Guide for Course Outlines in the Faculty of Science [A Microsoft Word version of this document is also available]

Introduction

A typical, informative course outline will range anywhere from 3 to 6 pages, or perhaps more in some cases, for example where week-by-week or lecture-by-lecture descriptions are included. Course outlines may be provided on the web (e.g., Waterloo LEARN) or in hard copy. Note that if a course outline is made available only on-line and a student requests a hard copy, an instructor is obliged to provide the hard copy. A good course outline should include most or all of the following elements. Note that some items below marked with an asterisk (*) indicate that specific types of information are mandatory – these are related to student assessment, discipline and grievances.

Course description

Include an informative course description. Minimally, this could be the official calendar description, or an enhanced version (preferred). Other details that might be presented are where the course fits into a discipline, who the course might appeal to, how or where knowledge gained from the course may be applied, or how the course draws from and relates to other courses in the program/plan. Also be sure to indicate how the course is delivered – lectures with chalkboard, PowerPoint, or seminars, etc. If this course has a web presence, include relevant details. You might also consider indicating the nature of teaching and learning activities students might expect – will there be small group discussions, collaborative labs, or special projects? Is there anything else that is especially unique about your course?

Course learning objectives

Describe these from the students’ perspective – what will they learn, be able to do, or better appreciate. Learning objectives can be broad or they can be narrow and focussed on course details. A course may have several learning objectives that reflect one or more overarching institutional philosophies like learning to think critically, communicating clearly or looking at issues in a global context. Objectives should be measurable, where possible, and specific. More focussed learning objectives could be at the departmental or discipline-level. Examples include:

  • For a course in molecular biology – explain techniques used to monitor DNA, RNA or protein abundance, recognizing the benefits and limitations of each technique;
  • For a course in computational chemistry – calculate potential energy surfaces for chemical reactions
  • For a course in solid state physics – explain the operation and use of several modern electronic devices, including the p-n junction, transistors, opto-electronic devices, etc.
  • For a course in Earth history – examine the concepts and approaches used in the stratigraphic analysis of rocks and sediments.

Contact information

Identify instructor(s), teaching assistants; indicate office or help locations, telephone numbers, email addresses. Some of these details, particularly those pertaining to TAs, might not be available if the outline is prepared far ahead of time, of course. Also include office hours (if any), and the preferred way for students to contact either instructor(s) or TAs. If you have a preference for how students should contact you by email, provide a clear example (e.g., using course-identifying subject lines such as “BIOL 130 query”).

You may also want to indicate what kinds of email will be responded to. If your class is large and email communication concerning course material could be overwhelming, you may decide to emphasize that no emails about course content will be answered via email and students must use office hours, class or tutorial time instead.

Also useful is an indication whether you will respond to emails on weekends. You might want to provide an indication of when a student might expect to hear back (e.g., mornings) or the expected length of time that students might wait for a response (e.g., within 24 hours).

Resources

Include full details regarding course texts (required, recommended), course notes, laboratory manuals, other materials required (e.g., clickers, calculators – programmable or not), library reserves, relevant URLs, etc.

Course topics

Provide the full list of primary and secondary topics – more detailed outlines may do this on a week-by-week or lecture-by-lecture basis.

Expectation of student and instructor commitment to the course

Estimate the number of hours, on average, that a student should devote to your course each week. Consider all aspects – lectures, labs, tutorial, reading, assignments, etc. and break them out individually if this might be useful. If there is an uneven work load, indicate when those times are.

If on-line discussions are included in your course, it would be useful to indicate what students can expect from you in your role as instructor (or from teaching assistants if that responsibility is delegated to them). If you plan to be actively engaged in challenging ideas, correcting misunderstandings or providing additional insights – say so in the outline. If the intent is to lurk in the background without any real contribution to the discussions, say so as well – don’t leave students guessing as to why their discussions are being ignored by you.  Besides the intellectual contribution an instructor can make to a discussion, students appreciate instructor involvement because it validates the importance of discussion.

* Student assessment

Indicate clearly how grade assessment will be done – this information must be included in any course outline. What are the values of exams, assignments, essays and other tools used for grade assessment? If there is a participation element, including attendance, to the grading scheme, explain precisely the expectation.

