1. Paul T. Wietig, EdD ptwietig@buffalo.edu Assistant Vice President Interprofessional Education University at Buffalo Academic Health Center ptwietig@buffalo.edu The Power of the Syllabus Enhance the Process of Learning and Teaching

2. “Teaching should not be like pitching a baseball toward a student in the batter’s box to see whether he/she hits or strikes out. Ideally, a teacher organizes a game of Frisbee, inviting students to catch an idea and pass it on…” Ed Neal UNC - TLC

3. The Power of the Syllabus Enhance the Process of Learning and Teaching

4. Thoughts on a Syllabus A set of ‘promises’ to your students Outcomes: What they will understand and do. Methods: How you and they will go about achieving goals. Evaluation: How you and they will understand progress.

5. A Syllabus Is… A contract between the student, instructor and the university Sets forth what is expected during the term of the contract and to guide the behaviors of both parties Sets forth responsibilities of students and of the instructor for tasks Sets forth procedures and policies Parks & Harris – The Purpose of a Syllabus

6. Questions To Be Considered Which ideas or themes do you want to teach? or What kind of questions will your students be better prepared to answer as a result of your course? and What kind of skills will your course help them develop in order to answer those questions?

7. Additional Syllabus Development Points Aims The main themes or ideas I will emphasize are… The big picture or story line for this course is… The main question(s) I am interested in having students find / solve / understand include… The mental model I am promoting …

8. Additional Syllabus Development Points Outcomes I want my students to become more skillful in doing…

9. Additional Syllabus Development Points Style The diction / style / methodology I will use to convey the aims and outcomes …

10. Learning Objective Components Audience: the ‘Who’ Behavior: the ‘What’ Condition: the ‘When’ Degree: the ‘How well’

11. A Well-Written Learning Objective Student-centered Outcome-oriented vs. process-oriented Outcome-oriented vs. just stating the material to be covered Describes one outcome only Specific vs. general Observable and measurable

12. Writing Objectives to the Appropriate Level ’Bloomify’ the objective

13. 1)Knowledge (Remember) 2)Comprehension (Understanding) 3)Application (Apply) 4)Analysis (Analyze) 5)Synthesis (Create) 6)Evaluation (Evaluate) Mentoring Minds

14. Assessing Student Achievement Multiple choice (quiz, test) Pre and post testing for knowledge End of semester project Lab, field report Final paper

15. Assessing Student Achievement Oral presentation Group project Case study Portfolio project Journal Performance Problem sets Pop quiz One minute quiz

16. Sample Syllabus