While syllabi may differ based on instructors or disciplines, at their core they convey pertinent information related to a course.
Course-Specific Front Matter
The very beginning of your syllabus should provide important details that are specific to your course: how students can contact you and information about the course topic and learning goals.
Instructor Contact Information
- Name
- Pronouns
- Email
- Office location
- Office hours
- Outside of the classroom, instructors should set aside time to meet with students. Please check in with your department and college to learn how long office hours should be. If you hold office hours on different days, we encourage you to schedule them at different times (for example, Monday 9-10 and Tuesday 3-4) to give more
- Your syllabus should detail how students can get in touch with you outside of the classroom, whether through office hours or scheduled meetings outside of office hours and where they can meet you (in-person or virtual). For scheduling ease, consider using digital signup programs (e.g., calendly, doodle, youcanbook.me).
- Faculty-student interaction outside of the classroom can improve a student’s performance. However, office hours can often be intimidating to students. To help make coming to office hours less intimidating, be explicit from the very beginning about what office hours are and make frequent reminders throughout the semester. Consider rebranding and use terms such as “student hours” or “open door hours,” which clarifies what the time can be used for.
- This section is the student’s introduction to you. We encourage building a more detailed instructor profile to be more personable and give students a better sense of who you are as an instructor. You could link to an introductory video of yourself or include an audio recording of your name in your syllabus or create an about me section on blackboard.
Course Meeting Information
- Course days and times
- Course location: building and classroom number.
- For building abbreviations, see this guide.
- You can also link a specific building using BU Maps.
Basic Course Information
- Course credits, including how many Hub units
- Course description
- A course description should be 1-2 paragraphs and introduce the course content in a learner-centered way. Aim for a description that 1) conveys the scope of the course, 2) considers students’ prior knowledge, and 3) motivates and excites students about the material.
- This description should emphasize what students will be able to do with the content and include thought-provoking questions that they will be able to answer by taking the course.
- Using “we” and “you” language emphasizes the active role that students will have in learning and mastering the course materials.
- 学习 outcomes
- A list of 4-7 learning outcomes helps convey your expectations for students and articulate the skills they will develop throughout the course. (See sample formats: Student 学习 Outcomes; Graphic Display of Student 学习 Objectives)
- When writing these outcomes, try to create “action statements” that are learner-centered, measurable, and actionable. For example, consider this learning goal for an Introduction to Macroeconomics course for non-majors: “By the end of this course, students will be able to distinguish different macroeconomic models (Keynes, Lucas, Solow, Friedman, etc.) using key concepts like GDP, inflation, AD/AS, and monetary and fiscal policy.” In this case, “distinguish” is a learner-centered active verb that is also a specific cognitive skill that students will learn to exercise in relation to course content. It is also measurable, or easily connected to assessments such as quizzes or reading responses. Lastly, it is actionable, in that students can reasonably accomplish the goal within a semester.
- A common resource for crafting learning objectives is Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956, revised 2001), whose diagram categorizes learner-centered, measurable, actionable verbs that help scaffold student learning.
- If your course is part of the Hub curriculum, your learning outcomes should also include those from the Hub. (See Characteristics of Hub Syllabi)
Course/Program Policies & Procedures
Following the front matter, syllabi should also include university policies, program/department policies, and your own course-specific policies that students need to be aware of. Each course policy should articulate your rationale and a clear explanation of your expectations for students. We encourage framing policies in a positive tone and articulating how these policies relate to the learning outcomes.
Communication Policy
- A communication policy clearly conveys how students can best interact with you. It should let students know how to reach out to you, when you are available to meet, and how you respond to your students. (See sample statements)
Academic Integrity
- A statement about academic integrity reminds students about ethical responsibilities and the value of integrity in academic work.