Indicate unambiguously the penalties for late submissions and course policy for missed course elements, including exams. Indicate if accommodations of any sort will be considered and whether this will occur only with verified Verification of Illness Forms (VIF), counselling letters, etc. Indicate if there is opportunity to make up missed grading elements, such as mid-terms, or whether the grading scheme will be modified, for example the missing assignment or mid-term weight assigned to the final exam instead. You should also include a statement encouraging students to bring their VIFs to the Science Undergraduate Office for verification and filing.

Also be sure to include due dates for their assignments and essays, as well as the scheduled dates for quizzes and mid-terms. To avoid potential problems, be specific as to how you will calculate grade penalties for late submissions. For example, do weekends, holidays or days in reading week count as “days” for purposes of determining a late submission penalty? There is no hard and fast rule how to do this – just be clear as to how you will do it.

Finally, you should indicate that students are expected to check the appropriate UW websites for details concerning final examinations and various course drop deadlines.

Plagiarism software

If you plan to use plagiarism-detecting software in your course to screen student submissions, you must indicate that you will do so. Suggested text to inform students follows:

“Plagiarism detection software (Turnitin) will be used to screen assignments in this course.  This is being done to verify that use of all material and sources in assignments is documented.  In the first week of the term, details will be provided about the arrangements for the use of Turnitin in this course.”

Note: students must be given a reasonable option if they do not want to have their assignment screened by Turnitin.  Click here for more information.

Statement for students with disabilities

Although not mandatory, instructors should consider incorporating the following statement into their course outlines:

“Note for students with disabilities: The Office for Persons with Disabilities (OPD), located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each academic term.”

Statement regarding travel and the final examination period

It may be useful to include the statement that “Student travel plans are not considered acceptable grounds for granting an alternative examination time.” Instructors should include here the exact dates of the exam period for that term. The final exam schedule is usually posted about 5 or 6 weeks into the term, so a reminder in the outline encouraging students when to check may be useful:

  • for Fall exams “…start checking toward the end of October”
  • for Winter exams “…start checking in the middle of February”
  • for Spring exams “…start checking in the middle of June”.

More information about UW's Final Examination policies is available here.

Changes to Course Outlines

If appropriate, include a statement that some types of course details may be revised (e.g., topics treated, emphasis on certain topics, etc.). When circumstances do arise such that it becomes necessary to change some aspect of a course, students need to be informed of this as soon as possible so they have ample opportunity to respond. This applies to outlines in hard copy as well as on-line.

While it is reasonable in some situations that certain elements of a course outline might “evolve” over the term (e.g., range of topics to be treated in course), the grading scheme and other elements related to evaluation cannot change. If minor changes are made to non-grading elements of the outline, the new outline should draw attention to these changes. If changes are made, an instructor has to be able to show an archive of the outline from the time it was first made available to students at the beginning of a course.

Other special considerations or rules

If there are other rules or policies that you want your students to know about (e.g., protocols for participating in course chat rooms or e-submission of assignments), explain clearly what they need to know. If a student has a concern related to how a lab assignment was graded, who should be contacted – the TA? Lab instructor? Course instructor? If you have a policy about recording (audio, video) lectures, indicate it. If you have a preference for a particular citation style for assignments or essays, this should also be conveyed, and perhaps you could point to a source of guidance for this information.

Also consider how you wish to handle unclaimed student submissions (e.g., assignments, quizzes). You must hold on to these for a year, unless you notify students otherwise that you intend to keep them only for a shorter length of time and after that time the material in question will be securely destroyed.

* Expectation of Academic Integrity

The following statements must be included in all course outlines and/or websites: Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy #70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4. When in doubt please be certain to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offenses, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offense, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offenses (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy #71, Student Discipline, For typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties.

Appeals: A decision or penalty imposed under Policy #70 (Student Petitions and Grievances) (other than petitions) or Policy #71 (Student Discipline) may appealed if there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy #72 (Student Appeals).

Instructors should be very clear about their expectation of Academic Integrity in their courses. Courses that include group work should have clear statements of what an acceptable amount of collaboration is and what is unacceptable; relevant examples might help student avoid problems. It might also be a good idea to remind students that the same level of academic integrity is expected on an assignment worth 2% as one worth 50%.

Waterloo's Office of Academic Integrity provides numerous resources on academic integrity for students, faculty and staff.

Mario Coniglio, Professor Associate Dean of Science, Undergraduate Studies (updated January 2012)