Recommendations for Syllabus Development: An empirical & anecdotal report

Recommendations forSyllabus Development:An empirical & anecdotal report Bonnie A. Green, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Psychology Psychometric Project Development Director Office of Academic & Institutional Effectiveness

What is a syllabus? • Method of communicated to students and others • Requirements • Expectations • Serves as [legal] documentation • In disputes of grades • Teaching/ assessment practices • Method for providing a structural evaluative framework for Middles States Commission on Higher Education • Student learning outcomes • Teaching/ assessment practices • Conveys volumes about who you are to anyone who reads it • Students • Tenure/Promotion Committees • Department Chairs & Administrators • UWCC

Contractual Requirements • There are no CBA nor ESU requirements regarding the syllabus at this time • The Contract by Article (CBA) can be found on apscuf.org • Article 2 covers Academic Freedom • Article 3 covers Duties and Responsibilities of Faculty • You are required to convey to students information on • Assignments • Class meeting times and locations • Any changes to above

ESU, Your Department, & Your Syllabus • You may use your syllabi as documentation • Performance during yearly and 5-year reviews • Tenure support • Promotion reviews • Required for new course proposals or significant curricular changes in a course (UWCC) • The university may be specifying recommendations or requirements in the future • Your department may have expectations • Unspoken expectations • Course description • Objective/topic expectations (particularly for pre-reqs) • Best recourse • Talk to your department chair • Speak to others who teach the class • Speak to those who teach the classes that follow

So, why use a syllabus? • Everyone else is doing it • Students expect a syllabus • Behavior that fits within expectations increases comfort • “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up some place else” Yogi Berra • Aids in structuring the course • Helps you and students to focus on what is important • Helps you better plan aspects of your life like time spent correcting • Aids in rigor and pacing

More Reasons to Use a Syllabus • Do it or else! • Communicates to students • What is expected of them • Consequences of their behavior • Aids in shaping students behaviors; increasing their learning • Adding a bit of personal information • Improves students attitudes about the course • Could decrease plagiarism • Looking good! • Detailed and clear syllabi improve how students look at you • Better prepared, more intellectual, qualified to teach the course • Feeling good! • Decreases student anxiety (or aids them in deciding to drop the course)

Benefits of Using a Syllabus • Serves as documentation • In case of student dispute • For evaluative purposes • Reviewed by accrediting bodies • If done well • It focuses the student and professor on Student Learning • Increases the esteem students have for professor • Decreases student anxiety • Thus … increasing student performance/learning

So, what are typical syllabi expectations in other schools? • Spring 2009 OAIE conducted a study on syllabi requirements • Participants • Middle States 15 – comparison schools • PASSHE 13 • Method • Contacted each school requesting documentation on their syllabus requirements • Conducted a qualitative analysis of requirements

Results • Tremendous variability from school to school • Lack of stated requirement • Specified everything, including size and style • No formal document • 22.2% of the responding Peer Group Schools • 23.1% of the PASSHE • Specifying complete autonomy with non-binding recommendations • 7.7% of the Peer Group Schools • 15.4% of the PASSHE

Schools that Require Syllabi Require: • Instructor’s name and contact information • Course title and number • Course description (one or more) • Course catalog description • Detailed description (narrative) • Course outline (specify by day or week) • Course objectives / Student learning outcomes • For student version of syllabus, identify larger objectives • You may want your own version with detailed objectives • Activities / Requirements • Materials (e.g., textbooks) • Grading protocol

Example: Course Outline COURSE SCHEDULE FOR PSYCH 201: READING TOPIC _____________________________________________________________ Week 1 Ch. 1 Course Introduction Week 2 Monday, September 7 NO CLASS Ch. 2 Scientific Research/ Measurement Week 3 Ch. 3 Describing Data: Frequency Distributions & Graphs Week 4 Wednesday, September 23Exam #1 Chapter 1,2,3 Ch. 4 Describing Data: Measures of Central Tendency

Course ObjectivesStudent Learning Outcomes • Students will be able to do … • What you want your students to do should drive • Course design • Selection of materials • Forms of assessment • Don’t set syllabus up based on book or test – objectives should be at the center • This is college, make sure you are focusing on higher level cognitive processes!

