How to Make a Syllabus Reflections

Today is the one week anniversary of the beginning of the 2012 edition of the TAC Winter Workshop Series. In celebration, here is a tribute to the first workshop: How to Make a Syllabus. On Friday January 20, Mara Evans, Henry Yeung and Jeff Anderson led a group of 40 dedicated UC Davis graduate students and post-docs through the topic of course syllabuses. The enthusiastic educators who attended this workshop represented 24 different graduate programs at UC Davis. Participants worked collaboratively to develop an outline of the elements of a strong syllabus, to identify of the purpose of a syllabus, and to construct an outline for a personal syllabus to be used in future UC Davis classrooms.

Following the TA Consultant philosophy, participants learned by doing. The workshop began with a think-pair share exercise, discussing in groups of four: What is the purpose of a syllabus? These small group discussions coalesced into a collective brainstorming session. Below are some of the highlights of the discussion:

The Purpose of a Syllabus:

• Sets the tone for the course
• Communicates expectations to the students
• Aids in organization of the course for the Instructor
• Used as a reference for policies in case of dispute
• Acts as a contract between the instructor and the students
  

After this group discussion, the workshop shifted into a quick write, an activity aimed at encouraging individual reflection via silent writing. Participants responded to the prompt: Think of a course you teach or want to teach. What information will be included on your syllabus? Using this writing exercise as a base for a second group discussion, the audience generated the following list of course content to be included in their individual syllabuses:

• Course title
• Personal contact information (email, office phone)
• Due dates for assignments
• Rules and expectations for classroom behavior
• Policies on late assignments
• Email etiquette and communication policies
• References and additional readings
• Grading Scheme
• On campus resources (CAPS, UWP, etc...)
• Course abstract including a summary and objectives
• List of required materials
• Personal statement
• Positive reinforcement
  
• Support for students via a welcoming tone
  

In the next exercise, participants compared and contrasted two syllabuses that had been used at UC Davis in Fall 2011. In groups of 6, the teams of educators analyzed one syllabus from ENL 3: Introduction to Literature and one syllabus from FST 3: Introduction to Brewing and Beer. Of course, each group had a chance to share their opinions with the entire congregation in the third and final group discussion.

The interactive portion of the workshop ended with a 10 minute individual brainstorming session. Each participant used a worksheet to respond to the following questions:

• What is one objective you have for your course?
• How might you asses if you have met this objective?
• What are your classroom expectations?
• What are your policies concerning grading, homework, participation, email etiquette, cheating, etc.?
• How will you grade your students work?
• What assignments will you have?
• If you have a discussion section, what is the purpose?

The conclusion of the days activities included the distribution of the Winter Workshop Series Syllabus and evaluations for the days activities. Participants were encouraged to complete a personal syllabus and submit it for credit on the smartsite page associated with this workshop series.

Overall, the level of professionalism and energy demonstrated by the workshop participants bodes well for UC Davis students. If these individuals were representative of the attitudes of Davis Teaching Assistants and Instructors, it is very clear the UC Davis students are in capable hand. These people care about teaching, look for ways to develop themselves professionally and are capable of creating interactive and provocative learning environments. To the future of UC Davis education, Go Aggies!