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The CSM Syllabus Hub

A centralized place for syllabi-related needs

Decorative Banner CSM Syllabus HubThe SMCCCD Syllabus Self-Assessment Guide

The Instructional Design team at SMCCCD has developed a self-assessment guide to help you review and revise your syllabi from a student-centered, equity-minded, and antiracist perspective. The guide is informed by the work of the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California, the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Virginia, and guidance from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges.

Navigating the Guide

The guide below is organized in tabs that represent five core principles to assess and revise your syllabi (i.e., demystify, welcome and validate, create a partnership, represent and diversify, and organize). Click each tab to review key reflection questions and the rationale behind each principle. 

As you go through the different tabs, you may find that your syllabus excels in some areas but could improve in others. We invite you to use this guide in a compassionate way, choosing only a few aspects to work on at a time. As you continue to use this guide for reflective practice, you will likely identify new ways to continue to transform your syllabus.

Looking for an editable version of the guide? Download your own copy.

Principle Key Reflection Questions & Considerations Rationale: Why is this important?
Demystify important information about the course, policies and practices  
  • Does my syllabus include basic course information (e.g., course name, CRN, meeting day(s)/time(s), course description, SLOs, grading scale, instructor information, etc.)? 
  • How clearly am I explaining the rationale behind critical instructional decisions and course policies (e.g., attendance, late work, academic honesty)? 
  • How am I conveying the expectations for assignments, assessments and participation? Are these expectations conveyed in a clear and concrete way? 
  • Are the grading approach, scales, and policies properly and clearly described?
  • What opportunities for feedback and practice do I provide throughout the course? 
  • Have I explained the purpose and value of office hours in the course?
  • Do I clearly explain how students can communicate with me? How can I be proactive in reaching students who are less likely to initiate contact? 
  • Is there an overall course schedule/calendar to help orient students (even if the schedule is subject to change)? 

Transparency helps students understand the rationale behind the decisions you make in the course. A demystifying syllabus provides a clear roadmap of the course, telling students what they need to do to be successful, why, and how they are expected to do it. 

By demystifying your syllabus, you can help bring down barriers for all students in your course, particularly those who may come from less privileged and historically marginalized backgrounds, and those who have had negative experiences during their educational journey.
Principle Key Reflection Questions & Considerations Rationale: Why is this important?
Use welcoming, compassionate, and validating language and tone 
  • In what ways does the tone of my syllabus emphasize care, trust, and support for students? 
  • In what ways do the course policies offer flexibility for students who may face challenges along the way? 
  • What course norms are in place to help build a sense of community and safe space for all? 
  • What specific practices or elements in the course demonstrate my commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive learning experience? Tip: Challenge yourself to go beyond the required institutional equity statement? 
  • How can I explicitly convey that mistakes are part of the learning process? What elements/practices in the course reflect this belief?
  • How can I use my syllabus to validate students’ abilities? How do I convey the message that all are capable, expected, and offered the support to succeed? 

The syllabus is part of the first impression students have of the course and the instructor. It sends messages (both implicit and explicit) about the climate of the course, the type of interactions students can expect, and how the process of learning will be structured.  

More importantly, the language and tone of your syllabus reflect (or should reflect) the underlying beliefs, values, and rationale on which the course is built.

A welcoming, compassionate, and validating syllabus presents the course and the field as safe, inclusive, and vibrant spaces for all students.   
Principle Key Reflection Questions & Considerations Rationale: Why is this important?
Convey (and fulfill) the promise of a partnership 
  • How can my syllabus reflect who I am as an instructor?  
  • What is the best way to communicate my values, expectations, and other aspects of my social presence? 
  • How do I emphasize connections between the skills, knowledge and experiences gained in the course, and students’ personal and professional goals? 
  • How can I emphasize opportunities built into the course to help students succeed?  
  • In what ways does my syllabus invite all to engage with the discipline and the course? 
  • How am I communicating what students expect from me (my commitments to students)? How do I remain accountable to students, as an instructor? 
  • Does the syllabus include a statement emphasizing how I prioritize students’ physical and mental wellbeing? Am I providing information and links to key student services available at the institution?

Making the promise of a partnership helps switch traditional power dynamics, in which students are passive receivers of policies, and the only ones to be held accountable for the process of learning.  

A promising syllabus communicates how you will work in partnership with students to help them achieve the outcomes of the course, and explains what students can expect from you. It also frames the course as a community of learners, where students are expected to collaborate and hold each other to rigorous, yet compassionate standards.  

 

Principle Key Reflection Questions & Considerations Rationale: Why is this important?
Represent and integrate varied ways of knowing and demonstrating learning 
  • What course materials can be included to integrate, analyze, and celebrate diverse contributions to the field? 
  • How can I design activities, assignments, and assessments that recognize and validate different ways of knowing and demonstrating learning? 
  • How am I integrating students’ experiential knowledge as valid (and expected) contributions to the course and the discipline? 
  • What types of activities, assignments, and/or assessments encourage critical analysis of traditional structures of power and privilege, as it relates to the course and the discipline?

The syllabus offers an opportunity to show how varied ways of knowing and demonstrating learning have a place in the course and the discipline.  

You can do this by intentionally including a range of experiences and backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, ability, nationality, and much more. Strive for providing different options to engage with the course, and try to integrate students’ experiential knowledge as part of the course.  

As you review your syllabus, think about potential ways in which you can encourage students to analyze, critique, and even challenge traditional structures of power and privilege, as you deem relevant for the course and the discipline.

 

Principle Key Reflection Questions & Considerations Rationale: Why is this important?
Ensure organization and accessibility 
  • How can I organize my syllabus in a way that is easy to follow and navigate? 
  • Is information arranged in a logical order?  
  • Do all images, pictures, and symbols include longer descriptions (Alt text) to aid students who may be using assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers)? 
  • Are links embedded in descriptive sentences?  
  • Am I using headings to separate sections of the syllabus? 
  • Am I using the bullets/numbers function to format lists? 
  • Am I ensuring that all course materials are accessible (beyond the syllabus itself)?  
  • If you are using a visual/graphic syllabus, have you checked all elements of the syllabus for accessibility? OR Do you provide an alternative, fully accessible text version? 

An organized and fully accessible syllabus benefits all learners. Structuring your document in a way that is easy to follow and navigate, can help increase student engagement with the syllabus and ensure they do not miss important information.  

By scanning your syllabus for accessibility, you help bring down barriers for all students, especially those with permanent or temporary disabilities.