what is the best format for syallbus
what is the best syallbus to use.
To give studes an overview of the course, what they can expect to learn and what is expected of them.
Kristi,
Good point and one we need to remember as we do our own instructional planning.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
This helps the students as well as the instructor to stay focused as to the purpose of the course. It gives clear guidelines as to how the course will progress.
I usually refer to my goals and objectives while the course is in progress and it always helps me refocus.
Students will ahve less stress and can learn better if they know what is expected of them
Having clear goals and objectives for my course allows me to be better prepared for class and to insure the students receive the most they can from the course and my instruction.
Clear goals and objectives are easy to follow and understand. With clear understanding of the goals and objectives students will not only be able to know exactly what they are getting into but will also be unable to excuse any failure to follow these goal and objectives.
When the students know what to expect from the course, then they can be mentally primed to receive the information.
In order to learn, we must remember. In order to remember, we must pay attention. We naturally pay attention to things which are emotionally relevant.
What the development of goals does is provide this emotional relevance, while the objectives prepare the student for the pacing and trajectory of the lessons.
MARIE,
Good way to show the students what progress they are making at the mid point of the course and then what they have learned/accomplished at the end. This helps them move to the next course with more confidence.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Ron,
Good point about the value of clear goals and objectives. They need to be concise and communicated in a way that the students can see the value of the course content and how what they are going to learn will move them forward in their career development.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
We usually have an open discussion format at the beginning of the semester, evaluate where we are with our goals at midterm, and at our final evaluations we review what goals were achieved and what were not. We discuss what we need to change to be successful with all our goals next term.
It is important to have a clear goal and objective for one's course for several reasons.
1. Goals allow the student and facilitator the opportunity to know what is expected to be accomplished at the end of the course.
2. Objectives maps out how the goals are going to be accomplished.
With clear goals and objectives students will have a better understanding of what is to be take place to successfully pass a course
I feel it is important for an instructor to set clear goals and objectives so their students will know what to expect from the course and give the students a sense of accomplishment when the set objectives and goals are met. When learning new information and course content associated with the student's career (the student's personal long term goal),accomplishing objectives and goals along the way helps motivate the student to keep reaching for their long term goal.
MARIE,
What are some ways you share goals with your students? Is it through the syllabus, discussion or some other format?
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
Clear goals and objectives are vital to student success. If goals and objectives are not clear, then communication has already broken down and student may have good argument to pass a class they otherwise would not have passed.
If you want to have students that resspect you and the material you are teaching and you want them to be successful and learn, you must have clear goals and objectives for each course. It would be ridiculous to teach without these very important elements.
Goals also help the instructor to stay on course.
Dr.Jayaram,
Thank you for your insight on the value and use of goals and objectives. They are an essential part of teaching as well as learning success. They make the instructional planning process so much easier when students know and understand where and what is going to occur in the upcoming class.
Gary
Dr. Gary Meers
I believe, writing goals and objectives is a critical part of the instructional design process. As an online instructor, I may need to consider defining and determining the course objectives and goals in such a way that will allow the online learners to meet their expectations. Organization of content is essential and the course objectives need to be well-organized and access to all learners all the time. Creating course goals and learning objectives is a significant task because they (a) provide a description of what the course will cover, (b) help us organize and structure our course materials, (c) provide an overview of course and we can see if we have covered everything we want to cover, (d) help us develop tests and assessments, and (e) help us determine student success in the course.
I want to share a point here that one of the biggest mistakes we can make is to write a goal when we meant to write an objective. Course goals are statements where we describe what a course will cover and they are written from the course’s perspective.
regards,
Dr.Jayaram
