We are writing to provide some additional Collegiate guidelines for Spring 2021 course modalities and some practical considerations that you might find useful now that you have received information about Spring 2021, both from the Office of the Provost and the Registrar. These curricular guidelines are based on lessons learned during the launch of the fall semester and upon recommendations from the CLAS UEPCC and GEPC.

Guiding Principles for Course Modalities in Spring 2021
As we are all aware, the quality of an academic experience does not rest on course modality alone, and neither in-person nor online instruction automatically results in a high level of student achievement or satisfaction. However, it is the convergence of student agency and responsibility, the course structure, and the experience, dedication, and enthusiasm of the instructor that can help to shape academic success for our students. 

Faculty members and their departments are experts in course content and the related pedagogy that increases student achievement and engagement. Thus, DEOs, faculty instructors, and TAs should work in collaboration to choose the best modality for each course, with some content and instructors fitting better with one mode than another. Departments should also consider the students’ need for social and personal learning experiences when selecting a range of course modalities to offer.

Course Modality Options for Spring 2021
Departments should offer a range of course experiences from the list of options that was provided by the Registrar on Monday, September 21^st, 2020:

• Face-to-Face (F2F)
• Hybrid (Web, F2F) without students rotating through F2F experiences – i.e., classroom assignment will be based on total student enrollment in course
• Hybrid (Web, F2F) with student rotating through F2F experiences – i.e., classroom assignment will be based on a subset of the total student enrollment coming to class in groups
• Web – a combination of synchronous and asynchronous elements, but course will be assigned an online meeting schedule (day/time each week)
• Individualized Experience (by arrangement – may be F2F, Hybrid or Web)

Practical Suggestions for Spring 2021 Planning

1. Course modalities can vary across the curriculum and course level, from introductory through graduate courses. Unlike for Fall 2020 semester, there are no groups of students or courses prioritized for one modality over another.

2. Courses with enrollments > 50 will be automatically be offered in a web (online) format. Courses offered in a web format can include a mix of synchronous and asynchronous experiences. Instructors should consider adding engagement components and activities that help students to learn in “real time” from both the course instructor and each other during the synchronous course meetings, especially if there are pre-recorded lectures or modules for students to complete as part of the curriculum. These could include using a mix of “live” and recorded lectures and offering “drop in” zoom discussion sections during the course time.

3. Instructors teaching online courses are encouraged to help support students with skills needed to learn online (e.g., best practices for participation, orientation to the zoom technology) and to help normalize online learning as positive and engaging. There are campus resources available at all times to support online instructors and there may be more programming offered during Winter Session to help instructors prepare for Spring 2021. See: https://teach.its.uiowa.edu/events/upcoming and  https://its.uiowa.edu/training-and-events.

4. Smaller lecture courses (< 50) may be well-matched to offer in the F2F or hybrid modality. The hybrid modality allows the instructor to move between F2F and web-based course activities on different days (e.g., some examples: 1 F2F lecture a week and 2 web sessions OR 2 F2F sessions and 1 web sessions). Instructors can choose a hybrid modality without student rotation, meaning that they will be assigned a classroom assigned for the F2F sessions that will support the entire course enrollment, or they can choose the hybrid with student rotation and have smaller groups of students attend the F2F sessions in a classroom selected for that specified group size. If an instructor chooses either hybrid modality, it is critically important to describe the plan for attendance in the MAUI course description so that students know what to expect and, additionally, that an appropriate classroom can be assigned.

5. Discussion sections and/or labs offered as components of lecture courses may be scheduled among the modalities: Web, F2F and hybrid, thereby giving students a choice of modality. For large enrollment courses, departments might consider a mix of modalities for the course sections depending on instructor preference and pedagogy as well as student choice. Note that discussion sections do not need to have the same enrollment caps, with F2F sections having slightly smaller enrollments to increase safety and student/instructor comfort level and web sections having slightly larger enrollments to ensure all students are served.

6. TA assignments: In departments where TA assignments will be made later in the semester and may not be known before October 1st, DEOs and course supervisors may want to use what has been learned in Fall 2020 about pedagogy and TA preference to assign an appropriate mix of modalities. Departments may want to survey their TAs for modality preferences to use in course planning for Spring 2021.

7. Finally, when departments have the ability to be flexible about assigning modalities (particularly in large-enrollment courses with many discussion sections), departments may want to survey students to assess the distribution of modalities that students prefer. These preferences can be used to help guide decisions around percentage of F2F/hybrid sessions vs. fully web sections.

We recognize that this process is on an unusually tight timeline, with changes to the course planner due no later than Monday, October 5^th 2020. Please let us know if you have questions as you make your plans and have discussions in your departments.

Thanks again for all your work to make this a successful Spring semester for students and instructors alike.