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Foundational Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Overbrook & Schultz, http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm) • Remembering • Can the student recall or remember the information? • Define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall, repeat, reproduce state • Understanding • Can the student explain ideas or concepts? • Classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate, paraphrase • Applying • Can the student use the information in a new way? • Choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write

Higher Levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Overbrook & Schultz, http://www.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm) • Analyzing • Can the student distinguish between the different parts? • Appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test • Evaluating • Can the student justify a stand or decision? • Synthesizing • Appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, evaluate • Creating • Can the student create new product or point of view? • Assemble, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, write

Grading Protocol • Class specific • Align with course objectives • Be clear so students know how they will be graded The part of the syllabus that can either get you into trouble or save your skin

Example: Grading Protocol GRADES: The final grade will be computed as follows: • 4 Unit Exams (100 points each) 400 points • Research Summary 50 points • Final Exam 100 points 550 points GRADES: • A 90% - 100% • B 80% - 89.99% • C 70% - 79.99% • D 60% - 69.99% • E 59.99 % and below EXTRA CREDIT: • As of this point, there is no extra credit planned for this class.

Quick Note on Extra Credit • Use it to shape behavior … • You keep control of it, not the students • Ideally, it shouldn’t weigh much into changing a grade, but don’t let students know that

Example: Specify how grades will be determined RESEARCH SUMMARY and PARTICIPATION • You will be required to observe or participate in two of four specified research studies conducted by students in PSY 202. This participation will take place outside of class time. You will have to sign up for two different research projects. Though you do not have to be an active participant in the study, you do have to actively sit through the entire study, unobtrusively observing the researchers and participants. If you decide, you may use this time to serve as a research participant. • You will be provided with times to sign up, and you will need to report to the specified location to participate or observe the study. Following the study, you will be provided with an assignment sheet and a summary of the study itself. You will have to complete the assignment sheet, thus providing a summary of the research project. You will then be required to attend their poster sessions during the Research Forum, where you will be required to answer additional questions. • See the syllabus for the due date of this assignment.

Good Idea to Include in Your Syllabus • Academic accommodation • Attendance policy • Integrity policy • Late assignment policy • Missed exam policy • Brief disclosure that states the syllabus may change at the discretion of the professor

Example: Academic Accommodations MEETING STUDENT’S SPECIAL NEEDS: (i.e., With effort and determination, you can do it, and I will help) Students with documented disabilities who may need academic accommodations should discuss their needs with the instructor during the first two weeks of class. Student with dyscalculia have earned an A in this class, given hard work. You can too, but you must first identify yourself to me, then you must work hard.

Example: Academic Honesty ACADEMIC HONESTY: (i.e., Don't break my heart!) Plagiarism is the act of presenting the ideas, words, or other intellectually property as one’s own; it is not acceptable. If plagiarism is suspected, appropriate academic regulations will be followed. The use of other people’s work must be properly acknowledged and referenced (using APA style) in all written material. The use of material without acknowledgement is an offense. All students are encouraged to meet with me if there is any concern as to the appropriate way to acknowledge other people’s work. Cheating on exams, quizzes, and homework assignments is also unacceptable. Unless explicitly stated during the assignment, all exams, quizzes, and homework assignments are to be completed with no assistance from others. It is important to note that allowing one to copy your work is an academic offense just as is copying from someone. Furthermore, submitting the same paper for two courses without arrangement is also an academic offense. I will be going into every class, exam, and project with the expectation of hard work from each of you. In the event that I suspect cheating, I can assure you, I will be greatly saddened. Not only will you have tarnished your integrity, you will have missed out on a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow through hard work; you will have missed out on that special joy that comes from a sense of accomplishment. Be your best! Don’t cheat!