- Your statement should include a reference or link to the BU Academic Conduct Code, which was designed to assist in developing a productive learning environment, set the ethical expectations of students, and guarantee students’ rights and responsibilities of members of a learning community. However, it is suggested that your academic integrity statement go beyond referencing the code by discussing your specific expectations for coursework and assessments. Additionally, it is suggested that instructors detail what is acceptable regarding paraphrasing, collaboration, and use of generative AI. (See sample statements)
Attendance Policy
- Attendance policies can vary across colleges and are impacted by discipline, enrollment numbers, and your educational philosophy. Questions to consider when designing an attendance policy are:
- Will attendance be taken? How? Why?
- Does attendance impact grades? If so, how?
- How does attendance connect to the learning outcomes of your course?
- If attendance in your course is required, we encourage developing an attendance policy that:
- Clearly articulates how a student’s attendance may impact their grade and specifies how grades are affected by an amount of missed classes or tardiness, and shows.
- Offers flexibility and encourages students to attend class and participate in order to achieve the learning outcomes. (University of Denver)
- There are some circumstances that require excused absences or communication between instructor and student.
- If a student has to miss class due to religious reasons, these absences are excused from attendance policies.
- Student-athletes may miss class due to athletic competitions. For these events, Student-Athlete Academic Support Services issues travel letters to all student-athletes who will be traveling and/or competing as a representative of BU. These travel letters notify the faculty in advance if travel/competition conflicts with a class and are not intended to be an excuse letter for missing classes. However, instructors should make arrangements with student-athletes to make up for any missed aspects of the course.
- If you are concerned about a student’s excessive absence from your class, please be aware of broader university policies and consider reaching out to the student and appropriate BU faculty/staff. To find the contact information for a student’s advisor(s), log into MyBU portal and head to the class roster, which provides your students’ contact information, major, college they belong to, and their advisor(s).
- An attendance policy may seem punitive and authoritative to students, but we encourage designing one in a way that facilitates student engagement and promotes success in an academic environment. If missed classes impact a student’s grade, consider the language and tone of your attendance policy and frame why attendance is important in relation to achieving your course’s learning outcomes.
Course Content & Calendar
Because a syllabus functions as a road map of your course, the materials, assignments, class topics that contribute to the learning outcomes should be listed. Providing a detailed schedule will show transparency of what the expectations are for your class and will help students with time- and project-management.
Course Materials
- The reading materials or softwares that students will use throughout the semester should be listed in your syllabus. Please note how your students can access these materials.
- If textbooks are required, the Welcome to Teaching at BU page has information about communicating your course needs with Barnes & Noble @ Boston University and the BU Libraries.
Course Assignments
- While detailed instructions and grading rubrics could be separate documents, your syllabus should include brief descriptions of assignments that students will complete over the course of the semester.
- These short descriptions should explain:
- How each assignment is designed to connect to specific content and measure specific cognitive skills that were identified in your course’s learning outcomes. Articulating the link between assessments and learning outcomes helps students see the logical connection between course components.
- Communicate the frequency of and expectations for assignments and assessments. For instance, what are your expectations for weekly response papers or for presentations?
- Identify opportunities for practice and feedback. If there is a final project that is worth 40% of the overall grade, how can you scaffold the assignment into smaller components (such as outlining, a proposal, etc.) so that students can receive feedback from you and their peers. Scaffolding the workload can make high-stakes (or summative) assignments become more manageable for students.
- This CTL guide addresses the different forms of assessment and their impact on student motivation and learning.
Schedule
- A cohesive course schedule will reflect the driving questions and topics of the course description on a day-by-day or week-by-week basis and include due dates for low- and high-stakes assignments, what assignments or readings are due for each class meeting, and what course materials are involved at each stage.
- Consider what elements the schedule can include and when by asking the following questions:
- What activities need to come first, i.e., how should the course begin? What activities do you want to conclude, i.e., how should the course end? What sequence of activities will enhance learning in the middle of the course?
- What is the relationship between formative and summative assignments in the course?
- How will class activities and graded assignments of the course align with the learning outcomes?
- The schedule should also include important dates and holidays from the Academic Calendar that may affect your class.
Updated August 2, 2024
