Building an inclusive and Discuss ideas and practices about the - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

5/23/19 1

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus

Laura Bestler, Ph.D. Program Coordinator, CELT

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Today’s Session

• Explore ways of intentionally shaping your

syllabi to be a more effective tool tailored for the individual contexts of your courses.

• Discuss ideas and practices about the purpose
• f the syllabus, how tone affects learner

perceptions, syllabus components, and ways to enrich your syllabi.

• Reflect on what you learned and what you still

need to know.

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Workshop resources website:

http://bit.ly/celt-syll-work

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Your Best Class (Think • Pair • Share)

Think about the best class you have ever completed.

• What do you remember?
• How was the class structured?

(Brain Drain - http://bit.ly/2YHDgaI)

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Backwards Design

Learning Goals

What should students learn/take away from this course?

Feedback & Assessment

How will I know if students are learning what they need to know?

Teaching Approach

Plan learning experiences and instruction

From Understanding by Design by Wiggins and McTighe

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Connecting your course to ISU

Accreditation

University’s Strategic Plan Program Objectives

Course Objectives

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Constructive Course Alignment

CELT’s course alignment website: http://bit.ly/coursealignment

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Connecting Outcomes to Assignments

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

What is a syllabus? Is it?

“A syllabus is the most simply defined as a concise outline of a course study. But it is also the students’ introduction to the course, the subject matter, and you.”

(Nilson, 2016, p. 61)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Or a syllabus… “… contains the information students need in order to understand what the course is all about, where you are trying to go with the course, and how it is going to operate.”

(Fink, 2013, p. 159)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

What are Syllabus ‘Must Haves’

For Students For the Teacher? For Iowa State

(Brain Drain - http://bit.ly/2YHDgaI)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

General Syllabus Components

Typical components: An online/hybrid course may include: Course title (dept/course number info)/ Course name A communication strategy General info (your contact/TA info; office hours) Clear description of the time frame and format Course description and objectives Guidelines for online class participation Evaluation plan (assignment descriptions) Technical requirements and support Grading scale and procedures Detailed course outline with start and end dates Required readings & recommended/optional readings Course/university policies (e.g., attendance, late work, academic integrity, ADA) Course outline/Structure, sequence of activities, due dates for major assignments, tests, and projects

*Nilson (2016) recommends a caveat/disclaimer syllabus is subject to change… (Fink, 2013; Nilson, 2016; Vai & Sosulski, 2011)

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

ISU Faculty Handbook: 10.6 Course Information Section

Instructors shall provide information regarding course content, objectives, and procedures to students during the first week of each course. The information shall include a course syllabus or schedule of proposed topics, readings, and course materials or other description of the course content. The evaluation procedures to be used, as well as expectations for attendance and assignments, shall also be included.

(was approved by the Faculty Senate on 11/12/1996)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Download CELT's Mindful and Learner - Centered Syllabus Checklist (PDF) (http://bit.ly/celtsyllabus)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

• Which component from the Checklist is new

to you?

• Which components will you consider adding

to your syllabus?

CELT's Mindful and Learner - Centered Syllabus Checklist

(Brain Drain - http://bit.ly/2YHDgaI)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Words are chameleons, which reflect the color of their environment.

• -- Learned Hand

(Syllabi wording examples read aloud)

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Types of Syllabi

Listers: provide a schedule of topics to cover or chapters to read, but no indication why they are relevant

Scolders: describe at length all the rules and all the consequences for breaking each one

Rubin, 1985

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

A Welcoming Syllabus

• “Warm” language vs. “cold”

language

• Invitations instead of commands
• Cooperative, welcoming language

versus authoritarian language

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

E-Mail and Electronic Devices You may use e-mail to inform me of an absence and scheduled return to class; I do not use e-mail as a discussion

• forum. E-mail allows you “to hide inside the machine”; if you

have an important issue to discuss, you need to meet with me – in real life – during office hours or by appointment. E-mail is permanent; it provides a record of your technical writing competency and professionalism. Treat e-mail with the same attention to detail and accuracy that you would a formal

• assignment. Any e-mail that you send will be evaluated for its

technical communication competency.

(Syllabi wording examples read aloud)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Computers as Tools I am tired of hearing computer-based excuses for late or incomplete assignments. The technology has been here for most of your life, and we have all learned to deal with it. Computers are tools, just like hammers, and a carpenter can no more blame a hammer for shoddy and incomplete work that you can blame a computer. Account for the time and effort needed to use technology effectively. If you come to me with one of those soggy “My computer ate my homework” excuses, you will receive a zero for the assignment.

(Syllabi wording examples read aloud)

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

What would a syllabus that invites students to a learning event they want to attend look like?

