Last revised on 7/18/2025 by KK
Overview
This post covers UConn's course modalities and related policies for faculty teaching online.
Course Modalities
The Registrar hosts the official definitions and guidance on Course Modalities. CETL provides additional explanations, teaching considerations, and visual guides on their Teaching and Course Modalities page. Faculty should be aware of the official course modalities and the implications for online teaching and learning.
Credit Hour Policy
When discussing modes of delivery, it is helpful to understand the University's Credit Hour Policy. For each credit earned, students are required to complete 42 hours of academic work over the course of the term.
For in-person (P/PR) and online synchronous (OS) classes during a 14-week semester, each credit equates to 3 hours of work per week apportioned as:
- 1 hour of classroom/synchronous instruction and
- 2 hours of out-of-class/asynchronous work.
Faculty teaching mixed mode (HB/HL) and online courses (OA/OB) that do not meet in-person/synchronously for the minimum time should plan to replace the time with out-of-class/asynchronous activities that include student-to-student, student-to-instructor, and student-to-content interaction. Refer to Credit Hours and Workload for more information on the total hours of work required per credit and how this work is distributed (per week) across various session lengths.
Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)
Faculty teaching in online courses should also be aware of requirements for Regular and Substantive Interaction.
Additional Resources
Related Resources
- Attend a CETL seminar about strategies used in online and hybrid/blended courses
- Review eCampus Faculty Resources for online education
Related Posts
- Competencies for Online and Hybrid/Blended Instruction
- Managing Your Online Course
- Best Practices and Expectations for Online Teaching at UConn
- Faculty Resources for Teaching Online at UConn
- Introducing Quality Matters
- Authentication of Students in Online Courses
- Meeting Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Requirements