Questions tagged [syllabus]
Questions in relation to syllabus which is an outline or summary of the subjects of a course of lectures or the contents of a curriculum.
2
votes
1answer
95 views
Assessing a penalty for inquiries regarding exceptions to deadline policy
My problem: Though it's made explicitly clear to my students that I do not accept late work and do not grant extensions, I get at least 5-10 e-mails a week asking about extensions. I want to deter ...
69
votes
14answers
25k views
Is my approach to discouraging whiners from taking my class acceptable?
I am writing a syllabus for a Calculus for Business class. When I taught the last year, I had some very weak but vocal students whine that the tests were tough (despite other students doing fine), the ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
Associate Deans' power [closed]
If a student complains to the associate dean about an adjunct faculty member, does the dean have the power to intervene? In this case, the student is complaining because the faculty member won't ...
0
votes
1answer
205 views
Grading criteria changed mid-semester. Not fully communicated. What can I do?
I'm in my final year of my bachelor degree (Netherlands). In fact, I am resitting this particular class since I did not submit the portfolio last time. I have agreed to start writing my thesis today ...
1
vote
2answers
403 views
Can a professor alter the syllabus when calculating a final course grade?
A professor for my one course didn't calculate an attendance and participation grade into my final grade but it was worth 20 percent in the syllabus.
31
votes
7answers
5k views
Correcting professors' lecture notes
One of my profs in college has (after years of students asking him to do so) put forth a syllabus with all the material for the class he is teaching.
With the help of 3 students from previous years (...
6
votes
3answers
587 views
Am I obliged to answer student queries that can readily be answered by reading the syllabus? [closed]
I maintain an email group for my class where the reading list and other course materials are made available to the students. Despite sharing all relevant information with them, I still have students ...
1
vote
1answer
126 views
Teaching Robotics to Mechanical Engineering Students Vs Electrical Engineering Students
My background is in electrical engineering. I have taught robotics to electrical, electronics and CS students. This time I have to teach robotics to mechanical engineering students. How do I keep the ...
2
votes
1answer
911 views
In teaching, what do we actually mean when we say “syllabus completed”?
In my university, every faculty member has to submit a handout at the semester beginning for his(her) course. The handout is basically a list of topics (a syllabus) that needs to be taught to the (to ...
6
votes
1answer
474 views
Syllabus change with no warning nor discussion with students worsened grade
In one of my courses, our syllabus outlined the course material and its contribution to our total grade. Daily homework constituted 10% of the grade, with other major group assignments constituting ...
-5
votes
4answers
979 views
Is it legal or normal for a professor to require 65 or above on both assessments to pass the unit? [closed]
Our grades for the Coding class I am taking are divided between projects and exams. The professor I take the class under has the following policy on her syllabus:
If our cumulative average for ...
0
votes
2answers
83 views
Quote on testing, checking, and verification [closed]
I'm in the habit of putting a motivating quote on the top of each of my syllabi. For my introductory programming course, I'd like to focus the class on the theme of testing and verification. Of course,...
2
votes
1answer
283 views
Any recourse for testing on material not mentioned in the class syllabus? [closed]
In one particular university class, many people stopped attending after about half the semester was over as the professor was "confusing" as many people phrased it and opted to instead study from the ...
6
votes
4answers
717 views
Providing syllabi far in advance
A student from another university is planning on taking a class I'll be teaching this fall and will be doing it as a transient student. Apparently, in order to have their transient status approved, ...
-2
votes
2answers
159 views
Eliminating ambiguity in a grading policy
In a particular course, there will be one final exam and an online activity.
Say the final exam is worth 50 points and the online activity is worth 5 points.
Based on the following statement, how ...
2
votes
2answers
263 views
Can a syllabus be adopted and modified?
I have seen some few syllabuses online that look very similar. Is it fine to adopt any syllabus or instructors need to have their own syllabus? And do instructors need to get permission from the ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
When should I release deadlines for assignments?
Some students have been asking that I release all the assignments and their due dates at the beginning of the course. I suppose that I could create some estimates, but I suspect that we will end up ...
3
votes
3answers
141 views
Is it appropriate for employers recruiting students to ask professors for syllabi of their classes?
Since graduating I have maintained contact with a number of professors at my university and have gone back on recruiting trips. I check in on the courses being offered from time to time and have ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Disclaimer in syllabus, a good or bad idea for instructor and students?
I have seen couple of syllabi that used a disclaimer similar to "Instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus at any time". For the instructor side, it could be good, but from students side it ...
8
votes
4answers
613 views
Bonus Quizzes to entice students to read their syllabus?
Please inform me if this needs to be moved to the meta questions forum, I wasn't sure whether this would qualify or not
As I'm sure many lecturers/professors would attest, one of the frustrations of ...
4
votes
3answers
154 views
Examples of a large-scale physics syllabus review
My Department – Physics – is preparing to modernise its entire syllabus at all levels, from undergraduate through to graduate courses. We are looking at what material should be taught, as well as ...
3
votes
1answer
406 views
Is the prestige of a university correlated with how rigorous its undergraduate courses are?
How much harder is it to get an undergraduate degree (say, in computer science) at a highly competitive university compared to a less rigorous institution?
7
votes
2answers
580 views
How to acknowledge a colleague's authorship of text in a syllabus
Here is a situation that I have been in several times, but have only recently begun to give careful thought to. Suppose you are asked to teach a course that you have not taught before. A fairly ...
40
votes
11answers
10k views
How can I politely explain to my students that the texts in my course are all in English and it is their duty to read it nonetheless?
Eventually I grew tired of having to explain over and over why all my class material is in English. It's a mandatory course in Art History. I want to put some warning in my syllabus to minimize any ...
3
votes
1answer
548 views
If co-instructors gave different syllabi with different grading schemes, is this generally considered a valid reason to challenge grade?
Summary: I am a STEM graduate student taking a soon-ending class that was divided into 3 parts each under different professors, Alice, Bob and Carol.
There is a conflict in the grading schemes set ...
20
votes
2answers
1k views
How to know when you should change what is taught during a lab classes
I teach a lab class that is only constrained by some broad learning objectives. I have been using the same project now for 5 years. It now runs very smoothly and I know what difficulties the students ...
28
votes
8answers
3k views
Is “read the syllabus” a sufficient transfer of responsibility?
In my experience, most instructors spend a large portion of the first period in a term talking about the syllabus. This seems to serve to pass responsibility onto students:
Students see the deadlines....
42
votes
4answers
3k views
Children in the Classroom
As a new semester of school approaches I have begun updating my syllabi for the classes I teach. I have lately used a clause in the syllabus about no children in the classroom as I feel it is a ...
22
votes
8answers
4k views
Do I need to define all forms of cheating in the syllabus?
Every year, students seem to find new ways to "cheat" on the work. Every year, my course policies section grows longer and longer (a full page now) to match the newfound methods. I list all forms of ...
11
votes
5answers
1k views
How can I change the assignments in the syllabus in a way that is fair to the students?
In my syllabus there is series of writing assignments that are worth 10% of the final grade. Over the course of the semester there were supposed to be 4 assignments, however as a result of snow days ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Is it worth it to print a copy of the syllabus for each student or it is better to have it on my course's website?
This is a question that has plagued me for a couple of years now. Is it worth it to print a copy of the syllabus for each student? Or, is posting it on my course website good enough? My syllabus ...
6
votes
1answer
141 views
How does calibrating syllabus based on the requirements of the industry happen?
Often the industry finds that students graduating from a particular department do not possess the skill-set required to perform well in their company. While research can at least afford to be outside ...
