Writing a Syllabus that Motivates Students in an Asynchronous Online Course
Students come into online courses with a variety of preconceptions based on their prior experiences. Some may never have taken online courses and may not understand how their experience will differ from in-person courses. Others may be returning to higher ed and have not had recent experience as a learner in a college course. In addition, students in online courses may be working full-time or facing other personal obligations that mean they need to work in strategic and focused ways. In all of these cases, making our expectations clear to students is essential to their success and their motivation to do the work of the course.
One important way to communicate expectations for our students in an online course is to write a syllabus that helps them understand the value of the work they are doing, the strategies that will help them be successful, and the role we will play in supporting their learning. Writing this kind of syllabus for an online course helps ensure that students feel more motivated because they see not only why their work will be meaningful, but also that they will have the guidance and the resources they need to be successful.
A new kind of syllabus
It’s important to acknowledge that this kind of syllabus is different from what we may be used to!
A traditional syllabus provides an overview of the course content, the assignments students will complete, and the course policies. This kind of syllabus is informational rather than motivational, communicating what students will learn or do rather than how or why they will do that learning. When students receive a traditional syllabus in an online course, they may feel overwhelmed or isolated, believing that they are on their own to navigate complex content and assignments on their own.
What we are recommending is called a motivating syllabus, which signals to students that we have designed a course that will help them learn and work with the content in meaningful ways. Most importantly, in online courses, it lets students know that we are aware that they are learning in a modality that may be new or unfamiliar to them and that we will be attentive to them and their learning in that context.
A motivating syllabus communicates the value of the online course.
In an in-person course, we can convey our excitement about the course and students’ learning through “live” interactions in class. Since online courses don’t afford those same opportunities, we need to make sure our syllabus is explicit about the important ways in which students will be changed by what they learn. Instead of just telling students what they will study, a motivating syllabus explains why the learning they will do in the course matters—and invites them to explore the meaning of the course for themselves! This value should be communicated in multiple ways throughout our course, but there are two important, and frequently overlooked, parts of the syllabus that we can use to help students immediately see meaning in our course.
Course goals
The first place we communicate the value of the course is our goals. When we articulate our goals in terms of student learning and change, we help them see the importance of the work they will be doing. Typically goals that are articulated in this way begin with the phrase “By the end of this course, students will be able to…” This kind of clarity is particularly important in an online course because it helps students see where we are aiming them, making them feel more connected to the learning they will do, less isolated in their efforts, and more hopeful about their work. It also eliminates the frustration students experience when they can’t understand the reason for or meaning behind the work we ask of them. Below is an example of a set of goals for an online course that focus on student learning and on meaningful, focused work in a specific field.
Sample course goals (from a course in Upstate New York Farming History)
At the end of this course, students will be able to
- interpret primary documents within their historical context.
- apply knowledge of historical changes in economic, demographic, and cultural aspects of American society to explain current social realities.
- locate and cite data to support assertions about causes and effects in history.
- critically analyze and evaluate arguments and the evidence used in their support.
- synthesize evidence for a historical interpretation in essay form.
Course Description
In addition to a clear set of goals, it is helpful to develop an enhanced course description that explicitly communicates the value of the course. This is different from the official catalog description, which is usually a list of topics. Instead, an enhanced course description makes visible to students the meaningful, exciting work that your course holds for them and the broader context of that work. This includes helping students see how this course connects to other courses, to their lives outside the University, and to the work they will do (or, in some cases, the work they are already doing) as professionals in the field. Students will be more motivated in online courses where they see the authenticity and applicability of the work they will be doing. Below is an example of an enhanced course description for an online course that helps students see the value of the work they will be doing.
Sample course description (from a course in Upstate New York Farming History)
Many students think that history courses are about memorizing dates and names, but the work historians do is much more creative and exciting than that! History is not about being able to recall facts, but instead it is about interpreting and explaining the past by considering sources that tell us about the lives of real people—not just emperors or kings, but also everyday people like New York state farmers. Historians are detectives who analyze sources for clues that will help us understand the causes and effects of big changes or trends over time. We string those clues together to create stories of how individuals and societies experience historical change. Basically, historians answer the question, “How did we end up HERE?” In this course, you will become a detective and a storyteller, learning to use the same tools that all historians use. You will read and analyze primary documents that give us multiple perspectives on how farmers in New York state have made sense of social, economic, and agricultural change. You will read other historians’ interpretations and determine where those interpretations do and don’t hold up. And you will develop your own explanation and interpretation of an important event in the history of farming in New York state. Along the way, you will also become part of a community of historians by reflecting on and sharing your discoveries with me and with your peers in online discussions. Even if you are not a history major, you will leave this course a more informed person with a new view of history, a more informed sense of the role of farming in history, and new ways of making sense of our current historical moment in New York and the US!
