Snow days or other class cancellations due to campus closures are inconvenient for all members but can be particularly problematic for members teaching PTS (Part-Time Studies) courses.
Must you schedule an in-person make-up class?
While scheduling an in-person make-up class may seem like the most obvious solution, this “solution” may cause other problems. If you add a class to the end of the term, PTS students or instructors may have other commitments in place already, preventing them from attending. Making up a class on a stat holiday or on another day is also problematic for the same reason (not to mention that BCIT employees should not work on a stat!).
Other ways to make up missed time
Providing students with a “take-home class” – where they complete specific readings, submit exercises, participate in peer reviews, and will be counted “absent” for a class if they don’t – is a great alternative. Some instructors make small but critical revisions to the overall course schedule such as combining two topics or adding an extra reading/exercise to each class. If the “snow day” occurred on a scheduled test day, the test can be moved to another day in the existing schedule, and one of the above methods used to make up the “bumped” class.
For an unavoidable class cancellation like a snow day; a little creative thinking will ensure the material is suitably made up.