|
" Brief splashes into the scholarship of teaching and learning" " California State University Channel Islands' One-page Faculty Development Newsletter Volume 1, Number 4, April, 2008 |
|
Office of Faculty Development
|
Phone: 805/437-8826
|
A Scrutiny of Syllabi, Part 3 - A
Dolphin's Eye View of Syllabi
In our last column (NTLFV16N6), we provided a list of thirteen
topics that needed to be in a syllabus. These covered instructor
access, prerequisites, ancillaries required, grading, policies that
affect grades such as attendance, missed deadlines, late work,
academic conduct and call to be made aware of students’ needs
for special accommodations. These are essential, and leaving out
any one of the items invites trouble. Yet, a syllabus presented as
a list of rules and policies guarantees a boring document.
We emphasized that a syllabus should be a document characterized
by newness, and surprise. As the first document provided to
students, it can set a tone that is easy to underestimate in its
ability to exert an influence on the entire course. In new
beginnings, engagement is occurring most dominantly through the
affective domain. The tone set within beginning moments will be a
part of new learners’ generators, and thus part of all
subsequent cognitive learning in the course. The last message and
tone we want to convey to the cognitive domain through our first
document is ?boring!?
The problem with our effectively conveying essential content
while promoting interest in students is very much the same
challenge we face for producing both the course and the course
syllabus. Ah! What a fine bit of fractal thinking this invites,
because a fractal form is one in which the parts resemble the
whole. This similarity arises because parts and whole arise from
the same generator. When one labors to provide good course design,
the design is the product of a unique neural network developed in
the brain of the designer. Course products, such as the syllabus,
best support that intended design only when their characteristics
resemble those of the course.
Too Creative for Our Own Good
Although this concept of alignment sounds simple, a barrier
to maintaining consistence between course plan and syllabus arises
from the brain’s infinite creativity; we are constantly
creating new generators that potentially can be developed into
infinite possibilities. We can experience the difficulty in
achieving consistence by writing one short paper on a topic we know
well. Next, set aside that paper, wait for a day, and write a
second paper on the same topic. It is impossible to produce a
second paper identical to the first, even about a single topic that
we know well. Just how then, can we maintain the focus necessary to
create a syllabus and other course products that are consistent
with our course plan? We need a way to focus on our intended
generator.
To discover a key to such focus, we turn to the Diary in
NTLFV12N5, where we noted:?...every teacher has a philosophy,
whether written or not. Unwritten, a philosophy may be difficult to
enact consistently.? In considering our barrier to alignment,
we see why it is so important to have a written philosophy. As long
as we refer to that philosophy when we produce our course products,
the written philosophy acts as a stabilizing influence to help us
focus to do what we originally intended. We then have an excellent
chance of creating parts that are similar to and consistent with
the whole.
Our Teaching Philosophy as Our Own Best Generator
When parts of our practice: syllabi, evaluations, pedagogies,
etc. are considered as separate topics in themselves and taught as
such in workshops and books, it is hard to recognize these as
manifestations of a unified network. Published advice on creating
syllabi never explain why including parts of one’s personal
philosophy in one’s syllabus is so important. However, the
philosophy preserves the generator that shapes our practices. By
sharing key parts of that with our students, the generator they
build at the start of the course has an opportunity to acquire some
alignment with ours. This aids their efforts to successfully engage
the courses we design.
It is easy to see why the written philosophy must arise from
within the instructor rather than from models for practice written
by others. Ultimately, it is the instructor who actually prepares
and teaches her/his courses. The instructor determines the nature
of the unfolding of the course. His or her generator, not that of
some model teacher, is going to be present in the course. If there
is inconsistency between a professor’s philosophy and what
gets enacted in the course, it can usually be explained by either
the professor forgetting to refer frequently to his/her philosophy,
or by the philosophy being written with too much influence from
external sources.
