Syllabus or the Outline?
What comes first the syllabus or the course outline? Any thoughts on this?
Mike,
For me it is the course outline where I lay out my goals, objectives, and instructional sequence. I write my syllabus once I am done with the instructional planning so I can be sure to include all of my policies, requirements and assignments along with the goals and objectives the students will be working within.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Douglas,
Great plan. It is simple, sequential and easy to follow. This format helps you to build a course that sequences the students through the content in a way that they can understand and appreciate.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Typically I start building a course by identifying over-arching subjects that need to be taught in that course. Then, I organize these into a logical sequence. Once sequencing is completed, I can then break each topic into smaller sub-topics. From there, I compare each to the core curriculum and identify alignment of subject matter to ensure that all topics necessary are addressed adequately. Once the backbone for the course is complete, Student Learning Outcomes for each major topic or course component can be constructed and an outline created. This lays the foundation for the syllabus. The outline comes later after creating specfic daily objectives from the student learning outcomes and identifying how each will be met (reading, homework, lecture, projects, quizzes, etc.). This ultimately leads to identification of specific assignments and number of assignments. Finally, a schedule of class days can be created from the course outline.
