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With the fall 2020 semester at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh set to start in just over five weeks, we know first-year and returning students alike have questions about how their classes will be held. To provide some background on the various course delivery methods students are likely to encounter, we contacted the Titans Return Implementation Team.

UWO economics professor Chad Cotti leads implementation of course arrangement and delivery for the team. He identifies two key factors that play into the plan’s course delivery modes.

“Flexibility for our students and increased safety for the entire campus community are the driving reasons for these different modes,” he said.

Standard In-Person class sessions, which will be used sparingly, will offer traditional face-to-face instruction. Although the expectation is that students will attend in person, they may request to be accommodated online through the Dean of Students Office.

HyFlex classes will usually be held face-to-face and online. The method can be used for any traditional lecture-style course. The difference between in-person and Hyflex is simply that Hyflex will offer an online accommodation for students who have health concerns and wish to access the course materials and lectures exclusively online in a flexible way. Otherwise, Hyflex is comparable to the in-person experience.

Modified Tutorial is a hybrid method of instruction where some classes are held online for all students and some are held in-person. In this environment, students will still have the option to choose an online accommodation for the in-person sessions prior to the start of the semester. This mode will frequently be used for courses that include a small-group component, such as a lab session.

Online/Remote courses will be held entirely online or through an alternative delivery. Instructors will determine whether the session will be held synchronously or asynchronously. Synchronous has a more formal schedule of attendance for the many students who prefer regular accountability and following a more traditional meeting pattern. Asynchronous provides a more flexible class engagement arrangement.

Even more flexibility can be added to Standard In-Person, HyFlex and Modified Tutorial modes with attendance modulation. To meet physical distancing requirements, instructors may adjust classroom attendance expectations to reduce the number of students attending each class. For example, students may be asked to alternate back and forth between attending online and in-person every other class session. This option will be used sparingly and only as necessary to prevent students’ schedules from becoming overly complicated. Course instructors will be in charge of determining any attendance modulations.

What the plan ultimately accomplishes:

“By replacing most of the classes that were not moved online with either a HyFlex or Modified Tutorial model, UWO is able to provide an in-person educational experience for students with this preference,” Cotti said. “At the same time, our plan provides students who have health concerns with the flexibility to take many more courses online or be accommodated online for the in-person HyFlex lectures or in-person components of Modified Tutorial courses.”

To see which delivery mode will be offered for their classes, UWO students can check My Class Schedule online in the TitanWeb Student Center. Delivery methods have not all been determined, so check back over the next several weeks. Learn more here.