Timeline for Disclaimer in syllabus, a good or bad idea for instructor and students?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
9 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 2015 at 21:51 | vote | accept | Thomas Lee | ||
| Aug 24, 2015 at 3:17 | comment | added | user3697176 | Where I teach it is a sad reality that lectures do get cancelled in the winter tem due to situations beyond human control (i.e., snowstorms/blizzards). For that reason the schedule must be adjustable, and with it the timing, weighting and content of deliverables such as assignments, and sometimes greater course components. | |
| Aug 24, 2015 at 2:33 | comment | added | alephzero | Is the wording just a reaction to an increasingly litigious society? You don't want little Johnny's parents suing the university for a refund of tuition fees etc if he failed his degree "because the lecturer didn't cover page 593 in the textbook but there was a question on it in the final exam". | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 21:01 | comment | added | jakebeal | @ThomasLee I don't think a syllabus is a contract in any legalistic sense. I think the "contract" is that the instructor should provide the students the best education in the subject and the fairest evaluation possible. The syllabus is just one tool to help with doing so, by providing information about what students should expect. | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 20:26 | comment | added | Thomas Lee | Do you think that is should be part of syllabus just to protect the instructor? From the students side, it also doesn't look as a good contract. | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 19:52 | comment | added | dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten | Sure, and the class will accept that proposed change by universal acclimation with many a puppy-eyed look of grateful relief. Then I have to figure out what good stuff I'm going to lose and the end of the term so we can re-do the just-tested material better. Which gives you both parts of my approach. | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 19:48 | comment | added | jakebeal | @dmckee Even grade calculation might sometimes be appropriately adjusted: for example, let's say that a class collectively bombs its second quiz, and the instructor realizes that it's because they taught something poorly. Then they might adjust grading to consider two weightings---the original and one where that quiz is considered more lightly---and give students the better of the two. | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 19:34 | comment | added | dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten | I treat some parts of the syllabus—like the grade calculation—as a contract with the students and always put proposed changes in those sections to the class before implementing them. Calling an audible on the schedule, however, is to be expected. | |
| Aug 23, 2015 at 19:23 | history | answered | jakebeal | CC BY-SA 3.0 |