Syllabus as a Teaching Tool

While my teaching colleagues are writing and rewriting their syllabi for the new semester, I think it may be a timely idea to discuss the important role a syllabus plays in teaching college culture to our students, many of whom do not really know what a syllabus is.

In addition to being a summary of the main points of a course of study, a syllabus should also be a binding document that lists behavior expectations. I have occasionally heard colleagues complaining about a certain conduct displayed by their students, yet if the class rule was not stated in the syllabus and explained from day one, it would be hard, though not impossible, to create and enforce a new rule midstream in the semester.

Struggles we may have include absenteeism, students not doing the work, or students exhibiting "high school' behavior in the classroom. Many experienced college teachers state various course policies on their syllabi. A few examples from a mainstream credit class follow.

Student Responsibilities: You are responsible for your own learning in this class. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed, to obtain the day's assignment, and to return to the next class session prepared and ready to work. I have included space below for the phone numbers/email addresses of several classmates so that you can contact one of them if you have to be absent. It is also your responsibility to add, drop, or withdraw from class before the scheduled deadlines (deadline to drop without a "W": 2/20; deadline to withdraw: 3/15). If your name appears on the final roster, you must be given an actual grade (not a "W").

No personal electronic equipment such as cell phones, CD players, iPods, or take recorders may be operated in class unless approved by me. Please turn off all such devices upon entering the classroom.

Late Work: Any work turned in one class meeting late will be marked down by one full letter grade. Work that is two or more class meetins late will not be accepted. All written work - essays and exams - must be completed in order to pass the course. If you neglect to turn in an essay or exam, you will be unable to pass the class.

Attendance: Regular attendance is crucial to your success in this class. You are allowed four unquestioned absences; I advise you to save them for emergencies. You may be dropped from the course if you are absent without a valid excuse for more than four classes - unless there are mitigating circumstances and you convince me of your motivation to stay in the course.

Lateness: Being late to class once or twice is understandable. However, if you are repeatedly more than 5 minutes late, you will be marked absent.

Class Participation: Everyone is expected to participate in class discussion. Students will receive full participation points when their attendance is excellent, when they are actively involved in the class discussions, and when their presence has a positive effect on the class as a whole. Failure to participate will adversely affect your grade, as will negative and/or disrespectful participation. I expect honest, critical discussion which is also respectful.

Now, stating all of these expectations on your syllabus does not guarantee that your students will read them completely or understand them. A good practice, as you may well know, is to spend the majority of the first class, if not the entire first class, to go over your syllabus. I know a couple of my ESL teacher colleagues who routinely make their syllabi into an interactive form, leaving blanks at various strategic points for the students to listen and fill in during the first class.

Sociology professor Kathy Grove has an innovative way of forcing her students to read her course syllabus carefully. She uses Blackboard's adaptive feature to set up contingencies. Namely, her online students can gain access to a critical course document only after they have achieved a score of 85% on a quiz that tests their knowledge of the course syllabus. Talk about using the syllabus as a valuable teaching tool!