Creating a Syllabus
A course syllabus introduces both you and the subject to your students; communicates your goals and expectations; serves as official notice to students about course policies and requirements; and functions as a good learning tool. Like a blueprint for a building, a syllabus helps you build a course that is well thought out and organized. Details are carefully planned and not haphazardly tacked on at the last minute.
Advantages of a Good Syllabus
A well-designed syllabus benefits you and your students in a number of ways.
You must review and order books and other materials; determine course content and organization, assigned readings, and projects; then work all into the semester's schedule. Developing a well-organized course is a delicate balancing act, but once done, you have a clear plan for the semester ahead.
Students, especially in the first two years, take a number of required courses and may not understand why they must take them or how these courses will contribute to their overall educational experience. Your syllabus can help them make the connection.
When students know what to expect, they can plan their own work for the semester. This is particularly important to students when several of their courses have projects or exams close together.
Because it is written and retained by the student, a syllabus can eliminate misunderstandings and clarify policies, thus reducing student confusion or, worse, the charge of "You never told us. . . ."
The syllabus conveys important information about the course to prospective students, the department office, and colleagues.
Effect of Your Syllabus on the Classroom Climate
The way you design your syllabus helps establish the classroom climate. The tone can communicate concern for students or rigidity and indifference. Because the syllabus is the first written communication students receive from you, they tend to scrutinize it carefully to get a feeling for you as an instructor and your course expectations.
Take some time to examine your syllabus from a student perspective. Does it communicate the information your students need? Does it give them an idea how much the required books and materials cost? Is the language nonsexist? Will international students understand the expressions and abbreviations you use?
Information to Include in a Syllabus
All classroom instructors are required by university bylaws to "inform students concerning the requirements, standards, objectives and evaluation procedures at the beginning of each course." Instructors should convey this information to students via a written syllabus. Any syllabus should also clearly communicate the instructor's name, office location, contact information, and office hours. These are some things you should include in a syllabus:
- Course number, section, title, number of credit hours, meeting days and times, room and building
- Your name, title, address, office/home phone numbers, e-mail address, office hours, restrictions on calls to home, and message arrangements
- Prerequisites (courses and/or skills)
- Required purchases: texts and supplies (where available and estimated price)
- Space for names and telephone numbers of at least two classmates
- How course fits into the student's major or general education requirements
- Description of the course: why people study this area of knowledge
- Intrinsic value of the course to the student
- Course goals and objectives, characteristics you expect the student to develop by the end of the course
- Benefits and practical applications of this course for the student
- Reasons you arranged course content in a particular order
- Course strategies: lectures, discussions, group work, labs
- Grading standards, weights, and criteria for each graded component included in the final grade
- If participation is considered in assigning the course grade, how do you define and measure it?
- Course assignments and projects: purpose, due dates, format requirements or suggestions, level of research expected, approximate length, grading criteria
- What tests will evaluate: memory, understanding, ability to synthesize
- Nature of tests: multiple-choice, short answer, essay, or some combination
- Policies regarding attendance and/or participation, late assignments, make-up exams, extra credit, grades of P/N, I, and W
- Topics to be covered, in sequence, with dates
- Due dates for readings, projects, assignments, and papers
- Holidays or times when class won't meet
- Reference materials at the library or other locations and how the student should access them
- Vocabulary words (with or without definitions)
- Policy regarding academic honesty
- Conditions under which the syllabus is subject to change
- List of campus resources, library policies, computer availability and policies, learning assistance policies, laboratory policies
- Descriptions of and rationale for instructional techniques you will use
- Your beliefs about you as teacher: expert, formal authority, socializing agent, facilitator, role model, researcher, resource consultant, coach, counselor
