Recommended Syllabus Elements 

Learning Objectives

All syllabi or course policy documents for UMSI courses are required to include a section defining learning objectives. Learning objectives are not the same as a teacher’s course goals, as usually written:

Instructional goal statements, it should be noted, are written from the teacher’s point of view. They serve to indicate what topics, issues, facts or principles will be taught and emphasized. The advantage of spelling them out is that they serve to draw attention to, and help emphasize, the most fundamental and ultimate purposes of a course (understanding, knowing, appreciating something). The problem, however, is that there usually exists no direct, straightforward way of ascertaining whether or not they have been achieved once the course is over.

Learning objectives, on the other hand, are more precise and specific statements of what it is a student will be able to do — what performance outcomes will be possible — once learning has taken place. Learning objectives are written from the learner’s point of view and employ con­crete action words such as “identify”, “solve”, “construct” and “compare” (Lucas, Christopher J. and John W. Murray, Jr., New Faculty: A Practical Guide for Academic Beginners (Palgrave: New York, 2002), p. 53).

Describing learning objectives has been mandatory in new course proposals for some time before this. Explicit learning objectives serve several valuable purposes. First, they help a student answer the question “Am I going to acquire knowledge and skills that correspond with my needs and interests”? Second, they are a valuable guide to the instructor in preparing course material: “What readings should I assign, what should homework assignments look like, what material should I cover in lecture to help students reach the learning objectives?” And third, they provide a benchmark against which to evaluate the success of a course offering, from which revisions and improvements can be made.

Indeed, one characteristic of good learning objectives is that they be stated in terms that are measurable (qualitatively or quantitatively), so that the performance of the course may be assessed. Our goal at UMSI is continuous improvement in our curriculum and instructional methods and better measurement of learning outcomes. Though we have not adopted a formal assess­ment and improvement policy, the following policy from the Twin Cities (Minnesota) Learning Assessment Council is a reasonable description of our practice[1]:

Effective assessment thus involves:

• making our goals explicit and public; 

• setting appropriate criteria and high standards; 

• systematically gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to as­certain how well performance matches those expectations and stan­dards 

• using the results to document, explain, and improve teaching and learning

For advice on how to prepare effective learning objectives for your course, you might consult: 

• Guide to Writing Learning Objectives For Courses

• Benjamin Bloom’s taxonomy offers a variety of useful verbs, organized by a learning hierarchy from the basic levels of learning (e.g., knowledge acquisition) through more advanced stages such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Ben­jamin S. Bloom, M. D. Englehart, et al., Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain (New York: Longmans, Green, 1956) 

To help shift from the teacher’s “goal” perspective to the learner’s “outcome” perspective, you might find the following helpful:  University of Minnesota, “Converting Teacher-Centered Course Outcomes to Learner-Centered Course Outcomes”

Office Hours 

UMSI requires faculty to hold at least one hour of office hours per week for each course taught. Faculty should also be available by appointment. This information should be on a syllabus and reported to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs which posts these on a Google Doc, UMSI Residential Faculty/Instructor Office Hours, for students.

Grading

Syllabi should include elements which make up a student's grade, the percentage of the grade encompassed by each element, and the overall grading scale of breakdown and cut offs for grades (e.g., 90-94 = and A-) should be clearly communicated in the syllabus.

Not particularly for the syllabi but instructors should be aware that as announced by Provost Susan Collins in her June 17, 2021 message to the Deans, “The fall semester will also see the return of our traditional grading systems for undergraduate and graduate students.”  This means that the following measures will be reversed for all of our degree programs:

• The No Record COVID” (NRC) grade will no longer be utilized. 

• The option to change any or all letter grades to “Pass” and have it count towards UMSI degree requirements will no longer be in force.

• Students may still withdraw from a course until the last day of classes but the W will again appear on all official transcripts.

COVID-19 - Related Elements for Syllabi

Instructors should communicate specific class policies that will be implemented due to COVID-19, such as: 

• Encourage students who are feeling ill to not come to class in-person. Instructors should assure students that their grade will not be negatively impacted by not attending class due to illness.

• Expectations regarding class participation and the various ways this can be accomplished if a student has to miss class.

• Provide clear direction about student class absences. Information on absences and flexibility given to students who are ill, have caregiving responsibilities, have childcare responsibilities, etc. For example, procedures for requesting class alterations due to the aforementioned reasons. Instructors should strive to provide alternative means to make up missed work. 

