While your syllabus may have all the information necessary for the class, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find. Reading this guide, for example, would be more challenging if it were given in paragraphs as opposed to how it is broken into sections. Often, students repeatedly return to the syllabus to find key information about the course. This can also be a benefit to instructors because if their syllabus is well-structured, they’ll deal with fewer questions about details about the class and can focus more on details about the content of the class. Here are some things you should be adding to make your syllabus easier to read, and some examples of how one could implement them.
The course schedule can be an extremely effective tool for helping students navigate the college experience. Depending on the school, students may have 4, 5, or even 6 classes they are taking at a single time, and knowing ahead of time when one class may require more attention is extremely helpful! However, it’s also important not to hide other key information of a syllabus within the schedule, as it runs the risk of making the syllabus harder to navigate. Some recommendations about course schedules:
Every instructor has some level of expectations on their students. Often, this includes some degree of participation, attendance, completion of material, etc. However, are these expectations clearly outlined in the syllabus? If not, it can be extremely helpful.
Examples include:
Students also want to know that if they follow through on your expectations, you are also holding yourself accountable to them.
Consider communicating:
Outlining all of this information effectively begins the process of integrating the syllabus into the course itself. Making it a living document that grows/changes as the class does. Crafting syllabi to facilitate communication between educators and students helps set clear expectations and provides the instructor the opportunity to reflect on their own pedagogy by referencing their syllabi.