Syllabus Guidelines from Linda Nilson
Last updated by neal.legler 4 years ago From:
Nilson, L. B., Goodson, L. A. (2018) Online Teaching at Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research (p. 63). Wiley. Kindle Edition.
Excerpt:
THE SYLLABUS: WHAT TO INCLUDE Your syllabus gives students their first impression of both your course and you as their instructor, so it merits careful development. When you design it well, it becomes a central part of your online course orientation. Within it, you can make the overall course design and structure clear to students as required in online course design standards. Here is an annotated list of what your students really want to know: policies, assignments, and grading methods (Doolittle & Siudzinski, 2010). These items can also help you detail your course map. Of course, follow the topical requirements, organization, and template that your institution requires.
Basic course information: the course number and title; any required or recommended prerequisites for enrollment, including the instructor’s permission; credit hours; the days, hours, and way to access any synchronous meetings; directions on how to access the course LMS site and locate the LMS folder of online course materials (e.g., exercises, assignments, exams); and contact information for help with technology and software issues. State the time zone you are using since some online students may be in a different one.
Information about yourself: your full name and title; the way you wish to be addressed; your e-mail address; and your home page URL (if you have one). If you will use Google Hangouts, Skype, FaceTime, or other telecommunication software for office hours, provide your address. (Conversation may be a more efficient way to help the students understand the material than any kind of text-based electronic exchange.) If you decide to give students your home or cell phone number, you may wish to limit calls to certain days and reasonable hours. Also specify the days and hours that you will be answering their e-mail so that they do not expect you to be on e-mail 24/7. You also may wish to add a department e-mail address or phone number.
A briefly annotated list of required materials such as readings, podcasts, and videos: books (including edition and price); online materials (with their URL or LMS folder locations); reasons for using these materials; and copyright limits. Work ahead of time with your bookstore for course materials.
Any other materials required for the course , including cost estimates and where to find them. (Don’t forget eBay and Amazon.com.) For example, some science labs require students to buy sets of lab equipment. Art and photography classes usually expect students to furnish their own equipment, supplies, and expendable materials. If special types of calculators, computers, or software are called for, these too deserve mention. If the materials will not be used immediately, specify when they will be needed in the course.
A course description , which may be as brief as a few lines describing the content or the full catalogue description. However, you might want to elaborate on the organization or flow of the course and your rationale for it. You may even want to mention topics the course will not cover if previous students have held mistaken expectations.
Your student learning outcomes for the course . These should include not only your ultimate outcomes but also your major mediating and foundational ones. Better yet, draw an outcomes map for your students to show them the learning process you plan for them. Review it to see that your course targets all six of Fink’s (2013) dimensions of significant learning (Palmer, Bach, & Streifer, 2014; see chapter 2) and has solid assessable learning outcomes. You do not want students to interpret your outcomes as binding promises to them because students have to apply themselves to achieve these outcomes. Therefore, consider adding this caveat or similar disclaimer:
they can expect to achieve these outcomes only if they honor all course policies, complete all assigned work in good faith and on time, prepare adequately for quizzes and exams, and meet all other course expectations of them as students.
A list of graded course requirements and breakdown of your grading scale, such as the number and point values of homework assignments, student peer feedback, discussion boards, chats, quizzes, tests, papers, graphics, and projects. If you expect students to participate in discussion boards, tell them so. State if their lowest-scoring work can be thrown out. Explain the grading system you will use (which we hope is criterion referenced), along with percentage breakdowns (e.g., 91–100 = A, 81–90 = B, and so on). Describe the types of homework assignments and quizzes and tests, including the types of items or essays. Also explain why you are assessing the way you are and how your assessments map onto the learning outcomes (Palmer et al., 2014).
How major assignments will be evaluated: with an atomistic key of many separate elements, a holistic rubric, or a multicriterion rubric. You might briefly identify the rubric criteria. Also explain your policies regarding revisions and extra credit. To prevent frivolous grade protests, state in the syllabus that you will deal with a protest by regrading a student’s entire work because if you made a mistake in one place, perhaps you made one in another. Or require that students submit grading complaints in writing, tying their justification to specific locations in the readings, podcasts, videos, or your discussion board comments (dated) within forty-eight hours.
Your policies on missed or late exams and assignments. Your LMS has electronic monitoring tools for viewing when students enter and participate in a course. Students may have good reasons for getting a late start in the class or missing a discussion due date, an assignment deadline, or a test, and you should indicate that you will ask for documentation. Identify what assignments or quizzes can have multiple attempts. State whether students can drop one of their grades during the term or can substitute their grade on one assignment or test for another they missed. If you assess penalties for late work, describe them precisely to prevent any later disputes. Check the academic regulations in your institution’s course catalogue so your penalties do not exceed what is allowed.
A statement of your and your institution’s policies on academic integrity , as well as how they apply in your course. Your institution’s policies are boilerplate statements that all but beginning students have seen and heard before, so they might very well belong in an appendix. Yours, however, deserve a more prominent place. This is an opportunity to build a strong explanation for what you mean by academic integrity. Otherwise your students may assume that you are naive or will look the other way. This statement should include the procedures you will follow in prosecuting violations and the sanctions a student may suffer. Consult your institution’s course catalogue, student handbook, or faculty handbook for details, and find out what your department or program may expect, require, and support. As noted earlier, if you plan to use a plagiarism detection tool, verify what databases it covers and tell students how it will be used.
