Teaching Tip: Two ways to get students to read the syllabus
September 9, 2014
How many times do you find yourself answering questions whose answers are outlined
clearly in your syllabus? Probably more than you’d like. So how do you get students
to read the darn syllabus? Here are two ideas:
Visual cues
This infographic syllabus is an example of using visual cues to chunk syllabus information
and create an engaging reading experience. Icons, color blocks, font changes and high
contrast are all used to control how quickly the reader is able to search for information
and even how well they may remember it.
A living, growing document
Creating and sharing your syllabus using Google Docs is a great way to avoid excuses
from students who are either absent from class or simply absent-minded. Tell your
students they must access the document and put their names at the very bottom to show
they’ve read it. You can update it at any time, and students will always have the
latest version.
See how to make these syllabi on iTeachU: http://elearning.uaf.edu/go/tt-onsyllabus2.
To get more in-depth instruction on this and more, apply to iTeach: http://iteach.uaf.edu/apply. The deadline is Sept. 12.
-- Teaching Tip by Madara Mason, UAF eLearning faculty development coordinator