High school and college students receive handouts from teachers at the beginning of the semester that include a syllabus. The syllabus is often a set of hopeful goals or an idealized schedule, and teachers may use the syllabus as a rough road map for the academic progress of the class. But when developed and kept up properly, a syllabus can be an effective weekly planner and an accurate record of the semester.
Resources for Website Syllabus Development
The University of Delaware has posted a comprehensive view of research and resources into an active syllabus. The website breaks the design up into components useful to the teacher. The site contains a download for a checklist, that includes some standard components of the old paper handout. These include grading policies, text information, and contact information. The last component, the class schedule, is the focus of this article.
The web gives teachers an invaluable resource that can be used to post material, post links to resources, and post the actual class schedule. The teacher should not try to put this all on one page. There should be a link page that leads the students to the resources they are specifically looking for. Templates are available on line, from websites such as Vertex. There are also comprehensive resources such as Schoolnotes.
Teachers can also design a webpage from scratch. To do so, they need a website composition package, an uploading resource, and a website.
Types of Instructional Websites
There should be a main page for the teacher which includes general online resources. Resources for specific classes could be posted here or on a link page for each class. A good example of the former is Historyteacher.net, developed and maintained by Ms. Pojer, who teaches in Chappaqua N.Y. An example of an index page with links to each class and resources is available at kirkmarchand/beddows.
The Syllabus
The syllabus itself should include a day-to-day schedule. There should be a specific, repeated form so the students can quickly reference classwork and homework. Objectives can be placed at the beginning of each day entry. An example for an AP US History class is:
12/20 - Empire and Expansion 1890 -1909 (pt. 1)
Discussion - Questions , Identify
Lecture - Empire (pt. 1)
Homework - Develop 2 questions based on pg. 636 -653 , Download and read "Strategic Reasons for American Expansion: The Big Navy Argument"
At the end of each week, the teacher should update the syllabus, not delete already completed entries. The syllabus should continue to be updated, so that at the end of the semester it functions as a "history" for the class. The teacher then has a comprehensive review for the quarter or semester.
The active syllabus keeps the class on schedule. Also, students who are absent know exactly what the homework is for the sick day, and can prepare for the day they come back. It is the core component of a class website, and is a clear benefit associated with using the Internet for instruction.
Donald Marchand - Currently, I am a teacher. I teach Social Studues at a small school in southern Maryland. But I think I've been a lot more in my life. ...
