“Wrapping up the drafting” is a significant penultimate stage of creating or significantly revising an important piece of academic writing, typically requires reviewing previous drafts, as well as feedback and revision notes made along the way. This re-familiarization lets us identify what’s working, notice early ideas to restore, mark passages that need deleting - no matter how well worded, and gaps to address. And from there, move to the ultimate stage of writing, polishing via line edits.
Wrapping up will extend to (1) the first semester as we invite student engagement with and responses to the learning-syllabus itself, and to provide feedback about the new course elements; and (2) your own on-going reflection as you respond to feedback, and prepare for next iterations of the course.
Syllabus Activity #4: Finalizing Your Syllabus
As a follow up to your own rereading review, the Syllabus Activity #4 guidance page includes five syllabus review prompts with linked resources, and learning-centered syllabus documents examples, as well as a sampling of graphic, online, and web-based syllabuses.
Deeper Dive Resources
Once you’ve finalized your syllabus, make a plan for inviting student responses to this core course reading as the semester begins, for incorporating into mid- and end-of-semester student feedback queries about how elements of the course and syllabus are supporting student learning, and for recording your own reflections about course and syllabus design thought out the semester.
Invite student responses to your syllabus
Ideas for framing your syllabus as a core student reading:
- “Introducing Your Syllabus as a Core Course Reading,” a CEI-generated google document, shares “how to” and “why to” ideas for activities including a Syllabus Annotation activity that invites students to share questions and answers, insights and fine-tuning ideas.
- UIowa’s Center for Teaching provides two resources:
- for first days: “Introducing Your Syllabus to Your Students,” a web resource that describes inclass activities with options for low, medium, and high time commitments, and
- for first weeks: “Seven Ideas for Setting Your First Week of Class Up for Success,” a web resource that recommends practices for building on the syllabus introductions to build Atmosphere during the first week of a semester.
Seek feedback - from students and in your own reflection
In addition to ideas for “Incorporating Feedback,” principle #7 in the “Teaching with Access and Inclusion” google document, you might incorporate queries about your syllabus into your feedback seeking mid- and end-of-semester feedback processes with these springboard resources:
- “Keep Start Revise Feedback - Context and Template” google document, which some teachers use during the course for in-real-time feedback, and as a companion to school-required evaluations at the end of a course, and
- “Getting Feedback You Can Use” video series that explores a variety of ways for gathering useful, timely feedback that can help you identify teaching and learning practices that work to improve your students’ learning. (If you do not have a University of Minnesota email account, you may request a guest account for access.)
- The “Your Syllabus: A Tool for Reflective Teaching” webpage article positions the syllabus as a catalyst for reflection throughout a semester, offering ideas for annotating your syllabus throughout a semester, and engaging in end-of-semester reflection in reviewing those syllabus annotations and learners’ feedback.