How Can I Create an Engaging, Student-Focused Syllabus?

How engaging is your syllabus?

The syllabus is a roadmap for students and a planning guide for teachers. Most instructors are familiar in general terms with the idea of a syllabus and know that it provides an overview of a course. They may not realize how significant the syllabus is in setting course expectations and they may not know how or why to create a living syllabus that includes more visual elements and that can be updated as a course progresses.

This 20-Minute Mentor gives ideas to make your syllabus more engaging, more student-centered, and more creative without a lot of extra effort. You’ll be able to turn a typically dry document into a living, engaging, and interactive student resource that can include multimedia, a series of slides, or a connected group of visuals—all created without any special technical know-how.  Additionally, you’ll explore how to re-envision an existing syllabus so it will resonate with students.

Learning Goals

After viewing this Magna 20-Minute Mentor, participants will be able to:

• Create more engaging syllabi
• Implement frameworks for developing a new syllabus and for upgrading an existing syllabus
• Discover new tools and techniques for creating engaging syllabi that will help engage students at the start of a course
• Confidently assess a syllabus’s engagement potential
• Introduce a syllabus in new ways to spark student interest early in a course

Topics Covered

• The multiple purposes of a syllabus
• Why syllabi are often ignored by students
• A step-by-step process for developing a new syllabus
• A framework for upgrading an existing syllabus
• How to use visuals and other creative elements to make a syllabus more engaging
• New tools for creating a living syllabus
• A checklist for assessing the engagement potential of your syllabus
• Creative ways to introduce your syllabus to students

Audience

This program will benefit:

• Faculty
• Instructional Designers

Product Code: PM22AA