October 2024 - Parts of a Whole
What makes up the anatomy of a syllabus? The syllabus is really a gathering of many parts, such as institutional policies, professor information, assignments, and more, each piece of information as important as the next, and each vital to student success. At Concourse Syllabus, our main focus is ensuring that your syllabi are accessible and cohesive as you put all of those puzzle pieces together. Each article in this edition highlights examples of the impact of different syllabus sections.
In this edition:
- Reimagining the Calendar
- Assignments at Historical Landmarks
- Your Bio, Your Truth
What makes up the anatomy of a syllabus? The syllabus is really a gathering of many parts, such as institutional policies, professor information, assignments, and more, each piece of information as important as the next, and each vital to student success. At Concourse Syllabus, our main focus is ensuring that your syllabi are accessible and cohesive as you put all of those puzzle pieces together. Each article in this edition highlights examples of the impact of different syllabus sections.
In this edition:
Reimagining the Calendar
Assignments at Historical Landmarks
Your Bio, Your Truth
Reimagining the Calendar
Semesters? Quarters? What’s the best way to organize your academic year? Montclair State University is reimagining learning opportunities for students by shifting to an equalized three-term structure. Courses will now last 14 weeks instead of their original 15 week schedule to allow for a full-length summer term to be added. This will allow students to stay on campus and continue their education throughout the summer months if they wish to.
The Concourse plug: Concourse makes formatting schedules easy. Just plug in the information, such as dates and assignments, and our platform will automatically format to make it accessible and easy to navigate, regardless of the calendar structure your institution follows.
Assignments at Historical Landmarks
Assignments at Historical Landmarks
Major assignments are a key piece of every syllabus. One professor at Metropolitan Community College at Penn Valley is changing how students learn history through experience-based assignments.. Karen Curls and Lyle Gibson have made it a goal to bring students to the landmarks of history - specifically spaces where individuals advocated and fought for equal rights for Black Americans - so they can stand in the same spots and hear about the impact that those actions have today. You can read more below.
The Concourse plug: Concourse helps you present assignments in a clear, easy to discover way on your syllabus Your students will be able to navigate easily to their assignment list for the entire term while trusting that the content is up-to-date and reliable - especially important for those out-of-the-classroom trips.
Your Bio, Your Truth
You have one chance at a first impression for your students. So, how would you describe yourself? This Chronicle article discusses what readers can learn from a college president's bio, but a faculty member’s bio conveys the same types of important information to students. It helps them understand who you are, your qualifications, your approach to your subject, and even your philosophy of teaching. Read and find inspiration on how to approach your bio below.
The Concourse plug: You can enter important information about yourself ONCE in your user profile and our CV tool, then add it to every syllabus in a clean, accessible format. Make creating your bio as easy as a few clicks with Concourse!
