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Designing the Syllabus

The Syllabus as Promise: Can a shift in the Syllabus produce a better learning environment?

Elements of A Promising Syllabus: First Steps Toward Creating a Natural Critical Learning Environment
Based on the research of Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, MA: 2004

In addition to the standard information about the professor and TA's (name, contact information, etc.) the syllabus as promises would contain three elements.

    The Promises: What kind of learning does your course promise your students?
  1. What this Course Promises You - A Story to Set Up The Promise
    Example: In the 1970's and 80's, Former Senator William Proxmire awarded what he called the “Golden Fleece” Award, a sarcastic recognition of what he thought were projects that wasted public funds. Some of the recipients of this dubious honor were scientists whose studies appeared to the senator to be examinations of ridiculously small questions that had no value. Was Senator Proxmire justified in his criticism? What do research scientists do? Why do t hey sometimes spend years studying extremely small questions? What kind of research takes place at this university? Is it worthwhile? Some projects funded with public dollars may be ridiculous, while other strange- sounding endeavors may actually have enormous value. How do you tell the difference?

    The Promises: In this course, you will have an opportunity to explore some of the exciting research being done at this university on biological clocks. In the process, you will develop considerable insight into the nature of science and the research lives of scientists. You may or may not become a research scientist, but you may some day have to decide about funding for a research endeavor. This course will help you make those decisions wisely. It will also help you understand more about how your own internal clock and the clocks that exist in every animal work. Why do college students often like to stay up late while their parents are “early to bed and early to rise” people? Why do people suffer from jet lag? How do we find out about how Biological Clocks work? How do scientists draw conclusions? How certain are those conclusions?
  2. Ways to Fulfill Those Promises (formerly known as requirements and assignments)
    Example: How Will You Fulfill These Promises? To realize these promises you must take responsibility for your own learning and participate as an active learner. The best way to learn what scientists do is to spend some time with one. We have arranged for each student to spend at least eight hours with a research scientist. That person will tutor you in the ways of science, explaining their project to you and helping you understand d the process of science. At the end of your experience in the tutoring program, you will write a five page paper about your experience. This paper will help you get more out of the experience and it will help us evaluate your learning, providing you with more accurate feedback. During class lectures, we will provide you with more explicit information on how to write this paper. During class, we will also provide you with lectures on key concepts and information that will also help you learn.

    Reading, Writing, and Thinking in the Course. To take charge of your own education, you must be willing to read. We will provide you with some reading material that you will read, analyze, and think about between each class. We will distribute this material to you electronically [Details about how they will get it]. You will also pursue a topic of special interest to you and write a paper about that topic. The writing of the paper will help you refine your thinking and understanding. If you do not learn to communicate in words, you cannot formulate fully developed thoughts and will, instead, live by the vague impressions and emotions that often substitute for ideas.By the end of the course, you should be able to {brief list or description of the major learning objectives stated in terms of what the students will be able to do intellectually, physically, or emotionally. It could also include some habits of the heart or mind that students are likely to develop}.
  3. Ways for the student and teacher to know whether the student is achieving the promises (formerly known as “Grading Policy.”). The beginning of a conversation about how the teacher AND student will best come to understand the nature and progress of the student's learning.
    Example One: To evaluate your progress in reaching these goals (and to provide you with feedback on your learning) we will look at the following items: (list).

    Example Two: The final grade will assess each student’s ability to draw and defend historical conclusions and to think historically. To evaluate your progress in reaching these goals (and to provide you with feedback on your learning), we will look at the following items: (list).

    Example Three: We want to help you think about and understand your own learning and thinking so that you can better take charge of that learning. In the course of the semester, we will help develop that understanding of your learning and thinking. At the end of the semester, you should be able to assess your own work and make an argument about where you are in your learning (remember, an argument is not just conclusions but evidence offered in support of conclusions). Here are some guidelines for the self-assessment that will help you make that argument. You should attach the following to the front of your argument:
    Purpose: I understand that the purpose of this activity is to assess my own performance across the term. If successful, this report will make it possible for those who read it to grasp explicitly what I have and have not learned this term in the way of thinking abilities. It will itself display critical thinking about my thinking. I will begin by stating the grade which I believe that I have the evidence to support. I will build a case for my grade using the criteria below and excerpts from my own work as support. (Note: Ironically, a well-reasoned case for you to get a low grade may well justify you getting a higher grade, while a poorly-reasoned and weakly-supported case for getting a high grade will certainly guarantee a lower grade. The most impressive response will be an accurate assessment of your strengths and weaknesses leading to the well-substantiated conclusion that you deserve the grade you do in fact deserve.)

