Keep it Green
If you're trying to cut down on paper waste, don't ask the Duplication Center to print out copies of your syllabus for each student. Instead, create a separate one page document for only the course schedule and due dates. Post both documents--your full syllabus and your schedule only--on the LMS. That way, students can print out only the shorter document if they feel they really need a hard copy of the schedule for the semester. (Idea donated by Paul Stahmann--thanks, Paul!)
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| And yours might be even shorter than mine! |
Keep it Consistent
Does your syllabus have any policies that your rarely (or never) enforce because they're hassles? (e.g. withdrawing students for lack of attendance; writing Student Conduct Reports for cell phone use; accepting late work but then getting thirty late student papers on the last day of class that you have to grade in one afternoon?) Well, consider making it easier on yourself and re-examine those policies.
If you're never really going to withdraw a student who misses four classes, then don't include it in your syllabus; if you're not really going to fill out extra paperwork for that student who occasionally texts in class, then take out that language; and if you really, really don't want to be stuck grading thirty late papers the day before grades are due, then have a deadline for late work or a zero tolerance policy for late work (I'm doing this in my creative writing course this semester--it's a cinch to enforce and amazingly effective in getting students to turn in work).
But as Ellen Zimmerman, Counselor and Coordinator of First Year Experience, says each time she teaches our "Boundaries with Students" workshop for new faculty members, be consistent with whatever your policy is, and make sure you're comfortable enforcing it.
Keep it Clear
Of course everything in your syllabus is clear--all of our syllabus are clear! But sometimes you do something in a classroom that you feel is unnecessary to explain or include in the syllabus, like using technology (specifically, our LMS to enhance your class, or a class blog or wiki).
Students registering for face-to-face courses might be caught off guard with that, as new faculty member Timothy Linnehan (Instructor of Philosophy) found out. One of his returning adult students was thrown off by the technology he used, both in class and as supplements outside of class. Although technology is a necessity and an excellent pedagogical tool, if you have specific technological expectations for your students--or other expectations--it's good to communicate those as soon as possible, and the syllabus is the perfect vehicle!
Keep Them Accountable
Are you sick of students asking questions this late in the semester that they should already know the answers to? (because those answers are on the syllabus?!)
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| It's that time of year when you wish you owned this t-shirt |
Or you could give your students a syllabus quiz, either in class the first week or through the LMS as homework. But if you're not crazy about a quiz, you could give your students an interactive Poll Everywhere survey--it's a fun way to check their knowledge (and a way to get them to use their cell phones for good rather than for evil).
Some faculty members also include a "sign here" page of the syllabus that students must sign to confirm that they've read and understood the syllabus. And some faculty members (me) just get used to repeating the phrase "It's on the syllabus." (so that they're even saying it in response to "How are you today, Mrs. Power?")
For more ideas about using the new MCC syllabus template, sign up for one of our "The New MCC Syllabus" workshops in April--log into the Professional Development auto-registration for information.
What part of crafting a syllabus have you honed over the years?
Add your ideas in the "Comments" section below!
