What Makes a Good Syllabus?

(Mostly taken from Judith Grunert’sThe Course Syllabus: A Learner-Centered Approach)

A Learner-Centered Approach

What do we want students to learn?

How do they learn?

What helps them learn?

What interferes with their learning?

Move away from the “instructor-centered” model

Attend to research on the psychology of learning: e.g., attention spans, memory and retention, active learning

Attend to research on the characteristics of today’s students

Increases students’ perception of the relevance and interest of the course

Basic Goals of aLearner-Centered Syllabus

1. Define students’ responsibilities

2. Define instructor’s role and responsibility to students

3. Provide a clear statement of intended goals and student outcomes

4. Establish standards and procedures for evaluation

5. Acquaint students with course logistics

6. Establish a pattern of communication between instructor and students

7. Include difficult to obtain materials such as readings, complex charts and graphs

Other considerations

Discipline, department, college and accreditation expectations.

Includes pre-/post-requisites, place of course in department/college/major/students’ studies, university’s urban-serving mission, globalization of the curriculum, requirements of the General Education program

Academic Honesty—including instructor getting appropriate copyright permissions!

Grading scales

Use of Blackboard and other electronic media

How to motivate students to learn

The instructor benefits of a learner-centered syllabus

Helps you re-conceptualize your course, making it more effective and useful

Puts the onus for learning clearly on the students

Prevents conflicts and misunderstandings between instructor and students

Protects you “legally” in grade appeals, plagiarism cases and other complaints

Ask how each and every component of your course can most effectively support student learning

Consider not just content but SKILLSlearned (skills “stick” better over the long term)

Contribute to developing students’ desire for and ability to pursue life-long independent learning

Planning Your Syllabus

What skills, knowledge and attitudes are most important?

How can they be effectively built into your course?

How can you assess whether or not students have acquired the skills, knowledge and attitudes in question? (Not just for grading or program assessment, but for improving teaching.)

A well-grounded rationale

Thinking carefully about what you will teach, why you will teach it, and how you will teach it is the key to making decisions about what to include in your course/syllabus

“That’s how I was taught” or “That’s how we’ve always done it in my department” is not a rationale!

Even if you are satisfied with your course design, consider alternative ways of organizing it or delivering the material

Tools students need for living and working effectively in society

Initiate, understand, assess and assume responsibility for the own ongoing learning process

Assess and use resources effectively

Work alone and collaborate with others

Resolve dilemmas emerging from complex situations

Think and communicate effectively using appropriate means such as writing, speaking, listening, numbers, graphics, performance

Clarify personal values, goals and purposes

Understand and respect differences

WSU’s Gen Ed program

See http://webs.wichita.edu/success/general_edu_program/generaleducation.htm

http://webs.wichita.edu/success/general_edu_program/Mission12.html

Note that Gen Ed Cmte will be looking at syllabi to see explicit statements of how courses satisfy the expectations of the Gen Ed Program

Principles for Designing a Course that Fosters Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a learnable skill; the instructor and peers are resources for developing critical thinking skills

Problems, questions or issues are the point of entry into the subject and a source of motivation for sustained inquiry

Successful courses balance the challenge to think critically with support tailored to students’ developmental needs

Students are required to formulate their ideas in writing or other appropriate means

Critical Thinking, cont. Courses are assignment-centered rather than text and

lecture centered. Goals, methods and evaluation emphasize using content rather than simply acquiring it.

Students collaborate to learn and to stretch out their thinking, for example, in pair problem-solving and small group work

Courses that teach problem solving skills nurture students’ metacognitive skills

The developmental needs of students are acknowledged and used as information in the design of the course. Teachers in these courses make standards explicit and then help students learn how to achieve them

So what is in a basic syllabus?

Course name, meeting time & place, office hours, instructor contact info

Expectations for performance, including prerequisites and prior knowledge assumed

Description of course, aims, learning objectives

Number of tests and assignments, how they will be graded

Policies regarding absences, making up late/missed work, academic honesty, classroom behavior

What is in a learning-centered syllabus? Basics, plus…

Syllabus becomes a learning tool, a guide to the course, provides an intellectual framework for locating the course in a discipline, the world, etc.

Tells students what, when and why: Explains relevance, importance, priorities, expectations; enhances students’ ability to take control of their own learning; promotes good time management

Clarifies mutual responsibilities of instructor and students in successfully meeting course goals

Provides easy access to learning resources: library, testing and counseling, web resources, key works, SI, study groups, etc.

Walk students through syllabus

A syllabus is a complex document—a well designed one even more so. We cannot expect students to know how to read or use a syllabus, especially in beginning courses

Idea: ask for a written response to syllabus as first assignment

Make syllabus a basis for dialogue about the purposes of education, effective learning methods, learning styles, the nature of the course/discipline, putting the onus for learning on the student, time management, etc.