Learning & Teaching Collaborative Resources

As it is often students’ first comprehensive introduction to your course, the syllabus is a good opportunity to begin establishing a relationship with your students and communicate your approach to creating an inclusive and equitable learning environment.

A learning-focused syllabus emphasizes the learning goals that students will achieve in the course and makes clear how the workin the course (assignments, activities, assessments, etc.) aligns with and helps students reach those goals. It sets the stage for a learning environment that is positive and motivating, with high expectations, and includes strategies for success, formative assessment, and opportunities for student input. A learning-focused syllabus de-emphasizes policies and consequences, and frames these and descriptions of the content covered in the course in relation to supporting learning (Palmer, Bach, & Streifer, 2014). In some research, students had more positive perceptions of the course, the instructor, and the syllabus document itself after reading a learning-focused syllabus than they did after reading a content-focused version of the syllabus for the same course (Wheeler, Palmer, & Aneece, 2019). 

The University of Virginia Center for Teaching Excellence has developed a learning-focused syllabus rubric that you can use as a guide to developing or revising your syllabus to be more learning-focused.

The Center for Teaching & Learning at UMass Amherst has developed a helpful video-based module on inclusive syllabus design; the accompanying handout summarizes steps that you can take to begin to apply the principles in the module.

The Syllabus Review Guide from the Center for Urban Education at USC’s Rossier School of Education is an “inquiry tool for promoting racial and ethnic equity and equity-minded practice”. 

You can also use the “Inclusion By Design” tool, developed at James Madison University, to help you examine your syllabus for a broader perspective on inclusion in your teaching practices and reflect on ways that you might be able to make your course more accessible and inclusive of students with different identities and backgrounds.

A syllabus review is an opportunity for you to have a fresh set of eyes on your syllabus and course design, and to receive feedback with suggestions for potential improvements that could help make your course a more successful learning experience for you and your students. 

I will use criteria from the University of Virginia’s learning-focused syllabus rubric and from the inclusive syllabus design resources on this page to guide and organize my feedback and will also address any specific questions or concerns that you identify. 

I will gladly work with you to implement any changes you wish to make based on my feedback, but the decision to make any changes will be up to you.

To request a syllabus review by Chris Odato, Coordinator of Instructional Development, please use this form to submit a request.

Collaborating with a peer to review each other’s syllabi is another effective way to share and receive feedback on the effectiveness of your syllabus. This works especially well if your colleague is not familiar with the course or content area. Read each other’s syllabi as though you were a student in the course. Use one of the resources on this page or the simpler list of questions below as a guide to evaluate whether the syllabus is effectively communicating what a student needs and wants to know about the course.

Basic expectations for course syllabi are described in the Faculty Handbook. There are also general College policies related many of the issues that you might address in your syllabus. The purpose of this section is to provide some additional recommendations to consider in clarifying or adapting policies for your course context.

Academic Honesty

The College has an overall policy and procedures related to academic honesty. Because specific policies vary from course to course and are often different for different types of assignments, which can be confusing for students, Lang (2013) recommends that instructors explain their policies for appropriate academic conduct, identifying which parts are from the institutional policy and which are the instructor’s own choices, with learning-focused explanations for their choices.

Attendance

The college has general policies related to attendance; however, course-specific attendance policies and make-up procedures are determined by the instructor. Some Keene State faculty have successfully made changes to their course design to encourage attendance without mandating it; others have found an explicit, manageable attendance policy more effective at ensuring attendance than relying solely on norms or intrinsic motivation. Whatever policy you select should be clearly laid out in your syllabus, as should related policies about make-up work. In crafting and discussing your policies with students, be sure to explain how your policies support learning, rather than focusing solely on punitive aspects.

Religious Holidays

According to the College’s attendance policy, students who will miss class in observance of religious holidays should notify the instructor within the first two weeks of the semester. Students are expected to make up any missed work and instructors are expected to make reasonable accommodations for students who are following the policy. It is useful to include a note in your syllabus reminding students of the need to inform you of any absences.

