Whether you are looking to overhaul or simply tweak your course materials, OFE offers a “no-judgment, just help” syllabus, assignment, and course review and redesign service for all faculty–from adjuncts to specialists to tenure-stream and full professors–teaching in any discipline.
Purpose
Writing a concise yet comprehensive syllabus for your course is one of the first steps you can take to optimize the learning experience for your students. A complete syllabus will alleviate confusion and preempt multiple questions. At its best, your syllabus serves as a “one-stop” guide to help your students navigate the semester, providing a snapshot of all the course components from communication practices to schedules to grading and any other policies you want your students to follow. Our faculty developer will give you feedback on your syllabus so that it serves the needs of your course and complies with the Montclair syllabus template.
Clear, organized courses support student success. As you design or tweak your course, you may have questions about particular elements that you’d like feedback on. For example, you may wish to ensure that your assignments are aligned with the course’s student learning objectives, to implement active learning strategies, or to reconfigure the grading structure and assignment weighting, or you may wonder whether the workload seems appropriate for the level of your course, among other issues.
Similarly, writing clear assignments allows students to understand the task more fully, increasing their chances for success. Interviews with students reveal that their interpretations of faculty assignments vary widely, in part due to their varying experiences with assignments. In addition, how assignments are written and explained impacts how successful students are at completing intended tasks. Assignment review is based on design principles and practices discussed in Designing effective assignments.
Our faculty developers will work with you to revise or tweak your assignment, course element, and/or syllabus. We offer pedagogical support based on the Montclair Teaching Principles and our own experience as college instructors.
The Process
Option 1: Submit your request to faculty@montclair.edu, indicating in the subject line you are requesting a syllabus, assignment, or course review. Provide any relevant drafts or existing versions of the materials you’d like reviewed. Please also indicate what you are especially interested in receiving feedback on, questions you have, or things you are trying to improve, add, or replace. We will return your materials with feedback within 2-3 business days.
Option 2: If your concern is more urgent, you are in the early, brainstorming process, or simply would prefer to talk things through, please drop in for a 30-minute appointment. Schedule an appointment here.
Simple Syllabus conversion: For conversion of your syllabus into the Simple Syllabus tool, please schedule a 1-on-1 meeting.
Updated 11.16.23 CK