Prepare

In this part of the module, please refer to your:

One typical assignment

An assessment would also work! Anything that shows evidence for what you ask students to do in your course is a great source of reflection.

Reflect

"Structured flexibility" is a cornerstone of equity in education. If we embrace flexibility, students may be more likely to succeed and they may enjoy the course more, too! But what is structured flexibility?

Heather Garcia began a blog post, written on May 5, 2020, with the following:

Flexibility is an inclusive practice. Structure is an inclusive practice. Both of these statements are true–yet, many people might wonder how to reconcile these seemingly opposite approaches in their course designs. How does one build a course that is both flexible enough to accommodate the diverse needs of their students, yet structured in a way that is clear and unambiguous? In a practical sense, what do these words really mean?

If you'd like to delve a bit more deeply into the concepts of flexibility, rigor, and equity, this short article by Heather Dwyer and Carie Cardamone (September 3, 2021) from Tuft's University may be a helpful reading to consider: Balancing Flexibility and Rigor to Advance Equity in Course Design.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before we get started:

How flexible am I in how students experience courses?
How comfortable am I with flexible deadlines for students?
Can students work ahead or catch up as needed for any reason?
How open am I to the types of things my students submit for their coursework?
How does the current flexibility level in my courses support student success?

Creativity

Sometimes we are limited because we teach the way we were taught or we get stuck in a routine and don't see new ideas and possibilities. That's why you are in this challenge: you want to try something new! Embracing creativity, both ours and our students', can lead to some great ideas for how our courses can best support students' strengths. This is a part of being flexible. If you think you've thought of all of the options for an assignment, as an example, ask your students:

Is there any other way that you could show me what you know?

Time to learn

How much time do students have to learn content and complete assignments?

Deadlines or Guidelines?

Another area where flexibility can be useful for students is flexibility with deadlines. Each instructor can, and should, identify how much and what type of flexibility can support student success in their classes. Here is just one example of a policy about flexible deadlines:

Late Work is Okay!

Most work in this class is allowed late with no penalty.

There are some exceptions to the late policy. Follow the syllabus schedule as a guide.
If you opt to do service learning, hours and paperwork are not accepted after May 23rd.
NO WORK is accepted after May 27th.
These built in grace periods are recommended for emergencies!
Turn in your final and best draft for assignments. If you have questions or need feedback before submitting an assignment, please contact the instructor for support.
Please contact me if you need more than one extra week for an assignment. You do not need permission to turn in late work, but it is good to touch base.

This is not the standard or only model available, but is just provided to help you think about flexibility and deadlines.

Releasing content

How much time are students allowed to sit with information in a module, go back and revisit past modules, catch up, or work ahead? Flexibility about how students access a course can be provided through module release dates and policies. Another thing to try is linking assignment descriptions in the syllabus from the moment the syllabus is released. Students can read and plan ahead.

Again, there's no one way to approach flexibility. This topic simply gives you a place to think about what works well in your classes so that you can build upon it!

Putting it all together

Keep the appreciative design model in mind as you think through flexibility. What has worked well and how do you want to build upon those strengths when you design your courses for students?

Also, this is not an exhaustive list of ways to use options and flexibility in your courses. You may have some different and better ideas about this and the next section is where we get to learn from one another.

You may return to the first page of this topic or click "Next" to move to the next section.