»Creating Your Syllabus
Best practices for creating a course syllabus
The syllabus is a road map for the course and a blueprint for student success! It should provide clear, student-centered guidelines for achieving success in your class. The syllabus should use student-centered language that provides support and helps students feel welcome in your class.
Why the Syllabus is Important
- Serves as a Learning Contract - Establishes clear expectations between instructor and students about course requirements and policies, creating accountability on both sides.
- Provides a Roadmap for Success - Outlines the learning journey with specific objectives, timelines, and milestones so that students can plan and track their progress throughout the semester.
- Reduces Student's Anxiety - Communicates how students will be evaluated, what resources are available, and what support systems exist, allowing students to focus on learning.
The Chapman Syllabus
Faculty are required to use the Chapman Syllabus in Canvas.Chapman Syllabus is a centralized platform integrated into Canvas and is a supportive tool for instructors.
It allows them to quickly and easily create, duplicate, and publish syllabi, leveraging
University information to auto-populate content; it significantly reduces their workload
and streamlines syllabus preparation. The platform features advanced analytics, enabling
faculty to monitor student engagement with the syllabus.
Chapman Syllabus will serve as the official repository for all course syllabi, supporting
faculty, students, and academic units with a unified, efficient solution. More information
and training materials can be found on the Chapman Syllabus webpage.
For more information on syllabus requirements, visit the Undergraduate Curriculum Handbook or Graduate Curriculum Handbook.
Additional Optional Content for Your Syllabus
Syllabus Policy on the Use of AI Generative Tools
Incorporating Mental Health Concerns
The following list was generated by Dr. Cecilia Lopez in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Dr. Andrew Kami who is the Director of the Chapman Psychological Services
- Ensure all midterm/quiz dates are on the syllabus (if possible, avoid ‘pop’ quizzes), avoid TBA or TBD statements
- Explicitly state the content covered for each exam (if possible, down to the page numbers!)
- Try not to skip around in the textbook. Also, if you require a textbook, be sure you use it!
- Don’t use formal syllabus language. Try to use plain language so that students easily understand policies and procedures (provide examples as needed). NOTE: if verbiage in a policy must be exact, consider adding statements before or after the policy that explains things in plain language.
- Tell students how much time an average homework set will take.
- Include language in your syllabus that tells students that you are accessible and that you want them to succeed. Consider incorporating a ‘success’ story by a former student or if you have a supplemental instructor – have them share their own story of success.
- Tell them exactly how to communicate with you. Consider examples or a column with FAQs. If you don’t read emails on weekends or late at night, put this in your syllabus so that students aren’t anxiously awaiting a reply or worse, thinks you don’t care about them.
- Share/list your expectations of students and the course.
- Tell them exactly where exam information will come from. A statement such as “exam questions will be drawn from homework problems, readings, etc.”
- Consider embedding links to foundational knowledge required for the course.
Example of Dr. Cecilia Lopez's syllabus that includes information about mental health
concerns
Example of Dr. Lopez's syllabus
Example of Dr. Elaine Schwartz's syllabus that includes a lot of detailed info regarding
many topics such as academic integrity, growth mindset, etc
Example of Dr. Schwartz's syllabus
Enhanced Syllabus Approaches
Consider these innovative approaches to make your syllabus more engaging and effective (this would be in addition to using the required Chapman Syllabus in Canvas).
Visual Syllabus
A visual syllabus transforms dense text into engaging and accessible content that significantly improves readbility. It breaks information into digestible and clear segments using images, charts, and icons.
Benefits: Improved readability, appeals to visual learners, higher engagement
Liquid Syllabus
A liquid syllabus is a dynamic document that could evolve throughout the semester
based on student needs, course progression, and feedback. It is designed to be easily
modified and updated if necessary.
Benefits: Increased flexibility, improved communication, better readability
Gamified Syllabus
A gamified syllabus transforms the traditional course outline into an interactive, game-like experience that incorporates elements such as achievements, quests, and rewards to increase student engagement and motivation. This approach applies proven gaming mechanics to academic content, making the course itself an adventure that students want to explore.
Benefits: Higher engagement, increased motivation, reduced student anxiety
Navigation
Main Page
Course Design
Creating Your Syllabus
Backward Design
Universal Design
Bloom's Taxonomy Resources
Assessments
Rubrics