The Power of the Syllabus
Enhance the Process of Learning and Teaching
Paul T. Wietig, EdD
ptwietig@buffalo.edu
Assistant Vice President
Interprofessional Education
University at Buffalo
Academic Health Center
“Teaching should not be like pitching a
baseball toward a student in the batter’s
box to see whether he/she hits or strikes
out. Ideally, a teacher organizes a game of
Frisbee, inviting students to catch an idea
and pass it on…”
Ed Neal UNC TLC
The Power of the Syllabus
Enhance the Process of Learning and Teaching
Thoughts on a Syllabus
• A set of ‘promises’ to your students
• Outcomes: What they will understand and do.
• Methods: How you and they will go about
achieving goals.
• Evaluation: How you and they will understand
progress.
A Syllabus Is…
• A contract between the student, instructor
and the university
• Sets forth what is expected during the term of the contract
and to guide the behaviors of both parties
• Sets forth responsibilities of students and of the instructor
for tasks
• Sets forth procedures and policies
Parks & Harris – The Purpose of a Syllabus
Questions To Be Considered
• Which ideas or themes do you want to teach?
or
• What kind of questions will your students be
better prepared to answer as a result of your course?
and
• What kind of skills will your course help them develop
in order to answer those questions?
Additional Syllabus Development Points
• Aims
• The main themes or ideas I will emphasize are…
• The big picture or story line for this course is…
• The main question(s) I am interested in having
students find / solve / understand include…
• The mental model I am promoting …
Additional Syllabus Development Points
• Outcomes
• I want my students to become more skillful
in doing…
Additional Syllabus Development Points
• Style
• The diction / style / methodology I will use to
convey the aims and outcomes …
Learning Objective Components
Audience: the ‘Who’
Behavior: the ‘What’
Condition: the ‘When’
Degree: the ‘How well’
A Well-Written Learning Objective
• Student-centered
• Outcome-oriented vs. process-oriented
• Outcome-oriented vs. just stating the material to be
covered
• Describes one outcome only
• Specific vs. general
• Observable and measurable
Writing Objectives
to the Appropriate Level
• ’Bloomify’ the objective
1) Knowledge (Remember)
2) Comprehension (Understanding)
3) Application (Apply)
4) Analysis (Analyze)
5) Synthesis (Create)
6) Evaluation (Evaluate)
Mentoring Minds
Assessing Student Achievement
 Multiple choice (quiz, test)
 Pre and post testing for knowledge
 End of semester project
 Lab, field report
 Final paper
Assessing Student Achievement
Oral presentation
Performance
Group project
Problem sets
Case study
Pop quiz
Portfolio project
One minute quiz
Journal
Sample Syllabus