Build a Syllabus for Learning January 20, 2005

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Build a Syllabus for LearningJanuary 20, 2005

• Presenter
• Tine Reimers, Director,
• Center for Effective Teaching and Learning
• Email reimers_at_utep.edu

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The Box is your course Whats the value added
to students?

Course Curriculum
Students IN
Students OUT How have they changed?
(Student inputs)
Faculty Inputs instruction, mentoring,
advising, resources, etc.
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Key Question

• How do you want students to be different at the
  end of your course than at the beginning?
• (The learning-centered syllabus should answer
  this question!)

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Course Design for Significant Learning

• Consideration of Situational Factors
• Backward Design
• Integration/alignment of Key Components
• Integration of Higher Level Learning goals

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Example A Freshman Seminar

• Situational factors
• Small course25-30
• Required curriculum aims Critical Thinking and
  skills preparation for success in college
• All freshmenstraight out of high school or out
  of school for many years
• Naïve readers

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Facultys ten year hence goals(Backward
Design, Higher Learning)

• I want my students-citizens to
• be able to pick up a news article or a short
  story or an essay and see how it is written from
  a particular perspective
• be critical readers of any text

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Some Course Goals(Backward Design, Higher
learning)

• I want my students to
• read a text closely
• have confidence in their personal understanding
  of texts
• be able to identify perspective
• use evidence to argue a point of view

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For the assignment(alignment with goals)

• Students have to
• Identify two texts
• Reread the texts several times
• Digest them for themselves
• Identify the different perspectives in the texts
• look for evidence to support their ideas
• Find an adequate definition or thesis to account
  for the different way the perspectives work
• Write a coherent argument that analyzes the two
  perspectives

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Steps to help students through this(aligned
course structure)

• Close readings as a class, with in-class
  discussion
• Regular quizzes that test close understanding of
  texts
• First paper is a close reading of just one story
  or essay
• Second paper more complex by having them compare
  two new texts
• Third paper is a comparison of three textsthey
  have to add a text to paper 2.
• Fourth paper new topic
• Portfolio approach with midterm and final
  reflection papers

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Steps to help them through this(support for
assignment)

• Each paper emailed to faculty member in rough
  form and reviewed by email
• Paper rewritten
• Peer review of papers with written feedback from
  3 peers
• Paper rewritten in final form

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• Relate your assignments to your course goals
• (does the assignment format lead students to do
  the kinds of activities that you list in your
  course goals?)
• Relate your assignments to your 10 year hence
  goals
• (are they relevant to the most important things
  you want students to learn?)

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Course Design Template

• Identify situational factors of the course
• (material, curriculum, students)
• Build backward
• What are long and short term goals?
• What will indicate success? (evaluated
  assignments)
• What teaching and learning activities?
  (experiences designed to induce change)
• Integrate
• All elements of a well-designed course point to
  long and short-term goals
• Integration requires hard choices with regard
  to material and curriculum!!

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A Syllabus for Effectively Designed Course

• Communicates course goals in terms of what the
  students will do
• Describes assignments that are in line with the
  course goals
• Communicates the students and the teachers role
  and responsibilities within the course
• Establishes what the pattern of communication
  will be in the course
• Gives a semester calendar that shows course
  logistics, due dates, readings etc.