Syllabus Template

A course syllabus is a cohesive document introducing students to your course. It should be student-centered and contain important information such as course information, assignment details, topic schedule, and policies. The UCI Academic Senate has a Subcommittee on Courses & Continuing, Part-Time, & Summer Session Education (SCOC) that publishes updates to syllabus guidelines. The guidelines specify mandatory sections for every syllabus, as well as recommended sections. Along with these guidelines, we have created a syllabus template that also incorporates evidence-based Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) pedagogical best practices. These practices will help you keep an inclusive and student-centered mindset while designing your course. Read on to explore more about how to use the template!

Guidelines and Syllabus Templates

1

Use asset-based language

Increase sense of belonging by using positive motivators and highlighting paths to success.

2

Be transparent

Clearly describe course regulations, expectations, and evaluation criteria.

3

Incorporate flexible learning approaches

Offer a variety of engagement option, representation, and alternatives to support multimodal learning.

4

Provide student support

Include sections on accommodations and resources and provide a detailed course schedule.

It’s important to include DEI and UDL throughout the entire syllabus. To help you on your journey, here are a few versions of the syllabus template that incorporate SCOC requirements along with evidence-based DEI, UDL, and pedagogical practices:

Full Version

UCI Course Syllabus Template (Full Version)
This template includes both the syllabus and policies combined.

General Version

UCI Course Syllabus Template (General Version)
This document contains only the syllabus.

Policy Version

UCI Course Syllabus Template (Course Policy Version)
This document contains only the UCI policies.

Sections of the template that have an asterisk (*) are required by the SCOC. Other sections are optional, but represent best pedagogical practices. Feel free to include them if they are relevant to your course. You can download the templates and modify the content to fit your course needs. The templates have passed accessibility checkers in Microsoft Office 365. As you modify the templates, please be sure to complete a final accessibility check to ensure document accessibility is retained.

Finished?

Now that you’ve created a draft of your syllabus, here’s a checklist to ensure you have the appropriate sections:

Do you have the appropriate sections, including those required by the SCOC?

If you have images, do they contain the appropriate alt text or are marked as decorative?

If you are updating a previously used syllabus, is the information up to date, including any shifts in assignment due dates?

Have you run an accessibility checker?

If you would like more feedback, feel free to contact us at dtei@uci.edu and we’d be happy to set up a consultation.

Want to take the syllabus further?

If you’re looking at your syllabus and wondering how to spiff it up a bit more, a couple of ideas include adding more visual components or gamifying your course syllabus.

Placeholder

Visual Syllabus

Graphical Representation of Key Information

Add some visual components to your syllabus to break up the text. Some tips include:

Ensuring that the visuals are related to the text
Checking licensing (copyrights, Creative Commons licenses, etc.)
Adding alt text where necessary, or mark the visuals as decorative
Replacing text-heavy sections with a visual component (for example, replace a grading table with a pie chart)
Making sure there is enough contrast in the images

Here is an example of a visual syllabus: Sample 1

Liquid Syllabus

Flexible Online Living Document

A Liquid Syllabus welcomes students and introduces them to their instructor while also reducing student anxiety. Some strategies include:

Beginning with a friendly greeting video
Ensuring fair course standards
Having first assignment due dates posted
Adjusting course activities or syllabus content based on student needs

One of the advantages of having a liquid syllabus is that it can be changed over time if you build it in Canvas, Google Docs, or a website that can be updated depending on the needs of the class. The liquid syllabus is not a static document; rather, it is a publicly accessible, mobile-friendly living document that supports clear and updated communication for students.

Gamified Syllabus

Interactive Gaming Experience

If you’ve ever enjoyed playing a game, think about what components made it a memorable experience. What were the rules of the game? How were you expected to progress? If you messed up, how could you learn and alter your strategy? Did you earn achievements? What did it mean to win? These same questions are what guides gamification of courses.

Gamification is an evidence-based method of further engaging students, where gaming components are included to enrich learning (see Sailer & Homner, 2020; Zainuddin et al., 2020 for meta-analyses). Benefits with gamifying your course from a syllabus standpoint include:

Enhancing the course syllabus to make it a more engaging and interactive learning tool
Encouraging students to read syllabus thoroughly and carefully
Providing timely and constructive feedback for growth

Here is an example of a gamified syllabus from a UCI alum and Pedagogical Fellow: Sample 1

Notes: There are many different ways to gamify a course, and it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole when gamifying! Here are some aspects to consider.

It might sound cheesy, but it’s important to have fun with gamification! When coupled with pedagogical approaches such as specifications grading, a gamified course can be a truly unique and engaging experience.

Need more support or want to learn more?

We understand that every course has unique content needs and may sometimes need further assistance. We are here to support you if you have any questions, require clarification, or want to find more resources for building your course syllabus. Please don’t hesitate to contact us and schedule an appointment:

For digital and online teaching support, schedule a one-on-one office hour with the DTEI instructional designers.
For general pedagogical support, schedule a one-on-one appointment with the DTEI pedagogical experts.

Resources

At DTEI, we have plenty of resources available for faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars. In addition, here are some helpful tools to enhance your DEI course syllabus design:

These tools can supplement and deepen your comprehension of constructing a course curriculum. We hope you utilize these materials to investigate and enrich your course syllabus to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, whether you seek extra readings to revamp the existing course syllabus or construct a new one.