- Purpose: Provides a list of approved course components - course meet types - that may be used during the course scheduling process.
- Does it appear in the academic calendar: No
- Type of field: Typeahead and multiselect
- Constraints: Look up the components before selecting to ensure the correct components are used to match up with the desired teaching methods.
The list of available course components as approved by Senate (November 27, 2023):
| Component code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CLN | Clinic | Teaching is devoted to the analysis, treatment, and management of direct care for clinical cases. Students operate in various specialty fields typically in a clinical setting. |
| DIS | Discussion | Teaching is based primarily on engaging the students in instructor-guided group discussions. |
| ENS | Ensemble | Teaching is conducted by means of evaluating musical performance amongst a group of supporting players. |
| ESS | Essay | Evaluation is normally based on a formal written piece of work that contains a thesis, substantiated by an argument that is properly referenced. Students work independently in consultation with an instructor. |
| FLD | Field Studies | Teaching is conducted outside the classroom. Work is with the primary materials in their original setting. |
| FLT | Flight | The flight component is held off campus at the Region of Waterloo International Airport, and is the practical application of flight material learned in the course. |
| LAB | Laboratory | Teaching takes place in a room containing special purpose equipment required for student observation, participation, experimentation, or practice. |
| LEC | Lecture | Teaching is usually in the form of a series of lectures. The total class size should be normally more than three students; therefore, when a lecture section is combined with another lecture section (undergraduate or graduate), enrolment may be limited to fewer than three students in either one of the class sections. |
| OLN | Online activities | Teaching and learning occur online for a fully online course or as part of a blended course. This component indicates that a range of instructional approaches are used online such as lectures, readings, discussions, and assessments. For blended courses, usually there are weekly online activities that help students prepare for or otherwise complement the in-person learning component of the course. |
| ORL | Oral Conversation | Teaching is based primarily on engaging the students in instructor-guided group discussions and verbal interaction, usually in a language other than English. |
| PRA | Practicum | Teaching involves supervised placement time in a work setting exercising practical routines and techniques related to a particular academic plan. Research and analytical skills are demonstrated based on the practical application of material learned as part of the academic program. Usually, a formal report summarizing the skills learned is required. Faculty requirements will vary by discipline. In some disciplines the course may need a specially equipped room and may meet off campus. For graduate courses: To meet criteria for a PRA component, there must be an identified external partner that students engage with; courses identified with PRA must always offer a practicum experience, even if delivered with other course components. |
| PRJ | Project | Similar to the reading component, learning usually takes place as a result of independent study/research. However, in this case it makes use of special purpose equipment for student observation, participation, experimentation, or practice. |
| RDG | Reading | Learning takes place as a result of student independent study under the supervision of an instructor. |
| SEM | Seminar | Teaching involves students collectively exploring a topic or field of study. May be led all or in part by the students. |
| STU | Studio | Teaching consists of instructor coaching focused on practical skills execution, normally in a room with special purpose equipment, such as audio-visual recording equipment, theatre technical equipment, etc. |
| TST | Test Slot | Used only to designate a time slot for holding mid-term exams. A specific calendar date for each test slot must be included with each TST component section. |
| TUT | Tutorial | Teaching provides students with additional information, assistance, and practice applying the course material. The format is typically in the form of an open discussion or problem-solving session. |
| WRK | Work Term | This component is only used on a co-operative education course to represent an official work-term placement. |
| WSP | Workshop | Teaching includes intensive instructor/student contact as well as independent project work. It may be held in a theatre, studio, or a specially equipped room such as a flexible or active learning classroom to support groupwork. |
- Only those listed in Kuali (and thus Quest) are considered approved and can be scheduled/offered.
- All components that could potentially be scheduled should be listed on a Kuali record; if multiple components have been added and approved to a course, not all components need to be offered when a course is scheduled.
- It is not best practice to have all components approved/listed for the sole purpose of "just in case".
Kuali nuances
- Components do not display in the academic calendars as of fall 2024, but approval to add/remove components attached to a course is required.
- A course can only be scheduled with one primary meet, no matter how many are approved to be used. This is a required field in Quest and must be collected during the approval process.
- There is no limit to the number of components that can be listed for a course. However, scheduling limits the number of components that can be attached to a class to three; students can be enrolled in the primary component, and then enrolled in up to two more components (i.e., Related 1 and Related 2).
If an academic unit or faculty finds the available list of components insufficient for their needs, the following is the process to have a new course component created at the University of Waterloo:
- Submit a request via email to the Associate Registrar, Enrolment Services & Academic Policy (Jennifer Coghlin) outlining the following:
- The desired three-letter code, title, and description of the component.
- The rationale for the new component.
- The request will be reviewed by the Associate Registrar and the Director, Teaching Support. Note: In order to keep consistent with existing language, edits to the desired wording may be made or suggested.
- The request will be brought for review and recommendation to the Associate Deans, Undergraduate Studies. Once agreement is achieved that the request has merit, the recommendation will proceed to the final step.
- The recommendation for a new component will be made for the Registrar and the Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs to make a final decision.
Once a decision has been made, it will be communicated back to the original requestor by the policy team of the Office of the Registrar.