Implementing Academic Accommodations

Teaching in some classes is designed around the process of submitting regular, interval-scheduled posts and reflections to an online course forum after substantial learning has occurred. Class discussion follows, feedback is typically provided and the teaching and learning of all students moves forward subsequent to that. In many courses where this discussion is essential to students engaging with and mastering the learning outcomes, regular posts are considered an essential course requirement.

These posts are typically assigned to be completed over a series of days (e.g. Friday night to be submitted by the end of Sunday) and the days for completion time exceeds the expected completion time by 100% or more.

By being designed to be completed over a series of days these are universally designed by removing the strict time parameters typical in other forms of closed-session, sit down assessment.

• They are essentially untimed - students can work on them as much as is needed until the due date/time.
• Students can choose whenever they want to start, take the breaks they need and stretch out their writing out as much as possible.
• For example, with a post expected to take an hour and the entire class is given 48 hours complete, additional time would not be provided. The 48-hour window already encompasses the extra time.

Typically these evaluations are typically not applicable to academic accommodation for extra time.

Occasionally there may be situations that interrupt student progress on these assignments related to an acute illness for which consideration would be required.