Composing a Syllabus via Educational Program Maker: A Web Tool for Academic Documents Creation

Abstract

This paper raises the question of the importance of syllabus structure. The research conducted on syllabus components allowed for a thorough analysis of the learning analytics literature, leading to the identification of the main components of the course model and the interrelationship between them. Based on these findings, a web service called the Educational Program Maker was developed. This tool has proven to be notably useful at ITMO University in Saint Petersburg, Russia since its launch in March 2021. It has gradually become the primary instrument for creating academic courses at the university, playing a crucial role in effective communication among educational process participants during the design, development, coordination, and approval of the syllabus. The Educational Program Maker follows a course model that is presented and discussed in this study. Feedback from faculty members who have used the tool has been evaluated, and the results are promising. The Educational Program Maker is not only making the process of creating syllabi and academic documents easier, but it is also improving the quality of these documents and fostering collaboration and communication among educators.