A physician attends to a patient with their medical knowledge, training, and experience. But sometimes, these skills are just as important as a doctor’s attention to a patient’s needs. Does the doctor’s attitude toward their patient resemble more of a Patch Adams or Dr. Gregory House approach? The approach and attitude, or bedside manner, a […]

The post The Importance of a Good Bedside Manner for <s>Doctors</s> Teachers, Part 1 appeared first on Teach Strats | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning.

This article first appeared in the Teaching Professor on March 17, 2017. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved.  Over the years, course syllabi have evolved from a simple document that outlines course objectives and requirements to an intimidating, multi-paged contract of terms and conditions for successful course completion. A number of writers have proposed syllabus makeovers, including […]

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This article first appeared in the Teaching Professor on August 19, 2019. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved.  Around an image of Yoda’s face, block letters urge, “Read the syllabus you must.” This meme represents a common complaint among college instructors, particularly those who teach online classes: that students do not follow syllabus instructions. In many on-campus […]

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Syllabi are a frequent subject of education research. Over the last decade, researchers have measured and assessed student responses to syllabus tone, voice, length, design, and delivery format. It may be expected that the product of this research would be an identified set of best practices in syllabus construction. Surely, there has been no reluctance […]

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Almost everyone who has taken a college course is familiar with the genre of the syllabus, or has at least seen one, though the form varies widely among institutions, colleges, departments, and even individual faculty members. What is required to be included in the syllabus is determined by any number of factors, including the purpose […]

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My learning edge with teaching has always been organization.  I was brimming with enthusiasm about my content area, and my interest in educational psychology had me eagerly applying almost any new strategy that I read about.  Nonetheless, the feedback I received from students, though lauding my strengths, always had a “but.”  “Great class but instructor […]

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There is no shortage of professorial eye rolling when it comes to the subject of students and syllabi. Students might read the syllabus, but they typically don’t absorb the information presented within it, and they don’t seem to refer to it as a resource for information.  When fielding student questions about matters that are already addressed in […]

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The syllabus—most of us use them, many of our students don’t read them.  We wondered if this venerable artifact of teaching might merit a revisit.  So, last fall we issued a call for ideas, opinions, examples and samples, and you responded, sharing a treasure trove of syllabus materials. Thank you!  I spent most of December […]

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Can a syllabus get students excited for your course? What will keep students coming back to it? These seven design elements can help students get the most out of your syllabus, prepare them for the course, and focus on the learning goals ahead. My Engaging Syllabus Design: Example illustrates all of these design elements.

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“Do you know how much this exam is worth?” 

“I can’t find any office hours listed for one of my classes—are there any?.” 

“What if I get sick and miss a few classes—will my grade be hurt?” 

My answer was the same for all three questions—“I don’t know.” Even though these were my first-year seminar students asking these questions, they were looking at syllabi from their other courses, part of a syllabus review exercise I do each fall with first-time students. 

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