Using an interactive syllabus to improve teaching and learning Scott Windham Elon University Copyright Scott Windham This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Note to reader: If you are viewing this PowerPoint presentation online, you may not be able to see the Notes section that contains the text of my presentation. To see the text, save the file to your desktop, open it in Powerpoint, and look at the Notes bar at the bottom of the screen. I briefly considered uploading the text in a PDF file, but the text is so tightly integrated with the slides that I determined it would be confusing.

Outline of presentation 1)Definition What makes a syllabus interactive? 2)Problems What are obstacles to its use? 3)Benefits What justifies claims its proponents make?

Definition What makes a syllabus interactive?

Interactivity drives learning by generating “a learner-manipulated environment in which concepts are presented in different ways and at different times, resulting in multiple and adaptive interpretations necessary for knowledge acquisition.” Richards, paragraph 2

Definition Syllabus a misnomer: we’re actually talking about the assignment schedule Interactive not in sense of providing feedback — but in sense of students’ interaction with and manipulation of information

Problems What are obstacles to use of interactive syllabus?

Problems Scaffolding Resources need context Logistical challenge Disciplinary structure

Problems Scaffolding Resources need context Logistical challenge how/when to present & categorize resources Disciplinary structure

Problems Scaffolding Resources need context Logistical challenge how/when to present & categorize resources Disciplinary structure loosely-structured vs. rigidly-structured disciplines

Benefits What justifies my claims about the interactive syllabus?

Benefits Choices textbook no longer center of course Acquiring vs. using knowledge

Benefits Choices textbook no longer center of course Acquiring vs. using knowledge task-based homework is made easier

Summary 1)Definition What makes a syllabus interactive? 2)Problems What are obstacles to its use? 3)Benefits What justifies claims its proponents make?

Sources Richards, Sylvie. “The Interactive Syllabus: A Resource-based, Constructivist Approach To Learning.” The Technology Source, July/August As of June 1, 2005, The Technology Source is still unavailable but in the process of being archived at iBiblio ( under the URL A presentation by Dr. Richards at the Educause 2001 Conference that was the basis of the above-cited article is available at Spiro, R.J., Feltovich, P.J., Jacobson, M.I., & Coulson, R.L. “Cognitive flexibility, constructivism, and hypertext: Random access instruction for advanced knowledge acquisition in ill- structured domains.” In L.P. Steffe & J.E. Gale (Eds.), Constructivism in Education (pp ). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Cited in Richards. Vermette, Paul, et al. “Understanding Constructivism(s): A Primer.” Education, Fall 2001, 122/1, p87. Reprinted in Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. Accessed June 1, 2005: