2019 changes

This page collects all of the noteworthy changes made to PD courses during 2019. If you want to see our most recent changes, visit the up-to-date course changes page.

PD1

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Personal pitch	We revised the questions to prompt more reflection and encourage students to consider networking opportunities.	The previous version of this assessment was focused on creating a personal pitch that students could use for chance encounters with employers. We recognized that preparing a pitch in advance wasn't an organic way of preparing for these chance encounters, and opted to reorient the assessment around reflection and critical thinking.
Fall 2019	Cover letter	We revised the questions to include more emphasis on intrinsic and extrinsic values.	We wanted to encourage students to link their values to specific positions of interest. Asking students to identify their values helps them assess whether or not a job posting is "the right fit" for them.
Spring 2019	Interview questions	We added more details to the rubrics to help students understand each level of performance.	Many students didn't understand why their interview question responses weren't satisfying all rubric criteria. Enhancing the criteria helps students succeed on these assessments.
Spring 2019	Cover letter	We revised the wording of Question 4.	The original question suggested that students should simply copy and paste all key qualifications from their chosen job posting. We changed the wording to encourage more reflection and critical thinking.
Winter 2019	Unit 1	We added new information regarding transferable and technical skills.	Some students were confusing transferable and technical skills, which affected their performance on the Unit 1 exercise. Adding new information helps students understand the terms within that exercise.
Winter 2019	Allocating your time quiz	We refined the question description and activity options for greater clarity.	Many students were incorrectly ordering the activities listed in the quiz, so we refined the wording to help them better understand the options.
Winter 2019	Personal pitch, workplace conduct questions, cover letter	We updated question wording to clarify our expectations.	We wanted to better align the questions asked within each exercise with the expectations stated in associated rubrics.

PD1 EDGE

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Unit 4: Part A assessment	We revised the questions to prompt more reflection and encourage students to consider networking opportunities.	The previous version of this assessment was focused on creating a personal pitch that students could use for chance encounters with employers. We recognized that preparing a pitch in advance wasn't an organic way of preparing for these chance encounters, and opted to reorient the assessment around reflection and critical thinking.
Fall 2019	Unit 10 assessment	We revised the questions to include more emphasis on intrinsic and extrinsic values.	We wanted to encourage students to link their values to specific positions of interest. Asking students to identify their values helps them assess whether or not a job posting is "the right fit" for them.
Spring 2019	Unit 10 assessment	We revised the wording of Question 4.	The original question suggested that students should simply copy and paste all key qualifications from their chosen job posting. We changed the wording to encourage more reflection and critical thinking.
Winter 2019	Unit 2: Part B worksheet	We updated the worksheet to include more specific examples of SMART goals.	Some students were struggling to provide enough detail re: their SMART goals, and we want to provide a strong example to more clearly set expectations.
Winter 2019	Unit 4, Unit 7: Part B, Unit 8: Part A, Unit 10 assessments and rubrics	We updated the wording of these assessments and rubrics to clarify expectations.	We wanted to better align the questions asked within each assessment with the expectations stated in associated rubrics.

PD3

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Unit 8 quiz	We updated the case study scenario in the Mr. Vladek quiz, and wrote new questions to align with the updates.	The scenario we were previously using was due for a refresh, and the new scenario and questions better achieve the unit's learning outcomes. We also included a reflective question to help students make more meaningful connections between the Unit 8 content and their own communication strengths and weaknesses.
Fall 2019	All units	We removed the soft/hard deadline system from the course and replaced it with the late days system found in many other PD courses. Instead of having multiple assignments due by the same hard deadlines, students now have three late days to use at their leisure.	We wanted to give students more flexibility as they work through the course, and the late days system allows them to introduce wiggle room when and where they need it. Students have also asked for grades to be released earlier for some assignments, and moving to a late day system allows us to speed up those grade releases.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

PD5

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Winter 2019	All assessment rubrics	We updated all rubrics to ensure the feedback prompts were accurate at each level of performance.	Students have noticed that some feedback prompts don't align with their associated levels of performance. Updating the prompts helps students understand their strengths and areas of improvement in their assessments.
Winter 2019	Units 3-4, 6-7, 9 assessments	We edited various questions throughout the listed assessments.	Refining questions encourages students to make connections between their responses and the course content. Adding more details helps students engage in meaningful reflection.

PD6

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Assignment 1	We updated the assignment template.	The updated template contains much clearer instructions, which helps students better understand what we're asking in each question.
Fall 2019	Assignment 2	We edited some questions and removed other questions from the assignment.	We wanted to address some redundancies in the assignment and clarify the expectations associated with each question.

