Course Structure Form Instructions

OVERVIEW

The course structure form (CSF) is a formatted spreadsheet that summarizes the changes made in the course structure as a result of redesign. The CSF enables institutions to compare the format of the traditional course with the format of the redesigned course, permitting a clear contrast between the types of sections, the number of students enrolled and the kinds of personnel involved in each format over the course of the academic year.

INSTRUCTIONS

Here are the steps required to complete the CSF. If the answer is 0 for any cell, please leave it blank.

STEP 1: Enter the information about the structure of the traditional course: 1) the number of weeks in each term (leave the total blank), 2) the number of students enrolled in each term and the total annual course enrollment, and 3) the number of sections by type in each term and the total number of sections offered. For the types of sections, include a label (large, medium, small, lab, distance) to distinguish among the types of sections offered. If you offer more than two types of sections, label and insert additional rows for type 3, type 4, and so on. (Only include totals for enrollment numbers and numbers of sections. For all other entries in the CSF, no total is needed.)

STEP 2: Enter the information about the course meetings for each type of traditional section. Include a label (large, medium, small, lab, distance) to correspond to the Type 1 and 2 sections shown in the Course Structure section. If you offer more than two types of sections, label and insert additional rows for type 3, type 4, and so on. Delete the options for section types that are not relevant to your traditional or redesigned courses and, therefore, are not used. (No totals are needed.)

STEP 3: Enter the information about the instructional personnel involved in the traditional course. For the types of faculty, include a label (FT faculty, instructors, PT faculty, adjuncts) to distinguish among the types of faculty involved. If more than two types of faculty are involved in the course, label and insert additional rows for type 3, type 4, and so on. If other kinds of personnel are involved in the course, label and insert additional rows to represent their activities. Delete the options for types of personnel that are not relevant to your traditional or redesigned formats and, therefore, are not used. (No totals are needed.)

STEP 4: Repeat steps 1 – 3 for the redesigned course format.

DEFINITIONS

Course Meetings

Total # of in-class hours per week – the number of face-to-face hours a student spends in class per week
Total # of lectures per week – the number of lecture periods a student attends per week
Length of each lecture – the hourly duration of each lecture
Total # of recitations per week – the number recitation periods a student attends per week
Length of each recitation – the hourly duration of each recitation
Total # of labs per week – the number of lab periods a student attends per week
Length of each lab – the hourly duration of each lab period
Total # of other meetings per week – the number of other types of meetings that a student attends as a regular part of the course (for example, team meetings, studios or workshops) per week
Length of each – the hourly duration of each of these other types of meetings
Instructional Personnel

For each type of personnel:

Number teaching or assisting with the course – the number of the particular type of personnel teaching or assisting each term and the total teaching or assisting annually
Number of sections – the number of sections taught or assisted with each term and the number taught or assisted with annually by the particular type of personnel
Number of lectures, recitations, labs and other meetings per week – the number taught or assisted each week each term by the particular type of personnel for 1 section of the course.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO DISPLAY DATA

One Section vs. Whole Course

Regardless of how you display the data in the Course Planning Tool, the data displayed in the Course Structure Form should reflect the whole course—i.e., all sections and all semester/quarters with corresponding totals.

NOTE: If you are not redesigning all aspects of the course, only enter information for the part of the course that is being redesigned. For example, if you are not redesigning the summer session, leave those cells blank. If you are only redesigning the lecture portion of a course and not the laboratory portion, do not include information about laboratory sections.

Explanatory Notes

Sometimes it is useful to include brief explanatory comments or notes. Please number these and keep them short. These are only necessary if it is not immediately evident what the numbers mean. (See the Ohio State University CSF for an example.)

When You Need To Use More than 2 Sets of Columns

There are several instances when you may need to complete more than 2 sets of columns (Fall, Spring, Summer, Total). These include:

When you are combining more than one traditional course into a single redesigned course. In this instance, you should complete a set of columns for each of the traditional courses involved and one set of columns for the redesigned course. Just insert an additional set of 4 columns for each additional course that is part of the total redesign. (The University of Idaho CSF provides an example of this situation.)
When you have already begun to redesign a course and are planning further redesign. In this instance, you should complete one set of columns reflecting the course before redesign began, one set of columns reflecting the current state and a third set of columns reflecting the intended future redesign. Just insert an additional set of 4 columns for the interim redesign.

If you have questions or comments about the course structure form, please send email to Patricia Bartscherer, Program Manager, pbartscherer@theNCAT.org.