Clock Hour and CEU Calculation Policy for Online Courses

InterNACHI® CE

InterNACHI® requires its certified inspectors to complete 24.0 hours of Continuing Education annually to maintain their InterNACHI® certification. Visit the InterNACHI® Continuing Education Policy. 

InterNACHI® follows the national standards of the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), a national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, and the CEU standards developed by The International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) that ensures colleges and universities provide high-quality education following the ACCET Standards for Accreditation and the ANSI/IACET 1-2018 Standard for Continuing Education and Training. InterNACHI's Clock Hour and CEU Calculation Policy for Online Courses describe the institution's applied methodologies based on the ACCET and IACET standards for providing effective and valuable education to the InterNACHI® membership. 

InterNACHI® School

The International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI®) is a federally tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit membership trade organization headquartered in Colorado, USA (View Tax-Exempt Status and State Exemption Letter). InterNACHI® provides free online education courses and a Home Inspector Certificate Program exclusively to its membership through InterNACHI® School, which operates as a division within the membership trade organization. InterNACHI® School is accredited by a national accrediting agency (ACCET.org) recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Our tuition-free courses are provided by our accredited college at internachi.edu.

InterNACHI® members may complete online e-learning courses and the certificate program at their own pace. The InterNACHI® School offers asynchronous online courses delivered through computerized electronic technologies, allowing students flexibility in achieving their continuing education goals. The courses require attendance, participation, interaction with instruction, academic engagement, direct communication, and learning activity to meet the course and program objectives and achieve intended learning outcomes. InterNACHI's e-learning courses compare with similar training offered in a traditional face-to-face class and on-site instruction and comply with time-on-task analysis completed by the curriculum publishers. The online courses mirror their in-person/on-site classes closely, requiring the same components, covering the same topics, and setting the same goals and objectives.

InterNACHI® School does not require onsite attendance, and students do not attend an in-residence program. 

Please read the InterNACHI® Student Catalog to view the courses and program details and enroll in the courses provided by our college by visiting www.nachi.org/catalog.

Clock Hour & CEU

ACCET defines clock hours and CEUs, which are calculated in part by comparing InterNACHI's e-learning courses with similar and comparable in-person, on-site classes offered in a traditional face-to-face delivery mode and applying a time-on-task analysis completed by the curriculum publishers. InterNACHI® documents its implementation and application of policies and procedures for determining clock hours and the Continuing Education Units (CEUs) awarded for its courses and programs.

A clock hour is defined as 50 to 60 minutes in a 60-minute period of the student’s attendance, participation, interaction with instruction, academic engagement, direct communication, and learning activity in an e-learning asynchronous course where there are measurable and documented times of the student:

• attendance¹,
• participation^{2, 9, 13}, 
• interactivity³, 
• academic engagement^{4, 5, 6},
• direct communication between the instructor and students or students with other students^{7, 10, 11}, and 
• learning activities^{8, 12}. 

* Refer to the enumerated notations below.

No more than 1.0 clock hour is assigned to any discrete 60-minute period. Total clock hours represent the length of the fully completed course or program.

A CEU is the number of clock hours of a student’s attendance, participation, interaction with instruction, academic engagement, direct communication, and learning activity divided by 10. For example, if a course is 10.0 clock hours, then the course is also worth 1.0 CEU. 

The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is in the public domain and is commonly recognized as a standard unit of measure for continuing education and training, particularly as it applies to the professional development of adult learners in a formalized college-level educational setting.

ATTENDANCE, PARTICIPATION, INTERACTIVITY, ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT, COMMUNICATION, AND LEARNING 

InterNACHI® School monitors and measures each student's work, including attendance, participation, interaction with instruction, academic engagement, direct communication, and learning activity in 50 out of 60 minutes for each clock hour. The following time factors may be used to calculate the total clock hours and credits of any InterNACHI® course: 

