2 Before You Teach
In this chapter, you can learn about aspects of instruction that will help you prepare to teach your course. This includes obtaining your Mac ID, which is your unique account, that gives you single sign-on access to almost all McMaster online systems and applications, such as email, Office 365, the learning management system and library systems. It is essential for being able to do many of the things associated with teaching.
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Obtaining and Using a McMaster Email Account
If you are a new sessional instructor, the process of getting a MacID will begin after you have signed and submitted your contract to teach a course. Your Academic Department Manager will send the contract to Human Resources (HR), and HR will notify University Technology Services (UTS) of the need to create an email account for you. UTS will let you know when your email account has been established. You will be assigned a Mac ID and an initial password that you can (and should) change from time to time with a new, strong password.
If you are a returning sessional instructor and have not taught a course at McMaster for some time, you may discover (or receive notice) that your McMaster email account has expired. In this situation, please contact your Academic Department Manager. Once your contract to teach another course has been signed and submitted, the Department Manager will inform UTS that your email account needs to be renewed.
New faculty members (those in CLAs and tenure-track or teaching-track appointments) will be given a McMaster email account soon after their contracts are signed and submitted.
Please be aware that you must use your McMaster email account for all teaching-related email communication or other university business. The same policy applies to students, and the Faculty of Social Sciences requires the following statement to appear in all course outlines:
“Effective September 1, 2010, it is the policy of the Faculty of Social Sciences that all e-mail communication sent from students to instructors (including TAs), and from students to staff, must originate from the student’s own McMaster University e-mail account. This policy protects confidentiality and confirms the identity of the student. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that communication is sent to the university from a McMaster account. If an instructor becomes aware that a communication has come from an alternate address, they may not reply.”
If a student contacts you through some other email service, you are under no obligation to respond.
Obtaining and Using a McMaster Employee Identification Card
You will need a McMaster Employee Identification Card (a “Working at McMaster” card) and have this photo identification card with you while on campus.
To learn how to get your card, follow this link to Security Services and scroll down to read the information about “Photo ID Cards” and the useful “Photo ID Card FAQ.”
Your “Working at McMaster” card has multiple purposes. For example, the barcode on the back of the card enables you to borrow books from McMaster libraries or access online services from these libraries. The card also enables you to verify your identity when picking up final examinations.
Accessing and Using Mosaic
Mosaic is the name of the administrative system at McMaster University. To sign into the system, go to Mosaic.
To sign in at the Mosaic portal, you will have to enter the Mac ID and password you use to get into your McMaster email account.
Once inside Mosaic, you will find various pieces of information. For instance, under the “Faculty Center”, you can access information about your courses (including classroom locations and enrolments). Mosaic is also the system used to submit final course grades.
If you have questions about Mosaic, or if you need assistance in using the system, please contact your Academic Department Manager or Undergraduate Chair.
Accessing and Using the Learning Management System
At McMaster University, instructors can set up an online classroom through a learning management system known as Avenue to Learn. Avenue can be used to post course handouts, lecture slides, announcements, test grades, and so on. It can also be used in more elaborate ways too. For instance, Avenue can be used to set up discussions as forms of communication within your course. Using Avenue to Learn is not required, but most instructors use it to at least some degree.
Starting a few months before each term begins, instructors can request a “course shell” for each course they are teaching. You are invited to complete the “Course Request Form” in one of the announcements that appears on the home page for Avenue to Learn.
It might take up to 48 hours for your shell to be prepared, so you should put in your course request as soon as possible.
You can check to see if your course shell is ready by logging into Avenue with your McMaster Microsoft365 account.
After you have your course shell, you can start filling it with content before the course begins (by posting your course outline or other course documents). You must activate your course at the beginning of the term so that students are able to see the content.
If you require technical assistance with Avenue, you can submit a support ticket via the support intake form. The Faculty of Social Sciences tech support team can also provide technical assistance. For more information or to book a consultation reach out to our Teaching Support Portal. Self-supported help resources are also available through the Avenue to Learn Knowledge Base and the Faculty of Social Sciences Instructional Support Videos channel.
You should be aware of copyright issues connected to learning management systems. There are limitations on what can be posted through Avenue to Learn. What you post must comply with the Fair Dealing Policy established by McMaster. To learn more, view the various copyright Application Documents (one of which pertains to Learning Management Systems).
Accessing and Using Other Institutionally Supported Tools
McMaster provides access to and support for several other institutionally supported tools. The most commonly used tools for teaching are:
- Zoom – video conferencing platform
- Office365 – cloud-powered access to Microsoft products (e.g., Teams, Word, Excel, OneDrive), including cloud storage
- Echo360 – lecture capture and student engagement
- MacVideo – video recording and streaming
Generally, access to these tools is available by signing in with your McMaster email address and password. Failing to sign in via the McMaster portal or without your MacID may prevent the use of some features (e.g., breakout rooms in Zoom).
Ordering Course Materials
You should order your course materials from the Campus Store as soon as possible. Ideally, you should order your materials about two or three months before the course begins so that staff in the Campus Store have sufficient time to process your requests; the staff suggest ordering by June 1 for the Fall term (which begins in September), by October 1 for the Winter term (which begins in January), and by March 1 for the Spring/Summer term (which begins in May). Ordering course materials early ensures that they will be ready for students when a term begins. However, it is not always possible to submit orders early (especially if you have been assigned to a course at a late point). In such situations, the staff in the Campus Store will work to process your requests as quickly as they can.
