Teaching Strategy #2

Coordinate Course Description, Syllabus and Exams

Course descriptions represent the first “teaching opportunity.” They are more than advertisements that no one reads carefully. A thoughtful prepared description can engage students by allowing them to visualize the content and the methodology of the course. A clear description indicates an instructor’s thinking process as well as intellectual guidelines. With easy access to print or electronic course catalogues, students can easily identify courses that fit into their curricular plan. Course descriptions are read and should not be discounted as mere advertising.

In general, course descriptions fall into two categories: interrogatory or declarative. Following is an example of a description that asks questions, suggesting that the course will focus on the method of collaborative inquiry.

Interrogatory

Individual Responsibility in Organizations

This seminar examines the research on responsibility and relates it to how we run our business, government, educational and other institutions. What do we do that sabotages responsibility? How can you design organizations so that people feel responsible? Is there a relationship between responsibility and efficiency? If so, why is it a secret?

The next description states what the course will contain. This straightforward approach should leave no room for ambiguity

Declarative

Renaissance Europe

This course will examine the cultural and intellectual movement known as the Renaissance, from its origins in fourteenth-century Italy to its diffusion into the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century. We will trace the great changes in the world of learning and letters, the visual arts, and music, along with those taking place in politics, economics, and social organization. We will be reading primary sources as well as modern works.

In developing a course description and a syllabus, it is important to keep in mind the rationale for the course (including the level), the methodology and the expected learning outcome. In other words, keep answering the question: “Why (and how) am I telling these people these things at this time?”

The syllabus provides a roadmap for the course. It is not only a schedule but also a teaching philosophy and an organizational scheme. There are many ways to organize a syllabus; among them are:

• Chronological (History of France: 1848—1948)
• Geographical (The Modern Balkans)
• Thematic (Songs, Sonatas and Symphonies)
• Functional (Quantitative Analysis of Anthropological Data)
• Theoretical (Theories of Personality)

A well-crafted syllabus demonstrates a cohesive approach to a discipline and lays out what the students will or should learn—expected learning outcomes—and how the material will be presented--methodology.

The syllabus should also include clear assignments, policies on grading and participation and deadlines. Clarity will protect both the student and the instructor from the negative effects of ambiguity. Some instructors put their teaching philosophy within the syllabus so that the students will understand both why and how the course will be taught.

Although many instructors do not create exams before the semester begins in order to take advantage of key issues that develop during the course, it is helpful to develop questions that are clearly related to the syllabus. Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning Outcomes suggests questions that enable students to demonstrate their understanding of the course material. Bloom’s taxonomy consists of six categories:

• Knowledge (Define, describe, identify, etc.) )
• Comprehension (Convert, explain, summarize, etc.)
• Application (Demonstrate, predict, use, etc.)
• Analysis (Diagram, differentiate, identify, etc.)
• Synthesis (Combine, rearrange, plan, etc.)
• Evaluation (Appraise, justify, support, etc.)

If the course description, syllabus and exams (and other assignments) are coordinated, the task of learning becomes easier for students because they do not have to overcome the barriers of poor organization.

For help in preparing course descriptions, syllabi and exams, the following selections will be useful:

Bloom, Benjamin.Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I, Cognitive Domain. Longmans, Green, 1956.

Diamond, Robert M. Designing and Assessing Course & Curricula: A Practical Guide, rev.ed. Jossey Bass, 1998.

Strada, Michael J., “The Case for Sophisticated Course Syllabi,” To Improve the Academy, vol. 19, Anker Publishing Co., Inc., 2001.

© Larry M. Robbins, 2004