C. Teaching Practices

C3. Syllabus

On This Page
  1. Syllabus
  2. IDI & Syllabus
  3. References

Syllabus

The syllabus is your contract with your students. For this reason, you need to think carefully about what you do and do not include. Your syllabus sets the tone and framework for your course.

Many HE institutions provide a syllabus template, typically available as a download to Word. To ensure your syllabus is accessible, compare it to the Universal Design for Learning: A Rubric for Evaluating Your Course Syllabus (EnACT~PTD, n.d.).

Tone: Although the syllabus is your contract with students, try to make it friendly and inviting in tone and appearance. This will encourage students to read it and give them a sense of you as human.

Good practice: based on theories of cognitive load, UDL, Significant Learning, and others, you should include your learning outcomes and objectives in your syllabus.

Find Your Institute’s Syllabus Template

Your institute probably has a TLC. Check the center’s website for a link to the syllabus template. If you cannot find one, contact the center and ask. If your institute does not provide a template, use the outline from The Chronicle of Higher Education (below) and/or the examples (below) as a guide.

Sections To Include

Many institutes include specific language they want you to include in your syllabus. Some faculty senates will have developed recommended wording as well. These will include statements on topics such as:

  • Academic integrity
  • Inclusivity
  • Accommodations for students with disabilities.
  • Title IX (Sex-Based Discrimination/Harassment & Sexual Violence)

You will also want to include statements on topics such as:

  • Contact information, including your preferred name and pronouns
  • Communication (how to contact you, how you will contact them…)
  • Office hours (or ‘Drop-in hours)
  • Class cancellations
  • Attendance
  • Technology use in the classroom (phones, laptops, etc.)
  • Code of conduct

The Chronicle of Higher Education published a guide called “How to Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide” available at https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-syllabus (Gannon, 2018) which includes information on:

  • Syllabus Essentials (and Two to Avoid)
  • The Syllabus Components
    • Course Information
    • Instructor Information
    • Course Goals
    • Course Materials and Requirements
    • Course Policies
    • Attendance
    • Late or Missed Work
    • Academic Honesty
    • Technology
    • Accessibility and Inclusion
    • Grading and Assessment
    • Course Schedule and Calendar
  • Putting It All Together
    • Creating Your Syllabus
    • How Will Students Access Your Syllabus?
    • Getting Them to Read It
  • Assessing and Revising Your Syllabus
    • Loopholes
    • Revisions on the Fly
    • What to Keep, What to Change

Your students learn best from a variety of approaches. Therefore, consider alternative syllabus approaches.

Sample Syllabus Formats & Statements

An Internet search on ‘syllabus template’ will provide many examples or formats, templates, and wording, including these:

Revisit Your Syllabus

You may add pieces to your syllabus at a variety of stages in the ID process.

After you have developed your syllabus, re-read it, looking at it as a student. If possible, ask a student, TA, or another instructor to read it and tell you:

  • what they don’t understand
  • any duplicates
  • missing information
  • recommendations for improvement

Check your syllabus against the EnACT rubric.

This may seem like over-emphasizing the syllabus, but a clear syllabus is both a good contract AND an on-going resource for students. It is often your first communication with your students and also most frequently referred to communication with them.

IDI & Syllabus

Image indicating these concepts can be applied at steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.

The following describe actions you can take to use concepts from Syllabus in the IDI model:

Step 2. Where are You Going?

2.2 Finalize Learning Model
  1. Review the Universal Design for Learning: A Rubric for Evaluating Your Course Syllabus (included in Appendix B) for design considerations.
  2. Use Worksheet 2.2k – Syllabus Checklist
  3. Add information about student services, including counselling, to your syllabus.

Step 3. How Will You Know If You Get There?

3.1 Develop Assessments & Rubrics
  1. If you decided to include reading skill information / references on Worksheet 3.1e – Select Student Readings, add these to the syllabus.
  2. Add final reading list from Worksheet 3.1e to the syllabus, including how students will gain access.
  3. If you completed Worksheet 4.1f – Optional – Activity Details or 4.1g – Optional – Long Activity Break-Down, consider adding information to the syllabus explaining the activity.
  4. If you have major assignments or activities, develop rubrics and add them to the syllabus.
  5. Update your syllabus with this information.
3.2 Develop Instruments to Evaluate the Course
  1. Include assessment information from Worksheet 3.2b – Student Assessment of Course and Teaching Details

Step 4. How Will You Get There?

