The purpose of this resource is to support steps and reflection opportunities towards identifying essential requirements of a course. This resource is intended to be a starting place for considerations when reviewing or identifying essential requirements and each situation will be contextual to the course and the discipline or field of study. It has been created to support inclusive course, assessment, and activity design.
What is an Essential Requirement?
According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission:
“Appropriate accommodations should not lead to lowered standards or outcomes: rather, an appropriate accommodation will enable the student to successfully meet the essential requirements of the programme, with no alteration in standards or outcomes, although the manner in which the student demonstrates mastery, knowledge and skills may be altered” (OHRC, 2003).
Further the OHRC notes that: “ it may likely be an essential requirement that a student master core aspects of a course curriculum. It is much less likely that it will be an essential requirement to demonstrate that mastery in a particular format, unless mastery of that format (e.g., oral communication) is also a vital requirement of the program”(OHRC, 2003)
Analyzing and providing options about how essential requirements can be demonstrated, is a conversation that can happen with the learner, their SAS case manager, and the instructor, and the educational developers at CPI are there to support instructors with pedagogical design options to support accessible learning.
Reflection questions to support essential requirement analysis
These questions can be starting reflection prompts when analyzing essential requirements in the course and how they align or are represented in assessments or activities.
- What is being assessed?
- Does this relate to the content and purpose of the course? How?
- What methods of assessment are non-negotiable? Why?
- Is there only one way in which the task can be completed? If so, why?
- What methods of demonstrating knowledge and skills are non-negotiable? Why?
- Has the essential requirement been established in good faith?
- Is there evidence that the requirement is demonstrably necessary?
- Does the essential requirement of this course scaffold to subsequent courses in the program or electives? How?
- What knowledge, skills, or background is assumed of the learner?
- Does the requirement exclude certain groups based on assumptions about the abilities of certain groups?
- Does the accommodation maintain the essential requirements of the course? (Question prompts are modified and adapted from Oakley, Parsons, and Wideman, 2012 and Stanford, 2019)
Course Learning Outcomes and Essential Requirements
Student learning outcomes should reflect the essential requirements of the course as noted by the “by the end of this course, students should be able to:” statement. There may be course learning outcomes that are not essential requirements, but rather learning and skills that are reinforced or assessed as determined by program learning outcomes and undergraduate degree level expectations (UDLEs).
Learning Outcome Formats and Support
It is helpful when essential skills and requirements are formulated in learning outcome format to support the learners, SAS, and CPI in determining accommodations and inclusive assessment designs that align pedagogically with course and program expectations. Learning outcomes are written in the following format:
Measurable Verb + What/Topic + Context/How
Bloom’s Taxonomy of Verbs can help when trying to identify the level of the measurable verb required for the level and context of the course.
Quality Assurance Framework
Accommodations to support accessibility must also be supported by the IQAP process. Therefore, learning outcomes must be clear and a way to attain those outcomes outlined in providing accommodation support for learners.
Program or Professional Body Accreditation Requirements
Some programs must uphold professional body accreditation requirements. For these instances there may be further discussion about accommodations not just in educational spaces at Brock, but also for placements and practicums. Having inclusive workplaces means employees with disabilities will be part of the workplace, and the lived experiences of disabled employees already working in the field, such as nurses who are wheelchair users, or Deaf engineers, for example, can support larger conversations about the essential professional requirements, and ableist barriers to professions.
References
Oakley, B., Parsons, J. and Wideman, M. (2012). Identifying Essential Requirements: A Guide for University Disability Service Professionals. IDIA
Ontario Human Rights Commission. 2003. The opportunity to succeed: Achieving barrier-free education for students with disabilities. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/opportunity-succeed-achieving-barrier-free-education-students-disabilities
Stanford Office of Accessible Education. 2019. Determining Essential Requirements for Courses/Programs. https://oae.stanford.edu/faculty-staff/determining-essential-requirements-coursesprograms#:~:text=Essential%20Requirements%20Defined,must%20achieve%20the%20same%20outcomes.