Determine the essential components of the course

If you identify the essential outcomes you can expect all students in your course to demonstrate, you can fairly evaluate all students and not have to worry about "watering down" the course.

Essential components defined

Essential components are the outcomes (including skills, knowledge, and attitudes) all students must demonstrate with or without using accommodations to be evaluated in a nondiscriminatory manner. In other words, some students might use accommodations and some might not, but all students must achieve the same outcomes. Process is important, of course, but not necessarily essential. Focusing on your course outcomes will help you to define your course's essential components.

The difference between essential and nonessential course components is similar to the difference between "essential" and "preferred" skills commonly listed in job descriptions. As an employer, you may want to see both sets of skills, but only the essential skills are an absolute requirement of employment. Similarly, in your courses, you can articulate essential outcomes that all students must demonstrate in order to successfully complete the course, as well as preferred outcomes you hope students will be able to demonstrate.

Finally, consider allowing some flexibility in getting to the outcomes. For example, a student who has the use of only one hand may still give a patient an injection, although he might need to use different procedures to achieve this outcome. Or, a student with a panic disorder may be unable to give a class presentation but may give the presentation privately to the instructor. The accommodation in this example is the private nature of the presentation; the essential component, the presentation, remains.

FAQs about essential components