PD7

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Assignment 1	We updated all three articles students analyze in Assignment 1.	We wanted to provide more recent examples of conflicts; all three new articles are less than 12 months old. We also tried to choose articles that are particularly relevant to university students, because previous students have had difficulty connecting their work in Assignment 1 to their personal experiences.
Spring 2019	Assignment 1	We made some small changes to the wording of question 6. We also added some details to the assignment rubric.	We wanted to make the question clearer for students, and to provide more clarity about how the question is being graded.
Spring 2019	Assignment 2	We converted this assignment from a dropbox-based submission to a quiz. As part of that conversion, we also added feedback to support answers in the quiz and a rubric for the short answer questions.	Students appreciate a variety of assessment styles. All assignments in PD7 were previously submitted through dropboxes, so converting this one to a quiz mixes things up. Students will receive feedback on their responses to all multiple choice questions, and they can reference the rubric to understand how their short answer questions were graded.
Spring 2019	Assignment 4	We made some small changes to the wording of the table used in question 3.	Students were having difficulty distinguishing between intent-action and effect for the two different sides. Changing the wording will make the difference easier to understand.

PD8

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Spring 2019	Bonus assessment	We revised the wording of Question 3 and added a supplementary resource.	Some students were struggling to highlight specific examples of microaggression in their workplaces. Adding more prompts encourages students to personally reflect on situations and thoroughly describe their thoughts to the reader.
Winter 2019	All assessments	We revised the wording of various questions throughout all assessments.	Some students were having trouble linking their reflection to the course content, simulations, and personal experiences. Changing questions helps students understand the expected breadth and depth of their responses.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

PD9

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Assignments 1, 3	We updated the assignment templates with clearer instructions and new prompting questions.	We wanted to encourage students to reflect more thoughtfully on the questions being asked.
Fall 2019	Assignment 6	We created an assignment template.	Adding an assignment template makes it easier for students to follow the assignment instructions and organize their responses.

PD10

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Assignment 1	We removed part 4 of question 1, and replaced question 2 with an auto-graded quiz.	Students reported a high assessment workload in past end-of-course surveys. Changing these questions reduced student workload while still meeting the course's learning objectives.
Fall 2019	Assignment 3	We reformatted part 1 of the assignment as an auto-graded quiz with multiple-select questions.	We simplified this assessment so students were no longer required to highlight sections of a document.
Fall 2019	Assignment 5	We reformatted part 2 of the assignment as an auto-graded quiz with multiple-select questions.	We simplified this assessment so students were no longer required to highlight sections of a document.
Fall 2019	Assignment 6	We removed question 3 to increase clarity.	We determined that this questions wasn't effectively measuring students' knowledge of privacy laws. This change also helps to reduce the overall assessment workload for students.
Winter 2019	Unit 5	We changed the wording of a thought question embedded in the course content. We also added an exact formula displayed when students choose to reveal the answer.	Changing the wording and adding a formula makes the math supporting the thought question clearer.
Winter 2019	Assignment 4	We clarified the wording of a question within the assignment.	Students were having trouble identifying both the risks and the benefits of putting a faulty software product to market. Clarifying the wording helps students write more thorough answers.
Winter 2019	Assignment 6	We modified some point weightings within the assignment's rubric.	The modified rubric better reflects what students are asked to do as part of the assignment.

PD11

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Weekly writing assignments	We added a new section to each assignment description, connecting the weekly writing assignments to the final work term report.	We wanted to make it easier for students to understand how these early course assignments help them work toward writing their work term report.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. We added course notes to give students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.
Winter 2019	Unit 2 weekly writing assignment	We refined the assignment wording by using the word "paraphrasing" instead of "revising." We also added examples of paraphrasing to the instructions.	Students have consistently struggled with citing and paraphrasing appropriately. Adding examples of quality paraphrasing and making the instructions clearer will help them understand what paraphrasing entails.
Winter 2019	Peer review	We added specific criteria under each level in the rubric to outline the expectations for each category.	Adding specific criteria helps students understand the expectations associated with the peer review.
Winter 2019	Peer review	We moved the instructions from the peer review template to the assignment page. We also refined wording within the instructions for greater clarity.	Students were missing some aspects of the assignment. Moving the instructions to the assignment page aligns with the design of other PD courses and reduces student confusion.
Winter 2019	All assignments	We added a "resources you will need" prompt, encouraging students to use the resources made available to them through the course.	Students often make errors that they could easily avoid by consulting course resources. Adding a reminder to use these resources cuts down on these simple errors.

