Syllabi creation natively in Brightspace vs integrating a third-party syllabus management tool?
What are some pros/cons?
If some of my objectives were to:
- standardize the format
- enforce some specific requirements
- use the content of the syllabus in our course equivalency processes
Answers
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"third-party syllabus management tool" — Such as?
Do you also make the syllabus available in other formats (e.g., PDF, flipbook, audiobook…)?
What's the difference between #1 and #2?
"use the content of the syllabus in our course equivalency processes" — Could you explain what that is?
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"third-party syllabus management tool" — Such as? Answer: Simple Syllabus, CourseLeaf SYL, and Concourse, etc.
What's the difference between #1 and #2? Answer: For example, standard format/template would be that it has to be broken down into weekly blocks and include a section for learning objectives/outcomes. Enforce a requirement would be something like in the objectives/outcome section, one must list at minimum 3.
"use the content of the syllabus in our course equivalency processes" Answer: If we were to get a request for a equivalency/transfer credit of a course from another institution and we have that course description and/or syllabus with learning outcomes/objectives, we would try to download and then query our set of syllabi for any possible matches based on the outcomes/objectives.
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Buffalo State U has a requested/required syllabus format and certain items (requirements) that need to be included. I don't find it very confining. Many students state they would like more uniform formats/templates in their courses. And there are instructors who raise the flag of "academic freedom" and do what they want, institutional requirements be damned. So your institution is going to have a preferred/required template and requirements for syllabi, someone will need to review them and be prepared to enforce them. Good luck. 😀
