Speaker 1: Midway College, Creating an Effective Online Course Syllabus Hi, I'm Ellen Bloomfield, the Instructional Designer for Midway College. This presentation will provide Midway faculty and staff the basics of preparing an online course syllabus. The syllabus is an important part of any course, whether delivered online or face-to-face. However, students tend to feel somewhat disoriented without the familiar first-day speeches from the instructor, and they may wonder if any of the same old rules will apply in this new online territory. Therefore, the details of course requirements, expected outcomes, schedules, grading, and procedures are perhaps even more important for an online class. An easy-to-follow checklist, example syllabi, and other resources to help you can be found on the Midway College Teaching and Learning Resources Wiki. Before you actually develop your syllabus, you should plan for its content and purpose. Begin by considering the purpose of a course syllabus. Think of it as a roadmap for your students so that they can follow you as you navigate the course throughout the semester. The syllabus, then, is a primary source of information to guide your students throughout the semester and should carefully explain the course components. Most likely, your syllabus will be one of the first substantial means of communication between you and your students. The ultimate goal of a well-designed syllabus is to ensure students understand what is expected of them throughout the semester. Therefore, the syllabus should be easy to read and understand and follow. Find out whether your department, school, or college has policies which require specific information to be included on the syllabus. This might include policies on grading, attendance, make-up work, exams, and information related to standards and accreditation or other requirements. Check with your department chair to see what content, books, and other components should be consistently provided in all sections of the same course. If you are teaching a course for the first time, review the approved course proposal to adequately represent your course goals, objectives, and content within your syllabus. Goals and learning objectives are the heart of your instruction and should be carefully written. Course goals and objectives present what the student should be able to do after successfully completing the course. They should be observable, measurable, and be stated in terms of student outcomes. Plan activities, assignments, and outcomes to help the students achieve the goals and objectives. When planning assignments, class activities, or other things, consider listing them with the course goals and objectives that should be achieved when these tasks are completed. By showing relevance of course requirements with related goals and objectives, students will better understand why they have been assigned. Select appropriate teaching methods, activities, assignments, and assessment strategies you plan to use throughout the semester. Make sure they reflect the course goals and learning objectives. Also consider ways to present course content using different approaches such as visual, auditory, and hands-on to meet the varied learning preferences of your students. Given that you will not be conversing with students face-to-face, you can also consider including in your syllabus your teaching philosophy, conveying your enthusiasm for teaching, the content, and respect for your students. Explain the importance and benefits of why students should take the course, adding a positive and optimistic message to the student. Include that you are truly interested in student success in the course. Decide upon a grading system and check with your department chair to make sure it is consistent with standards chosen by the department or the college. Choose a grading system that is suitable for the course and communicates to your students your expectations about what is important and what you expect from them. Grading criteria can be made available in the form of rubrics and can increase objectivity when grading students work. Adopt appropriate textbooks and resources and relate required readings to course goals, objectives, activities, and outcomes. Many faculty provide a format that clearly lays out the course meeting dates, assignments, readings, exams, and due dates for each requirement. This can be very helpful to students for them to plan throughout the semester. Course schedules also help faculty to stay on task too. If you plan on developing a course calendar schedule, refer to the entire calendar to carefully sequence exams, quizzes, projects, and assignments to avoid overlapping due dates and other potential conflicts. Decide on a plan for statements on students with disabilities. You can refer to the Midway ADA Policy Statement Procedure to help you compose the disability statement. This can be found on the Midway website or on the Midway Teaching and Learning Resources Wiki page, Online Course Improvement Resources, Standard 8. You will also need to inform students of your expectations for academic integrity and writing composition. Please inform your students of the exam proctoring procedures and reference the ex-proctor information found on the IT Help webpage. Now that you have planned the overall content to the syllabus, it is time to put it all together and develop it. You can customize your syllabus to match your subject and teaching style. Making it personal doesn't mean it shouldn't be organized thoroughly, however. The order in which the sections are presented here follows many syllabus models, but they can be arranged to fit your needs. First, under course information, you should include the course designator and number, the section number, title, and credit hours of the course. You also need to include the day or days of meeting times of the class and any lab or off-site program requirements. You can include the course website URL if you have one and the course description found in the course catalog. Also include in your syllabus the Midway College Mission Statement. It can be found on the following webpage or on the TLR, Teaching Learning Resource, wiki. In the instructor information section, you want to include your name, title, office location, office hours, telephone number, email address, and any other ways in which students can contact or interact with you. Under course requirements, you want to list assignments, readings, exams, and describe requirements for students' successful completion of these activities. Samples of projects and assignments and discussion forms can be made available in your office or be made available electronically. Under course assessment, you want to provide a list of standards and criteria for each created course component such as assignments, exams, and class participation. Students need to know your expectations up front. State how much each graded course activity will count towards the final course grade and also include the course grading scale so students can keep track of their progress. State how students will be rewarded for effort and progress and if you will allow extra credit. Indicate how these will be used towards a student's final grade and state specifically how final grades will be determined. Provide information such as whether you will weight grades, use accumulated points, or if you will grade on a curve. Under course resources, please note those which are required and those which are recommended. Provide full resource citations and addition numbers for textbooks. Also provide any other course resources and state where students can purchase or locate those. You will also want to provide information on student support services for Moodle, technology, library resources, and accessibility. You can also provide information about getting assistance with writing and tutoring. This is especially helpful for the undergraduate student. Under course policies and accommodations, you should provide clear and succinct information on attendance, late work, missed quizzes, and exams. Please be sure to communicate any make-up work policy and also include information on the use of copyrighted materials. Finally, you want to communicate your expectations about individual and group work and mutual civility and respect. In another section on your syllabus, you might call receiving assistance. Include a statement requesting students with disability contact you regarding accommodation needs. The Center for Accessibility Resources is located within the Midway Student Affairs office. You could include a statement that says something about how student success is important to you and that any student who has a disability or any other special circumstance that may have some impact on their work in the class and for which they might require special accommodations to contact you early in the semester so that the accommodations can be made in a timely manner. In a separate and prominent location of your syllabus, include statements on college plagiarism, conduct, and discipline regulations. These statements can be found in the Midway College Student Handbook or online. You may also want to include information on the exam proctoring program we use here at Midway called XProctor. If you plan to include course information in a calendar schedule, provide a list of topics, textbook and other readings, assignments, examinations, special activities, and their respective due dates. Also include a statement that says the schedule is subject to change. Now let's talk about the overall appeal of the syllabus. You should use headings, short sentences, outlines, and lists. You can organize the information for quick reference by using charts and diagrams. Use welcoming, encouraging language and what you will do to help your students throughout the semester. Instead of completely filling the page with dense text, consider incorporating some open areas or blank space or even some content-related visual highlights for important information. Be neat, avoid typos, incorrect dates, and other errors. After the syllabus has been created, you will want to review the final copy for clarity and accuracy. Ask a colleague or your department chair to help you with this. Check assignments and exams against holidays and other events, then file the syllabus with the department as a record of your course to be used for accreditation purposes and as a reference for student search for information on the course. We have created a checklist to help you plan your course syllabus based on this information. It is located on the Midway Teaching and Learning Resources wiki page under the Instructional Design link and you will click on the course design page. Thank you.