PD12

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Unit 6 worksheet	We updated the worksheet to increase its interactivity and include more guiding questions.	Adding interactive components makes the worksheet more engaging, and the new guiding questions will help students perform well on the Unit 6 assessment.
Fall 2019	All units	We updated the bonus content in each unit's Level Up section.	Relevant, interesting articles and videos are made available every day, so we updated the bonus content to make sure it reflects the most recent and engaging material possible.
Spring 2019	Unit 9 assessment	We adjusted the assignment description and rubric to clarify what students need to write about in their reflection. We also increased the word count. Because the reflection is now longer and takes more time to complete, we increased the weight of the assessment; it's now worth 10% of the overall grade.	Many students were struggling to write a substantial reflection within the old word count restrictions. The prompts in the assignment description were somewhat confusing, so we simplified them and updated the rubric to match.
Spring 2019	Unit 10 and bonus assessment	We removed the Unit 10 assessment and redistributed its weight across other assessments in the course. The old Unit 10 assessment is now an optional bonus assessment worth an extra 5%.	Students were telling us that they needed more time to write their final Major Reflective Report. Removing the mandatory Unit 10 assessment gives students an extra week to focus on their reports. PD12 didn't previously have a bonus assessment, so students now have another chance to increase their overall grade.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

PD13

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	Assignment 2	We added two resource sheets related to open access research and translating complex ideas, respectively.	Students in technical fields were sometimes having difficulty distilling their complex ideas for a non-specialist audience, and other students were asking about where to find open access research. We added these resource sheets to address these concerns.
Spring 2019	All assignments	We reviewed and edited the assignment descriptions, questions, and rubrics for greater clarity.	After offering PD13 to students for the first time, we found that some students were missing the mark when it came to answering assignment questions. We added additional details to the assignment description pages and more specific guidance to rubrics where students were experiencing issues.
Spring 2019	Unit 3	We added an Environment student video to showcase a greater variety of faculty research.	We noticed that the course was lacking Environment student perspectives on research. We filmed an interview with a Planning alumnus to showcase her research experience.
Spring 2019	Assignment 3	We added information about how to find journal articles.	Some students reached out to us with questions about how to find journal articles in their field. We added some information and links to help students locate relevant articles.
Spring 2019	Bonus assignment	We created a bonus assignment.	Many PD courses contain bonus assignments that give students an opportunity to increase their grade and deepen their knowledge. The PD13 bonus assignment encourages students to think more about the research process in their field of interest.

PD20

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Spring 2019	Course syllabus quiz	We removed the course syllabus quiz from the course.	We decided that asking students to complete this quiz to unlock the content in PD20 was unnecessary.
Spring 2019	Unit 3 and Unit 4 quizzes	We combined the Unit 3 and Unit 4 quizzes into a single quiz. In doing so, we reduced the number of overall questions students have to complete.	PD20 used to contain five minor quizzes with a wide range of relative weights. In two cases, we determined the weighting wasn't consistent with the amount of writing required for individual quizzes. Combining these two quizzes creates a stronger correlation between assessment weighting and student effort.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

PD21

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Spring 2019	Unit 2 assessment	We updated the case 2C title and case description.	The role of Kangaroo Design in the case, and the specific product design they were working on, was unclear.
Spring 2019	Unit 5 assessment	We clarified the wording of the assessment template and updated the related instructions. We also added information to help students access library resources from off-campus.	We wanted to make it easier for students to understand what they have to do, and how to determine whether or not a submitted image contains all the required information. We also wanted to help students who've had difficulty accessing the library resources.
Spring 2019	All units	Students are now asked to cite and reference using the IEEE citation format.	Engineering course instructors often require students to use IEEE in their classes, so it makes sense to align PD21 with the faculty's practice. The change to another common citation format is also consistent with PD21's greater diversity of students and case topics.
Winter 2019	Units 5, 8	We corrected minor typos in both units.	We regularly fix small errors in our courses as part of ongoing quality checks.
Winter 2019	Unit 7 assessment	We clarified the wording of the third point in case 7C.	We wanted to make it easier for students to understand the purpose of the over-current protection system and answer the corresponding questions.
Winter 2019	Unit 10 assessment, option 1	We clarified the wording of the problem statement provided as part of the assessment description.	We wanted to make it easier for students to understand how the bracelet components within the system will be used by customers. This change also helps students understand how to answer questions within the assessment.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

