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Interactive Syllabi

A white t-shirt with the text "It's in the syllabus" printed on the front.

Many faculty can probably tell a story of at least mild frustration about a student asking a question that could be readily answered via the syllabus.

Various methods for encouraging students to read and digest the syllabus can be effective, such as a syllabus quiz or asking students to collectively annotate a shared syllabus document. Typically these approaches are designed to ensure student comprehension of the syllabus content.

Another approach to engage students in a deeper way is an interactive syllabus, which is presented to students using a survey software (such as Microsoft Forms). This use of technology turns a previously transactional document into a guided conversation between the instructor and each individual student.

The interactive syllabus model was first developed at Creighton University by Dr. Guy McHendry and Dr. Kathy Gonzales and can be adapted to meet your needs. These are some general characteristics of an interactive syllabus:

  • An activity for students to do, rather than a document to read.
  • An interactive series of pages that require students to understand and acknowledge the information presented in the syllabus.
  • A way to gauge student attitudes about course expectations and policies.
  • A means to collect information about why students are in the course and information about that may alter the way you teach the course.

Matthew Cheney, Associate Professor at Plymouth State University, advocates for cruelty-free syllabi and advises that, “Students don’t enter a classroom immediately trusting a teacher.” Intuitively, this makes sense – trust is earned, especially in relationships with power dynamics, such as the teacher-student relationship. And, of course, syllabi are one of the first impressions students get of our courses. Evaluate your traditional syllabus from the lens of a student evaluating the relationship they might have with you as their instructor. What feelings might they walk away with? What level of motivation might be fostered? What impression might they form about you, your philosophy, and your approach to supporting their learning? Because of the conversational approach to an interactive syllabus, you may be better able to convey to students a warm, supportive, and compassionate tone while expressing high expectations

Jen Garrett-Ostermiller, Director of the Vermont State University Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation also teaches at the Community College of Vermont and uses an Interactive Syllabus in her first-year seminar course. This is a fairly lengthy syllabus and is assigned in the first week of the semester. Depending on the level, topic, and outcomes of your course, your own interactive syllabus might look very similar or wildly different – that is ok!

This feedback was emailed to a professor, unsolicited, by a student after completing an interactive syllabus (emphasis added):

I learned that not all syllabuses have to be a straightforward text written out by your professors. In every class I’ve taken in the past, I’ve been handed the syllabus and been told to just study it. After I was finished, it ended up just thrown into a folder or my backpack and forgotten. Through this class, I was allowed to tell you how I interpreted it, ask questions, and overall just interact. To me, this is meaningful because it gives a sense of connection, which I always find helpful in my class. The better of a connection I seem to have with my teachers or professors, the less embarrassed I feel about reaching out or asking for help.

Additionally, students tend to be quite honest in their responses to questions, which provides the instructor with individualized insights into students strengths, worries, and interests:

Example of a student response about their own goals for a course:
I want to learn how to speak up as often as I can without feeling guilt, how to read and interpret text while actually retaining the information, how to stay organized and on top of things, and how to have healthy debates.

Example of a student response about something about the course that makes them nervous:
I am very independent so sometimes I get nervous doing group projects or engaging in other peoples’ work so I’m just going to do my best to put myself out there a little and try to make friends!

  • Have a trusted colleague or CTLI staff member preview your interactive syllabus before deploying it with students, to give you feedback from a fresh perspective.
  • Make completion of the interactive syllabus an at-home assignment.
  • Respond individually to each student’s submission, acknowledging something personal and responding to any specific questions they have posed.
  • In addition to the interactive version, it can be helpful to have a pared down, static version of the syllabus to use as a reference throughout the remainder of the semester.

An interactive syllabus is a particularly effective way to establish all three forms of presence (teaching, cognitive, social) as described in the Community of Inquiry in an asynchronous online course. If the syllabus also introduces students to the LMS course page, consider whether students might need to be given a direct link to the interactive syllabus from which to then learn about how to access the LMS.

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“Interactive Syllabi” by the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation, Vermont State University is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0