Tuesday, January 10, 2012
TLDR Syllabus?
This semester I decided to not only make my syllabus fit on two pages but also format it as a brochure in hopes that students will read every word of it and have an easier time referring back to it for useful info. It has a blank cover and then opens to "Course Outcomes" and "What I Expect from You." The inside flaps reveal "Service-Learning" and "Grading." When closed, the back cover lists contact info for "Resources" and a simplified list of due dates. Let me know what you think & I'll let you know how it works in class.
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I admire your ability to be brief in your syllabus. I've been able to cut back from my 6-7 page version...but still. Also, who posted this, so I know whose idea I'm considering stealing?
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry, I thought I was logged in when I posted but must not have been. It's Christi!
ReplyDeleteI love this!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea--I have a colleague in Spanish who designed her syllabus for an online course kind of like a newsletter, with things like a color-pie-chart to show grade breakdowns and a sidebar with a headshot and bio. (It's still quite long, because at CWI we have a syllabus template with information we must include--links aren't enough!) I'm playing around with having a long syllabus, but passing out a syllabus overview with the most important details, then having some sort of check to ensure they've at least consulted the longer syllabus on Blackboard.
ReplyDelete(Sidebar: I only learned tl;dr like a month ago. That saddens me.)
Love it!
ReplyDeleteJoy, I gave my students an open book group quiz on the syllabus that second week of class and forced them to look at different sections. It seemed to be successful -- we will see how much they retain as the semester continues!