PD22

Term implemented	Unit/assessment affected	Summary of changes	Why are we making the changes?
Fall 2019	All assessments	We reduced the overall number of questions asked during the first six assessments. We also revised the relative gradebook weighting of each assessment affected.	Student workload in PD courses is an important consideration for us. Students were reporting in end-of-course surveys that PD22 assessments took longer than average to complete, so we tried to address that discrepancy with these changes.
Fall 2019	All units	The Unit 2-4 lessons were restructured and updated to align with the course's new assessments.	The previous versions of the lessons included content that wasn't assessed, and in some cases, the lesson content didn't thoroughly cover the learning objectives set out for each unit. Updating the units better addresses those objectives. In addition, the Unit 4 lessons associated with the case students now directly link and tie back to topics covered in Units 2 and 3.
Fall 2019	Unit 4 case studies	We added two interactive simulations corresponding to each of the Unit 4 issues, for a total of eight new simulations. Students can work through one or both of the simulations before studying the lessons for each issue. Like choose-your-own-adventure stories, students can choose how to navigate an ethical situation and decide on the appropriate courses of action.	In earlier versions of PD22, students would study a lesson on a given issue, then select one of two assessment templates which included questions related to a built-in case study. Students didn't have to think about any ethical situations while studying the issue topics. Asking students to work through these new simulations first better sets the stage for lesson content about regulations, resources, and processes associated with particular workplace issues and situations.
Fall 2019	Unit 5	We added a new lesson introducing the benefits of using reflection to enhance workplace and academic learning. We also added a new assessment, which requires reflective writing and encourages personal growth and professional development (i.e. life-long learning).	We want to help students realize that they won't be able to count on future employers to invest in their professional development or support their career growth. More importantly, every student can benefit from having a plan that integrates their academic learning with experience gained during their work terms. This new unit encourages students to engage in reflective thinking and commit, in writing, to what they want to achieve during a subsequent term.
Spring 2019	Unit 4 case studies	We added information to the two Issue 3 templates to help students decide upon whom they should base their Capstone Essay, should they choose to write it about a conflict of interest case.	In other issues, the possible courses of action and associated ethical dilemmas are discussed in the case descriptions. In Issue 3, it wasn't obvious to all students that the possible resolutions — you either disclose a conflict, or you don't — are exactly that straightforward. Adding information helps students identify an action and include appropriate supporting information.
Spring 2019	All units	We verified and updated the links to resources in several units.	It's important that we link students to the most relevant resources currently available, so we review the resources in each course every few years.
Winter 2019	All units	We revamped the grade breakdown and course schedule, changes which affect the entirety of students' path through the course. In the old version of PD22, the Unit 2 assessment (25%) was due in Week 2. The Unit 3 assessment (10%) was due two weeks later and followed by four case studies (7.5% each). Finally, the capstone essay (35%) was due in Week 10. There was no bonus assessment. In the new version of the course, the Unit 2 assessment is now a bonus assessment (10%) and is due in Week 11. The first assessment is now the Unit 3 assessment (10%), which is still due in Week 3. The first case study is due two weeks later, and each of the four case studies is now worth 15%. The capstone essay is still due in Week 10, but the weighting has been changed to 30%.	This is a complex set of changes, and taken together they represent an effort to better align PD22 with students' needs and reduce their stress. The old version of PD22 sometimes created stress for students or required more work than other PD courses, and these changes help to address those issues. Unit 2 is an introduction to professional practice, which most Engineering programs cover through their concepts courses. It's no longer considered core content within PD22. The old version of the course started with a 25% assignment two weeks into the work term. If a student was busy at the start of the term, missing the first assignment left them in a huge hole. Starting the course with a 10% assignment in the third week is more reasonable given the demands placed on students. The breadth and depth of the instructions and answers expected from students in case studies has increased over the past year. Because case studies are more robust, it makes sense to increase their weight to 15%. Finally, adding a bonus assignment gives students a chance to work for additional marks if they missed an assignment earlier in the course or want to improve their performance.
Winter 2019	All units	We added course notes as an additional resource throughout the course.	It isn't always easy to remember concepts from a previous unit that might be useful for an assignment. Adding course notes gives students a new resource they can use for assignment preparation and course review. Students can also download course notes for use after finishing their PD course.

We hope you'll give us feedback on your experience in our courses through their end-of-course surveys or other communication. If you want to learn more about our approach to course development, send us an email.