Technology

Although some level of technology use is expected in (almost) every course, it is good practice to be explicit in your syllabus about what technology students will be required to use in the course and what specific prerequisite skills students are expected to have.

Communication

In addition to your contact information, it is good practice to clearly state which communication methods are appropriate for different situations, and the timeframe in which they can expect a response from you. It is also helpful to specify what methods you will use to communicate with them outside of class meetings and to explain your expectations for how often they will check their KSC email, etc.

Class Meeting Cancellations/Alternative Learning Plans

Be sure to let students know how you will communicate with them about alternate learning plans or activities to complete if a class meeting is cancelled due to inclement weather, illness, or other reason.

Diversity and Inclusion

Your syllabus is an opportunity to establish an inclusive and effective learning climate for your course by modeling inclusive language and attitudes, establishing group rules for interaction in class, and explaining the choices you have made in selecting the content of the course (Ambrose et al., 2010). For example, you might emphasize students' ability to be known by their chosen first names.

References

• Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Lang, J. M. (2013). Cheating lessons: Learning from academic dishonesty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

You may also want to use the syllabus to remind students of campus resources that are available to support them, and provide links and/or contact information. You can also use a page in your Canvas site to do this. For an example, see the Campus Resources page in the KSC Canvas Course Template.

It is common to include statements in your syllabus that point students to campus support resources or acknowledge and offer support for challenges that students may have. Many campus offices have provided sample syllabus statements that you can consider adopting or adapting for use in your syllabi. 

Disabilities and Accommodations

The Office of Disability Services works with students who have documented disabilities to ensure that they are provided with reasonable accommodations to enable them to have equal educational opportunities, in compliance with federal law. The Office of Disability Services provides several sample syllabus statements to inform students about how to access accommodations that you can adapt to suit your needs.

Title IX

The College encourages faculty to consider adding information about Title IX to their syllabi to better inform students about rights and responsibilities. The Title IX Office and Human Resources have assembled several sample syllabus statements that you can modify to suit your needs (see below).

Center for Research & Writing

The Center for Research & Writing provides sample language that you can use in your syllabus to share information with students about how to receive support form the center. This is available on the "For Faculty" page on the Center's website.

Canvas

Canvas, KSC’s Learning Management System, can be used for a variety of course activities and for various types of communication with students. It will be important to communicate your expectations for how students will use Canvas in your course. The Academic Technology group has provided a sample syllabus statement about the use of Canvas that you can adapt to suit your needs (see below).

FERPA/Privacy

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) establishes requirements for the privacy of student records (more information). It is important to be particularly aware of concerns about students’ privacy that may arise when students are using social media as part of a course or creating and sharing work on the open web. Attached are several sample syllabus statements that you may consider using to inform students about FERPA protections in general and course-specific privacy concerns (see below).

Technology & Privacy

The use of some online tools or resources, especially social media, can implicate student privacy concerns. The Academic Technology group has a discussion of these issues and has developed sample syllabus statements that you can adapt for your syllabus as part of addressing these concerns.

Basic Needs Security

Financial challenges, including food and/or housing insecurity, affect students’ ability to learn and be successful in college, and students may not know where they can look for support. Consider including a statement in the syllabus that acknowledges that they might face these issues and directs them toward possible resources. An example of a Basic Needs syllabus statement for Keene State can be found here. 

Mental Health

Many college students struggle with mental health issues. Including a statement on your syllabus that describes the support offered by the Counseling Center and your own support for students facing such challenges can be an important demonstration of your empathy for your students. An example of such a statement can be found here.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

With the recent arrival of widely available generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, many faculty are interested in ways that they might develop policies or statements for their courses that clarify their expectations about how and when students may use AI tools in the process of completing work for their courses. Approaches to this issue still vary widely. The Center for Research & Writing has put together a collection of examples of policies/statements shared by faculty that you can adapt or use as inspiration to develop your own approach.