1. Attendance or "Seat Time": The student receives credit for attending the course, which begins when the course is started, is measured while the student is interactively engaged with instruction and academic activities, and ends when the final exam is passed. Participation, interactivity, reading, engagement, communication, video learning, reinforcement, and assignments are included. The school's computerized electronic technologies quantify and document the seat time. A particular licensing board may require "seat time" for students. The "seat time" clock hour credit for attendance or "seat time" is the number of minutes of student attendance / 50.
2. Participation: Students are required to participate or actively engage in all learning activities. Student participation is required and monitored through the learning management system. Students demonstrate substantive participation through frequent and active interaction with reading and writing assignments, writing essays, submitting essays, uploading images, taking review quizzes and final exams, and engagement in other academic activities. The learning management system provides a time-out default mechanism for inactivity and, thereby, will not mark, calculate, and award clock minutes or clock hours for the time when students are not actively participating. The clock hour credit for student participation is the number of minutes of online student participation / 50.
3. Interactivity: For the Home Inspector Certificate Program and online courses, students may use the online InterNACHI Inspection Community Forum to directly communicate and interact with their peers, members, other students, or a mentor who can help guide them and provide informal tutoring. The clock hour credit for interactivity is the number of minutes of student interactivity / 50.
4. Reading the Course Text: The student receives credit for reading the instructional material in text, tables, illustrations, transcripts, and images within the course. The clock hour credit for reading is the number of words in the course / 100 wpm / 50.
5. Reading the Course Textbook: The student receives credit for reading, scanning, reviewing, and studying the companion student coursebook. The clock hour credit for reading the textbook is the number of words in the book / 100 / 50 (maximum).
6. Academic Engagement: The student receives credit for the student's work in reviewing and studying the instructional course material in addition to reading the text. This includes additional technical information and text, tables and charts, technical illustrations, and inspection images with captions or alternative text. This clock hour credit for academic engagement is the number of words in the course / 100 / 50 (maximum). 
7. Direct Communication: The student receives credit for direct academic-oriented communication with other students, the instructor, a mentor, or an Education Team Member with questions, feedback, or requests related to an academic task, assignment, or topic of a course, if it is timed and documented by the learning management system. The clock hour credit for timed communication is the number of minutes of direct communication / 50.
8. Instructional Video Learning Activity: The student receives credit for watching and listening to instructional video. The clock hour credit for the video is the number of minutes of the video / 50. 
9. Reinforcement Questions and Answers: The student receives credit for participating in review reinforcement question and answer sessions placed throughout the course at sufficient intervals to allow the student to evaluate the material that needs to be studied more. The clock hour credit for reinforcement review is the number of quiz questions X 1.85 mpq / 50. 
10. Writing Assignment of the Inspection: The student receives credit for the student's work related to writing and submitting the assignment related to performing an inspection on a house system or component chosen by the student and meeting the writing assignment criteria. The clock hour credit for the inspection writing assignment is a maximum of 4.0 hours per assignment.
11. Writing Assignment of the Research: The student receives credit for the student's work on researching a course topic related to a house system or component chosen by the student and meeting the writing assignment criteria. The clock hour credit for the research writing assignment is a maximum of 4.0 hours per assignment.
12. Academic Activities for an Inspection: The student receives credit for the participation in studying and preparing for the on-site inspection and report writing process according to a Standards of Practice that is required in an "inspection & writing assignment," including studying, learning, preparing, and practicing how to: (a) to capture, transfer, save, label, size, and archive digital images with a camera or device; (b) make observations in an inspection process; (c) evaluate conditions observed; (d) deduce, draw conclusions, and formulate opinions; (e) communicate observations in written form; (f) follow and abide by a Standards of Practice (g) use an inspection checklist or software and other inspection tools while performing an inspection; and (h) publish an inspection report. The clock hour credit for the learning inspection activities is a maximum of 8.0 hours for each inspection assignment.
13. Performing an Inspection: The student receives credit for participating in a directed and independent inspection study performed according to a Standards of Practice, including but not limited to performing an actual inspection on a dwelling, using visual-only inspection techniques, taking digital inspection images with a device or camera, uploading an inspection image, and developing and writing an inspection report using a checklist. The clock hour credit for performing an inspection is a maximum of 8.0 hours for each inspection.

wpm = words per minute
mpq = minutes per question