Buzz
A course syllabus serves as a concise introduction to the subject and is utilized across all educational levels in Vietnam. It acts as a reference guide, helping students understand procedures, course-related content, and more. However, drafting a syllabus is more complex than it seems. Beyond basic information, you must include legal descriptions, liability disclaimers, and the institution's unique policies. Fortunately, despite these challenges, you can create an exceptional syllabus for any educational level you teach.
Steps
Present Basic Information
Start with a new document in your word processing software. Programs like Microsoft Word are ideal for drafting a syllabus. These tools provide the necessary features to structure and format your syllabus effectively.
- If you have specific layout, margin, or font requirements for student documents and assignments, apply the same standards to your syllabus.
- Ensure your word processor can save files in .pdf format. This allows you to easily share an uneditable version of the syllabus with students.
Include your identification details at the top. The first step in creating a course syllabus is to place your identification details at the top of the document. This information will inform students (and parents) about everything they need to know about you, your office, the class you teach, and the course title.
- Place the course title at the top of the document. Next to or below the title, include the semester, academic year, and course code.
- Below the title, add your name (with a title). For example: Dr. Tran Anh Tien.
- Provide the class location and schedule.
- Include your contact information, such as office number and hours, email address, and work phone number (if applicable).
- Add the school’s room number and/or phone number below your contact details.
- Depending on the school’s style and local regulations, you may adjust the information slightly.
- You can also choose whether to center, align left, or align right the identification details.
Write the course description. The course description should present the course in a way that students (and parents) can grasp its overall content. The goal is for readers to gain a basic understanding of the course.
- Write the course description as a paragraph – approximately 4–6 sentences long.
- It should introduce students to the course, its objectives, and scope, as well as describe the target audience for the course.
- Briefly outline the course content. For example, if you teach Vietnamese History, explain how students will study from the Indochina War period to the present. Consider highlighting key events or themes you will focus on during the course.
- Consult your department or school to see if they have a specific course description template. They likely have one if you teach a recurring course.
Outline the course objectives. Course objectives give students a sense of what they will achieve by the end of the class. Objectives can be specific, such as mastering certain content, or general, such as developing skills. To create course objectives, ask yourself questions about the class, including:
- What will students learn from this course? If the content serves as a prerequisite for another program or course, clarify this here.
- What skills will they develop? If students will learn to analyze and synthesize information, state this clearly.
- What questions will they be able to answer? If the course focuses on key issues or questions in a specific field or subfield, mention it here.
List any prerequisites for the course. Prerequisites are courses, content, or qualifications students must complete to earn credit. If the course has prerequisites, list them near the top of the syllabus.
- Include the official names of prerequisite courses.
- Remember to add the course codes and identifiers.
- If you teach a graduate-level class, note whether undergraduates can enroll for extra credit. Consult your department for further details.
List all required materials. You must also provide a list of all materials needed for the course. While this list will include textbooks, you can also add hardware, software, art supplies, etc. Ensure all necessary materials are included.
- Provide the title, author, year, and International Standard Book Number (“ISBN”) for textbooks or workbooks.
- Avoid listing common classroom items like notebooks, paper, or pens.
- Generally, include items not typically used in other classes, such as calculators, software, or sketching tools.
- If materials are expensive or hard to find, suggest where to obtain them.
Include a brief note on the course format and structure. You should also outline the format and organization of the course early in the syllabus. This will inform students about how the course content is delivered, the methods and/or locations of class sessions, and attendance requirements.
- Describe the teaching methods (lectures, labs, or online video lectures).
- Specify the types of assignments (oral exams, discussions, or lab work).
- Depending on the school’s style and/or regulations, you may want to integrate this section into the course description.
Outline Policies and Schedule
Detail your grading and evaluation policies. Dedicate a section to your grading and evaluation policies. This will help students understand how key factors in the class impact their final grade.
- Many schools have specific requirements for this section, so consult your administrator or department for guidance on what to include.
- Provide information about your grading scale. For example, a score of 10 corresponds to 90–100%, 8 to 80–89%, and so on.
- Explain how assignment grades contribute to the final score. For instance, assignments might account for 40% of the total grade, the final exam for 30%, and projects or homework for the remaining 30%.
- Clarify any additional grading policies, such as dropping the lowest quiz or oral exam score.
- You may also specify your policy on extra credit. If you do not offer extra credit, state this clearly.
Include your policy on late, missing, or incomplete assignments. Right after the grading policy, detail your assignment policies. This will help students understand the consequences of late submissions, missing assignments, or incomplete work on their grades.
