Modular and Accessible Course Design
Anna Ritz, Biology
For my upper-level computational biology elective (Computational Systems Biology), I broke the course into 2-4 week modules. Each module had a written assignment and a programming assignment, which was released on the first day of the module and due on the last day of the module. This gave students flexibility in determining when they could work on each component, and kept a structured and simple deadline process. The other important part was that students can resubmit any work at any time before finals period. In order to be able to resubmit work, students must submit what they had by the deadline and meet with me to determine a plan for finishing the module (like over a break, for example). This worked because my classes were small, but also because it opened a conversation for strategizing about how to complete work in the face of illness or other obstacles.