A statement of your institution’s policies on Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations , which is probably a boilerplate statement required by your institution. For some students, you may need to arrange accommodations, such as longer time to take an exam. To design your course materials, you will need the required accommodations to meet some basic format requirements for accessibility, and these are in chapter 7. You should be able to get help from your institution’s disability services staff, information technologists, and instructional designers.
Policies on academic discourse, including an explanation of what kinds of behaviors you expect. Include “netiquette” (network etiquette) to set expectations for online discussions. Specify what constitutes violations (e.g., rude or harassing statements in online discussions) and penalties (such as deletion of offending messages or disciplinary actions). While such policies may seem controlling, some students are unfamiliar with the netiquette of online discussion and may not realize what comes across as flaming to others. Your policies can provide guidance and create a safe and respectful learning environment, especially if your content addresses sensitive issues. Phrase conduct codes in positive terms so that students know what you expect them to do, not just what you want them not to do.
Relevant institutional support services for online students , along with contact information, for help with technology such as course software, doing electronic library research, submitting computer assignments, writing papers or reports, and learning study skills. To better prepare students for online learning, you might give them an online readiness survey that includes adaptive learning feedback, such as Georgia OnMyLine “Online Education Readiness Assessment” (http://goml.readi.info/ ). You also can use its content to add to your own tips for student success.
A week-by-week course schedule with as much of the following information as possible: topics to be covered and the required readings, podcasts, videos, quizzes, exams, and individual and group assignments, along with their due dates.
A concluding legal caveat or disclaimer . Things may happen during the term to throw off your course schedule: widespread loss of electrical power, your own health issues, severe weather, or your students’ lack of preparation for the material you planned for them. Usually disruptions slow down the course and force you to diverge from your syllabus. Students may think they are not getting their money’s worth if you fail to get through the syllabus by the end of the term. In our litigious society, they may even file a grievance or threaten to sue. However, the courts have not recognized the syllabus as a legally binding contract on an instructor because the students’ registration for the course constitutes voluntary acceptance of the terms of the course, and the instructor maintains creative control over the content and methods of instruction (Kauffman, 2014; Reed, 2013).
Still, it is wise to add this caveat or disclaimer regarding changes to the course at the end of the syllabus. This way you make your right to use your own discretion explicit. While this disclaimer mentions policies, it is best to avoid changing those unless they work in the students’ favor. Your statement might be as simple as the following one: “The above schedule, policies, procedures, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances, by mutual agreement, and/or to ensure better student learning.” Or it may be more comprehensive, such as the following one from Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW Syllabus Template, n.d.): This syllabus, with its course schedule, is based on the most recent information about the course content and schedule planned for this course. Its content is subject to revision as needed to adapt to new knowledge or unanticipated events. Updates will remain focused on achieving the course outcomes. Students will be notified of changes and are responsible for attending to such changes or modifications posted on the Blackboard Learn site for this course.
These additional syllabus items may not be essential but they have merit:
Curricular requirements that your course satisfies , such as general education; various majors or programs; writing-, speaking-, or ethics-across-the-curriculum; and any other graduation or certification requirements of the program or institution.
Additional background information about yourself , such as the universities from which you received your degrees, other institutions where you have taught or conducted research, and your areas of research or special interest. After all, you will probably be asking your students for some personal and academic information. In addition, most students are keenly interested in you as a professional and a person and appreciate knowing something about you.
Your teaching philosophy . So many faculty write such a statement for job applications and reviews that you might want to make yours or an abbreviated version of it available. It can express your commitment to education, your hopes and objectives for your students, your knowledge of how people learn, the rapport with students you aim to develop, and your preferred teaching and assessment methods. With it, you can set a fruitful, congenial tone for the term.
Other available study or assignment aids . Students like to know if you plan to provide future study guides, review sheets, practice problems, or practice test questions.
Your view of the mutual rights and obligations between instructors and students (Habanek, 2005; Slattery & Carlson, 2005)—what you expect from students and what you will provide in turn. This sets up a friendly contract. You might include some motivating or inspiring statements and invite students to become co-learners with you (Slattery & Carlson, 2005). For instance, you explicitly create an encouraging, respectful online learning space by expressing your high expectations of students, your confidence in their ability to meet them, your view of them as competent and serious learners, and the relevance of the course materials to their professional and personal lives (Palmer et al., 2014). These statements can have powerful motivating effects, as chapter 5 documents.
Unlike a paper syllabus, an online syllabus can be dynamic, growing, and “living,” as Wilson (2008, p. 1), who invented the living syllabus, noted. In the first paragraph on his website for his History of Life course, he informs his students that he will be adding links, images, alternative perspectives on controversial issues, and other information on a weekly basis as the term proceeds, and he requires them to check the site at least once a week. This syllabus organizes course work into weekly folders, each with dates and content on Recommended Reading, Special Events, and Assignments. This weekly organization and consistent structure allow students to see at a glance the big picture of what will be covered in each week Designed as a weblog, the living syllabus is integrated with the College of Wooster course publishing platform, which also includes a home page, course notes, and preparation questions to support the course work contained in the syllabus. Wilson (2008) has two content-rich text sections (350–900 words) for each week’s topic—web resources and discipline-related news items—each studded with links to more information on concepts, proper names, and other subjects he mentions. The History of Life course and syllabus show the structure and organization for multiple weeks (http://historyoflife.voices.wooster.edu/course-syllabus/ ).
Source:
Nilson, L. B., Goodson, L. A. (2018) Online Teaching at Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research (p. 63). Wiley. Kindle Edition.