Improving Health Surpasses Treating Symptoms
Because we are capable of infinite thought, it is always
possible to create a better philosophy. Improvement through
experience eventually changes a novice to an expert. We can choose
to use our learning gained through experience in ways that are
either inefficient or effective. When we find a way to improve a
part of a course like a syllabus, it is more important to use our
discovery to tune our core philosophy than it is to simply tinker
with the syllabus. Otherwise, we end up with an improved syllabus,
rather than with a gain that can transfer to many future components
of our teaching. By understanding the fractal nature of our own
development, we learn to focus on building a healthy generator
rather than getting absorbed myopically in improving one of its
products.
To see the practical link between philosophy and syllabus,
let us revisit some queries in italic fonts below that acted as
writing prompts for drafting our teaching philosophies (NTLFV12N5).
Together, these queries had two general purposes. The first was to
bring to awareness the things that excited us enough to commit us
to our chosen discipline, so that we do not forget what we most
wanted to do. The second was to begin to envision the specifics of
just how we could do that productively.
Sharing Ourselves in our Syllabi
Consider in the following how the insights we provided for
ourselves in our philosophy might be beneficial to convey to
students in our syllabi.
1. I clearly know the two major reasons why I became a college
professor.
2. I clearly know two aspects of my work that are most
satisfying.
6. If a decade from now, a student recalled me as an
influential teacher, three traits I would like to be remembered for
are _____, ____, and__________.
Whenever I see professors engaged in these reflections, one
emotion that is never present is boredom. Once insights from
these reflections become articulated in philosophies, it permits
disclosure in syllabi of some decisions and events that led to
professors being in their class on that particular opening day?and
wanting to be there. Far from boring, such a reflection can be
riveting.?When the Academic Council mentioned in our last Diary
rejected a proposal to mandate policy content of syllabi, they
likely recognized on a subconscious level that they did not want
the introduction to their courses to be reduced to emphasis on a
list of policies.?For the student, such a reading should raise:
?Just what about this subject would want to make anyone dedicate
his/her life to it, and why does this person care that I learn
about it?
We can also act to improve odds that students will actually
read these parts. First, we present these near the start of the
syllabus, where our love of being with students and our passion for
learning of our discipline shows first?far ahead of lists and
regulations. (See also Singham, 2007.) Secondly, we can design our
syllabus to be interactive. We can follow our sections with short
writing prompts and engage that content with a few questions, and
we can invite students to reflect in kind with us, as shown by the
following examples.
a. If I had my ideal career now, what two qualities might
excite me most??
b. If I pictured myself truly enjoying learning in this
class, what would I be doing in that moment? Describe in one
sentence your vision of how that would look and in a second
sentence how that would feel.
c. When I think of myself as a learner, what are two things
of value that I would like to gain from this course?
Linking Course Products and Practices to our
Philosophy
When I coach professors on drafting their teaching
philosophies, I know that focus on one course helps attendants to
concentrate on the specifics they need to avoid diverting their
efforts into less valuable generalizations. Note that the following
prompts used to develop philosophies tie easily to equivalent
information to convey in syllabi.
7. ?Successful teaching,? for me, means achieving the following
outcomes for students with respect to?content knowledge:
___________________
10. ?Successful teaching,? for me, means providing students
with the following?experiences: ___________________
11. ?Successful teaching? for me means achieving the
following outcomes for students with respect to levels of thinking:
___________________
13. I employ the following as my dominant pedagogical
method(s) _________ and I chose this (these) method(s) because
_________________.
Our syllabi should convey content in the order that students
can expect to encounter topics through the term, and we should also
disclose the kinds of assignments and instructional modalities and
evaluations that students will experience. But it is best to
describe both in general terms in the syllabus. Teachers sometimes
try to do too much in syllabi. Often, learning can be better served
by other documents. For content, knowledge surveys offer better
benefits.
