

    • 15 hours of instruction

    • 30 hours of student work out of class

  • 3 credit class = 135 hours total

  • Divide by number of weeks for hours per week

    • 15 weeks = 9 hours/week

    • 8 weeks = 17 hours/week

Instruction counts as…

  • live class time 

  • reading course presentations and pre-recorded lectures

  • reading required text

  • reading supplemental materials

  • participation in online discussions

  • doing research

  • writing papers or other assignments

  • completing all other assignments (e.g. projects)

8-week Hy/brid/flex* Courses: 

18.1 hours (~1086 minutes) per week

  • Minus weekly class time (180 minutes)

  • Minus collective read, watch, listen time 

  • Minus collective assessment time

    • Quizzes, tests, etc. 

  • Minus collective research and project time

*Asynchronous is the same except live class is pre-recorded

  • Label each item in syllabus OR

    • Ex: Read Chapter 1 (est. 2 hours)

  • Add weekly totals in syllabus OR

    • Ex: Week 1 Activities (est. 26 hours)

  • Make a separate table in syllabus OR

    • Ex: Rows = weeks, columns = time

  • Some other acceptable method