Teaching Resources

Getting Started

This page contains information and links for instructors teaching in the Faculty of Land & Food Systems (LFS).

If you are new to UBC, see the Guide to Teaching for New Faculty at UBC.

If you are new to LFS, see the onboarding page for general HR information.

Quicklinks:

Curriculum Process

For information on changing your curriculum, please read the process document here.

Classroom Teaching

The faculty uses a points-based system to determine classroom teaching workload for instructors. To read further details on the policy and the percentage of teaching workload relevant to your designation, please download the document here: link.

The classroom teaching workload calculator was designed to allow instructors to fill in their course details and calculate the points related to their current teaching workload. This document lists the steps to follow to fill in the details of your courses.

Download the Classroom Teaching Workload Calculator: link.

Here is a guide to use the calculator: link.

FAQs about the calculator:

What is the difference between co-taught and pass-the-baton courses?

In a co-taught course, both instructors are active in the course throughout the term, while in a pass-the-baton course the individual instructors teach distinct modules of the course (e.g., instructor 1 may teach modules 1-3, and instructor 2 may teach modules 4-6).

What is a combined undergrad/grad class?

A combined undergrad / grad class is a joint undergraduate and graduate course taught using common lectures but with graduate students assigned additional or more in-depth assessments, readings etc.

I teach a flipped class not a traditional lecture. How do I enter my contact hours in the classroom teaching workload calculator?

Even though you do not "lecture" in the traditional sense, you should enter your scheduled contact hours with students under lecture.

I taught three, 3-credit directed studies this past term. Why do I only get 0.75 points?

The annual cap on directed studies credit that can be accrued by an instructor is set at 0.75 points. This value was agreed upon by program directors, and may be revisited in the future. Please note that in the past, directed studies courses were considered as service.

What is considered a 'large' class?

Classes above 50 students get a large class points increment of 0.003 per student above 50.

Classroom Planning

Before the first day of class

  1. Consult your course schedule to see what room you will be teaching in. To access your schedule follow these steps:
    1. Log into Workday
    2. Select Teaching from the main Menu
    3. Find Course Sections
  2. Consult UBC Learning Spaces to see what equipment is available in the room.
  3. Go to the room and test the AV system to make sure you have the right connectors for the projector and can connect to the wireless.
  4. If you encounter difficulties, book an AV Services Classroom Orientation and follow these steps:
    1. Select Request a Service
    2. Request Desktop or AV Support
    3. Select Audio Visual as support type.

During class

If you encounter difficulties with the Classroom AV system, contact the Audio-Visual Services Helpdesk at 604 822-7956 or av.helpdesk@ubc.ca.

If you require extra equipment that is not in the room, the LFS Learning Centre may be able to loan you the equipment. View and book available equipment on the Learning Centre’s Booking page.

Canvas

Access to Canvas

You will not have access to your Canvas course until the steps below have been completed:

  1. Your teaching appointment is active. Typically this will be done two weeks before the start of class. Contact Melanie Train at melanie.train@ubc.ca to confirm.
  2. Your courses are added to Workday. Once you are registered on Workday, your courses should automatically update. If they do not, please contact student services at lfs.scheduling@ubc.ca to confirm.

Once the steps above are complete, you will automatically gain access to Canvas.

TA Access to Canvas

Your TAs will not have access to your Canvas course until the following criteria are complete:

  1. You have selected your TA(s) in the LFS TA Online Application.
  2. Their Workday appointment is complete.
  3. They have been added in the Course Schedule.*
  4. Their contract start date has passed - typically the first day of the term.**

*If this has not been done automatically within two business days after completing the LFS TA Online Application or if your TA loses access during their appointment period, please contact Virginia Frankian.

**TAs cannot be given early access to Canvas due to union regulations.

Canvas Setup and Training for Instructors

Contact The LFS Learning Centre to book a consult for Canvas and other learning technologies, including:

For a general overview of how to get started on Canvas, you can view the UBC how-to guide here: link.

Undergraduate Teaching Expense Funds

For information on funding, see Finance Policies and select LFS Teaching Funds Policy and Course Fees. The following fund policies and forms are listed on that page:

  • Undergraduate Course Expenses Fund
  • Undergraduate Teaching Equipment Fund
  • Undergraduate Course Re-development Fund

You may also apply for the Teaching & Learning Enhancement Fund (TLEF), a central UBC fund for envisioning, creating and implementing innovative teaching and learning.

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

The LFS TA program’s objective is to support undergraduate teaching and learning. As such, funding for TA positions supported by the Associate Dean Academic office is for undergraduate courses only.

Contact the Academic Coordinator, Virginia Frankian (virginia.frankian@ubc.ca) to find out the following:

  • whether TA hours are assigned to your course
  • how to use the LFS TA Application to view and select TAs

Please refer to the following documents for further information on the TA hiring process:

To request additional TA hours for your course, please fill out the form below, then send to the Associate Dean, Academic, Sandra Brown (sandra.brown@ubc.ca) and lfs.ta@ubc.ca.

To find out whether additional TA hours can be assigned to your course, please contact the Associate Dean, Academic, Sandra Brown (sandra.brown@ubc.ca), directly.

Read more about how to request TA hours here: link.

Final Grades

Grades are submitted using the Final Grade Submission Tool (FGST) in Workday Student.

The guideline for submitting final grades is 7 business days after the exam, or 5 business days if the exam is on the last two days of the exam period.

If you are not able to get all of your grades submitted by the submission deadline, please reach out to LFS Student Services prior to the end of the exam period.

Submitted grades will not be visible to students during the exam period; grades will become visible to students after the last day of the exam period

Students

For more information on the various resources available for undergraduate students, see the Undergraduate Student Services page.

For graduate students, see the LFS Graduate Student Handbook.

Early Alert

Academic Misconduct

All academic misconduct cases must be reported to the Associate Dean Students, Zhaoming Xu

Evaluations

Evaluations are an important part of teaching in LFS and can affect Promotion, Tenure and Reappointment.

Peer Review of Teaching

LFS has a specific process for reviewing teaching within the Faculty. Please download the following documents for information on the Peer Review of Teaching in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at UBC:

Student Experience of Instruction

Student Experience of Instruction (SEoI) evaluations will open in the last two weeks of a course. Instructors and students will receive a notification email with instructions.

If you do not receive an email on the survey open date for your courses, or if students inform you that the course is not being evaluated, contact support@seot.ubc.ca.

If students do not receive an email, they can still access the course evaluations within Canvas.

Questions are separated into three sets: University Questions, LFS-specific questions, and instructor-defined questions.

It is strongly recommended that you give students the option of completing the survey in class by setting aside 20 minutes at the beginning or end of a lecture.

You will not be able to access to your evaluation reports until after the exam period and all LFS final grades have been submitted.

Mid-Course Feedback

LFS strongly encourages the use of Mid-Course Feedback.

You may book a consult with the LFS Learning Centre to discuss this topic further.