Teaching science courses seems to take more time these days. Contributing factors include an explosion of cognitive science and discipline-based education research, an increased awareness of student health and wellness, and lessons learned from pandemic teaching, which increased student support and technology use. Underpinning current and ongoing innovation is a commitment to ensure all students feel they belong in and can learn science. Investing time in teaching science more effectively also contributes to our own sense of belonging in a professional community of post-secondary educators. Evidence-informed teaching typically involves developing and delivering multiple low stakes assignments—including in-class activities—incorporating flexibility to create inclusive classrooms, and more complex course websites. These can require more preparation and administrative time and increased communication with students. Even if available, TA teams require training and often flexibility to accommodate graduate student needs. These responsibilities seem greater than what was expected years ago when a midterm and three lecture hours were sufficient. What seems to have been missed, or perhaps strategically ignored, by administrators is the negative impact on faculty workload and mental health.
Here we’ll explore the impact of changing teaching strategies on the time it takes to deliver a course, and collaboratively generate a “how to” guide looking at ways of measuring and monitoring the impact of changes in science teaching on workload, as well as strategies for effectively advocating for updates to teaching workloads. Just as our teaching should create inclusive environments that are sensitive to mental health and wellbeing, so too should our work environments. Please bring an internet enabled device (e.g., smartphone) so that you can participate in polls and share ideas with online participants