Student Class Absences:  

Illness or Emergency

UMSI recognizes the extreme circumstances surrounding this academic term. We strive to provide an inclusive environment and to support the academic success of all students. If students experience illness or emergency during the term, they should inform the instructor before class that they cannot participate in class. If they cannot participate due to illness or emergency, the instructor should provide as much support and flexibility as possible for the student to complete the course when they are able. If the student has ongoing physical or mental accommodation needs, they can contact the Services for Students with Disabilities Office (734-763-3000; ssd.umich.edu/). If they will be out for an extended period, or if they need additional academic support, please encourage them to contact their academic advising team.

Outside of Illness or Emergency

When students make travel plans that will result in missing class (whether for a job interview, conference, or event), they should contact faculty well in advance to let them know and should take responsibility for obtaining class notes and making up any missed work. There are many events that may occur that have great importance to individuals or groups of students, and thus in each instance it is up to the student(s) involved to miss as few class meetings as possible, complete work in advance or on time, and only in extenuating circumstances ask for extensions for reasons other than serious illness or family tragedy.

Audio and Video Recording

Class Recordings

We will be doing audio and video recording of all sessions to enable those who cannot attend class in  person on a given day to access the content. These recordings will not be made available publicly.  Recordings of all sessions will be available on Canvas only to students registered for this class. As part of  your participation in this course, you may be recorded. If you do not wish to be recorded, please contact  the professor during the first week of class to discuss alternative arrangements. The camera only picks up  the front of the room, but this may require you to sit in a particular place in the room, outside the  cameras' view. Our classroom, XXX does/does not have a ceiling mike that picks up student voices, only the instructor’s microphone records audio in the room. Further, students may not share these sessions  with those not in the class, or upload them to any other online environment (this is a violation of the  Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Personal recordings are prohibited except with permission

Students are prohibited from recording/distributing any class activity without written permission from  the instructor, except as necessary as part of approved accommodations for students with disabilities.  Any approved recordings may only be used for the student’s own private use.

Remote Testing Language 

Although we strongly encourage instructors to find alternate means of assessing student learning during  this challenging time, we recognize that some instructors need to administer large-scale (and sometimes  timed) digital assessments in a secured system.  However, there have been cases in which technical  difficulties and/or internet bandwidth issues make it impossible for students to access or submit  assessments, causing serious distress for students and putting them at risk of being unable to  demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired.  We also know that some students may lose access due  to internet connectivity challenges while in the midst of an assessment. 

We cannot put our students at risk of a negative evaluation due to technical challenges. Thus, for those faculty members giving assessments in a secure digital medium, we strongly suggest that you:

• Include on your syllabus, and on all assessment sign-in messages, information about what to do in the case of a technical glitch that prevents students from logging in to the assessment. 

• Encourage students also to reach out to ITS by both emailing 4HELP@umich.edu and calling 734-764-HELP (4357).

•  List emergency contacts on every exam document and in an easily accessible area of your CANVAS site.  Specifically, we suggest that you include the email address and phone number of  an emergency contact, together with a reminder to email you if the student has any difficulties  logging into the designated system. 

 Identify a back-up plan if students encounter technical problems, and communicate those back-up plans to your students.  For example:

•  Can students create a pdf and email it to you if submission methods don't work? 

• Can they send screenshots or photos of the screen to verify the problem? 

• Is there an alternate day or make-up exam process?  

• Are you willing to let students mail a paper exam by snail mail and have it returned through mail?   .  

• Block the exam time so that you can be on stand-by should a student need your assistance.  

Please keep in mind that exams are typically stressful for the people taking them, and what might seem  like an obvious action to address an emergency may not seem as obvious to a person whose computer has just crashed or who can’t figure out how to get into the testing system.  Providing routine reminders and easy access to contact information will help reduce stress for our students and allow them to do their best work.

Suggested  syllabus language   : We strongly encourage all instructors using technology-based examinations to include some version of this language on your syllabus, your CANVAS site, and in exam login instructions:

If you experience technical difficulties with signing in, accessing, completing, or submitting the assessment or should you lose internet connectivity during the exam time, then you should immediately call [name of instructor] at [phone number] for assistance.  Please also send a back-up email message to [name of contact/email address/CANVAS site] to register the difficulty you are having with the system. Finally, document your need for assistance by emailing 4HELP@umich.edu and calling 734.764.HELP (4357).

I [and any teaching assistants, preferably listed by name] will be on stand-by during examination time periods to ensure that we receive your call and can provide you with immediate assistance.  In the case of a timed assessment, your testing time will be counted from the time you are able to log in (or re-enter the  system) to ensure that you have the full time allotted for all assessments.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to have a back-up plan!  If you encounter technical problems, you can:

•  Create a pdf and email that, if submission methods don't work? 

•  Send screenshots or photos of the screen to verify the problem? 

•  Take a make-up exam, once you have verified the issues you’re having with the technology.