Draft the Syllabus

From McMillan, A. (2020). Syllabus Design and Purpose. In Teaching Online: Course Design, Delivery, and Teaching Presence.

What & Why

Dee Fink (2003, A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning) and Kathryn Linder (2017, The Blended Course Design Workbook: A Practical Guide explain that the syllabus is usually created toward the end of the design process to ensure that fundamental design elements, such as the intended outcomes, assessments, and learning activities are prioritized. This is why backward design is so important.

However, a syllabus is needed for the approval process, so a draft syllabus is needed before the course is fully designed.

CSS provides guidance on what goes into a syllabus. See the slides below for specifics. You can contact CID for help.

How To

Content

Your draft syllabus should include the following items:

The standard content required by the college, including the course ID and catalog description
The proposed course learning outcomes (these cannot be changed after the course is approved, but the committee can help craft them)
Summative assessments and assessment descriptions that align with the learning outcomes (The schedule can change after approval to include formative assessments and activities.)

Use Backward Design to Write Learning Outcomes and Choose Summative Assessments

Template

We suggest using the CSS Syllabus Template/Example. It includes CSS requirements (as indicated in the slides below) and has been checked with Grackle Docs for accessibility.

Course Workload

Federal policies require a minimum of 45 hours per credit for the term, no matter the number of weeks (link to estimator). A 3-credit course would be 135 hours, equating to 9 hours per week for a 15-week term. Explaining the time students must invest can help them plan accordingly.

Syllabi: College, HLC & Federal policies

Additional Resources

CSS Syllabus Example and Template
“It’s In the Syllabus”: Tips to Write a Robust Document for Your Class - OSU Center for Teaching and Learning
Creating a Syllabus - Center for Teaching and Learning at Univerity of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Creating a Syllabus that Students Want to Read - Oregon State University
Gonzalez, J. (2016, July 24). How to Write a Syllabus. Cult of Pedagogy.
Finalize the Syllabus - page on this site