The Graphic Syllabus And The Outcomes Map : Communicating Your Course

Having assessed the class, teachers’ second role is that of a planning according to needs, researching any unknown and organizing timings, material etc. Teaching should meet both students’ needs and course requirements, particularly if leading to an exam. There may already be a syllabus in which case it needs to be adapted or the teacher may need to write a new one. In both cases the learning outcome must be clearly defined so that time, resources and delivery / assessment methods are carefully selected. If courses are leading to a qualification then teacher need to be also aware of the requirements of the awarding body and make sure that all outcomes are reached within the time frame provided. Due consideration should also be given to health and safety.

They have found that the teachers only go over what they really want to go over and leave out a lot of the important details. “Gradually they end up going through the motions, staying ahead of their students in the textbooks, covering only material that will appear on the next text.”(pg.12) College professors want the students to know most of the material; or of at least heard of most of it before they get to college. “History professors in college routinely put down high school history courses. A colleague of mine calls his survey of American history “Iconoclasm I and II,” because he sees his job as disabusing his charges of what they learned in high school. In no other field does this happen. Mathematics professors, for instance, know that non-Euclidean geometry is rarely taught in high school, but they assume that Euclidean geometry was mistaught. Professors of english literature don’t presume that Romeo and Juliet was misunderstood in high school.”(pg.12)

In fact, most students use these documents as a roadmap for each and every college course. The documents contain valuable information, such as your professor's name, contact information, office location, and office hours. The name of the course, meeting days/times, a description of the course, and its learning objectives. Additionally, what you can expect to know or do by the end of the semester. Information about the required textbook specified materials and any other assigned readings. Quiz, exams, and test dates, specified due dates for readings, written assignments, and projects. Most importantly, the syllabus includes descriptions, instructions, prerequisite and instructions for assignments. Class policies, including grading scale and, policies. The professor's expectations of you. All of this information helps a student determine if they have the skills to complete the assignments in the course and if the professor is a good fit for the students' learning needs. In short, if the course is worth paying the tuitions.

A syllabus is something very important in every class. You must read over it, and keep it close to you when referring to all class assignments. I find myself looking over a syllabus quite frequently in the first few weeks of class and highlighting what I feel to be important. While reviewing the syllabus for our honors English course, I found a number of things I feel I should highlight and keep in my mind at all times. The first one being, no book.This a huge advantage as books can be quite costly. I find myself to be a very organized individual who at times can become quite anxious if things are not in order. Therefore, I find great appreciation in the fact that all modules as well as weekly assignments are broken down for you to see. Continuing

I have learned plenty of things in Education100. By reading materials and discuss in class, I know more about education and schooling problems. By revised my paper with feedbacks, I can know which part of my writing skills is weakest and now I can writing better than before. I found this course have some differences from compare to other courses. Now I will show more details of my learning.

Mrs.Brackmans classroom syllabus is meant to show us what she expects of us and for us to know what rules must be followed. This syllabus is to prepare us and to be aware of what is to come and to improve ourselves in our class. I believe to be my opinion that the three greater Significant aspects regarding this syllabus are our Rules and Expectations, Grading policy and Attendance/ Makeup Work and Late Work Policy.

The syllabus outlines the topic for each week. Aside from providing a framework, it also states the objective for the lesson, required materials, and the e-book for the class.

A syllabus to me is an outline of a course. I believe instructors give syllabuses to ensure students with valuable information and acknowledge the expectations of the class. The syllabus contains a lot of pertinent information that’s not only is useful in the beginning of the class, but something that can be looked on throughout the entire course.

In this course, I have learned the criteria for an effective graphic. Graphics have to have visual appeal, the reader might ignore them unless they are eye-catching and clear. A graphic should have labels so a reader is able to identify information easily and quickly. The information depicted in the graphic should be identified with a title. Graphics need to accompany the information they are clarifying. Graphics should be compact. They are not usually very useful if they do not save space. I have used the criteria for an effective graphic in Unit 3, Activity 3 of this course to be able to convey information effectively.

When I first signed up for this class I didn’t know what to expect. But after two classes, I realized it was a class to discuss and interpret curriculum from a deeper and substantial stand point. Outside of simply teaching a lesson, what is the purpose of the lesson? How can you make the lesson relevant to students lives or real world situations? These are abstract thoughts each teacher should have to design curriculum that students not only understand but increases engagement, and participation within class. This will only enhance pedagogy of the content as well as how students absorb it.

The market for textbooks is constantly changing. As the demand for certain features in textbooks increases each supplier in the supply chain’s role will change and evolve. Authors need to be aware of the needs of the universities; books need to be concise yet full of information. Authors continuously need to update data and information in all textbooks. Text editors need to keep up with the authors and the ever changing data and information provided to students in textbooks; they need to be able to adapt to other forms of text as well such as e-books. As technology evolves as does the need for better graphics in textbooks. Many students are visual learners and graphic designers need to be aware of this. We have certainly come a long way in terms of graphics in textbooks and the need will only keep increasing. Printing companies also need to be kept in the know, and possibly develop new technology to make it easier to predict the demand for each textbook and even the possibility of e-books being the dominant form of text. As the industry grows and changes as will the roles of each supplier and everyone needs to look toward the future and realize the changes that are happening.

In order to teach successfully teachers must learn about first learn about their students. Teachers must assess the student’s capabilities and interests. Some students are visual learners, while others learn from hands on activities, or verbal communication. Not all students can learn through memorization, rather they learn through interest and relation to the topic. “To realize what an experience, or empirical situation, means, we have to call to mind the sort of situation that presents itself outside of school" (Democracy and Education). The curriculum should encompass material that is most useful for a student to learn. It seems that in the majority of schools, students are not given the flexibility to guide their own learning, but rather follow rigid instructions that destroy the student’s imagination.

Referring to the Common Core Appendix A and Attachment H and I we can analyze the quality dimensions of text complexity and reader and task considerations. The vocabulary words in the chapter have a single level of meaning with an explicitly stated purpose. The words listed such as needle leaf tree, county, and lines of latitude and longitude are clearly defined within the chapter using words that can be easily understood by 4th graders (see Attachment H for full listing). The dimension of structure found on the Common Core Appendix A, figure 2, discusses the use of graphics within the text. Our chapter use graphics such as maps, charts, real life pictures, and graphs to deepen the reader’s understanding of the content. After reviewing our graphics, we conclude that they are simple and easy to read because the students have most likely seen maps before. If a map does zoom in on a particular area, it includes a caption to describe what the students are looking at. The real life pictures are supplementary to the text, as they are not required to understand the material. We found that most of the maps and charts are essential to the chapter because they extend the reader's knowledge and can help to solidify any misunderstandings.

Traditionally, instructors used to focus on what they did, rather than what the students were learning. Just few decades ago, teaching revolved only around the teacher, putting the learner out of the game. The learner was seen as no more than a jar being filled with information. Besides, all the conversations and debates at that time argued that the active element in the teaching/learning process could be anything except the learner. Knowledge was considered to be poured by the teacher into the learner’s mind meanwhile all what the learner could do inside the classroom was to watch, having a passive role in the construction of his own knowledge. Recently, and in order to cover the drawbacks of teacher-centered approach, education has adopted a new approach to learning, particularly language learning calling it the learner-centered approach.

Furthermore, analyzing what and how learners need to learn in the target context, and using this analysis as a basis for designing English language curriculum would allow teachers to promote learners’ mastery of the specific language skills they need in their future studies or careers (Johns, 1990). This was reflected in Flowerdew’s (2005) study, which explored the role of integrating various NA based syllabus designs into an English for occupational purposes