Skill-driven units

This unit structure is very appropriate to the skills-based mentality of most vocational units.

It suits skills that require much more in-class practice under teacher supervision, where lectures are not helpful. Students need more sessions per week to reinforce skills; a gap of a week means skills are partially lost. Assigned work is usually exercises in which students practice particular skills.

The time allocation also suits units where people expect to be taught and are poorly equipped or less motivated to do homework.

If staff are paid per class hour, this kind of unit becomes more expensive to teach because staff have a higher proportion of time spent in class for the same number of semester hours. They must also come into college more times each week, resulting in more travelling time and higher transport costs, and potentially increased scheduling problems. On the other hand, more of the time is used for practice than for a theory-driven unit, so it may take less out-of-class preparation. Despite these difficulties, one cannot honestly teach this kind of unit using the same pattern as a theory-driven unit; students actually need that kind of practice.

The formula is half the time is allotted each to class work and the other half to out-of-class exercises done as assignments. For a three-semester hour undergraduate unit, this translates to three 90-minute sessions in class and 4.5 hours of assigned exercises.

As another alternative, some units may be mainly class or workshop contact with a lower proportion of time spent outside class. In this case, the instructor most likely spends most contact time supervising practice and giving correction rather than teaching lessons. The breakdown then might be: