Resources for Instructors

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Instructor/Faculty Teaching Advice

If you are new teaching in the department or would like a more comprehensive document on the processes and resources for SAS instructors, please review our Faculty Teaching Information (PDF).

There are many ways of delivering a course. With so many possibilities, it can be difficult to determine what are some best practices and where to go for resources.

• Create your course outline using Outline Repository. Outline provides an easy way to create your course outline with the necessary University and Faculty requirements already inputted. Get help through the available documentation.
• Review the University’s important deadlines such as the add, drop and WD deadlines, and relevant holidays. These dates can impact your course, which can be relevant for assessment planning.
• Explore the Math Faculty’s Guidelines for Instructors and the Registrar’s Office Teaching Overview.
• Review the available University’s educational technology hub. The available technology and platforms can ease running certain course activities. The ISC team can also provide advice on which platforms may be best for you and your course.
• Be aware of emails from the Registrar’s Office regarding course requirements/deadlines. If you miss an email the Registrar’s Office maintains a list of the planned and archived emails.
• Determine the role teaching assistants will play in your course and review Working with TAs.
• Streamline the process of in-person assessments, by setting them up on Odyssey.   
• Create a plan for how students can receive help in the course. This can be done through a variety of ways, including instructor and/or TA office hours, discussion forums (e.g. Piazza) and/or tutorials. Providing multiple avenues of support for students can be incredibly helpful for our diverse student population.

There are many external factors that can impact your students’ ability to do coursework. In some cases, these factors and situations can have such an impact that an accommodation for the student may be necessary.

Accommodations for assessments should be made in the following situations:

• Student submits a VIF, Covid-19-related absence, short-term absence or religious/creed-related absence.
• The student has an accommodation through AccessAbility Services. There are specific responsibilities for instructors to take into account for students registered with AccessAbility Services as noted by the Secretariat.
• They are a student athlete with a game/meet at the time of the assessment.
• They have clear documentation/reasoning that prevents them from attending an assessment (e.g. conference attendance, bereavement).

Possible accommodations that can be provided:

• Provide an extension.
• Provide a make-up assessment.
• Provide an alternate time and/or location to write the assessment.
• Shift the weight of the missed assessment to other assessment(s) (e.g. shifting the weight of a missed midterm to the final exam)
• For student athletes missing an assessment due to an away game/meet, ask their coach to proctor the assessment.
• *For students registered with AccessAbility services, accommodations will be determined and organized ahead of time with the AccessAbility advisor.

If unsure of how to handle a request for accommodation from a student, the ISC team can provide guidance.