4.1 Develop & Teach Course
  1. Check your syllabus against the EnACT rubric (Available in Appendix B).
  2. If you completed Worksheet 4.1f – Activity Details, consider adding information to the syllabus explaining the activity.
  3. Finalize your syllabus.

Step 5. How Did It Go?

5.1 Evaluate Course Success
  1. At the end of each class session and at the end of the course, think through student questions about assignments, activities, and other class aspects to identify problem areas.
  2. At the end of each class session and at the end of the course, think through students’ concerns with the syllabus.

IDI & Syllabus Recommendations from Other Chapters

Active & Transformative Learning (A3)
  1. Add student support services to the syllabus.
  2. “Create a course syllabus that makes your expectations, course structure, requirements for success, and student responsibilities crystal clear” (McGuire & McGuire, 2015, p.171) (Metacognition).
Transformational Inclusivity Outcomes (A5)
  1. Discuss stress and self-care and include syllabus links to student support groups (TEAM-UP, 2020b, p. 5).
  2. Please note that your organization may have a statement that must be included in your syllabus.
  3. Include outcomes and objectives related to inclusivity and learning communities (Arkoudis et al., 2013, p.228; Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, 2020). (Examples: Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University, n.d.; Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, 2020).
  4. Also consider an outcome to increase student awareness where “students would (a) critically analyze historical and contemporary examples of the group(s), (b) critically analyze the distribution of benefits and opportunities afforded these groups, (c) understand how the group(s) relate to the student’s discipline, and (d) demonstrate this understanding through written work” (Gordon et al., 2019, p. 3).
  5. Include a statement about the value of diversity in groups (Arkoudis et al., 2013, p.230).
Cognitive Load (A8)
  1. Consider extraneous load when making your PC and smart phone policies, and add this to your syllabus.
  2. “Design clear, interactive course headings and icons” (Information Overload: Executive Function & Cognitive Load, n.d.). 
Motivation (A10)
  1. In your syllabus: Think carefully about your statements about academic dishonesty and the consequences.
  2. In your syllabus: Be very clear about what constitutes cheating and the consequences  (Goldonowicz, 2014, p.7).
  3. In your syllabus: “Communicate Objectives and Prerequisites: Provide learners with learning standards and evaluation criteria so that they can establish positive expectations and achieve success” (Texas Tech University Worldwide eLearning, n.d.).
  4. In your syllabus: “Communicate Objectives and Prerequisites: Provide learners with learning standards and evaluation criteria so that they can establish positive expectations and achieve success.”
  5. “Maintain consistent standards and consequences for success. Use consistent assessment rubrics and share them with learners in the syllabus.”
  6. Consider your approaches to cheating. How will you reinforce your syllabus statements about academic dishonesty?
Learning Principles (B1)
  1. Include course outcomes and objectives in the syllabus
Teaching Principles (B2)
  1. As part of your syllabus, include information on how students can contact you (Encourages contacts – Chickering & Gamson, 1987).
  2. Add all rubrics and assessment and assignment information to your syllabus (Emphasizes time on task – Chickering & Gamson, 1987 & Communicate Clear Criterion – Hattie, 2011).
Inclusivity for Equal Access (B4)

Please note that your organization may have a statement that must be included in your syllabus.

  1. Develop a graphical version of your syllabus (Quality Learning and Teaching, 2020).
  2. Give your students your preferred name and pronouns.
  3. Include a statement about an expectation of respect and consideration for all perspectives and experiences (Booker & Campbell-Whatley, 2018, p.16; Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, 2020). For examples, see Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University, n.d. Arkoudis et al. (2013, p.230) recommend key strategies:
    • “Setting clear expectations about peer interaction;
    • Respecting and acknowledging diverse perspectives;Assisting students to develop rules regarding interaction within their group; Informing students how engaging with diverse learning strategies will assist their learning;
    • Providing groupwork resources for students.”
  4. Include a statement about the value of diversity in groups (Arkoudis et al., 2013, p.233).
The First Class Session (C4)
  1. Determine how you will review the syllabus.
  2. If providing paper copies of the syllabus, make copies.
Technology Use (C5)
  1. Estimate how much time it will take students to learn how to use the technology. Build this into your homework schedule. In your syllabus, add information about accessing the technology and accessing support.
  2. Tell your students what is available, where, and what you expect them to use both in and out of class. Remember to put a technology-use statement in your syllabus.
Class Discussions (C9)
  1. Include syllabus statements about inclusivity, civil discourse, and interaction expectations.
  2. If you use a discussion rubric and points for contributing, share it with the students.
  3. Provide ‘netiquette’ rules if using discussion boards.
Group Work (C11)
  1. Consider adding a statement to your syllabus about expectations for peer interaction.
  2. Add information to the syllabus about grading group work and any major projects.
  3. Determine how you will provide long-term group work information to students (include in syllabus, hand-out in class, both?)