Item 7 sometimes manifests in syllabi as a table that lists
in detail the topics to be covered each day. Marching students
through material in such regimentation likely arises from the
presumption that learning occurs at a constant rate. (It
doesn’t. See ?Perceiving Education’s Temporal
Temperaments? NTLF V14N6 pp 7-10 & NTLFV15N1 pp 8-11). A rigid,
detailed plan will produce awkward attempts to cover too much
material at the times when students are least able to master it.
(See ?Content Tyranny?
<http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/73.html>). Events
beyond our control, such as a fire drill or an instructor’s
unanticipated absence, will fracture any rigid, detailed plan.
Given the need for some topics and professors to have
flexible pacing, whether one should cast rigid dates for quizzes,
exams and projects due in the syllabus is a legitimate choice of
the professor. Better testing practice usually involves varied and
frequent quizzes rather than only two or three major exams. The
latter, however, are easier to set rigid dates for into a schedule.
We can give ourselves some additional flexibility by posting the
numerical basis for letter grade assignments as percentages rather
than as absolute points for each test or quiz. The reality exists
that we can likely create a bad test and then need to do some first
aid rather than be precluded from doing that by our own rigidity.
Specific dates that are very worthwhile conveying include dates for
completed course readings for students and dates for performing
regular classroom assessments, such as minute papers, etc. for us.
Awareness of Students is Fundamental
Note that students are central in items 7, 10 and 11. Without
knowing the nature of our students, it is impossible to match our
course delivery to their needs. From the Perry and Reflective
Judgment models, we know that students perceive content with
different awareness at different stages of intellectual
development. We need to engage content through experiences
appropriate to that stage, if we are to advance their reasoning
skills toward the next stage. Familiarity with one or more
established models of cognition is essential to producing a
sophisticated teaching philosophy. The three items are inextricably
linked to one another, and they must be viewed as specific to the
needs of students within one’s own course when drafting a
syllabus.
The writing prompt (Item 12) that follows is sometimes not
even clear in the minds of professors until they devote time to
written reflection. A good syllabus should explain to students the
place of the course in the greater scheme of education and/or
profession.
12. I understand how each of my courses fits into the
department/ college/university curriculum in regard to what it is
supposed to achieve.
Finally, every philosophy should reveal awareness of
assessment (items 21 and 23 below). We spend considerable time in
preparation and delivery, but learning whether our efforts were
successful also requires taking a deliberate action. The answer is
separate from that provided by evaluative test scores and grades.
21. When a class session ends, I know the students have
understood and achieved what I intended because ________.
23. When a course ends, I know that I’ve been
successful in improving students’ mastery of content
knowledge and/or skills because____________.
Faculty certainly have a choice about whether to mention
assessment in their syllabi. However, a general rule is: if
students are going to do something, it is usually helpful to tell
them in the syllabus to expect the activity and to explain why it
is worthwhile. If we will be doing classroom assessment techniques,
using a knowledge survey instrument, using a concept inventory or
are sending our students online to have their learning styles
diagnosed, we shoulddisclose this and offer an explanation about
the value of these activities.
Properly engaging the syllabus in the first day of class can
serve as an excellent opportunity. There, students can experience
the methods through which they will engage course content by
engaging the content of the syllabus. Courses, course products and
course practices of fractal thinkers are always aligned with their
teaching philosophies.
Additional References:
California State University ? Stanislaus, Syllabus Project
<http://wwwchem.csustan.edu/tutorials/syllabus.htm>
Grunert, J., Millis, B.J., & Cohen, M.W. (2008). The
Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach (2nd edition).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Guidelines for Preparing Exemplary Syllabi
<http://teachpsych.org/otrp/syllabi/guidelines.php>
Singham, Mano, 2007, Death to the Syllabus! Tomorrow’s
Professor Message #834,
<http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/834.html>
University of Delaware Learner-Centered Syllabus web site
<http://cte.udel.edu/syllabus.htm>
University of Hawaii Preparing a Course Syllabus web site
<http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm#syllabus>