The Syllabus
Rolando Chavez "East River Arch Bridge" photo used with permission
The Syllabus Narrative and Course Plan
The cliché is that the syllabus is a contract between you and your students. At Queensborough, it is required that every instructor distribute to students a complete syllabus at the start of each semester.
QCC Course Outline Template (suggested order only)
- Department, course prefix, number and title (from the Course Syllabus) (i.e., Department of English, EN-101, English Composition I)
- Semester and year (i.e., Fall2011); hours and location of class (i.e., MWF 9:00 - 9:50, Room H-110)
- Instructor's name and contact information, including office location and hours
- Texts/ readings/bibliography/ other materials required or recommended for this course section
- Course / overview (optional) - this is the instructor speaking to the students about the course; it may include a description of particular emphases for the course, the method of instruction, class format, etc.
- General Education objectives addressed by the course (from the Course Syllabus, see below)
- Course objectives- expected student learning outcomes (from the Course Syllabus, see below); instructors may add to this list.
- Outline of dates, topics and assignments for class meetings (readings, homework assignments, papers, projects, performances, presentations, exams, etc.); include a disclaimer stating that minor changes may be announced during the term
- Methods by which student learning will be evaluated: (a.) description of and due dates for all assignments, exams, projects, reports, performances, field trips, class participation, and any other student activities that will be graded (b.) description of the basis for grading (c.) additional policies affecting evaluation (late assignments, etc. )
- Attendance requirements and other expectations for student performance, such as tardiness, cell phone policy, participation expectations, etc.
- Academic Integrity policy (departmental or College, see catalog); add a statement about plagiarism
- The following statement should be included on all course outlines:
Any student who thinks that he/she may need an accommodation based upon the impact of a Disability should contact the instructor privately to present their QCC SSD issued "Accommodations Card" and discuss specific needs for the class. If you have not done so already, please contact the office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in Science Building, room S132 (718 631 6257) to be approved for an accommodation card.
General Education and Course Objectives for EN-101and EN-102
EN-101addresses the following General Education objectives of the college:
- Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening, and speaking;
- Use information management and technology skills effectively for academic research and lifelong learning;
- Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value systems;
- Work collaboratively in diverse groups directed at accomplishing learning objectives.
Course objectives/ expected student learning outcomes:
By the end of EN-101, students will be able to perform the following tasks:
- Identify an intellectual question or problem worthy of further study;
- Use reading and writing for inquiry, thinking, learning, listening and communicating;
- Articulate a focused argument or line of thinking appropriate to the particular genre or form the writer is working in;
- Make use of relevant evidence from sources such as written texts, visual images, graphs, charts, electronic media observations, interviews, and surveys;
- Use a variety of writing and revision strategies for generating, revising, editing and proof reading their own and others' writing;
- Employ logical structures and stylistic approaches appropriate to a form or genre of writing (transitional language, progressive development of ideas, etc.)
EN-102 addresses the following General Education objectives of the college:
- Communicate effectively through reading, writing, listening and speaking;
- Use analytical reasoning to identify issues or problems and evaluate evidence in order to make informed decisions;
- Differentiate and make informed decisions about issues based on multiple value systems;
- Apply aesthetic and intellectual criteria in the evaluation or creation of works in the humanities or the arts.
Course objectives / expected student learning outcomes:
By the end of EN-102, students will be able to perform the following tasks:
- Create multiple drafts of an essay revising their texts in response to feedback from the instructor and/ or peers to increase effectiveness;
- Engage in class discussion to share and support their thoughts and opinions;
- Read texts critically by identifying rhetorical elements, summarizing key points in texts, analyzing ideas found in texts, comparing different interpretations of texts, and evaluating the implications of texts and ideas;
- Articulate, orally and in writing, what effects a text has on them as readers, and how they believe the writer achieved these effects. They should be able to discuss literary strategies such as tone, diction, allusion, and figurative language.
It's true that it behooves you to let your students know what you expect from them over the course of the semester. However, another reason for having a detailed syllabus is that when an instructor takes the time to craft a syllabus, that instructor is thinking about the class before it begins. The instructor is conceptualizing the what, when, how and why of the course.
A big part of syllabus-planning is concerned with simply giving students stuff to do, filling the time of each class day, filling a semester with activities. However, we feel that a course should have a forward movement rather than simply a bunch of activities. It should have a narrative.
There are numerous ways to create a narrative for a course. For instance,
- A cohesive theme (or multiple interrelated ones)
- Successive activities which build on each other (with transitions between activities)
- Projects that students piece together over the course of a semester.
Following the course descriptions for EN-101 and EN-102 are sample syllabi from our faculty.