What to Add to Your Online Syllabus
Your online syllabus should thoroughly address what you expect from students and what they can expect from you. When you clarify what you will provide to students, you give them some assurances and also give yourself some protection against unreasonable student expectations such as expecting you to be available 24 hours a day to respond immediately to questions.
Many institutions have templates that have been designed for use by their instructors when developing a syllabus. Check with your campus to see if they have a consistent format and/or template.
Include the following in your syllabus:
- Course title, section and year
- Professor contact info and office hours (on campus/virtual)
- Disability services statement required by your campus
- Course description; general description of the subject matter of lectures or discussions by week
- Academic integrity policy
- Participation policy
- Communication policy (see above)
- Grading info (see above)
- Assessment info (see above)
- Student learning outcomes
- General education competencies (if applicable)
- Expected classroom etiquette
- College and/or course policies if applicable (participation, attendance, academic integrity, etc.)
- List of textbook ISBN numbers - for required texts and recommended readings
- Additional materials and supplies required
- Technology requirements for your course along with contact info for available tech assistance (if applicable)
Other Elements that Enhance Expectations
The information listed below would work well as a Getting Started module for your course.
- Welcome page - A short greeting from you to your students that includes info about you and the course.
- Course orientation - Info students need to know to get started and succeed in the course.
- Syllabus link - Provide instructions on how to access the syllabus.
- Syllabus extras - Info that supplements the online syllabus and includes elements that might not be in the syllabus.
- Course schedule - A timeline of the semester activities - weekly or other structure - including deadlines if possible.
- Assignment instructions - Info on the types and number of assignments student must complete, grading info and instruction on where to find and submit assignments.
- Discussion instructions - Info on the types of discussions (graded/non-graded), number of discussions, grading info, where to find the discussions and the requirements for student posts and responses.
- Exam instructions - Number and types of exams, whether they are proctored or non-proctored, location for the exams (testing center or other location), grading info and other requirements.
- Technical support - How to get technical support; recommended browsers for the learning management system on your campus; instructions if you require students to access additional systems to complete the course requirements.
- Online student orientation - Use your campus's online orientation or develop 1 to use for your course(s).
- Syllabus quiz - A brief assessment over key info in your syllabus.
Other Helpful Suggestions
- Orientation assignment to get students used to submitting assignments. This assignment could serve as a syllabus contract.
- Introductions or icebreaker discussions to get students used to posting discussions. It also helps student become acquainted with each other and helps you learn more about them.