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Kansas State University

THE SYLLABUS

Dorothy Roberts, GTA

 

Of all of the texts that an instructor uses, the syllabus is the most personal. It is an expression of one's self and one's philosophy. It declares what is important about this class and why it exists. "First impressions" are made in the first three (3) seconds of meeting someone new. The syllabus, however, is a more permanent record and is, in effect, your contract with students. The syllabus not only defines what you expect of your students, but what they should expect of you.

The syllabus should contain enough information for the student to determine whether she should be there at all, who is teaching, what the student can expect to learn from the course, why it matters, how it will be evaluated, when and where.

In developing a syllabus, these sections should be included:

Personal and class information:
  • Course name and number
  • Number of credit hours
  • Days, time and location of class
  • Instructor's name and office location
  • Office phone number
  • Office hours (and days/times for appointments)
  • Optional: Home phone with hours available (e.g. "not after 9:00 PM").
Course description:

A short description of the course; its purposes and relevance to the discipline; and any prerequisites.

Course objectives:

These may be general or specific objectives toward which the instructor will be working and the student should accomplish. Some instructors list specific and measurable performance objectives while others give overall course objectives, depending on the nature of the course.

  • "Students will correctly identify all elements on the international periodic chart of elements."
  • "Students will consider a variety of methods for the resolution of labor disputes."
Course calendar:

A tentative class-by-class listing of topics, readings or assignments to be covered, due dates for papers and projects, and review and examination dates. You may wish to note that the calendar is subject to change, but if you do change anything, be sure that you note the change with a memo handout and revised class announcements.

Texts:

A complete list of all required texts, required readings and any materials held on reserve at the library, or on sale at the Copy Center, should be included here.

A related issue that you might wish to consider is why these texts were selected. What do they represent in terms of relevance to the course?

Course requirements:

This section covers what is expected and required in this course, and on what basis students will be evaluated. This includes policies on homework, attendance, and participation. If you are going to count an element as part of the grade, on what basis will you judge performance of that element? This is particularly important when discussing "class participation" - how do you define that?

If you include a research project or alternative methods of evaluation such as group or contract projects, on what basis will they be evaluated, and how will such alternatives count toward the total course grade? What is the purpose of such alternatives and how will you measure student learning?

This section should also cover grading and the proportion of the grade each element will count.

Example:

Paper #1
Paper #2
Homework
Final
Attendance
Total 10 points
10 points
20 points
5 points
5 points
50 points
20%
20%
40%
10%
10%**
100%