Feedback from the syllabus project

I really enjoyed reading your course syllabus projects. Every one was different, and each showed a combination of worthy learning outcomes, a variety of teaching strategies, and an attempt to make learning challenging and productive.

If you would like to revise any sections of your syllabus project for reconsideration, I'd be glad to do that. The syllabus has Dec. 1 as the resubmission deadline. But I imagine a few of you may not pick up your materials until Dec. 1, when you're back from Thanksgiving. And even if you have the materials, you probably already have made your Thanksgiving plans -- which didn't include making time for syllabus revisions. So let's say that you can turn in revisions on Wednesday, Dec. 17, when your Teaching Job Application is due.

Here are some of the main themes from your written comments about what you learned through developing the syllabus and course materials:

• Creating a syllabus took much more time than you had anticipated.
  
• Developing the class schedule was like putting together a puzzle.
  
• Determining the pacing of the course was a challenge.
  
• Diffuclt to determine the grading, especially for class participation.
  
• Helpful to develop lesson plans to think through how to actually teach the topic for that day.
  
• Difficult to find the right textbook. 

What comments did you have for me about the project:

• Explain how to include the syllabus project in a job application portfolio. (I will in our last class meeting.
  
• Have more deadlines for parts of the project. (I did that last year, and that class said, "Make it all due at once." I hope you'll talk with me about how to have more deadlines without that being too many deadlines.)
  
• Liked having the individual meetings with me to discuss the syllabus project.
  
• Provide the checklist sooner.
  
• Have the deadline later in the semester. (Last year the class said they liked having the syllabus due before the end of the semester so they could get this assignment completed and move on to other course papers and projects.)

I'll do a little Q&A in class on Monday after you've had time to read through your project. A few items that apply to several:

• Projects - Be sure to include class time for explaining the project assignment and providing a handout with specifics about the project. In writing the handout, keep in mind that someone reading the assignment sheet may have been absent on the day you explained the assignment. 
  
• Your contact info - A couple of you asked about office hours, office and cell phone. For the purposes of this activity, no office or phone number is required. I would suggest including office hours just to help you think about when you would schedule them. And my own advice: Don't give your cell phone number. You can provide your office number or e-mail. Students often aren't good about having reasonable boundaries about calling.
  
• Grading scale - I'd stay with UF's grading -- on a 100 scale and (until summer) with plus grades but no minus grades. 
  
• Editing items -- If you are teaching a journalism course, you should consider using AP style (i.e., Web site and e-mail). I like writing in first and second person -- talking about myself in first person and talking to the students in second person. So "I" rather than "the professor" and "you" rather than "the students." Read your syllabus and see what seems to work for you.
  
• Movies, YouTube -- We've agreed those can add to the class. But research says a short segment is more effective than a long video. If you are interested in having students watch a movie, consider how they can do that outside of class. Is it available online? You can make arrangements for a viewing time for students to watch as a group. 
  
• Viewing directions -- When using movies, YouTube videos, commercials, Web sites, etc. in class, you need to giving viewing directions. Give students questions to answer while watching or guidelines (such as: When we visit these Web sites, please make notes on...). Otherwise, students tend to fade out.
  
• Guest speakers -- In the class before the guest speaker, be sure to alert the students that you will have a guest. Good to give them directions. For example, if you are having a media writer, have the students read a sample of the writer's work. I've found that using a Q&A format with the speaker and myself works better than telling the speaker to talk for a set amount of time. I'll tell you why in class.