• How do I design a syllabus?
• What should a syllabus do?
• My students complain about my grading. Do I hold them to higher standards than my colleagues do?
• How do I teach classes of widely different student ability?
• How do I design effective tests?
• How do I balance the need to cover course content with the need to involve students in various course activities (e.g., peer instruction, discussion, informal writing, etc.)?
• When and how should I break up lecture and engage students in another manner?
• How do I condense a semester's worth of materials into a quarter?
• How do I deter plagiarism?
• How do I get more free resources for students?
• Where can ESL students get further support/practice?
• Who do I contact if I want to develop an online course?

How do I design a syllabus?

There are numerous ways to write a syllabus but most follow a common format which includes the following items:

• Title page (Course title, semester, date written, your name)
• Contact information including office hours
• Course pre-requisites, description, and goals
• Required material
• Assigned work
• A calendar or events including lecture topics, assigned work, and special announcements
• Grading rubrics
• Course policies and student/teacher expectations (Attendance, participation, tardiness, academic integrity, missing homework, missed exams)
• Additional comments or advice to students

Referenced from:
Carnegie Mellon University - The Syllabus
Teach Philosophy 101 - Creating a Syllabus
[Feb. 3, 2009]
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What should a syllabus do?

The syllabus, “is an essential tool for helping you stay on track ... It puts the design of the course into concrete form” (Lang, 2008, p.1). Creating a syllabus should get you thinking about how question the course activities align with the course goals and about an answer to this basic question “when students walk out of the final exam, or hand you that final paper, in what ways will you have changed them?” (Lang, 2008, p.1)

For more information on syllabus design or requirements for syllabi at DePaul, see the Write a Syllabus page.

Referenced from:
Lang, J. (2008). On Course A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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My students complain about my grading. Do I hold them to higher standards than my colleagues do?

• There could be a number of issues behind the student complaints, including the possibility that your grading is fair, your grading policies are explicit, and your expectations are perfectly appropriate. If you’re concerned, however, you might try getting more feedback from your students. Did they think the assignment or test was aligned with the course goals? Did they find the grading policies for the course to be detailed and clear?
• If you’re interested in seeing how your standards compare to your colleagues, consider asking colleagues to share their rubrics with you or ask a colleague to “grade” a paper or exam from your class. (Be sure to remove identifying information first).
• For further help in establishing grading policies and practices, contact the Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

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How do I teach classes of widely different student ability?

Carnegie Mellon has an excellent decision tree which directs faculty to strategies for addressing this challenge. Among their ideas: forming study groups based on student background knowledge, allowing some freedom of the topics to reach the range of student interests and abilities, and being up front with students about what will be required of them to succeed in the course. For additional help and resources, contact the Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

Referenced from:
Carnegie Mellon University - Students’ background knowledge and skills vary widely
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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How do I design effective tests?

General tips for designing test questions

• Grouping items by topic and/or heading will improve student performance (McKeachie, 1999, p. 93).
• Keep the entire course in mind when developing a test, (e.g., draw on all lectures, discussions, readings, etc.)
• Try using questions that ask the students to, "predict the outcome of a situation rather than those that simply ask the student to label the phenomenon" (McKeachie, 1999, p. 93).
• Discuss tests with your students, they will be the best judge as to whether or not a question appropriately challenged them. Keep a file of all your best test questions for consideration in future tests.

Referenced from:
Teaching Commons - Tests and Quizzes

McKeachie, W. (1999). McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers (10th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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How do I balance the need to cover course content with the need to involve students in various course activities (e.g., peer instruction, discussion, informal writing, etc.)?

• Active learning does not replace course content – it engages students in the content. You should be able to find strategies for engaged learning on the Teaching Commons engaged students page.
• For additional resources on and help with designing course activities, contact the Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment. For help in designing writing activities, contact the University Center for Writing-based Learning.

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When and how should I break up lecture and engage students in another manner?

Breaking up lecture after 15-20 minutes can be a great way to check for understanding, maintain high levels of student engagement, and deepen the learning experience. Consider these activities:

• 5 minutes to review notes taken thus far, add comments in the margins, and ask questions
• Pose a question or problem for students to solve individually or in small groups
• Use ConcepTests, designed to expose common difficulties in understanding the material, to check for understanding.

Referenced from:
Lang, J. (2008). On Course A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
[Feb. 24, 2009]
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How do I deter plagiarism?

The deter plagiarism page has numerous strategies and descriptions of tools including using MOSS, Turn-It-In, and in class strategies.

Referenced from:
Teaching Commons - Deter Plagiarism
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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How do I get more free resources for students?

The communication that is possible using the Internet has created an active community of educators willing to share their resources with others. A good place to start a search is by looking through what resources are already available through initiatives such as MIT's Open Courseware or Apple's iTunes U (Requires iTunes software).

The Open Educational Commons for Higher Ed. contains lesson plans, media, and contacts to other educators with a wide range of backgrounds and skill sets.

There are also a number of major websites, such as Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive, which are devoted to collecting public domain texts, audio, and video materials.

Referenced from:
See above resources and links.
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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Where can ESL students get further support/practice?

ESL students in need of support/practice can visit either of the Center for Writing-based Learning locations: Lincoln Park Campus - 250 McGaw or Loop Campus - 1620 Lewis Center. The Center for Writing-based Learning offers support via appointment, walk in, instant message, or e-mail.

Referenced from:
Center for Writing-based Learning - Resources for ESL Students page
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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Who do I contact if I want to develop an online course?

For general guides and suggestions of online tools to use, see the Instructional Technology Development Integrating Technology documentation.

If you would like to meet with a course design consultant, Instructional Design and Development supports faculty by designing new online and hybrid courses; re-designing and fine-tuning existing online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses; and transforming courses for online delivery.

Referenced from:
Instructional Technology Development & Instructional Design and Development
[Feb. 12, 2009]
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