DECSC
Business 10 Proposal: Online 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 an online offering is to improve student access. The course should
attract working students, students that need or want a flexible schedule, and
students that simply prefer online study. The course has been successfully
offered as a telecourse, with strong enrollments for several semesters. An online
section will attract many of the same students, but will offer far more opportunity
to leverage the power of the internet for research, discussion, and collaboration.
2. Course Content Delivery
This course will be offered entirely online. Business Law is a 4-unit lecture class,
meeting on-campus for 68 hours each semester. The online course will require
the same time commitment, structured as follows:
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15 hours of threaded class discussion on course subject matter (1 hour
per week for 15 weeks)
12 hours of case analysis and discussion (4 cases per student, with 2
hours to prepare each case and 1 hour to review and comment on other
student analyses)
10 hours of online quizzes and exams (6 multiple choice quizzes at 1 hour
each, 2 essay exams at 2 hours each)
17 hours of reading lectures and hyperlinked material and completing
practice quizzes (1 hour per week)
1 hour to complete a syllabus quiz and online preparedness evaluation
2 hours of interim and final course evaluations
5 hours of online research for assignments
8 hours of collaboration on team projects (via email and discussion
boards)
In addition to this approximately 70 hours of structured time, students will have
the option to attend an on-campus orientation the first week of class and to
attend on-campus exam review sessions. The instructor will hold online office
half-hours twice per week, and will be available during regular office hours on
campus, and by phone and email to consult with students. Students would also
have the option to periodically (not more than once per month) attend the oncampus sections of this course that I teach to ask questions and interact with
other students.
3. Nature and Frequency of Instructor-Student Interactions
This course will be entirely online, and entirely asynchronous (with the exception
of online office hours). At the beginning of the course, students will be required
to take an online learning readiness survey and a syllabus quiz to ensure a
strong foundation for the course. Each student will also prepare a set of goals for
the course, which will be discussed via email with the instructor.
Each week’s learning module will include instructor-authored lecture notes
including hyperlinks to web resources, a discussion board topic and questions,
an assignment list with links to detailed instructions, a case study that roughly
one-third of the students will complete each week, and a practice quiz. Some
learning modules will also include a graded quiz or exam and/or an assignment
segment for the group project.
Students will begin each week by reading the lecture notes, hyperlinks, and
textbook assignments. By Thursday evening, each student will make an initial
contribution to that week’s discussion topic, and those students with a case
assignment for the week will submit their case analysis to the case discussion
board. By Sunday evening of each week, each student will have made at least
two more substantive contributions to the discussion boards, have completed a
practice quiz, and submitted all other assignments/quizzes/exams for the week.
The instructor will participate extensively in the class discussion boards, offering
clarifications, new ideas for discussion, and positive reinforcement. Students will
receive weekly grades for their discussion board contributions. The instructor will
provide written individual evaluations of all assignments and case studies via
email.
Practice quizzes and the six graded quizzes will be multiple choice questions and
computer-graded, with results available to students immediately. The mid-term
and final exams will be essay questions, and the instructor will provide written
evaluations to each student via email.
The instructor will post all grades weekly, and will prepare summary progress
reports for each student at the 1/3 and 2/3 points in the semester. Halfway
through the semester, each student will prepare a written evaluation of their
progress vs. their stated goals for the course. These techniques should help
students to stay focused throughout the semester.
The instructor will also contact students who have not participated for one week
via email, and will phone students who have not participated for two weeks. The
instructor will use the same methods to contact students who are in danger of
failing the course or otherwise not achieving their goals for the course.
4. Assignments & Methods of Evaluation
Student progress will be evaluated as follows:
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Weekly practice quizzes (8% of grade) will enable students to assess their
learning. Students will earn full points for correctly answering at least 80%
of the questions on any given quiz, with no limit on the number of times
they can take the quiz. This will alleviate the quiz pressure and focus on
ensuring the key concepts are learned.
Six multiple choice quizzes (18% of grade) will assess student learning of
key business law concepts.
Mid-term and final essay exams (25% of grade) will assess student ability
to apply key business law concepts in actual business situations.
Case studies and weekly discussion questions (28% of grade) will allow
students to apply weekly learning to actual business cases, and to interact
extensively with other students and the instructor.
A syllabus quiz and online learning readiness assessment, course goals
memo, and interim status report (6% of grade) will enable students to take
control of their own learning and ensure that they are on track to achieve
their goals.
Two assignments (7.5% of grade) will require students to access new
educational material on the internet and on video to compare their new
learning to the versions of the law presented in popular media.
Interim and final course evaluations (2% of grade) will require students to
reflect on their learning and provide valuable feedback to the instructor for
course improvement.
A group project (5.5% of grade) will require students to interact with each
other via email and group discussion boards to apply their learning about
contracts to a hypothetical business situation.
On average, students will have three assessments each week, and will receive
extensive feedback on their progress throughout the course.
5. Technical Support
This online 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.
The initial “online course readiness survey” should help students to identify and
resolve potential issues in the first week of the course. The Chabot Blackboard
Help Desk can assist students who have problems, and the instructor will be
available for off-hour, basic issue resolution. Students must have an email
account to participate in the course; free email accounts are available via
Hotmail, Yahoo, and other providers.
6. Student Services
Online tutoring is available through Chabot’s Tutorials Instructional Program
Learning Center. Extensive online textbook resources are also available,
including practice quizzes, chapter learning guides, and chapter reviews.
Students can register and drop online, and utilize library services online.
Students can order textbooks online through the Chabot bookstore website, and
links will be provided in the course syllabus to enable this. All campus services
are also available to online students.
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 and telecourses.
The class would be offered for the first time in Spring of 2005.
Revised 8/24/04