³Ô¹ÏÍø

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember your browser. We use this information to improve and customize your browsing experience, for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media, and for marketing purposes. By using this website, you accept and agree to be bound by UVic’s Terms of Use and Protection of Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the above, you must not use this website.

Skip to main content
People Departments Maps Buildings Rooms A-Z
University
of Victoria
Apply Library
Sign in Online tools Sign out
Accessible Learning

Alternatives to oral class discussion

Disability- or chronic health- related functional impacts can significantly impact a student's ability to engage in synchronous class discussions or pose questions aloud to class. For example, a student with a fluency disorder may experience a severe stutter, or a student with a learning disability may process information slowly and take longer to formulate answers.

The alternatives to oral class discussion accommodation offer flexibility when disability-related impacts interfere with the student's ability to engage in synchronous class discussions. Alternatives cannot change essential course requirements.

An alternative to oral class discussion may not be appropriate in every course. The spirit of the accommodation is to provide flexibility in the way a student demonstrates their knowledge, when oral class discussions are an assessment method.

Many students may experience challenges with oral class discussion, but don’t necessarily experience disability-related impacts. This accommodation is only assigned when a student’s ability to participate in oral class discussion is significantly hindered by disability-related functional impacts.

Student responsibilities

Contact the instructor as early in the term as possible to discuss alternatives to oral class discussions.

Consider alternatives that help mitigate the barrier, like those listed in the Alternatives section below.

Instructor responsibilities

Negotiate an alternative to class discussion.

Refer to processes for resolving disagreements about academic accommodation in the academic accommodation policy (section 11, page 6), if oral class discussions are essential course requirement.

Alternatives

Consider the following alternatives to in-class discussions:

  • accept asynchronous written responses to discussion prompts
  • discuss with smaller groups, or a single partner
  • written discussion through Brightspace
An alternative may not be appropriate for every course. For example, an essential requirement of the course may be to demonstrate skills such as verbal communication, or knowledge through in-class discussions.

How to help

Provide a clear explanation of the skills that students are expected to demonstrate and how these will be graded.

Provide discussion topics in advance so students can prepare talking points.

Build flexible participation into your course. Allow students to demonstrate their knowledge in multiple ways.