The Graphic Syllabus:
Communicating Your Course
Creatively
Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D., Director
Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation
864-656-4542 * nilson@clemson.edu * www.clemson.edu/OTEI
Steven N. Pyser, J.D., Assistant Professor (Practice)
Department of Human Resource Management, Fox School of Business
(215) 204-4281 * SNPyser@temple.edu
Introduction
What if you could …
directly and positively influence student
learning and improve business education
visualize simply for students ambiguity,
complexity and connections between
course content and your design
(re)capture your passion for learning and
link subject matter expertise with the
energy and momentum of the Fox School
"Too much light often blinds gentlemen of this sort. They
cannot see the forest for the trees."
Musarion [1768], Canto II
Workshop Inspiration
Mentoring Appreciation (Pyser)
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/graphic-display-of-student-learning-objectives/27863
Participant Objectives
By the end of this workshop, you will
be able to communicate the topical
organization of your course to your
students by designing a “graphic
syllabus.” In doing so, you will also
facilitate their learning of the course
material.
Can you relate?
Syllabus Review: Foundation for Students Evaluations
Will they be under/overwhelmed??
Applied Pracademics
(Practice/Academics)
real-world practice and research driven
academics (combining rigor AND pragmatism)
infuse critical thinking, problem solving and
decision making into the daily thinking of
business students and class interactions
engender understanding → content mastery
→ with a context to simulate "real-world"
business environment students experience
after graduation
Visual Graphic Syllabus and
Communication Perspective
What are we making
together?
How are we making
it?
What are we
becoming as we
make this?
http://www.cmminstitute.net/
How can we make
better “social
worlds” through
histories, futures,
and networks of
classroom
relationships?
Education as “Social” Experience
Social capital
institutions,
relationships, norms
that shape quality and
quantity of a society's
social interactions.
social cohesion is
critical for societies to
prosper
Social worlds (CMM)
allows faculty and
students fertile ground
to learn
graphic syllabus is
visual communication
create synergies
between human and
academic sides of the
classroom to build
learning communities
http://www.russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/p/pearce.shtml
Why Design a
Graphic Syllabus?
Text syllabi fail because they:
1. depict a complex structure of
knowledge--a network of topics,
concepts, and principles--as linear; and
2. require familiarity with the terms,
which students lack, to understand.
How Some Students See a Syllabus
BLAH 300: “Something I Gotta Take”
Week 1: Overview of Something I Gotta Take
Week 2: The Composition of Apple Peel
Week 3: Introduction to Giraffe Consciousness
Week 4: Cooking with Sugar and Eggs
Week 5: Sugar and Eggs continued
Week 6: The Modern Car: The Carburetor
Week 7: The Modern Car: Seat Belts
Week 8: Advanced Giraffe Consciousness,
Introduction to Pineapples
Week 9: The Relationship between Pineapples
and Buses
etc., etc., etc.
Why Design…? continued
Learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, concrete,
holistic/global, “Divergers,” “Intuitive Feelers”
Better retention & retrieval of material
received 1) in two modalities and 2) visually
(more efficient, less working memory and fewer
cognitive transformations)
“Big picture” of key concepts and their
interrelationships; ready-made structure for
knowledge processing and storage
Why Design…? continued
Model tool for enhancing cognitive activities
involving memory, planning, and organizing.
For students: note-taking, outlining, problem
solving, and organizing & summarizing
material
For you: re-examine and tighten your course
design …
and have some creative fun!
Graphic Syllabus
= flowchart, diagram, or picture
showing the organization of and
interrelationships among your
course topics – that is, how your
course structures the subject
matter and its body of knowledge.
Types of Course Structures
Competition/Complementarity
Parallelism
Process
Chronology (Sequence)
Categorical Hierarchy
Self-Created
HSCI 441: Community Program Planning, Dr. Vicki Ebin
Introduction, Health Education and Behavior
Change Theories, Systems Theories (2/1-2/8)
Community Analysis (2/8-2/15)
Community Diagnosis
Level II (2/15)
Program Goals/Objectives
Methods/Activities
Intervention Strategies
Implementation
Evaluation
The Final Product (3/22-5/17)
Community Diagnosis
Level III (2/22)
Targeted
Surveys/
Analysis
Program
Focus
(3/1)
(3/8-3/15)
Steven N. Pyser (2012)
Fox School of Business,
Temple University
ME 404: Manufacturing Processes and Their
Application, Professor Laine Mears
DESIGN
Integration
Interpretation
•QFD
INDUSTRIAL
MANUFACTURING
Quality
•GD & T
Time
•Metrology
•Push / Pull
•SPC
•Lean Mfg.
Design for X
Process Planning
PROCESSES
Material
Removal
Machining
Processes
Sheet
Metal
•Turning
•Bending
•Milling
•Stamping
•Drilling
•Blanking
•other
•Punching
Material
Transformation
Casting
Processes
•Sand
casting
•Diecast
•Investment
•other
Bulk
Deform.
•Forging
•Rolling
•Extrusion
•Drawing
Material
Addition
Polymer
Processes
•Inj.
Molding
•Blow
molding
•Rotomold
•other
Joining
Adhesion
Rapid
Prototyping
•Welding
•SLA
•Brazing
•SLS
•3D
Printing
•other
Sharon Shaughnessy
2006, Univ. of Toronto
Study of Culture & Psychology
Basic Dimensions of Cultural Variability
CULTURE
CULTURE
Social Systems
Identity/Ethnicity
Self
Research
Methods
Cognition
Personality
Development
Abnormal
Emotion
Social Behavior
Christine Burton
2006, Univ. of
Toronto
The auditory system
The visual system
Sound localization
Object Perception
Colour perception
The sixth sense:
proprioception
Depth perception
Touch
Motion perception
The chemical senses:
Smell and taste
Variations in Graphic Syllabi
Shape of enclosures
Shading of key enclosures, activities,
assignments, etc.
Colors of enclosures and connecting lines
Type size, face, features (bold, italics)
Arrangements
Graphic Metaphor
Type of graphic syllabus that
compares topical course
organization to some object.
Cautions!
Avoid overcomplexity.
Course flows in ONE direction following
TIME through semester.
No recursive relationships
Structure of course topics or the
learning process – not the field, a theory,
a model, etc.
Don’t forget to refer to it frequently!