DECSC
Business 10 Proposal: Hybrid Course – Jan Novak
Business Law
1. Need/Justification
Business Law is a popular course that provides business students with a basic
understanding of the legal environment of business. The course is required for
several certificate and degree programs, and is transferable to both UC and
CSU. The course attracts both degree/certificate candidates and businesspeople
looking to build their business skills.
The intent of a hybrid offering is to improve access for evening students. This 4unit course is currently offered in an evening format with two two-hour sessions
per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:00-7:50 p.m. in Fall 2004). The
required commitment to attend class two evenings per week is more than many
students can handle, particularly those students taking more than one course.
The hybrid online section would instead schedule this evening section for one
three-hour session (from 6:00-8:50 p.m.) per week, with one additional hour of
online instruction and discussion each week. This format will enable more
students to take this course, and will offer far more opportunity to leverage the
power of the internet for routine assessments, discussion, and collaboration.
2. Course Content Delivery
This course will be offered 75% classroom and 25% online. The class will meet
face-to-face weekly, and will have one additional hour of required online
instruction, discussion, assessment, and collaboration each week. The 17 hours
of online work will be structured as follows:
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12 hours of case analysis and discussion: each student will be required to
analyze four cases during the semester, and all students will be required
to review and comment on those analyses in each of the 12 weeks in
which cases are presented. The cases will relate directly to that week’s
classroom instruction, and will serve to build practical application skills.
6 hours of online quizzes (6 multiple choice quizzes at 1 hour each):
these will replace classroom routine assessments
In addition to this approximately 18 hours of structured time, students will be able
to collaborate on team projects via team discussion boards, to take computergraded chapter quizzes each week (non-credit), to conduct structured research
for individual and team projects on the internet, and to anonymously evaluate the
instructor and course via online surveys.
3. Nature and Frequency of Instructor-Student Interactions
This course will meet in the classroom for three hours each week, ensuring
significant instructor-student interaction. The online components will be
extensively monitored by the instructor, who will provide feedback on team
project discussions, case analyses, and practice quizzes. The instructor will
actively participate in case analyses. The online environment will also facilitate
good between-class communication between the instructor and students via the
Blackboard email, grade posting, and announcement systems. All course
materials (syllabus, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, assignments) will be
available in Blackboard.
Practice quizzes and the six graded quizzes will be multiple choice questions and
computer-graded, with results available to students immediately.
4. Assignments & Methods of Evaluation
Student progress will be evaluated as follows:
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Fifteen optional chapter practice quizzes will enable students to assess
their own learning. Students will earn two extra credit points per quiz.
Students must score at the 80% level to earn the extra credit, but will have
unlimited opportunities to complete each quiz during that week.
Six multiple choice quizzes (30% of grade) will assess student learning of
key business law concepts.
Case studies and weekly discussion questions (10% of grade) will allow
students to apply weekly learning to actual business cases, and to interact
extensively with other students and the instructor.
Interim and final anonymous course evaluations (two extra credit points
each) will require students to reflect on their learning and provide valuable
feedback to the instructor for course improvement.
The remaining 60% of the course grade will be based on classroom evaluations,
including a mid-term and final (25%), individual and team assignments (25%),
and class participation (10%).
5. Technical Support
The online components of this course will be managed through Blackboard,
which is very user friendly and has built-in support features. Blackboard can be
accessed from any computer with internet access, whether at home, on campus,
or in a local library, and is supported by the Blackboard Help Desk. An overview
of Blackboard will be provided to all students during the first class session.
Students must have an email account to participate in the course; free email
accounts are available via Hotmail, Yahoo, and other providers. Students who
have any difficulties will be able to contact their instructor via email, the weekly
classroom lectures, or by phone.
6. Student Services
As all students in this course will be on campus weekly, there are no unique
student services issues for those enrolled in this hybrid course.
7. Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Blackboard meets the basic requirements for accessibility for students with
disabilities. Every effort will be made to accommodate students with special
needs. Blackboard is dedicated to its partnership with Utah State University and
other companies such as PeopleSoft, Sun Microsystems, Pearson Education,
and Saba Software companies in the development of effective models that will
enable people with disabilities to have equal access to this platform.
8. Class Size & First Term to be offered
Class size will be limited to 44 students, as are the on-campus, online, and
telecourses. The class would be offered for the first time in Fall of 2005.
Revised 8/24/04