Tips for Detailing a Class Syllabus

When you as a student head off to college, you need to be sure to look very closely at the syllabus provided by your teacher. Countless students lose, or simply ignore the syllabus, forgetting it is a contract between teacher and student. In this day and age, when most professors put a copy of their syllabus on the internet, claiming to have lost your copy will not carry the same weight as it may have in the past. Students should consider this their Bible and should understand that it is a contract, it tells students what is expected of them and what the rewards or consequences will be. Students, on the other hand, should make sure the syllabus provides them with the necessary information it should and if it doesn't, ask.

Some of my teaching colleagues and I have debated over the best way to put a course syllabus together. Some people tell me they deliberately leave their syllabus vague so they have some wiggle room. In fact, some instructors do not even put in what material they plan on covering in what class. I think this is unfortunate. these same individuals would object if a student's work was vague and/or did not include enough detail. When it comes to teaching, we owe it to our students to play by the same rules they do.

My syllabus has gotten much more detailed over the past number of years I have been teaching. I find that the more I tell the students, the more they listen. Also, I find that I do not feel so bad if I need to give someone a bad grade. I do not question myself and they cannot claim they were not aware of my policies. It also helps the students and the median grade in my class has improved because students understand exactly what is expected.

One of the changes I have made to my syllabus is to outline my attendance policy in more detail. I went from telling them that class was mandatory to stating that if they miss more than four classes, unexcused absences, they will be drop a full letter grade and that excessive absences can lead to a further deduction in their grade and even failure. I state that I am the one who has the final say over what is an excused absence. I also state that if the miss a certain amount of classes, even if some of them are excused, they cannot get an 'A' in the class, although the can pass and can do well. again, this has actually helped improve grades.

Teaching public speaking, I tell them right in the syllabus what they must do to get an 'A' on the speech. I let them know the topic must be important, they must meet the guidelines of the speech (that is a persuasive speech must be persuasive) and they have to speak between four and a half and seven and a half minutes. A three minute window should be sufficient. I also state that if a speech misses the time limit by two minutes or more (two and a half minutes or less, or none and a half minutes or more), than cannot get a grade higher than a 'B-'. Once again, armed with this information, student grades seem to improve.

Having sat through classes where students speak during other classmate's presentations, and not wanting to scold those talking because it would distract the speaker, my syllabus states that if a student is engaging in distracting or inappropriate behavior during another student's speech, their grade will be lowered.

One last thing I do with my syllabus is I have the students sign the syllabus and I collect it. What they sign says they may not agree with my policies but they read them and I have explained them fully. I find this to be very helpful. The more detailed the syllabus, the more the students know what to expect. I think this is the way to go and urge other teachers to use the same procedure.

Teachers, remember to provide the necessary details and your syllabus so you are treating you students fairly. Students, remember to read it carefully and you will see your grade improve.