Teaching Strategies: Syllabus Design
A successful course depends on the planning that precedes it. The articles and links in this section serve as planning guides for both faculty and GSIs. They provide instructions for creating a syllabus.
CRLT GSI Guidebook: Creating
A Section Syllabus (Sinor & Kaplan)(pdf)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_1.pdf
Guide to creating a syllabus for Graduate Student Instructors, from the University of Michigan GSI Guidebook. This resource includes a helpful checklist for syllabus preparation at the end of the article.
Preparing to Teach (from GSI Guidebook part II)
- Creating Your Syllabus Sample Section Syllabi
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_1.pdf - Sample Course Syllabus (pdf)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_2.pdf - Sample Lab Syllabus (pdf)
http://www.crlt.umich.edu/gsis/P2_4.pdf
Template for Syllabus Design (Cornell University)
http://www.cte.cornell.edu/campus/teach/faculty/Materials/SyllabusTemplate.doc
Template document from Cornell University for creating a syllabus. Includes list of additional resource readings on college teaching at the end of the template.
Tutorial for Syllabus Design (University of Minnesota)
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/syllabus/index.html
This comprehensive tutorial is comprised of nine sections to guide you step-by-step through the process of designing your own syllabus.
IDEA
Paper #27: Writing a Syllabus (IDEA Center, Altman & Cashman, 1992)
http://www.theideacenter.org/sites/default/files/Idea_Paper_27.pdf
The authors explore the literature on college syllabi and suggest what information might be included on your syllabus. This resource features an in-depth discussion of the major content areas to consider for a course syllabus.
Constructing a Syllabus: A Handbook for Faculty, Teaching Assistants and Teaching
Fellows (Woolcock, 2005)
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/docs/syllabus.pdf
Thorough handbook on the topic of course construction, with a special emphasis on preparing a syllabus. Includes practical exercises to help develop your course outline and goals, as well as samples of completed syllabi.
Electronic Syllabus Workshop
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/teaching/syllabus.html
The Syllabus Workshop is designed to explore how a syllabus conveys the educational goals of a course to students. Includes sample syllabi from four disciplinary areas: Humanities, Social Sciences, Physical Sciences, and Life Sciences. This resource is related to the handbook above.