Syllabus and Course Design

Model Syllabi

These models have been created in web accessible (usable by people with disabilities) Microsoft Word styles so that you may save them, rename them, enter your own content in place over the headings and text therein, and remove unneeded sections. Please follow the Tips on Using Styles for Your Syllabus to make the best use these models.

Model Syllabus for Classroom Courses (Word). CELT's Peer Review Committee also provides you with this Syllabus Example (Word) showing how one faculty member has customized the model in developing a syllabus for her classroom course (Word). 

Model Syllabus for an Online Course (Word). 

If you want to develop a syllabus for a hybrid course, with part classroom and part online learning, you may want to use elements of both models. 

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Purpose of a Syllabus

"The Purposes of a Syllabus" by Jay Parkes and Mary Harris explores the syllabus as contract, as learning tool and documentation. This 2002 article was published in College Teaching and may be downloaded from Jstor. 

Cheryl Albers, an early Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) practitioner at Buffalo State University, provides another perspective on uses of the syllabus in "Using the Syllabus to Document the Scholarship of Teaching" in the January 2003 issue of Teaching Sociology.

A study of how students actually use a syllabus, conducted by IU Kokomo faculty members (PDF).

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Designing Your Course

You are encouraged to incorporate general education learning objectives into your syllabi, when appropriate. Click here for a list of general education objectives by area. For more information about the general education requirements see the document entitled “Goals and Objectives of the IPFW Baccalaureate Degree Learning Outcomes and Examples of Evidence”.

A Course Map (Word) can help you analyze your objectives and align them with activities, resources, and assessments. Prepared by Ludy Goodson, CELT Instructional Consultant/Designer.

Integrated Course Design IDEA Paper #42 (PDF) by Dee Fink. A pioneer in professional development in higher education, Dee Fink explains his very accessible systematic approach to designing university courses. It is also available in hard copy in the CELT Library.

Twelve short articles (under 20 pages, total) worth reading entitled Course Design and Development Ideas that Work compiled by the editor of the Teaching Professor, Mary Ellen Weimer. Titles include "A Brain-Friendly Environment for Learning", "A Critique of Scaffolding", and "Should Students Have a Role in Setting Course Goals" which outlines one tested method for sharing the responsibility for course design. References to sources underlying these articles are as valuable as the articles themselves. Get your copy at Faculty Focus.

The Writing Center can also assist you in developing writing assignments and grading rubrics. 481-6028.

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