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Syllabus as a Permanent Record

Written by

Jeremy Van Hof

/ Published on

Authored/Posted by: Erik Flinn

Since the syllabus is written to correspond to a single class per a single semester, as opposed to other class resources which may be re-used, it acts as an incredible time capsule into one’s class. This page states all the necessary record keeping one should attempt to keep on their syllabi: Course Information, Topics Covered, Major Assessments.

Course Information.

  • Course Title
  • Location
  • Meeting Time(s)
  • Instructor Name
  • Instructor email
  • Names of any Teaching Assistants
  • Office hours (if available) and location 

Topics Covered.

  • Provide a list of all topics that will be covered during the semester.
  • Reflections/Questions to Consider:
    • What topics should be covered in this course?
      • What topics have other instructors of this course covered?
    • Why do you want to cover each of these topics?
    • Is there adequate time to cover all topics listed?
      • What parts of each topic do students struggle with? Have you allocated enough time for that struggle?
    • What online/university resources are available to you to help cover those topics?

Major Assessments.

  • (Due) Date/Time and Location (if applicable)/ of:
    • Exams
    • Final Examination
    • Planned projects
  • Reflections/Questions to Consider:
    • How many projects are you planning to have?
      • How does that support learning objectives?
      • Is there enough time for each?
    • How many exams are you planning to give?
      • Is there adequate material between each for students to be assessed on?
    • In your view, are the expectations being placed on students reasonable?

If you have all these details present in your syllabus, it will be easy for those in the future to know what major events occurred in the class, when they occurred, and what total material students were exposed to. This allows different universities to compare courses across institutions, researchers to view trends in educational practices over time, and verification for any discrepancies that may come up after the course has ended.

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