Ordering Textbooks
The Campus Store takes your requests for textbooks. You can order textbooks by sending an email message that provides some information about you, your course, and your course textbook requests. Please visit the Campus Store website to learn more about Adopting Course Materials. The Campus Store also provides a useful FAQ about Textbook Adoptions.
Textbook Alternatives
You can also have the library prepare and make available customized course readings in electronic (eReserves) or print format. To learn more about eReserves, please go to the University Library’s webpage about Course Reserves.
It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with the document that sets out McMaster’s Fair Dealing Policy (a policy which is based on the “fair dealing” provision in Canada’s Copyright Act). Among other things, this policy governs the selection of content for eReserves. If your selected material exceeds what is allowed under the policy, university personnel will work with publishers to negotiate copyright clearance and the royalties that will be paid.
Preparing Outlines and Other Course Documents
McMaster University provides students, staff, and faculty with free access to Microsoft Office 365 (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other applications). This will be useful when preparing your course outlines and other course documents. Visit the website for University Technology Services (UTS) to learn more at the Office 365 Hub.
Several weeks before the beginning of each term, the Administrative Assistant sends instructors an email about preparing and submitting course outlines – including information about formatting and deadlines.
In Fall 2023, McMaster University introduced a new online system (Simple Syllabus) for posting and distributing course outlines. The MacPherson Institute has provided detailed instructions about this system on their website.
Important Dates
When preparing course outlines, it is important to be aware of the sessional dates for the upcoming academic year (e.g., the dates when classes start and end, the dates of holidays, the dates for mid-term recesses, and the dates for the test and examination restriction period). The most current information is available from the Office of the Registrar.
Information about the graduate academic calendar is available from the School of Graduate Studies.
Consulting the Undergraduate/Graduate Course Management Policies
Before preparing your course outlines, you should consult McMaster’s Undergraduate or Graduate Course Management Policies (the specific policy will vary depending on whether you’re teaching an undergraduate or graduate level course).
McMaster University has several policies on managing undergraduate courses. These policies set out requirements pertaining to course outlines, early feedback, plagiarism detection, and various other issues. Approved statements for inclusion in course outlines are also specified. All the relevant policy statements have been collected in one PDF document, the Undergraduate Course Management Policies.
Similarly, the Graduate Course Management Policy summarizes instructor responsibilities when teaching graduate courses. In general, there are fewer policy considerations to take into account when teaching a graduate course.
Consulting the Provisional Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI in Teaching and Learning
In 2023, McMaster developed Provisional Guidelines for the use of Generative AI in teaching and learning to provide guidance to instructors and students about the use of Generative AI in their courses. These guidelines will continue to be reviewed and updated and should be consulted directly for the most up-to-date information.
For more information, you can visit this page for news, events, resources and updates on generative AI at McMaster University.
Including Course Objectives
In a section of your course outline titled “Course Objectives”, you will need to briefly indicate some learning objectives (i.e., what students should know or be able to do by the end of the course). You will also need to provide a short description of how your course addresses some degree level expectations. These expectations were set by the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents (OCAV) and endorsed by the Council of Ontario Universities in 2005. Universities in Ontario, including McMaster University, have used the framework established by OCAV for their own expectations. On McMaster’s website, you can learn about the Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations for instruction in undergraduate courses at this university.
It is not necessary to include a copy of the Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations document in your course outline. Providing a link to the document is sufficient (along with your short description of how the expectations are met through your course). Your short description should indicate specific ways in which your course will meet at least some of the general expectations (e.g., illustrating how your course will help students to develop or enhance their “depth and breadth of knowledge”, their “communication skills”, or their “autonomy and professional capacity”).
Improving Accessibility
For several years, McMaster University has been implementing various steps toward compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Course outlines (and all other course documents, including PowerPoint slides) need to be made accessible for students who have various kinds of disabilities. Improving the accessibility of course documents is a challenging and ongoing task for instructors, but it is important and worthwhile. It is best to start small and work up from there, going at your own pace. For example, you might begin by learning how to make your Word documents more accessible. Once you are familiar with that, you can then move on to learning how to increase the accessibility of your PowerPoint slides. It is not expected that courses automatically be fully accessible, but instructors should be working toward the goal of improving accessibility as much as possible. A good start can be made by using easy-to-read fonts (such as Arial), using larger point sizes (in both Word and PowerPoint), replacing hyperlink Internet addresses with verbal descriptions in Word, and ensuring high contrast in PowerPoint (such as white background and black text).
McMaster has provided useful resources to help instructors move toward greater accessibility in their courses. Please visit the Accessibility Hub on McMaster’s website to view resources associated with digital media accessibility. It may be particularly helpful to examine the sections on “Alternative Formats,” “Captioning and Audio”, “Graphics”, “Presentations”, and “eLearning.”
Other resources are also available. The Office 365 Hub on the website for University Technology Services (UTS) provides information on Accessibility for Microsoft Word and Accessibility for Microsoft PowerPoint. Available through McMaster’s Research & Innovation website, another useful resource is the PDF document Clear Print Accessibility Guidelines. This document was prepared by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), and it contains many helpful tips.