Prepare Your Course Syllabus
Create your course syllabus with required information.
Course Syllabus
In The Course Syllabus: A Learning Centered Approach (2008, 2nd Ed.) Judith Grunert O’Brien, Barbara J. Millis and Margaret W. Cohen identify at least sixteen elements of a learner-centered syllabus:
- Establishes an early point of contact and connection between student and instructor
- Helps set the tone for the course
- Describes your beliefs about educational purposes
- Acquaints students with the logistics of the course
- Contains collected handouts
- Defines student responsibilities for successful coursework
- Describes active learning
- Helps students assess their readiness for your course
- Sets the course in a broader context for learning
- Provides a conceptual framework
- Describes available learning resources
- Communicates the role of technology in the course
- Can provide difficult-to-obtain reading material
- Can improve the effectiveness of student note-taking
- Can include material that supports learning outside the classroom
- Can serve as a learning contract.
UW–Madison Required Course Syllabi Elements
Course syllabi are required for UW–Madison courses and allow instructors to communicate with students about course details. Below, you’ll find more information about the following core components of a course syllabus:
- Key Course Offering Information (required, governed content)
- Instructor-to-Student Communication (required, instructor-provided content)
- Academic Statements and Policies (strongly encouraged)
Course Syllabus Template (MS Word)
You can create download a Microsoft Word template of a UW–Madison approved Course Syllabus Template.
Citation
Grunert O’Brien, Judith, Barbara J. Millis and Margaret W. Cohen. (2008). The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach, 2nd Ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.