Guidelines from Science Teaching Fellows

Last updated: August, 2024

Best-practices in course design and implementation continue to evolve. This section provides aspects to consider and where to get key information on teaching and learning at the University of Waterloo.

As you consider your course design, your experiences with remote instruction can still be used to maximize student learning and make effective use of in-class time. The Blended Learning Initiative encourages and supports you to make intentional choices about what to keep online and to embrace more active and evidence-based activities in-class. Talk to your Teaching Fellow or look at the CTE webpage on Blended Learning.

Key Teaching Resources to Track

Detailed Guidance from Science Teaching Fellows

Supporting Student Mental Health

Key Teaching Resources to Track

Detailed Guidance from Science Teaching Fellows

  1. Create and then publish your course outline: Instructors can add their syllabi to the Outline Repository Outline.uwaterloo.ca and then add the direct link and PDF to their Learn course. 
    1. Need help getting started? See “Getting Started with Outline.uwaterloo.ca”
    2. Advantages of the Outline Repository? 
      • Easy to create future syllabi: you can use any past syllabi as a template to create a new one.    
      • Automatically updates all policies: Faculty of Science completes this for you.    
      • Add link in Learn: add a link to Learn to save time.    
      • Available to current or former students: they just need to log in and retrieve the syllabi (for admissions or an award, etc.) instead of emailing you.    
      • Instructor can see class availability: once a syllabus is completed, a plot shows you the most common times that students are available.   
      • This will help future program reviews! 
  2. Organize your LEARN course using LEARN templates and be transparent about how to succeed in your course. Use of these templates can help with accessibility compliance.
    1. Clearly and succinctly outline course requirements, weekly deliverables and deadlines, assignment expectations and marking schemes. 

      HOW: Create itemized lists or LEARN checklists of what is to be done weekly. Post it on Course Announcements to reduce student confusion, particularly for 100-level courses. 
    2. Share time management resources and encourage students to re-evaluate their study skills. 

      HOW: Post links for time management, strategies for learning online, and 6 strategies for effective learning (PDF available through LEARN). Spending time encouraging good habits, engagement (e.g., group work/study) and expectations in the first couple of weeks will pay dividends as the term progresses. 
  3. Course activities for active learning: Getting students engaged with course material by providing opportunities and activities for students to apply the course content. 
    1. HOW: Use a scaffolded approach to breakdown more complicated example questions and have students attempt to solve them before going through how you would solve them. 

      HOW: Use remote/in-class versions of student response systems to have students engage in synchronous multiple choice QnA sessions. 

      HOW: Encourage peer teaching as an activity - for example, students work in groups to describe concepts or proofs in detail. Partners take note of questions asked and answered by the first student. The "instructing student" comments on the process of preparing to explain the concept, where they initially stumbled in their explanation, whether they feel more familiar with the concept after the exercise. 

      HOW: Use a discussion board divided into groups where students describe an answer or event with evidence, then fellow group members provide feedback to 2-3 student initial posts and then the original author responds to the feedback. So, advancing thought through peer feedback and review, applying what they have learned to everyday life. 
  4. Reduce Workload: Here are some tips on how to acknowledge and address this in your course. 
    1. Make it clear how much time students should spend on tasks/assignments.  Note that workload calculators are based on the "average" student. 

      HOW:Aim for 8-10 hours weekly for completing everything associated with the course (lessons, content, additional reading, group work and completing and uploading deliverables). Avoid excessive deliverables each week. When designing your course, you may find this workload calculator helpful. 
    2. Avoid scheduling deadlines on weekends or late evening.

      HOW: Deadlines at early in the day allows issues to be resolved before the end of the workday. Consider modelling good work/life balance in your course design. Also, LEARN has become sluggish on weekends. Coordinate with the days and hours that LearnHelp is available. 
    3. Avoid email for content questions. Only answer private matters via email and indicate this in your course outline.

      HOW: LEARN message boards or other platforms (Piazza, Slack, etc.) can be more effective for collecting/crowd-sourcing answers to student questions.

      HOW: Be firm in initial responses to restrict various types of communication to the appropriate platform.  Setting clear and consistent expectations early will save time in the long term. 
    4. Consider the quantity of course content (engaging with the content, with classmates, and with instructors is equally as important). Limit your course to what is necessary for achieving the course learning outcomes.

      HOW: Yes, it is hard. But in 10 years students won’t remember if they had that extra assignment or lab, but they may remember instructors that tried to connect with students and were compassionate during this difficult time or developed a useful strategy to solve a problem. 
  5. Resources for Teaching Assistants 
    1. Help TAs: Would you like to help prepare or improve your teaching assistants? Instructors and graduate student supervisors can refer students to the (a) Fundamentals of University Teaching and (b) Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) programs for graduate students, both found Support for Graduate Students page (Centre for Teaching Excellence). 

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Supporting Student Mental Health

Instructors can support students’ mental health through specific course design strategies. These include:

  • Creating course materials that are welcoming and encouraging.
  • Acknowledging students’ mental health needs and providing resources up front (e.g., link to Counseling Services and UW Mates).
  • Providing clear expectations regarding attendance, participation, assessment, etc., and articulating the expectations clearly in the course syllabus.
  • Supporting academic self-awareness (e.g., low-stakes assessments, diagnostic quizzes, formative feedback).
  • Incorporating flexibility, where feasible (e.g., option to drop an assignment, choose a topic).
  • Providing accessible teaching materials, where feasible (e.g., videos with captions, recording in person lessons).

There are also a variety of teaching strategies that have been shown to have a positive impact on students’ mental health:

  • Avoid phrases such as “you should know this”, “this is easy”, etc.
  • Promote an environment where mistakes are welcome and seen as part of learning and growth.
  • Provide feedback that has a balance between positive and critical elements.
  • Encourage community-building among students (e.g., ice breakers, small group work).
  • Create a positive and respectful learning environment:
    • Talk to students before and after class and ask them how they’re doing.
    • Share personal tidbits, such as pictures of pets.
    • Let students know how and when they can contact you and what turnaround time they can expect.
    • Use student names, where possible.
    • Use inclusive language (CTE Inclusive Instructional Practices).
    • Respect student privacy (e.g., regarding illness, need for accommodation).
    • Assure students that they are capable of success and that you are there to support them in achieving that.

The Student Success Office (SSO) has produced a series of student resources in the form of 5-minute academic skills presentations, including:

  • Coping with stress in University
  • Preparing for an open-book test
  • Preparing for in-person final exams

Additional Resources:

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