References

Arkoudis, S., Watty, K., Baik, C., Yu, X., Borland, H., Chang, S., Lang, I., Lang, J., & Pearce, A. (2013). Finding common ground: Enhancing interaction between domestic and international students in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(3), 222–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.719156.

Booker, K. C., & Campbell-Whatley, G. D. (2018). How Faculty Create Learning Environments for Diversity and Inclusion. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching, 13, 14–27.

Center for Excellence in & Learning and Teaching (CELT). (2022). Mindful and Learner-Centered Syllabus Toolkit. Iowa State University. https://www.celt.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/LearnerCenteredMindfulSyllabusChecklist-1.pdf.

Center for Teaching Excellence. (n.d.). Example Syllabus Statements. University of South Carolina. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/cte/teaching_resources/syllabus_templates/syllabus_statement_examples/index.php.

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. AAHE Bulletin. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED282491.

EnACT~PTD. (n.d.). Universal Design for Learning: A Rubric for Evaluating Your Course Syllabus. EnACT~PTD. https://enact.sonoma.edu/c.php?g=789377&p=5650618.

Faculty Center. (n.d.). Syllabus Statements. University of Central Florida. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://fctl.ucf.edu/teaching-resources/course-design/syllabus-statements/.

Faculty Resources. (n.d.). Sample Syllabus Statements. Albright College. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.albright.edu/academic/faculty-resources/sample-syllabus-statements/.

Gannon, K. (2018). How to Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-syllabus.

Gordon, S. R., Yough, M., Finney, E. A., Haken, A., & Mathew, S. (2019). Learning about Diversity Issues: Examining the Relationship between University Initiatives and Faculty Practices in Preparing Global-Ready Students. Educational Considerations, 45(1). https://eric.ed.gov/?q=Diversity+in+the+classroom+better+student+learning&ff1=dtySince_2016&ff2=eduHigher+Education&pg=2&id=EJ1219107.

Hattie, J. (2011). Which strategies best enhance teaching and learning in higher education? In Empirical research in teaching and learning: Contributions from social psychology. (pp. 130–142). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444395341.ch8.

Office for Disability and Access (ODA). (2017, October 28). Sample Disability Statements for Course Syllabi. Oberlin College and Conservatory. https://www.oberlin.edu/accessibility-services/for-faculty/sample-statements.

Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University. (n.d.). Diversity & Inclusion Syllabus Statements. Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University. Retrieved September 30, 2020, from https://www.clemson.edu/otei/resources/review-of-teaching.html.

Quality Learning and Teaching. (2020, January 24). LibGuides: UDL-Universe: A Comprehensive Faculty Development Guide: UDL Syllabus Rubric. UDL-Universe: A Comprehensive Faculty Development Guide: Home. https://enact.sonoma.edu/c.php?g=789377&p=5650618.

Required & Recommended ISU Syllabus Statements. (n.d.). Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from https://www.celt.iastate.edu/instructional-strategies/preparing-to-teach/how-to-create-an-effective-syllabus/recommended-iowa-state-university-syllabus-statements/.

Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. (2020). Effective Teaching Is Anti-Racist Teaching. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, Brown University, 1812. https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/inclusive-teaching/effective-teaching-anti-racist-teaching.

TEAM-UP. (2020). The Time Is Now: Systemic Changes to Increase African Americans with Bachelor’s Degrees in Physics and Astronomy (No. 978-1-7343469-0–9; Team-Up, p. 186). American Institute of Physics. https://www.aip.org/diversity-initiatives/team-up-task-force.

UDL Syllabus. (n.d.). UDL ON CAMPUS. Retrieved August 20, 2022, from http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/planning_syllabus.