What if we used our syllabi to…
…begin establishing high-quality relationships with our students?
…communicate our commitment to inclusive and equitable teaching and learning?
Beyond laying out the content and structure of a course, a well-designed inclusive syllabus offers a pathway of learning through your course, providing signposts for students about what they will learn and do and what they need to know to succeed in the course.
In this video series, you will find insights on how to use an inclusive design perspective when creating a syllabus. Grounded in a review of relevant literature, the series follow six intersecting principles that serve as a scaffolding framework for the (re)design of course syllabi.
After the videos you will find “Tools” to help you reformat your syllabus and an “Explore” section for further reading.
Introduction
What can an inclusive syllabus do for you and your students?
The six intersecting principles of an inclusive syllabus offer a scaffolding framework for the (re)design of syllabi grounded in a review and synthesis of relevant literature (Helmer, in press).
Each of the videos in this series is focused on one these six principles. You will learn why this principle matters, and you will find examples on how to apply that principle as you design an inclusive syllabus
Six Principles of Inclusive Syllabus
The six intersecting principles serve as a scaffolding framework for the (re)design of course syllabi through the lens of inclusiveness.
- Learning-focused
- Essential Questions
- UDL Connections
- Inclusive Motivating Language
- Supportive Course Policies
- Accessible Design
1. Learning-focused
A syllabus as a pathway of learning
You can turn your syllabus into an educational tool or a “vehicle for learning” by shifting from a focus on content to a focus on student learning.
2. Essential Questions
Using essential questions and big themes to organize your course.
By using questions, you frame your syllabus as containing a “promise” through language that invites students to enter the course with a sense of curiosity and high expectations about how the course will be meaningful for them.
3. UDL Connections
Applying Universal Design for Learning in your course.
When using a UDL framework for your course and syllabus design, “accommodation is the norm, not the special case”
4. Inclusive Motivating Language
The importance of inclusive language in your syllabus.
The language we choose and the way we frame course content, student engagement and our course policies communicate explicitly and implicitly our values, expectations, and how we view our students as learners.
5. Supportive Course Policies
Designing supportive course policies to help students be successful.
How you can write your course policies in ways that will help students understand the rationale behind expectations and values? Use these statements to provide students with comprehensive information about resources and supports that will help them be successful learners.
6. Accessible Design
Designing an accessible syllabus
Basic steps that you can take to design your syllabus in ways that makes it visually interesting, accessible, and easy to navigate.
Tools
The resources in this section will help you as you (re)design your syllabi.
Explore
Take a deeper dive to expand your knowledge and skills about syllabus design.
- Diagram Center - Making Images Accessible
- Concept mapping your course
- Sample course concept map for Engineering course (shared with students)
- Example Brokk Toggerson's Physics 132 Online Syllabus-Spring 2020 COVID-19 Edited Version and Brokk Toggerson's Physics 132 Online
- Example inclusive statements for your syllabus (Iowa State)
- Sample syllabi across the disciplines (University of Virginia)
- Suggested Practices for Syllabus Accessibility Statements - Kairos PraxisWiki