Syllabus & policies

Here are a few resources on required syllabi content and UW policies:

• The Office of the University Registrar has template policies on Academic Misconduct, Accommodations, Religious Accommodations, and other relevant policies.
• The Teaching@UW page has relevant content on making Course materials accessible in accordance with ADA standards.

• AI and academic integrity: Copy-pasting content from AI sources, or claiming AI-generated content as a student’s own work, is a violation of Academic Integrity policies.
  
• AI in brainstorming and ideation: AI tools can play effective supporting roles during brainstorming and ideation stages of the design process, and students can use generated ideas as warmup for their own work.
  
• AI for accessibility: AI tools can be used to make courses accessible in a variety of ways. For instance, HCDE students without prior design experience have used AI support in brainstorming where their more experienced peers did not need it, and international students have used AI to successfully parse complicated course materials written in language inaccessible to them, as research has shown.
  
• AI course policies: It is recommended by the Teaching@UW office to address AI usage policies in your classes on the first day of class. It helps to set expectations, discuss pros and cons of AI usage within the learning process, and your own boundaries for what AI usage is and is not acceptable.

AI content in your syllabi: The Teaching@UW office also provides a few templates on AI policies that you can include in your syllabi, depending on the degree of your personal comfort with AI usage.

According to the Teaching@UW website, “well-designed hybrid and online learning environments are at least as effective as in-person learning environments in helping students learn.” This is especially true for HCDE courses, and is backed up by research! Here are some ways to incorporate Hybrid Learning in HCDE classes:

• Use appropriate technology: Prior iterations of hybrid courses in HCDE have been most successful using the Meeting Owl camera. These are currently built-into some HCDE classrooms and meeting rooms in Sieg, and is available for checkout at the front office.
  
• Adapt in-class content: Prior iterations of hybrid courses in HCDE have been most successful when in-class activities have a synchronous hybrid component that is designed intentionally and ahead of time. Consider designing all activities for a hybrid model, and being able to present equitable options to students attending virtually.
  
• Utilize space for hybrid meetings: If doing in-class group work where members of some groups are split between in-person and online attendance, consider having a few alternative locations (such as hallways, meeting rooms, empty classrooms) that you have identified ahead of time as options for them to have their small-group meetings in.

The Teaching@UW website provides language to include in syllabi around disability accommodations, and the Office of the Registrar provides syllabus language for religious accommodations. Here are some additional points to consider:

• Sometimes, especially in the first quarter a student is enrolled at UW/HCDE or during periods of high volumes of requests to DRS, it is possible that instructors receive notice of students’ DRS accommodations much later than the start of the quarter. The student often does not know if the instructor has or has not received their accommodations request, as DRS does not always notify students about this. Consider setting up your own informal way of soliciting information about requested accommodations, while still being careful to not violate laws around requiring students to describe medical conditions or other reasons they require accommodations.
  
• A similar case might be true for Religious Accommodations, as students can file the form within the first two weeks of the quarter and it might not arrive in instructors’ inboxes in time. Consider soliciting information about religious accommodations similarly as above, and working with students to provide makeup opportunities for missed work, or adjusted expectations for work they are not able to dedicate their fullest efforts towards.

Our Inclusive Teaching Toolkit team of HCDE students created an accessible slide deck template to ensure an inclusive experience for all students viewing slides. The template includes screen-reader friendly fonts and colors selected with the Adobe Contrast Checker tool.

Teaching@UW has guidance on how to make your own slide decks accessible as well, including specifics on adding alt text to images.