Hybrid Courses in Critical and Creative Thinking

University of Massachusetts, Boston

Please review the explnation of CCT hybrid courses below, and consider these before confirming your matriculation. Note the following general points about course availability, attendance, and formats:

• Several fall and spring courses (and some summer courses) use synchronous hybrid format. This means that face-to-face students attend on campus, and those at a distance join by video web conference. In recent years, more and more local students have chosen to attend meetings through web conference, for purposes of convenience, and/or time and cost savings related to commuting. Those who prefer face-to-face interaction should therefore note that the number of in-class participants can be quite small.
• A few courses are synchronous online; there are regular online meetings but no option to attend on campus. Everyone joins meetings through web conference (weekly, or in some cases, less often).
• A few courses are asynchronous online; there are no (or just a few) required synchronous online meetings. All work is completed independently, and interaction may only happen through online written discussion boards or similar resources.
• Students should expect to take a combination of the course formats described above throughout your studies. Face-to-face students may need to take some courses fully online to complete requirements and electives when needed in the sequence of your plan of study.
• In any case, all programs (Graduate Certificate, MA, any track) can be completed entirely from a distance with no need to ever visit campus, if that is what you choose.
• Courses are not offered in every term, nor in every format. Be prepared to be flexible around your sequence (most courses have no prerequisites and can be taken in any order, except for a few cases related to the final research/writing courses).
• The final course, CrCrTh 694 Synthesis of Theory and Practice, involves the writing of the capstone requirement needed to earn the MA. Note that course CrCrTh 692 Processes of Research and Engagement must be completed before taking 694. The 694 course must be taken last and is only offered in the spring term (so this means that typically, all MA students finish in the spring term with a May graduation date). The program director must confirm any exceptions, which sometimes amounts to taking a remaining course or two in the summer or fall following the spring when 694 is taken (leading to an August or December graduation date), and then completing additional requirements around the capstone project (to account for ways that the final courses were not considered when the capstone was written).

 

More on the Hybrid Course Format

Hybrid courses in the Critical and Creative Thinking are those that combine face-to-face and online participation. Local students join weekly class meetings at the UMass Boston campus at the scheduled weekly time and day throughout the term. Distance students join all of those meetings and participate live through video web conference (usually Zoom or Blackboard Collaborate). During spring and fall semesters, courses usually meet one day per week (M, Tu, W, or Th), either 4:00-6:45pm ET, or 7:00-9:45pm ET.

• Important Note for Matriculated CCT Students Completing the Program Entirely from a Distance
• Note that for hybrid courses or others with synchronous meetings, all students, whether participating on campus or online, are expected to commit to attending all weekly meetings. When enrolling in a hybrid course, please note that there are separate face-to-face and online sections for the course in the registration system. Students should register for the section that reflects how they will participate and should commit to that way of attending for the entire term. Please contact the program director and instructors with any questions about specific arrangements.
  
  

Learning in Hybrid Format

The hybrid format course allows all students, both on campus and online, to participate in live discussion and class activities together. For all intents and purposes, they are participating in the same course. While the goal is to create an inclusive environment (as well as also ensure that small courses have enough participants to allow a robust experience for students), there are some issues that all students might consider.

Guidelines for all participants:

• The standard requirement is that students are required to attend according to the format under which they registered. Face-to-face participants must come to campus, and online participants must join online (it is not acceptable to choose week-by-week which way you'll join). Having said so, individual instructors may use their own policy for deciding what counts as attendance or absence; some instructors allow face-to-face students to attend online as a backup as long as prior arrangements have been made, such as in the case of illness or out-of-town travel.
• Class meetings often involve in-class activities that make use of small breakout groups (for example, a large class may divide into groups of 3 to complete an exercise or discussion together). To help face-to-face and online participants to have opportunities to interact, a small group may be arranged to include some of each type. Flexibility is appreciated here; face-to-face students may sometimes be asked to log into the web conference on their own laptop to join a small group, and since the instructor can't simultaneously facilitate multiple small groups split between the classroom and web conference, students should be prepared to quickly figure out what the activity requires and help facilitate their own small group processes.
• Class meetings may be audio or video-recorded (typically for the purpose of completing make-up work for students who miss a meeting). Please check with the instructor about the class policy, although the recordings, as well are all class materials and interactions, are maintained within password-protected sites and only accessible to students enrolled in the course, and only for the duration of the term.

Guidelines for online participants:

• Make sure that you are using a stable and reliable Internet connection (use wired rather than wireless connection when possible).
• Notice that the video web experience is often different between different kinds of devices. Some features available in Zoom on a regular computer cannot be accessed when using a tablet or mobile device, for example.
• It is sometimes possible to join a class meeting by phone as a backup, if other technology does not work. Speak to the instructor about your needs as they come up (and remember that phone fees/minutes may be charged).
• Become comfortable with simple computer troubleshooting -- as unexpected audio and video problems occur, know how to view your microphone or webcam settings, test hardware, and even be prepared to leave a video conference and then restart it to help work out bugs.

Guidelines for face-to-face participants:

• Take some time to learn how to use Zoom/video conferencing (in case you end up having a reason to attend class that way). Practice using the interface so that you know what various symbols means (for example, know how to determine if a remote participant has muted their microphone or is trying to send a written chat message). In some cases, you may be asked to join a conference for small-group work in a breakout room.
• Follow protocols for discussion, such as use of turn-taking to speak. Note that online participants are not as likely to break into conversation or interrupt as easily as this tends to happen in face-to-face interactions, so leave space to notice if online participants are waiting to speak.
• When in the classroom, do your best to speak clearly toward the microphone and in a way that allows online participants to hear well and "be a part" of the discussion (i.e., minimize side conversations while a whole-class discussion is going on.
• Because class materials may be most often shared through an online system (such as a blog or web site), face-to-face students may want to bring a personal laptop to access them quickly (or be prepared to share computers available in the classroom). In some cases, materials may be posted online but made available as printed handouts infrequently.