A syllabus is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training
course.
It is descriptive.
A syllabus is often either set out by an exam board, or prepared by the professor who supervises
or controls the course quality.
It may be provided in paper form or online.
Both syllabus and curriculum are often fused, and usually given to each student during the
first class session so that the objectives and the means of obtaining them are clear.
A syllabus usually contains specific information about the course, such as information on how,
where and when to contact the lecturer and teaching assistants; an outline of what will
be covered in the course; a schedule of test dates and the due dates for assignments; the
grading policy for the course; specific classroom rules; etc.
Within many courses concluding in an exam, syllabuses are used to ensure consistency
between schools and that all teachers know what must be taught and what is not required.
Exams can only test knowledge based on information included in the syllabus.
Etymology According to the Oxford English Dictionary,
the word syllabus derives from modern Latin syllabus "list", in turn from a misreading
of the Greek σίττυβας sittybas "parchment label, table of contents", which first occurred
in a 15th-century print of Cicero's letters to Atticus.
Earlier Latin dictionaries such as Lewis and Short contain the word syllabus, relating
it to the non-existent Greek word σύλλαβος, which appears to be a mistaken reading of
syllaba "syllable"; the newer Oxford Latin Dictionary does not contain this word.
The apparent change from sitty- to sylla- is explained as a hypercorrection by analogy
to συλλαμβάνω.
Because the word syllabus is formed in Latin by mistake, the Latinate plural form syllabi
might be considered a hypercorrection.
The OED, however, admits both syllabuses and syllabi as the plural form.
Uses The syllabus serves many purposes for the
students and the teacher such as ensuring a fair and impartial understanding between
the instructor and students such that there is minimal confusion on policies relating
to the course, setting clear expectations of material to be learned, behavior in the
classroom, and effort on student's behalf to be put into the course, providing a roadmap
of course organization/direction relaying the instructor's teaching philosophy to the
students, and providing a marketing angle of the course such that students may choose
early in the course whether the subject material is attractive.
Many generalized items of a syllabus can be amplified in a specific curriculum to maximize
efficient learning by clarifying student understanding of specified material such as grading policy,
grading rubric, late work policy, locations and times, other contact information for instructor
and teaching assistant such as phone or email, materials required and/or recommended such
as textbooks, assigned reading books, calculators, lab vouchers, etc., outside resources for
subject material assistance, important dates in course such as exams and paper due-dates,
tips for succeeding in mastering course content such as study habits and expected time allotment,
suggested problems if applicable, necessary pre-requisites or co-requisites to current
course, safety rules if appropriate, and objectives of the course.
Contract Slattery & Carlson describe the syllabus as
a "contract between faculty members and their students, designed to answer students' questions
about a course, as well as inform them about what will happen should they fail to meet
course expectations".
Habanek stresses the importance of the syllabus as a "vehicle for expressing accountability
and commitment".
Wasley states that "the notion of a syllabus as a contract has grown ever more literal",
but also notes that "a course syllabus is unlikely to stand as an enforceable contract",
according to Jonathan R. Alger, general counsel at Rutgers University.
Types Notional-functional
A notional-functional syllabus is a way of organizing a language-learning curriculum,
rather than a method or an approach to teaching.
In a notional-functional syllabus, instruction is not organized in terms of grammatical structure,
as had often been done with the audio-lingual method, but instead in terms of "notions"
and "functions".
In this model, a "notion" is a particular context in which people communicate.
A "function" is a specific purpose for a speaker in a given context.
For example, the "notion" of shopping requires numerous language "functions", such as asking
about prices or features of a product and bargaining.
Proponents of the notional-functional syllabus claimed that it addressed the deficiencies
they found in the ALM by helping students develop their ability to effectively communicate
in a variety of real-life contexts.
Other types Grammatical syllabus
Lexical syllabus Situational syllabus
Text-based syllabus Skill-based syllabus
Task-based syllabus Learner-generated syllabus
Mixed syllabus Online course syllabus
See also Lesson plan
References
External links