Welcome to the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science and congratulations on your position as a Sessional Instructor. In order for your experience to be a positive, rewarding experience, we have outlined your primary tasks when teaching Instructional Support Group (ISG) supported courses.

Each course has been carefully developed by a team of faculty, instructors, instructional staff and sometimes students to provide what the School of Computer Science considers the most relevant and practical tools for students pursuing education in Computer Science at all levels. Your fulfillment of the following tasks will help to ensure the success of the course for the students as well as a rewarding experience for you, as an instructor.

Teaching

  • Follow the teaching materials developed and provided for you by the school.
  • Consult with course staff to ensure consistency between sections and terms
  • ISAs (Instructional Support Assistants) will be sitting in on your lectures, to review material for themselves, to be aware of student challenges and to ensure consistency across lectures. If they have concerns with course delivery, for any reason, they will make the Instructional Support Coordinator aware and they will address the concerns.

Student Interactions

  • Provide office hours for students to answer questions regarding course material, assistance with assignments, exams. (It is important to not provide too many hints/answers)

Assignments

  • Create challenging, fair assignments evaluating relevant sections of the course. (the number of assignments will depend on the number of course instructors and sections being taught)
    • These should be done in a timely manner so that they can be proofread and tested by other course staff (Instructors, ISAs, TAs)
    • Create solutions and marking schemes for marking staff. These should be clear and specific. (setting up Marking software, where appropriate)
    • If possible, attend marking meetings for assignments created.

Academic Integrity

  • The Instructional Support Coordinator will take care of assessing assignments, arranging meetings, sending letters to students & academic integrity officers. If necessary they will consult with instructors.

Clickers

  • Setup Clicker software on laptop or test on lecture room podium machine.
  • Upload clicker files to course account by weekly deadline given by ISC.
  • Course staff will run scripts to post clicker grades for students.

Midterms and Final Exams

  • Create challenging, fair midterms and finals in cooperation with fellow instructors.
    • Meet deadlines set out by ISC for proofreading, test writing and printing
  • Attend exams
    • Arrive 30 minutes prior to the beginning of the exam to set up the exam.
    • Circulate through exam rooms to ensure there are no questions and provide clarifications
    • During a midterm, arrange a meeting with other course instructors 1 hour into the exam.
    • Assist with proctoring
    • Assist with exam collection, counting/sorting at the end of the exam 
  • Return exams to the Instructional Support Coordinator
  • Provide solutions and marking schemes
  • Lead marking team in cooperation with other instructors
  • Mark exams with course team

Record Keeping and Final Grades

The following should be sent to the Instructional Support Coordinator to complete/track (you will not need to track grades, special cases etc)

  • AccessAbility Alternate Testing Agreements
  • Clicker Issues
  • Documentation from students missing assignments/labs
  • Student issues, request for extenuating circumstances
  • The Instructional Support Group will maintain records of all grades, missed assignments, exceptional cases.
  • The ISC will create a spreadsheet with final grades calculated. It will be sent to instructors for review followed by a course meeting to discuss borderline cases or other student exceptions.