Syllabus Design Feedback and Review

Evaluator One: Assistant Vice Chancellor Of Student Affairs/Adjunct Business Faculty, Ivy Tech Community College – Northeast, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Qualifications: Oversight of Academic Advising, Student Success Strategies and Retention initiatives for the regional campuses – Teaching, business, accounting and introduction to college success courses
Feedback:

I liked that under assignments the expectations were identified for students 
I also liked all the elements that were included within the syllabus
What I think should be improved:

·         I would list the purpose of the class first and move the meeting dates and locations closer to the schedule/calendar for clarity and to help with structure as you are going over the syllabus with the students on the first day.

·         Also, for the calendar I believe it is helpful to students to have specific dates listed--again for clarity and planning.

·         Under materials needed, fitness attire was listed, but there wasn't any reference to the use of the fitness attire in requirements or assignments. 

·         I think the grading criteria should be more defined. How can a student receive a certificate but not be required to attend each day and or complete any type of assessment to ensure they have mastered the material?  I just think there could be more clarity around expectations to receive the certificate of completion. 

·         Lastly, I would suggest adding listings of relevant support services such as tutoring, library, disability support, trio etc. Statements regarding plagiarism and other pertinent statements specific to the institution should also be included such as environments free from harassment etc. 

I found the feedback that was provided by evaluator one to be a bit of a mixed bag.  Because so much of her role is focused on retention strategies and student outcomes I think she focused more on content and actual design in some areas that I really hadn’t expected her to.  This is good on some levels because the overall goal of any course should be to ensure that the information you are trying to present to the learner is going to come across in a clear and easy to understand way.

The first point that was made with regard to putting the purpose of the course is also helpful. I think I took for granted that a person would know why they were taking a basic introduction to exercise, fitness, and nutrition course without needing to state it explicitly however from the standpoint of providing structure and easy of information processing on the first day of class this comment is valuable.  I think the same can be said for adding specific dates for the calendar.  I left them out with the thought that it would be easy to use this same syllabus at different times of the year so it would be best from that position to not put specific dates.  Again putting the needs of the student first I could see how it might be a good retention step so that students could plan ahead for their work and other obligations if I gave them specific dates for what would be covered. 

The comment about the fitness attire was a bit confusing to me because again I am working on a course that is designed to focus on working out so I don’t know if I see the need to add a statement about when the student will need workout clothes but this is again another personal preference situation I think.  I don’t see that it adds much value to say in the schedule what clothes to wear when I the beginning of the document I state that indoor workout attire is required in the materials needed section.

Grading criteria was an area I wasn’t sure about.  I debated for awhile about the need to outline grading criteria.  My thought was to make this a very flexible course that students were taking for their own personal interests.  This would not be tied to grades or a particular course of study it was strictly meant to be a personal enrichment exercise.  Because of this I left out areas for specific evaluation and even made attendance to all sessions optional.  Students can ideally take whichever parts they feel will add the most value to them and discard what is not of interest.  I added the certification piece as a draw for people who might be interested in more advanced practice and needed some evidence of basic knowledge as is sometimes required for health and wellness programs.

I like the suggestion of additional support services however it comes across very generic to me on some levels.  I think the point there was to show that there are options for additional support services if need like tutoring and study skills management however is that something that would be necessary for a personal enrichment course?  I don’t think so but it could also be that It is there as standard verbiage for all courses.  Same goes for the statements about policy.  Overall there were some good points in this review but I think some of the finer points might have been lost in the evaluation.  This is still a valuable set of suggestions

Evaluator Two: Registrar, Adjunct Business Faculty, Ivy Tech Community College – Northeast, Fort Wayne, Indiana

Qualifications: Campus Records Retention – Teaching, business, accounting and introduction to college success courses

Feedback:

Under "Objectives" -- be sure that the points are grammatically parallel to the "At the conclusion of this course, students will..." heading.  For instance, "At the conclusion of this course, students will....'develop a safe and effective workout routine' " OR "BE ABLE TO develop a safe and effective workout routine."

*Is attendance optional?  Is this a for-credit course?  How will the students' final grades be calculated?

What I liked:  

Dividing the schedule into hour increments will keep the instructor accountable to a timeline, but will also help students know what is going on when.

            This review seemed more focused on the grammar and style elements of the syllabus than on the content.  As with the first evaluator I think the focus on attendance is not necessary because ultimately the student is coming at his or her own leisure and doesn’t need to attend all the sessions to get the most value out of the program.  There is also a consistent them of interest in having a grading scale or some way to identify progress within the program.  Maybe a daily check off or peer evaluation form can be provided to help address the need.

            I also liked the way the schedule was broken down and the interest in holding the instructor and the students accountable to what is being presented.  It is interesting that both reviewers were consistent about making sure the student was well informed about the class meeting times and dates.  This maybe a topic for more discussion.

            I have mixed feelings about these two reviews. I think that there are some valuable comments and themes in the feedback but ultimately they seem to have missed the point of the assignment and focused on things that really don’t seem that important to me.  I am cautious about this though because having never taught myself I can’t be sure if some of the concerns are valid or just nitpicky extras that have no real bearing on the success of the program.  Regardless I appreciate the assignment and the feedback that was given by my reviewers.