Re: Lab/lecture ratio

[Larry Smith <larry.smith@SNOW.EDU>]

At 10:47 AM -0600 1/30/02, Tina Fanetti wrote:
> Also, for those who teach lecture and lab..do you have a set ratio th=
> at lab is worth 1.5 lecture hours or something similiar?  What?  I'd =
> like to know so that I can argue for a more representative load

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has some published
guidelines for the workload of physics teachers in two-year colleges.  It
is found at <http://www.psrc-online.org/curriculum/tycguide2.html#7>.

Of particular interest is a sentence from the section just previous to the
personnel guidelines which says, "In computing physics faculty workload,
one hour of laboratory supervision should be considered to be at least
equivalent to one hour of lecture responsibility.  AAPT has taken note that
it has been common practice for some administrators to use a weighing
factor of less than one in computing the contact hours in laboratory
instruction.  This practice is direct conflict with the recognized demands,
both physical and emotional, that are placed on an instructor in
supervision of extended laboratory sessions."

It also says that the teaching load should not exceed 15 _contact_ hours.

There may be a comparable document somewhere for research institutions.

Larry