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Developing a Learning-Centered Syllabus:
From Contract to Roadmap

This workshop is designed to help faculty reconceptualize the course syllabus from being strictly a contract to also serving as a road map for student learning. Participants will explore a range of possibilities including: (1) options for organizing and presenting the content of a syllabus (2) options for developing and communicating both instructor and student expectations, (3) options for representing how learning objectives, learning activities and assessments are linked together, and (4) options for creating the conditions for community building and engagement prior to, and during the first day of class.

Outcomes:

By the end of this session, you should be able to

• Identify the elements of a syllabus that help students engage in, and monitor their own learning.
• Integrate the aforementioned elements that are appropriate given the context in which you teach.
• Communicate the expectations that you have for your students and what they can expect from you as the instructor.
• Consider alternatives to “going over the syllabus” on the first day of class.

Resources:

• Designing a Course Syllabus: A Step by Step Tutorial
  http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/syllabus/index.html
• The Rules of Engagement: Socializing College Students for the New Century
  http://www46.homepage.villanova.edu/john.immerwahr/TP101/Prep/RulesEngage.pdf
• The Promising Syllabus http://www.bestteachersinstitute.org/id37.html
• The Graphic Syllabus and the Outcomes Map: Communicating Your Course
  http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/graphicsyllabus.pdf
• Examples of Graphic Syllabi http://www.teachphilosophy101.org/Default.aspx?tabid=150

For more information, contact Zachary Goodell (8-4470 or zggoodel@vcu.edu)

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