The Course Syllabus: Contract, Culture, and Compass

This post is co-authored with Profs. Lori Baker-Schena (Journalism) and Mira Pak (Secondary Education), and is based on our recent Teaching 101 workshop for new CSUN faculty.

The Course Syllabus: Contract, Culture, and Compass

A course syllabus serves several purposes.  First, it represents a contract between instructor and students.  Second, it helps to establish the culture of a class, whether the course is held online or in a traditional classroom.  Third, it offers a compass to guidestudents toward achievement of the course’s learning objectives.

 Contract

  Make the path to success in your class transparent to students; Articulate expectations, but do not “waive your discretion”

• State the goals and purpose of the course
• Delineate the requirements for successful completion of the class
• Identify the responsibilities of each “party” (students and instructor)
• Make the rules of conduct, grading standards, and course requirements reasonable. 
• In stating rules, standards, and requirements, use words and phrases such as “may” or “up to and including” that will allow you to exercise your discretion in individual cases

 Culture

Create the kind of learning experience you want students to have

• Address the individual student in the course syllabus. Use the second person rather than the third person (e.g. “you are expected to….” Rather than “students are expected to”).
• Include yourself in the syllabus. Using the first person rather than the third person (e.g. “I” instead of “the instructor”) subtly communicates your enthusiasm and engagement in teaching this course. 
• Set forth the norms of conduct you expect students to follow in class.  For example, consider including a “professionalism policy” that addresses such issues as cell phone usage in class, respect for others’ opinions, etc. Describe the “core values” of the class, and how they are reflected in the course’s requirements and expectations  (e.g. teamwork, respect, honesty, truth, etc.).
• Include an “academic honesty policy” that addresses such issues as plagiarism with clearly communicated rules and expectations, and the consequences for violation.  ”Incorporate by reference”  the University’s “Academic Dishonesty” policy published in the current University Catalog.
• Consider what your course syllabus explicitly or implicitly communicates about you, your subject, and your teaching approach.  For example, do students know how, when, and where to contact you? 

 Compass 

Align your course requirements to students’ learning outcomes

• Clearly state the expected learning outcomes of the course.
• Review the course’s activities, readings, assignments, exams, etc.  How are they aligned with the learning outcomes? 
• Determine how students’ successful achievement of each of the learning outcomes is addressed, supported, and assessed during the course.

The Last Day of Class: Beginning at the End

Final Examination Review. Term Project Presentations. Last minute questions. These are some common topics for the last day of class that underscore the ending of the course.   But if college graduations are called “commencements,” can we redefine the last day of class as a beginning? 

We hope that our students will carry with them what they have learned, and apply, integrate, and develop this knowledge well  beyond the final exam or term project. In this sense, the ending of the course is, to paraphrase T.S. Eliot,  where students start from.  The last day of class offers you a chance to glimpse into your students’ future and foresee the lasting impact of your teaching.

Below are some examples of questions you might pose on the last day of class, or as an assignment prior to that session, partly based on my past courses and greatly inspired by the discussion at the April 23 Faculty Development workshop, “Just-in-Time Teaching: A MERLOT ELIXR Digital Case Story.”  (Please visit: http://elixr.merlot.org/).  Thanks to all participants, especially Karen Savage (Geological Sciences).

Some questions will fit your course better than others,  or you might develop your own queries to mark the “beginning at the end” of the course.  Formats might also vary: students may be asked to write their responses individually and then share them in pairs or in small groups, or responses might be submitted online, perhaps using a Web 2.0 technology such as Wiki. 

Whatever the format, such exercises at the end of a course might suspend, even for a moment, students’ focus on final grades. In that moment, we can quietly celebrate education as more than an end in itself, and remind our students and ourselves that learning should never end. 

• What did you expect to learn in this course?  Did you learn it?
• Have you changed your opinions or views as a result of this course? Why or why not?
• Did your view of [topic/discipline] change as a result of this course?  Why or why not?
• Complete the following sentences: One thing I was surprised to learn in this course is:  … .  I was surprised to learn this because … .
• If someone asked you, “what did you learn in [name of class],” how would you respond?  How do you think you would respond in five years from now?
• Complete the following sentence: I used to think — but now I think — .
• Complete the following sentence: I used to — but now I will — .
• If you could share one idea from this course with others, what would it be, and why?
• One thing I would like to learn more about is: