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CREATING A
POWERFUL SYLLABUS:
DOING WHAT WORKS!
Christine Harrington Ph.D.
Middlesex County College
www.drchristineharrington.org
Agenda
Purpose
Research
Practical Applications
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE
OF A SYLLABUS?
Turn and Talk
Purpose of the Syllabus
Contract
• Legal document
• Course information and expectations
Communication Device
• Prevent potential misunderstandings
• Tone and personality of course
Plan
• Course outcomes or goals
• Strategies to accomplish goals
Cognitive Map
• Clear focus on what’s most important
• Visual Organization
Matejka, & Kurke, 1994
Purpose of the Syllabus
Encourage and Guide Students
Course Learning Outcomes
Support for Success
Teaching Philosophy
Expectations
Policies, Responsibilities
Grunert, O’Brien, Millis, & Cohen (2008)
What do you want students to
know, think or do?
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activities
How will students accomplish the
learning outcomes?
Need for Accountability:
Helping Students Master Content
Mastering Content:
Retrieval is a MEMORY tool!!!
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Immediate Delayed
SSSS
SSST
STTT
Roediger & Karpicke (2006)
9
Re-thinking Assignments:
An Equity Issue
(Taras, 2006)
www.drchristineharrington.org 10
Challenging Assignment
First Draft or Attempt
Feedback
Second Draft or Attempt
Feedback
Final Product
Assessment
How will you know if students
achieved the learning outcomes?
Processing Time…
• How do you hold
students accountable
for learning outside of
class?
• How can you increase
feedback opportunities
for students?
RESEARCH ON THE SYLLABUS
(AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS!)
Doolittle, P. E., & Siudzinski, R. A. (2010).
Recommended syllabus components: What
do higher education faculty include in their
syllabi?. Journal On Excellence In College
Teaching, 21(3), 29-61. Retrieved from
Academic Search Premiere.
WHAT’S IN A SYLLABUS?
What’s Important on a Syllabus?
Step 1
• Reviewed 15 College Teaching Resources
Step 2
• Discovered 81 suggested components
Results
• A total of 24 components were identified by at least 50% of the resources
Doolittle & Siudzinski, 2010
Next Steps
Course Information
Instructor Information
Grading Information
Policy Information
Themes from 24 Components
Reviewed
1000 Syllabi
(Google)
Doolittle & Siudzinski, 2010
Prediction Time…
What percentage of faculty included:
•Late/Missed work policies
•Disability statements
• Information about supports available?
What do faculty include?
97 91
84
23 20
7
0102030405060708090
100
Percentage Included
Percentage Included
Doolittle & Siudzinski, 2010
Perrine, R. M., Lisle, J., & Tucker, D. L. (1995). Effects of a
syllabus offer of help, student age, and class size on
college students' willingness to seek support from faculty.
Journal of Experimental Education, 64(1), 41-52.
REACHING OUT FOR SUPPORT
The Study
104 College Students
Support Statement on Syllabus
“Please come and talk to me”
No Support Statement on
Syllabus
Seek help from
instructor?
Perrine, Lisle, & Tucker, 1995
Results- Willingness to Seek Help
Potential Problem Supportive Neutral
Trouble understanding textbook 4.7 3.7
Low grade on first exam 4.8 4.0
Hard to hear instructor's lectures 4.4 3.8
Study skills ineffective for course 4.7 3.6
Thinking about dropping course 4.9 3.8
Trouble understanding major topic 5.3 4.2
All significantly different!
Perrine, Lisle, & Tucker, 1995
Application
• Explicitly communicate
your interest and
willingness to work
with students outside
of class
• Provide specific
information about
supportive services
(counseling, tutoring,
etc.) on campus
Supportive Statements
Campus Resources
How Long Should a Syllabus Be?
Saville, B. K., Zinn, T. E., Brown, A. R., & Marchuk, K. A.
(2010). Syllabus detail and students' perceptions of
teacher effectiveness. Teaching Of Psychology, 37(3),
186-189. doi:10.1080/00986283.2010.488523
SYLLABUS DETAIL
The Study
97 College Students
Brief Syllabus
Detailed Syllabus
Survey on
Teacher
Behaviors
Saville, Zinn, Brown, & Marchuk, 2010
The Syllabus
Brief Version- 2 pages
• Instructor name/contact information
• Course objectives
• Textbook
• Brief Overview of Assignments (ex. 6 exams)
• Grading distribution
• Brief overview of policies
• Calendar with due dates
Detailed Version- 6 pages
• Same information with
more detail
• 6 exams consisting of
multiple choice and short
answer questions
• Calendar included chapters
that would be covered
Results! Teacher Characteristic Detailed Brief
Approachable/personable 3.17 2.55
Creative/interesting 3.45 2.64
Effective communicator 3.05 2.47
Encouraging/cares for students 3.12 2.13
Enthusiastic 3.60 2.41
Flexible/open-minded 2.97 2.41
Knowledgeable 3.75 2.97
Prepared 3.38 2.81
Present current information 3.53 2.50
Promotes critical thinking 3.50 2.88
Realistic expectations/fair 3.06 2.16
All significantly different! Saville, Zinn, Brown, & Marchuk, 2010
More Results
0
0.5
1
1.5
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2.5
3
3.5
Recommend Course? Take another course?
Brief
Detailed
Saville, Zinn, Brown, & Marchuk, 2010
An Informal Assessment
Long 61%
Short 27%
Neutral 12%
Student Preference
Student Comments:
• “A syllabus should be short and simple but have enough
details to explain everything. Lengthy syllabi makes it
boring for students to read and that is why some won’t
even bother.”
• “A shorter syllabus is less overwhelming.”
Student Comments:
• “I prefer a long syllabus because it has all of the course content. I like having it in one place and not having to look it up on the computer. While a long syllabus may be intimidating at first glance, it’s convenient and helpful to have all the course information in one place.”
• “I prefer a longer syllabus. Shorter syllabi make me feel insecure about the requirements for the course and makes me feel as though the professor is not organized or engaged in the course.”
• “I like to have a longer syllabus because I like to have all of the information accessible in one place”.
• “A longer syllabus is more likely to be used instead of only being looked at on the first day.”
Application
• Add specific information – especially about course schedule and assignments (i.e. rubrics)
• All essential information is in one place
• Sends positive message about instructor, setting a positive tone for course
• Visual images, charts or tools- longer syllabus but perhaps better!
Consider Adding Inviting Image
Add Photo of Textbook, Shading and Color
Use Graphs
Add Details about Assignments
Consider Adding Rationale
Grigorovici, D., Nam, S., & Russill, C. (2003). The Effects of
Online Syllabus Interactivity on Students' Perception of
the Course and Instructor. Internet And Higher Education,
6(1), 41-52. Retrieved from ERIC.
ON-LINE SYLLABUS
The Study
49 Undergraduate Students
Low Interactivity-
1 page
Medium Interactivity- Main Page with
3 links
High Interactivity- Main Page with
3 links, Three Pages with 3 more links
Student Perception
of Instructor
Grigorovici, Nam, & Russill, 2003
Results
More negative impression of professor
High Interactivity
More positive impression of professor
Low or Medium
Interactivity
Grigorovici, Nam, & Russill, 2003
Application
• Slow down….
Use caution when
considering hyperlinks
• Easy access
• Visual organization
Smith, M. F., & Razzouk, N. Y. (1993). Improving
classroom communication: The case of the course
syllabus. Journal of Education for Business, 68(4),
215-222. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere.
STUDENT USE AND RECALL
The Study
152 Upper Level College
Students
72 Males 80 Females
Completed
Questionnaire
On Syllabus
Content and
Use
Surveyed at 3 weeks or 7 weeks
Smith & Razzouk, 1993
Prediction Time!
What percentage of students
report using their syllabus at
least once per week?
The Results!
Syllabus Usage Frequency
Every day 20%
Once a week 57%
Smith & Razzouk, 1993
The Results!
Syllabus Recall Percent Correct
Course title, instructor
name, credits, textbook
95-100%
Project purpose,
course code, number
of exams
85-90%
Topic for day, instructor
office information,
textbook author
8-48%
Smith & Razzouk, 1993
The Results!
Course Objectives Percent Recalled
One objective 60%
Two objectives 8%
More than 2 objectives 3%
No objectives Almost 30%
Smith & Razzouk, 1993
Applications of Research
First Day of Class
• Avoid Cognitive
Overload- No Need to
“Cover” Entire Syllabus
• How can you draw
attention to what’s most
important (i.e. learning
outcomes)?
An Example…
A Better Example…
Processing Time…
• Do you bring attention
to the course learning
outcomes?
• How might you bring
even more attention to
important parts of your
syllabus?
What’s the Syllabus Say About the
Professor and the Course?
Harnish, R. J., & Bridges, K. (2011). Effect of Syllabus
Tone: Students' Perceptions of Instructor and Course.
Social Psychology Of Education: An International Journal,
14(3), 319-330. Retrieved from ERIC.
SYLLABUS TONE
The Study
172 Students
Friendly Syllabus
Unfriendly Syllabus
Students thought they were evaluating an adjunct.
Harnish & Bridges, 2011
Examples from Syllabus
Unfriendly
• If you need to contact me
outside of office hours,
you may e-mail me….
• Come prepared to actively
participate in this course.
This is the best way to
engage you in learning….
Friendly
• I welcome you to contact
me outside of class and
student hours. You may
e-mail me….
• I hope you actively
participate in this course.
I say this because I found
it is the best way to
engage you in learning….
Directly quoted from Harnish and Bridges (2011)
The Results!
Topic Friendly
Average
Unfriendly
Average
Approachability 4.07 3.77
Faculty Level of
Motivation to Teach
3.6 3.07
Difficulty 3.34 3.72
Harnish & Bridges, 2011
Application
• Syllabus is often first impression- especially if given out electronically before class
• Use Positive Language and Tone
• Use “you” instead of “students”
• Simple changes = powerful attitudinal shifts
How Should Faculty
Address the Syllabus in Class?
Get Students Involved with Syllabus
• Syllabus Quiz
• Interact with syllabus every
class- student or faculty
reviews plan for the day
Raymark, P. H., & Connor-Greene, P. A. (2002). The
Syllabus Quiz. Teaching Of Psychology, 29(4), 286-288.
SYLLABUS QUIZ
The Study
200 Students Invited to Participate;
125 Students did Participate
7 question syllabus quiz
Average score 4.18 out of 7
7 question quiz on human nature
21 Question
True/False Test
on Syllabus
Week 2
Raymark & Connor-Greene, 2002
The Results!
Performance
Must take it seriously- give credit for correct answers
Does not replace faculty-student conversations
Raymark & Connor-Greene, 2002
Ongoing Interactions
with the Syllabus are Needed
Syllabus Checklist
• Are core components included? • Course Information
• Name/Number, Description, Purpose, Learning Outcomes, Content Areas, Location/Times/Days, Textbooks, Supplemental Readings, Calendar, Due Dates
• Instructor and Campus Support Information
• Name, Office Location/Hours, Phone, E-mail Address, Welcome Statement/Teaching Philosophy, Campus Resources Available
• Assignments and Grading Information • Grading Policy, Scale, Assignment Names/Descriptions, Grading
Details/Rubrics, Course Outline with Due Dates and Learning Activities
• Policy Information
• Late/Missed Work Policy, Attendance Policy, Academic Conduct Policy, Disability Policy
Syllabus Checklist Continued
Organization and Clarity of Information
• Is it well-organized and easy to follow?
• Were there enough details provided? Can you easily see
what is expected of you?
• Were visual tools such as charts used to organize the
information and clearly communicate information?
Syllabus Checklist Continued
Initial Reaction to Syllabus and Professor
• How would you describe this course to someone?
• How would you describe the professor based on this
syllabus?
• Would you be likely to register for this course or take this
professor?
• Would you be likely to suggest that a friend take this
course or take this professor?
• What did you like the most about the syllabus?
• What suggestions do you have to make the syllabus
better?