    Overall Course Goals and Objectives: The goal of the course is to develop thinking abilities and the knowledge and understanding that result from their use in the study of questions and issues.

    My areas of strength: I am best at the thinking abilities listed below. In each case, I will attach evidence from my work along with accompanying analysis and commentary.
    1)
    2)
    3)
    4)

    My areas of weakness: I am weakest at the thinking abilities listed below. In each case, I will attach evidence from my work along with accompanying analysis and commentary.
    1)
    2)
    3)
    4)

    If the course grade is to be based on how well I develop thinking abilities and the knowledge and understanding that result from their use in the study of questions and issues, my grade should be a ___________________________.

    Attached is a summary of the reasoning on which I base my judgment.

THe Learner-Centered Syllabus

Elements of A Learner-Centered Syllabus based on the research of Judith Grunert O'Brien, Barbara Millis, Margaret Cohen. The following is adapted from: http://cte.udel.edu/instructional-topics/designing-courses/designing-learning-centered- syllabus.html; see also Diamond, R.M. (1997), in J. Grunert, The course syllabus. Bolton, MA: Ankar.

Your syllabus can be an important point of interaction between you and your students, both in and out of class. The traditional syllabus is primarily a source of information for your students. While including basic information, the learning-centered syllabus can be an important learning tool that will reinforce the intentions, roles, attitudes, and strategies that you will use to promote active, purposeful, effective learning.

  • Suggested Steps for Planning Your Syllabus:
  • Develop a well-grounded rationale for your course
  • Decide what you want students to be able to do as a result of taking your course, and how their work will be appropriately assessed
  • Define and delimit course content
  • Structure your students’ active involvement in learning
  • Identify and develop resources
  • Compose your syllabus with a focus on student learning

Suggested Principles for Designing a Course that Fosters Critical Thinking* :

  • Critical thinking is a learnable skill; the instructor and peers are resources in 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.
  • Courses are assignment centered rather than text and lecture centered. Goals, methods and evaluation emphasize using content rather than simply acquiring it.
  • Students are required to formulate their ideas in writing or other appropriate means.
  • Students collaborate to learn and to stretch their thinking, for example, in pair problem solving and small group work.
  • Courses that teach problem-solving skills nurture students’ metacognitive abilities.
  • 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.

Checklist for a learning-centered syllabus:

  • Title Page
  • Table of Contents
  • Instructor Information
  • Letter to the Student
  • Purpose of the Course
  • Course Description
  • Course and Unit Objectives
  • Resources
  • Readings
  • Course Calendar
  • Course Requirements
  • Evaluation
  • Grading Procedures
  • Content Information
  • Learning Tools

  • Also consider Are assignments connected to learning goals and teaching methods? How detailed and explicit should the syllabus be? Will there be some flexibility built into the schedule? Is the syllabus “user friendly?” Is the language encouraging, does it invoke excitement for the course, does it communicate instructor passion for the material, concern for student learning?

    Adapted from Altman & Cashin. (1992). Writing a syllabus. IDEA Paper No. 27. Kansas State University. Bauer, Gabriele. (2008). Components of a Learning-Centered Syllabus. CTE, University of Delaware. Grunert O’Brien, J., Millis, B., & Cohen, M. (2008). (Second edition). The course syllabus. A learning- centered approach. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

    Excellent Resources for Further Reading and Syllabus Design Guides

    • The Promising Syllabus, from the Chronicle of Higher Education
    • Cornell University Center for Teaching Excellence: Writing a Syllabus, http://www.cte.cornell.edu/teaching-ideas/designing-your-course/writing-a-syllabus.html
    • Reading:
      • Davis, B. G. (2009). Tools for teaching (2nd ed). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
      • Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
      • Hara, B. (2010). Graphic display of student learning objectives. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/graphic-display-of-student-learning-objectives/27863
      • Nilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (3rd. ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
      • O'Brien, J. G., Millis, B. J., & Cohen, M. W. (2008). The course syllabus: A learning-centered approach. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
    • Best Practices in Syllabus Writing: Contents of a Learner-Centered Syllabus (research report): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2384173/