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title: 'Module 2: Creating a Course Syllabus and Structure for Online Teaching'

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# Module 2: Creating a Course Syllabus and Structure for Online Teaching

Webinar 2 on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 hosted by Joerdis Weilandt

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### Check in:

**TASK for you:**

Write a sentence into the chatbox that speaks to how you are currently doing personally and/ or professionally.


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**Agenda**
1. Syllabus : Essentials: What am I saying to my students?
2. My Syllabus: How am I saying it?
3. What does it say about the course/ me/ the students/ etc.?
4. How do I get my students to read/ process/ shape it? 

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## 1. Syllabus: Essentials


**Group Work Activity 1** (3 people each)

**STEP 1:** __Discuss the following questions in your group. (10 min.)__
* How do you define the word 'syllabus'?
* Which of the definitions do you agree with: A syllabus is a contract vs a syllabus is a learning document?
* What do you consider essential components in a syllabus?
* How are you communicating the essentials?
* How do you get your students to read/ process/ shape it?

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**STEP 2**: Report back to other groups (6 people) (5-7 min.)

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##  2. My Syllabus: *How am I saying it?* 
* ### Tone
**['warm syllabus'](https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/creating-the-foundation-for-a-warm-classroom-climate)** (Harnish et al, 2011): six central elements (Language; Rationale, Self-Disclosure, Humor, Compassion, Enthusiasm)

* ### Layout
**'[liquid syllabus](http://www.teachingwithoutwalls.com/2014/08/the-liquid-syllabus-are-you-ready.html)'** (Pacansky-Brock, 2014)
[infographic](https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/08/14/how-to-turn-your-syllabus-into-an-infographic/) (Newbold, 2017)

* ###  Accessibility
**[Website: Accessible syllabus](https://www.accessiblesyllabus.com/)** illustrating accessibility of images, text, rhetoric and policy (Womack)


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## 3.  What does it say about the course/ me/ the students/ etc.? 

### Group Activity 2: Evaluate a Syllabus (5 people - 15 min.)

**STEP 1:** Click on the link to the **[syllabus: Women in Wikipedia here](https://kpu.pressbooks.pub/uofleap/front-matter/course-syllabus/)**

**STEP 2:** Split the work by assigning the following parts to one student each in your groups (1 aspect per student) (2-3 mins)

**What do you learn about:** 
1. the course
2. the instructor
3. expectations of students
4. tone and design of the document
6. approaches to ensuring Accessibility and Inclusion

**STEP 3:** Share back what you read in STEP2 and add your comments relating to the following question. (10 mins)

*What does your syllabus look like in comparison to the example?*

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## 4. *How do I get my students to read/ process/ shape it?*

* ### 'the quiz' (Lang, 2015)

is possible on any aspect of the syllabus, but to have students think about values of course on professional and personal level:

Ask students short-answer questions designed to help them connect their own learning objectives with those of the course: 
1. "Which of the learning objectives for this course are most important to you personally, and why?"
2. "Of the four papers assigned, which are you least (or most) looking forward to writing, and why?"*

* ### 'detailed learning outcomes' (Lang, 2015)
*Why should your students care and keep caring about them?*

* serve as communication between **experts vs novices** 
* contextualize how the course fits into the bigger picture of the program

FitFOL2020, for example, is informed by a scientific framework known as the **[Digital Competency Framework for Educators](https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/back-matter/digital-competencies-for-educators/https://)** in Higher Education, which details how digital technologies can be used to enhance and innovate higher education. 

* ### 'the blank syllabus' (Lang 2015)

Give control to adult learners to have them engage with the material over simply checking boxes, for example by:
1. leaving a portion of your syllabus open for students to help create. (e.g. Chris Walsh, English prof at Boston University allows students to peruse their anthologies in the opening weeks of the semester and help select the readings for his American literature survey)
2. offering a menu of possible assignments and ask the class to pick the ones that will count for a grade. 
3. giving students a choice of how to weigh assignments you have selected.
4. giving them the responsibility for offering you a list of possible final projects and choose one for them to complete. 

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### Group Activity 3: Annotating a Syllabus (5 min.)

To demonstrate how you could have your students annotate your syllabus, we will be using this document as an example. 

**Your task**:
* Work individually.
* Watch closely as the instructor demonstrates how to annotate this document.
* Highlight and then comment on:
1. The part in today's presentation that was most interesting to you. Tell us why!
2. The part that you would definitely want to learn more about.
3. Optional: Feedback on the facilitation of today's webinar.

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## Thank you for your active participation today! 
Feel free to leave further questions by commenting on this document.

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## Please note that 
[Module 5: Working with the Online Learner](https://openeducationalberta.ca/fitfol/chapter/__unknown__-5/)) will provide further details pertaining to accessibility, equity and inclusion.

## References:

Accessible Syllabus [website] https://www.accessiblesyllabus.com/

Gannon, K. (September 12, 2018) How to Create a Syllabus. Advice Guide. IN: The Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-syllabus 

Harnish, R. J., McElwee, R. O., Slattery, J. M., Frantz, S., Haney, M. R., Shore, C. M., & Penley, J. (2011). Creating the Foundation for a Warm Classroom Climate. APS Observer, 24(1). https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/creating-the-foundation-for-a-warm-classroom-climate

Lang, J. M. (2015, March 30). The 3 Essential Functions of Your Syllabus, Part 2. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-3-Essential-Functions-of/228909


Newbold, C. (2017), How to Turn Your Syllabus into an Infographic, The Visual Communication Guy Blog, retrieved April 11th, 2020 – https://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2017/08/14/how-to-turn-your-syllabus-into-an-infographic/

Pacansky-Brock, M. (2014), The Liquid Syllabus: Are You Ready?, Teaching Without Walls website, retrieved April 15th, 2020 – http://www.teachingwithoutwalls.com/2014/08/the-liquid-syllabus-are-you-ready.html

Womack, A.-M. (2017). Teaching Is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi. 32. https://secure.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CCC/0683-feb2017/CCCC0683Teaching.pdf