- Address the possibility of retaking exams.
- Clearly state your policy on late submissions. For example, many instructors deduct one point for each day an assignment is late.
- If missing an exam or failing to complete an assignment significantly impacts a student’s grade or chances of passing, make this clear in this section.
Provide the course schedule. The course schedule is one of the most critical parts of a well-structured syllabus. The schedule or work plan outlines the timing, location, content, and assignments throughout the semester (or academic year).
- Break down the schedule by day, covering all topics.
- List assignment deadlines and due dates.
- Include reading deadlines (from textbooks, other books, and electronic materials).
Outline the classroom or course policies. Course policies may include rules, as well as behavioral and academic expectations. This section informs students about the conduct they must adhere to during class or course-related activities.
- Many colleges and universities have specific policies and statements that must be included in this part of the syllabus, so consult your institution’s guidelines.
- Attendance Policy. Most schools have an attendance policy that you need to include in your syllabus. If your attendance policy differs from the school’s, clearly state this.
- Class Participation Policy. Describe how students can participate and how this impacts their grades.
- Classroom Rules. Clearly state policies on eating in class, using phones or laptops during lectures, speaking while the instructor is teaching, recording lectures electronically, and any other rules regarding punctuality.
Include Institutional Principles and Administrative Policies
Inform students about your school’s academic support services. Your school (at all levels) may offer academic support services to students. These services often promote student success and are typically available to both disabled and non-disabled students.
- Make it clear to your students that they do not need to have a disability to benefit from academic support services.
- If the school has a dedicated learning resource center, mention it in the syllabus.
- The school may also require you to outline the policies of these support services – check with your administrator.
Include a syllabus modification policy. An essential part of the syllabus is the modification policy. This policy informs students that you reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus during the course and will notify them in advance.
- Your policy should cover schedules for topics, lectures, assignments, and readings.
- Most schools require you to note that you will not make changes that significantly affect how students are evaluated during the course.
Provide the school’s add/drop policy, if applicable. Schools often require you to outline their course withdrawal or add/drop policies. This policy helps students understand their right to withdraw from a class without penalty.
- Include the last date students can drop the course without penalty.
- Add any other relevant information about this policy.
- Consider including the school’s first-day attendance policy. Your institution may require students to attend the first class or risk being removed from the course.
Include information about the honor code. Most schools will require you to add regulations regarding cheating or plagiarism as part of the institution’s honor code. In this case, the school will provide you with a copy of the honor code.
- They may also send you a pre-written template to include in the syllabus.
- You will need to include the full details of the honor code in the syllabus.
- You may also need to summarize it within the syllabus.
Briefly outline the school’s emergency procedures, if applicable. You must provide students with guidelines for handling school-wide emergencies as well as specific situations. These procedures include:
- What to do in the event of a school closure.
- Steps to take during a bomb threat.
- Guidelines for responding to a fire.
Include Legal Information
State the school’s policy on religious holidays. In the U.S., federal law prohibits discrimination based on religion. As a result, many high schools and post-secondary institutions have implemented policies allowing students to take time off for religious holidays.
- You may need to inform students that their right to miss class for religious holidays is protected.
- Notify students that they must contact you in advance if they will miss class or assignments due to religious holidays.
- Include rules for students to determine if they can make up for missed coursework due to religious observances.
Outline Vietnam’s Education Law and Universal Secondary Education Law, which require schools to provide assistance and accommodations for students with disabilities. Therefore, you must include provisions addressing this issue, as well as explain how your school supports these students.
- Typically, students must register with a counselor or disability services center.
- Administrators or students may provide teachers with official school documentation.
- Students must submit documentation of their recognized disability to the school during enrollment or shortly after.
Include a section on federal privacy laws, if applicable. In the U.S., college and university instructors may include an explanation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in their syllabus. FERPA protects the privacy rights of students and/or their parents, depending on the student’s age and the type of institution.
- FERPA states that teachers and other staff at post-secondary institutions are not permitted to discuss a student’s grades, academic standing, or class attendance with anyone without the student’s written consent.
- FERPA applies to students aged 18 and older, or any student attending a post-secondary institution.
- Consider informing students that they may waive their privacy rights by signing a written release.
- For students under 18 in secondary schools, FERPA rights are held by the student’s parents or legal guardians.
Tips
- Many colleges and universities provide detailed guidelines, assistance, and syllabus templates for instructors and staff drafting their first course syllabus.
