tutorial 6 putting it all together: creating your syllabus office of academic excellence and...

Tutorial 6Tutorial 6Tutorial 6Tutorial 6

Putting It all Putting It all Together:Together:

Creating Your Creating Your

SyllabusSyllabusOffice of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University

© 2007 Donna R. Pawlowski, Ph.D. Associate Professor

Dept. of Communication Studies

Tutorial GoalsAt the end of this tutorial, you will have an

understanding of:• Critical components to be included in a

syllabus• Importance of preparing students for service-

learning or community experiences, which includes liability issues

Office of Academic Excellence and Assessment Creighton University



Tutorial ObjectivesAt the end of this tutorial you will be able to:• Generate your own syllabus for a service-

learning/community based-learning course




Components of Service-Learning Syllabus

• General Syllabus Information• General Explanation of

Service-Learning/CBL Emphasis of Course• Explanation of How Course Fits w/in

College• Course/Experience Learning Outcomes • Project Overview• Expectations for Community Visits




Some materials within these components are adapted from references found at the end of this presentation

Components of Service-Learning Syllabus

• Community Sites • Sensitive Issues• Liabilities/Waivers/College Clearances• Logging in Hours/Visits• Reflections/Writing/Discussions Preparing

for Reflections• Presentation of Projects to Community

Partners or Department/College…




Some materials within these components are adapted from references found at the end of this presentation

IF these items are not in the syllabus, they SHOULD be in your criteria of your project, which should be handed out EARLY in the semester

Best to put most in the syllabus




General Syllabus Information

– Keep typical information as you do with all other syllabi as required by your department/college

– Name, office hours, department, text…




General Explanation of Service-Learning/CBL Emphasis of Course

– Provide a brief overview of how this course is different due to the service-learning or community experience

– This can indicate how experience is integrated as part of “living text” or if your college has it as a added “lab/4th credit”…

– Best to have it as integrated and not an “add-on” 4th credit for optimal experience; but check with your college

– How you phrase it, makes a difference in perception




Explanation of How Course Fits w/in College

– Your college may have “service” or “experiential” requirements where such courses fit

– Provide the explanation to your students– Designation of course w/in curriculum– Ex: Dean’s service honor roll; clinical

rotation service-learning/CBL requirement…




Course/Experience Learning Outcomes

– Especially important for service-learning to include outcomes, so students understand connection of what they are doing to learning objectives of course/experience

– Evaluation and grading as being part of meeting learning objectives, not just for participating in the service




Project Overview– Provide students with a brief explanation of

what they will be doing in their community experience

– This should include a rationale as to the importance of the project as well

– Ex: students working with health community and dental care; relates directly to one’s profession, helps community who may not otherwise afford dental care, helps students realize how others are affected by health policies, connects students w/local communities, engages students in civic responsibilities…




Community Sites– Students should be informed of where they will

be spending time during the semester– Should you know of the sites at this time, put

that information in the syllabus– Hopefully you have made the contacts in

advance (unless the experience in one in which the students find the partners or you are in process of finalizing it)




Expectations for Community Visits

– Students need to know the specifics of requirements– Number of hours/visits are expected at service site– Whether students will be with groups of students at

various sites OR the whole class involved with one site– Transportation to and from site – check with your

College on its policies; do students find their own transportation or does the college transport students? It’s okay to tell students they have to transport themselves

– Community behavior – representing Creighton – College – Department – Classroom – THEMSELVES as professionals




Sensitive Issues– Reminding students of the potential issues that

may be part of their community partners’ lives (or their lives)

– Depending on your population; students need to be reminded of the historical/social timeframe (and the current issues still facing our communities) in which some of the community individuals grew up and be sensitive toward their feelings

– Encourage students to talk about issues/concerns that arise related to cultural diversity, social injustices, prejudices… (on part of them or their community partners) with instructor and the classOffice of Academic

Excellence and Assessment Creighton University



Liabilities/Waivers/College Clearances

– Sending students into the community requires additional precautions

– Check with your College for special requirements/paperwork

• Liabilities regarding students at sites (medical…)• Transportation liability• Insurance/accident liability

– Many times this can be taken care of with one/two forms – check with your legal counsel and College with requirements

• Sample form on web site




– Check with your community sites for any special liabilities as well• How and where students can meet with

partners• Ex: children or elders – need background

checks or cannot be in private rooms…• Contracts to be signed by faculty, student

and site




• Good idea to have an “agreement” form between you/student/site so that all parties know expectations of what students will be doing

• Protects students so they are meeting learning objectives/outcomes

• Holds students accountable for service/experiences/projects at the site

• Lets site director know what will take place and his/her role in supervising, signing any time logs…

• Faculty can even complete an agreement with the agency; provide agency with syllabus, project criteria…shows seriousness of project/promotes reciprocity and partnership

– Sample forms on web site




Logging in Hours/Visits– Determine how students will log hours/visits– Good idea to keep track of this for project

purposes– Verifies for assignments, as well as for assessment– Does the site supervisor have to verify?– Do you need a copy for your College? Or just for

your own purposes? • Sample form on web site

• Check to see who keeps copies of these forms




KEY: If you don’t make it a big issue to sign these, the students won’t either…if you complain about them, the students will begin the project with negative perception!




Reflections/Writing/Discussions Preparing for

Reflections – Provide specifics of reflections and assignments– Identify how students will be graded– Explain breakdown of reflections or other writing

assignments related to project– Identify difference of service-learning project and

other assignments to fulfill course requirements– Determine how much of your course is going to

be related to the service-learning/CBL project– Provide an explanation in syllabus or project

packet preparing students for reflection writing




Presentation of Projects to Community Partners

or Department/College…

• Provide explanation of how project will be disseminated to others

• Will project be shown at site? To the department?

• Hopefully there is some way for the students’ project to be highlighted at the end of the semester/experience




Additional Items• Always check with your College for any

additional items or clearances related to service or community based experiences

• Components discussed here are basic items that help provide students with the necessary expectations of a course related to service-learning

• You may have additional items or ideas that will enhance your own syllabus or be based on your own discipline’s requirements




Final Thoughts• Hopefully you feel more comfortable in

creating a syllabus for service-learning• This tutorial encompasses all previous

tutorials and demonstrates how they all work together in preparing a syllabus for a service-learning or community-based course

• I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and now you are ready to culminate your talents to go forth and experience the wonderful world of working with students in service-learning!




ReferencesHeffernan, K. (Ed.), (2001). Fundamentals of service- learning course construction. Providence, RI: Campus

Compact www.compact.org

Howard, J. (Ed.) (2001). Service-learning course

design workbook. Michigan Journal of Community

Service Learning. Ann Arbor, Mi: OCSL Press,The University of Michigan




tutorial 6 putting it all together: creating your syllabus office of academic excellence and...

Documents

deans service honor

health community

community experiencethis

meeting learning objectives

community experiences

community partners

brief explanation

students wlocal communities