(Brain Drain - http://bit.ly/2YHDgaI)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Design: Tone

• Multiple means/multiple methods
• Clear and unambiguous
• Concise
• First person language; positive language
• Include recommended statements and/or

include an inclusive learning statement or a civility statement (handout, p. 4)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

(Adapted from Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001)

Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

(Cognitive Domain)

Creating Evaluating Analyzing Applying Understanding Remembering

Lower order thinking skills Higher order thinking skills

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: The cognitive processes dimension - categories with action verbs listed below Knowledge Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create

Copy Define Describe Discover Duplicate Enumerate Examine Identify Label List Locate Match Memorize Name Quote Recall Recognize Reproduce Select State Tabulate Tell Associate Classify Compare Contrast Convert Demonstrate Describe Differentiate Discuss Distinguish Estimate Explain Express Extend Identify Indicate Infer Interpret Paraphrase Predict Relate Summarize Apply Calculate Change Choose Complete Construct Demonstrate Discover Dramatize Experiment Illustrate Interpret Manipulate Modify Paint Prepare Produce Relate Show Sketch Solve Use Advertise Analyze Appraise Break down Categorize Classify Compare Connect Contrast Differentiate Discriminate Distinguish Divide Explain Infer Order Point out Prioritize Select Separate Subdivide Survey Appraise Assess Choose Compare Convince Criticize Decide Defend Discriminate Estimate Evaluate Find errors Grade Judge Measure Order Predict Rank Recommend Reframe Summarize Support Combine Compile Compose Construct Create Design Develop Formulate Generalize Hypothesize Integrate Invent Modify Organize Plan Prepare Produce Rearrange Rewrite Role-play Substitute Write

Lower order thinking skills Higher order thinking skills

Table adapted from Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 67-68)

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Retrieved from Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine http://bit.ly/2qUXbo6

Bloom’s Taxonomy: Teacher Planning Kit

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

An accessible syllabus

Can your syllabus be used by individuals with visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities?

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

A usable syllabus

• What do students see first?
• How do they know what to do next?
• Can they follow your instructions
• Can they get the software they need?
• Do you project an inclusive learning

environment?

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Engagement For purposeful, motivated learners, stimulate interest and motivation for learning.

Affective networks: The Why of Learning

Representation For resourceful, knowledgeable learners, present information and content in different ways.

Recognition networks: The What of Learning

Action & Expression For strategic, goal-directed learners, differentiate the ways that students can express what they know.

Strategic networks: The How of Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Student activities are varied and take into account different learning styles.

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

How can we be more accessible and learner-centered?

(Brain Drain - http://bit.ly/2YHDgaI)

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

7 Steps to a Learner-Centered Syllabus

• 1. Evaluate
• 2. Create a plan for implementation
• 3. Experiment with your syllabus.
• 4. Memo on your syllabus when your students ask

questions or requests.

• 5. Assess the implementation of changing your

syllabus

• 6. Repeat steps 1–5.
• 7. Never stop repeating steps 1–5.

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

ISU’s Online Learner Support

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Syllabus Rubric

Center for Teaching Excellence of the University of Virginia This syllabus rubric can be used to aide in the development of a new syllabus, or to identify areas for improvement in an existing syllabus.

5/23/19 9

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Today’s Session

• Explored ways of intentionally shaping your

syllabi to be a more effective tool tailored for the individual contexts of your courses.

• Discussed ideas and practices about the

purpose of the syllabus, how tone affects learner perceptions, syllabus components, and ways to enrich your syllabi.

• Reflected on what you learned and what you

still need to know.

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

“In my work” Think & Ink

On one side: Write down 1 concrete way that you can use this information in your work. On the other side: What is still left unanswered?

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Workshop resources website:

http://bit.ly/celt-syll-work

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching This presentation was adapted from:

• Teaching for Learning Center. (2018). The syllabus workshop. Retrieved from http://tlc.missouri.edu
• VanDerZanden, A.M. (2017). Your Syllabus: Templates for success; and Constructive alignment: Aligning

learning objectives, assessments and evaluations, and teaching strategies [Presentation]. Preparing Future Faculty, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.

References and Resources:

Anderson, L.W. (Ed.), Krathwohl, D.R. (Ed.), Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., & Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy

• f Educational Objectives (Complete edition). New York: Longman.

CELT’s course alignment website (http://bit.ly/coursealignment) CELT's Mindful and Learner - Centered Syllabus Checklist (PDF) (http://bit.ly/celtsyllabus) CELT’s Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy website (http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/effective-teaching- practices/revised-blooms-taxonomy)

Harnish, R.J. & Bridges, K.R. Soc Psychol Educ (2011) 14: 319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218- 011-9152-4

Knaack, L. (2011). A practical handbook from educators: Designing learning opportunities. Whitby, ON: de Sitter Publications. Rubin, S. (1985, August 7). Professors, students and the syllabus. Chronicle of Higher Education. (p. 56).

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Laura Bestler, PhD

Program Coordinator Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching 3024 Morrill Hall 603 Morrill Road Ames, IA 50011-2170 Email: bestler@iastate.edu Phone: 515-294-4533 Website: http://www.celt.iastate.edu/

Contact

Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

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Building an inclusive and learner-centered syllabus PowerPoint presentation by Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), Iowa State University, used under BY-NC-SA. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.