The Syllabus as a Tool for Student-Centered Learning

Abstract

Colleges and universities need to be continually concerned with issues of curriculum assessment and reform. Curriculum reform, however, is often based solely on information regarding course content. We agree that course content is essential to redesigning curriculum, yet focusing on content alone overlooks the importance of issues related to communication and goal setting that occur at the course level. The syllabus is often the initial communication tool that students receive as well as being the most formal mechanism for sharing information with students regarding any course. Despite their importance, the structures and formats of written syllabi tend to be handed down from one generation to the next, rarely considered as part of curriculum redesign. This lack of consideration may be especially true for courses in general education curricula. Often, general education courses are given lower priority by individual departments, because such courses tend to be governed through shared ownership that crosses disciplines. Recently, as part of our university’s assessment of the general education curriculum, syllabus analysis was recommended as an initial step (Ewell, 1997, personal communication). This paper describes the process and results of a descriptive study examining general education syllabi at one university. Specifically, the purpose of the present study is to examine the nature and content of general education syllabi in order to gain a better understanding of their attributes and characteristics; to identify the ways in which syllabi reflect and communicate university goals and objectives of general education; and to identify the ways in which the syllabi communicate an implicit contract.