Reading Courses


Reading Courses serve as a way to meet the needs of individual students who wish to explore topics not covered by courses currently offered at the Faculty of Information. They are categorized as elective courses, and are subject to the same regulations as other elective courses.


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Overview

Reading Courses serve as a way to meet the needs of individual students who wish to explore topics not covered by courses currently offered at the Faculty of Information. They are categorized as elective courses, and are subject to the same regulations as other elective courses.


Bachelor’s Students

BI Students may take a Reading Course / Research Course / Capstone as elective for their degree program. Students interested in taking a Reading Course will not be able to enroll into the course themselves on ACORN. It will be done by Student Services once the student’s request is approved. Review details below.

Reading / Research Course Request Deadline

Reading / Research Course requests and supporting documents must be submitted on the 15th of the month prior to the start of the term you wish to do your Reading Course in:

    • Fall Term: August 15
    • Winter Term: December 15
    • Summer Term: April 15

Request Procedure for Bachelor’s Students

    1. Complete the BI Request for Reading Course Form (PDF) with your Reading Course supervisor.
      • Please be sure to complete Section 3: breakdown of work required (i.e., assignments), weight of each assignment, and their respective due dates.
    2. Provide the following as separate documentation:
      • Short paragraph outlining a description of the topic to be explored, the needs for the course and how it fits in the student’s overall program of study and goals.
      • List of course learning outcomes, and brief paragraph connecting them to program learning outcomes (see the Faculty’s policy on Defining Student Learning Outcomes in Course Syllabi (PDF)).
      • Reading list (to be agreed by both student and faculty member).
      • Whether ethics approval is needed. Please note that reading courses which include coursework using human subjects will require ethics approval. This process can take time, so applicants to reading courses should discuss this with the proposed course instructor and the Associate Dean, Research, well in advance of the proposed course start date.
    3. Submit everything to Student Services via email for Faculty approval.
      • Please put in the subject line: Reading Course Approval Request

NOTE:

    • Reading Courses in all programs must follow the University Assessment and Grading Practices Policy (PDF), which includes a maximum of 20% for participation grades in graduate courses (see Part B. sec. 1.4.2).
    • The Faculty of Information Reading Courses can only be supervised by regular faculty members of the Faculty. Reading Courses require that student and instructor meet regularly and frequently; therefore, both must be available for meetings on campus. The written work of a Reading Course is comparable to that of other elective courses.

Master’s Students

Faculty of Information MI / MMSt students may take up to two Reading Courses as electives for their degree program (0.5-credit each). They can be taken either with a faculty member at the Faculty of Information or at another U of T graduate department. Students interested in taking a Reading Course will not be able to enroll into the course themselves on ACORN. It will be done by Student Services once the student’s request is approved. Review details below.

Reading / Research Course Request Deadline

Reading / Research Course requests and supporting documents must be submitted on the 15th of the month prior to the start of the term you wish to do your Reading Course in:

    • Fall Term: August 15
    • Winter Term: December 15
    • Summer Term: April 15 (F–Section / Y–Section); June 15 (S–Section)

Request Procedure for MI / MMSt Students

    • Complete the SGS Request for Reading and / or Research Course Form (PDF) with your Reading Course supervisor.
      • Please be sure to complete Section 3: breakdown of work required (i.e., assignments), weight of each assignment, and their respective due dates.
      • The form must list at least 2–3 deliverables; please ensure that no single assignment is worth 70% or more.
      • If you’ve taken a previous reading course, include the title of that first reading course in section 3: “List any Reading and / or Research course(s) previously taken in the same degree program”
    • Provide the following as separate documentation:
      • Title: “Reading Course” is the default title; please include your own specific / descriptive subtitle.
      • Course description: Short paragraph outlining a description of the topic to be explored, the needs for the course and how it fits in the student’s overall program of study and goals.
      • List of Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs).
      • Articulation of how CLOs’ achievement is assessed through course assignments.
      • Relationship between CLOs and Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) (PDF)
      • Assignments description.
      • Initial reading list (to be agreed by both the student and supervising faculty member).
      • Whether ethics approval is needed. Please note that reading courses which include coursework using human subjects will require ethics approval. This process can take time, so applicants to reading courses should discuss this with the proposed course instructor and the Associate Dean, Research, well in advance of the proposed course start date.
    • Submit everything to Student Services via email for Faculty approval.
      • Please put in the subject line: Reading Course Approval Request

NOTE:

    • Reading Courses in all programs must follow the University Assessment and Grading Practices Policy (PDF), which includes a maximum of 20% for participation grades in graduate courses (see Part B. sec. 1.4.2).
    • The Faculty of Information Reading Courses can only be supervised by regular faculty members of the Faculty. Reading Courses require that student and instructor meet regularly and frequently; therefore, both must be available for meetings on campus. The written work of a Reading Course is comparable to that of other elective courses.

Doctoral Students

For information regarding reading courses within the PhD program, please review the information under the PhD degree program page, and click on Procedures to Enrol in Elective Courses to review information on reading courses within the PhD program.