Example: Attendance Policy ATTENDANCE POLICY: (i.e., I expect to see your smiling face in EACH and EVERY class!) Attendance will be taken for each class. Students are expected to attend all scheduled class sessions of this course. Students are responsible for all material presented in class and all assignments. Given the nature of this class, attending the class without a calculator or textbook is comparable to not attending the class at all. PLEASE ATTEND CLASS and COME PREPARED! (See Grrr policy listed below.) You will NOT be permitted to take exams or earn extra credit for this class if you have more than 2 unexcused absences in the time that material for the exam is presented. You will NOT be permitted to take exams for this class if you miss more than 25% of classes regardless if the absences are excused or not. This is not an easy class: attendance is critical for success. Grades are based on the quality of work completed in meeting the requirements for this course as stated in the course syllabus. In the event that a lecture is missed, be aware that lecture notes or copies of overheads will not be provided by the instructor. If you have to miss a class, arrange for someone to take notes or tape the class for you. I often suggest that you get notes from more than one person to ensure you haven't missed anything important. Don't forget about making sure you receive copies of the homework assignments as well and that you complete the assignments by the due date. Students are expected to remain in the classroom during lectures, activities, and the administration of quizzes and examinations. Students who leave the class before the end of the class period for an unexcused reason will not receive credit for any work completed during the class period. Students are not required to notify Professor Green in advance if a class is going to be missed, unless an exam is scheduled for that class period at which point early notification is critical. An excused absence is operationally defined as one for which you have written documentation of: severe illness requiring a doctor’s written notification of excuse; death or serious hospitalization of a member of the immediate family (offspring, siblings, life partner, spouse, parent, grandparent) within the week of the exam; an ESU sponsored event that requires your absence which will require appropriate documentation. (This will be approved on a case-by- case bases and needs to be cleared in advance. I may advise you to take the class during a different semester).

Example: Late Assignment Policy • Deadlines are firm. Projects or papers turned in late will be assessed 0.25 points per HOUR LATE. (that comes to 6 points/ 24 hours late -- 42 points/week late). Unless specified otherwise, at the start of class on the date specified is the due date and time. Extensions will only be granted due to excused absences (see above).

Example: Missed Exam Policy MISSED EXAM POLICY: You will receive 0 points for any exam missed due to an unexcused absence. For excused absences, you must contact me PRIOR to the start of the exam (except in EXTREME situations). Know that I will be very strict as to what is considered an excused absence (see above). You will be permitted to make up the exam at 10 AM on Monday, December 14th at 10:00 or Tuesday, December 15th at 1:00. You must schedule the make up between December 7th and 11th by completing the appropriate form. The exam you receive will be a parallel version (that is covering the same material) but different than the exam given to students in your class. This way, I can provide the rest of the class with feedback on their performance in a timely fashion. Though it is unwise to miss an exam, the good news is that this particular format results in the timely return of exams to the bulk of the class, and interestingly enough, very little deviation in individual scores across exams.

Tidbits from Bonnie • The most useful parts of my syllabus are: • Grades/Assignments • Course outline • Topics are specified by Week 1, Week 2, etc. • Due dates and exams dates specified by day and date • Attendance policy • Grrr policy • Classroom and contact policy • Establishes expectations • Add to it each semester

Example: Classroom & Contact Policy • I expect that all interactions with me, in and out of class, be respectful. I will inform you if your interactions are not respectful and will cease such interactions until the time that you can be respectful. • Deadlines are firm. Projects or papers turned in late will be assessed 0.25 points per HOUR LATE. (that comes to 6 points/ 24 hours late -- 42 points/week late). Unless specified otherwise, at the start of class on the date specified is the due date and time. Extensions will only be granted due to excused absences (see above). • Please note that if you are commuting, according to a recent survey at ESU, it takes students 19 minutes to find a parking space on campus. As such, I highly encourage you to leave an additional 30 minutes for finding parking and walking to class to make up for the parking problem on campus.

Still Others? • Study guide for cumulative final exam • Courses with prerequisites, what they needed to learn and remember from prior class(es) • Detailed description of assignments, including diagrams/examples/grading rubrics/assignment sheets • Any information you feel will help you to communicate your expectations and the course requirements to the students

Set the tone for your class with your syllabus! • You care about student learning • Objectives • What will students learn • Assignments • How will they learn it • Assessment • How will you know they learned it • You understand the material • Objectives • Course outline • Reasonable selection of materials and assignments • You set the tone for the class • High expectations for students • Explicitly articulating expected student behavior

Thank you! • Questions? • E-mail Bonnie at bgreen@po-box.esu.edu • Note: all examples listed in this presentation are just that, examples. They are not to be considered guidelines, recommendations, or templates for how you are to formulate your syllabus. You may certainly use any information as you see fit, or ignore it. The examples come from PSY 201 Fall 2009 Syllabus created by Bonnie Green for her students.

Recommendations for Syllabus Development: An empirical & anecdotal report