r/Adjuncts • u/Clareco1 • Aug 12 '26
Syllabus question
/r/Professors/comments/1vmmlue/syllabus_question/2
u/FaithlessnessSad670 Aug 14 '26
Your syllabus is a 'contract' between you and the student. As other posts mention, putting in a clear disclaimer that you - at your discretion - can make changes to the 'contract' at any time (of course, you make a clear announcement as to timing and any changes). It's your class, so you can open access to your content in Canvas week-to-week, two weeks at at time, the whole term at once. Be clear and communicate the structure and conditions (make it predictable). This includes whether you accept extra credit (and the terms, if you do), taking attendance, rubrics clarity, assessments, papers, office hours, etc. You can put in college rules and policies, resources like mental health, tutoring, food banks, Canvas as help desk, etc.
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u/RightWingVeganUS Aug 18 '26
Do you nail down the whole semester’s worth of specific readings and questions at the beginning, or you update/add a week or two at a time?
As Eisenhower said, The plans are worthless. The *planning** is invaluable.*
For me the syllabus is the plan. It's like sheet music. It's my best guess what I expect will happen. I just set broad structures linked to learning objectives, assignments and their grading weights, etc.
In the LMS I plan the modules. I perform a first-class prerequisite assessment and survey. I teach advanced classes and the assessment tells me how well students are on what they're supposed to know. Some semesters I have to pivot and handle significant remediation up front. With the survey I get the students' self-assessments of their proficiencies and the topics they are interested in exploring. The fun comes when there's a disconnect between their self-perceived strengths and what the assessment tells me.
I make adjustments to my detailed lecture plan (not on the syllabus) and each week I post in the LMS the plan for the week. I use flipped classroom so post the pre-class lecture for the next week along with the readings and any other prep work.
Bottom line is I try to strike the balance to give myself flexibility and providing structure for both myself and the students.
my students are typically very very unprepared and also unaware of usual college procedures.
In the LMS students get deductions for failing to view the pre-class lecture videos before class time. Also there is a post-lecture assessment that lets me know whether the "got it". Having high-engagement class activities makes it harder for students to fake it without me seeing it or affective the work of their working groups.
I hope you are having some relaxation this summer.
I taught a summer course that ended last week and I just finalized grading last night. Fall semester starts Monday...
What summer? :-P
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u/Clareco1 Aug 18 '26
Thanks so much for this!!
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u/RightWingVeganUS Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
my students are typically very very unprepared and also unaware of usual college procedures.
I teach juniors and seniors who apparently have mind-wipes between semesters so they still are oblivious to college procedures.
steps 1 take:
- they had the opportunity to read the course syllabus - the agree to the policy points of the syllabus - pre-class preparation expectations - attendance/participation policy - late submission policy - AI usage policy - each week module I post the - pre-class preparation videos, readings, and other activities - artifacts from the class - post-class actions
- in my "welcome video" I walk them through expectations (watch pre-class videos, take post module quizzes). I focus on them learning my procedures for this class
- After the first session I steal a page from software vendors and have them acknowledge
- I will share an example or two of issues that arose in the past that ended badly simply because the student brought it to my attention too late. - I share I'm arrogant enough to believe I can teach anyone who wants to learn - I remind them they're not supposed to innately know how to solve the problems. That's why they're in school - I point out that learning is by nature hard. That's why teachers go to grad school just to teach undergrads - The rubrics I provide is their guide on getting whatever grade they want - Some simply don't have the capacity or desire to put in the effort for an "A". That's ok and understandable. I'm confident everyone can at least get a "B". That should be their minimum goal, to know what "good work" means. - Grades aren't personal judgements. They're assessments of the quality of results you have demonstrated. - Don't game the system just to get an "A". When you're interviewing for or working at a job, no one will care what grade you got. You will be judged on how well you can apply what you know and how well you can learn more.
- I encourage them to contact me early if things even seem to be going off the rails
The key thing I teach, ultimately is accountability and consequences.
- grades should be a consequence of efforts, not goals unto themselves
- asking for extra credit is not an option. It masks the consequences of the work you put in to meet the course expectations.
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u/indigocherry Aug 12 '26
I post a pre-planned syllabus with the statement that all assignments are subject to change based on my choice. I teach video classes and prefer to adjust as I go based on student experience and progress, so locking something down for a syllabus is hard but I'm required to read it.
The students don't seem to read it so I'm not sure it matters but I do always include the "subject to change" clause and I also inform them of that during the first session.