A motivating syllabus helps students understand how to be successful in an online course.
Students may come into online courses feeling uncertain about their ability to be successful without the regularity of class meetings to help them structure their time. Without the anchor of a schedule, many will struggle to keep their attention on the course. Some may also expect that online courses are self-paced, meaning that they don’t need to have a regular presence in the course to be successful.
The syllabus presents a crucial opportunity to disrupt these kinds of assumptions that students may be bringing to our online course. We should use this opportunity to provide clear guidance that will help students understand how the course is structured, what our expectations are, and how they can organize themselves and their work in order to be successful. Below is an example of how you can communicate these expectations in a section of your syllabus.
What to expect in this course
If you haven’t taken fully online asynchronous courses before (or even if you have!), it’s useful to get a clear sense of what this means for your learning. Below I have articulated some expectations that can help you plan to be successful.
This course will be interactive. We will not meet in “real time,” but you will not be alone! I have made plans to ensure that you will engage with me and with your peers each week. You will be doing exciting work in small groups, and you will receive regular feedback from me. Each week of the course is structured in a similar way so you know what to expect. In addition to the schedule published in the course syllabus, you will find a detailed overview of your work for each week in the course modules.
This course will require you to manage your time carefully. You should plan to spend the amount of time you would normally plan to spend in class meetings plus time for preparation and homework.
This course will require you to manage your work independently. To be successful, you will need to take greater initiative to manage your own time and regulate your own learning. The “Syllabus Reflection and Planning” assignment will help you develop a plan for your success.
This course will require you to adhere to a schedule. While you don’t have to attend classes and can work when your schedule permits, this is not a self-paced course and there are deadlines for submitting work. I have designed the schedule to ensure that you can work at a reasonable pace and complete assignments over time without getting too overwhelmed.
When students understand how they can be successful, they are much more likely to engage with our content in meaningful ways. They are also better prepared to take responsibility for their own behaviors and the outcome of their work.
A motivating syllabus helps students see the instructor as a resource.
Students taking in-person courses have regular contact with their instructors in class meetings, which helps create a relationship and a sense of connection. Feeling connected to instructors is even more important in online courses, where students may feel isolated, anxious about how to do the work of the course, or uncertain about the resources they have to support their success. When students see that their instructor cares about their learning and is there to support them, they will be more motivated to do the work of the course and will also be more likely to reach out for help when they need it. The syllabus is an important place to establish this connection, but it requires us to think carefully about how we communicate our expectations.
One of the important ways we can use the syllabus to signal our relationship to students is the way that we create and communicate our course policies. Sometimes we worry that students won’t take our course seriously or do the work if we don’t create tough policies. This can be a particular concern in online courses, where it feels easy for students to “check out.” However, when we put ourselves in the role of “enforcer,” we distance ourselves from students in ways that can actually interfere with their success.
When creating and communicating policies for an online course, it’s important to remember that our policies should exist to guide students toward success, not to punish them when they make mistakes. This means being thoughtful and selective about how many policies we create and also mindful of the tone we use to communicate those policies. When we write our policies in ways that show students we have their learning and their success in mind, they feel supported rather than policed. Below are some examples of policies that are designed to help students and that are communicated in positive, proactive ways.
Sample late work policy
I have designed the work you do in this course to help you build skills over time. I have also created a schedule that should make it possible for you to manage that work, including making sure that assignments are due on the same days each week and at the same time of day. This should make it easier for you to plan and anticipate when you will need to work on assignments each week of the course. However, I realize that unanticipated issues related to other responsibilities—both academic and personal—may make it difficult for you to submit all assignments by the due dates I’ve set. For that reason, you have a no questions asked “late pass” for late submission of one of the four writing assignments that you will be completing for the course. You can use this pass to turn in an assignment up to 3 days late just by letting me know you are using your late pass. If you find yourself struggling to complete other coursework on time, please talk with me so that we can figure out a plan to help you stay on track to be successful in the course.
Sample academic integrity policy
Academic integrity means knowing when and how to give others proper credit for their ideas in a scholarly conversation. In this online course, you will do a lot of writing and thinking, both on your own and with others, that will help you practice the skills associated with academic integrity. Developing these skills will help you to be successful not only in this course, but throughout your college career and in the workplace.
I have designed this course so that you will have multiple opportunities to learn and to earn credit for your work. You will complete multiple short assignments throughout the course where you will document your thinking and the development of your ideas. You will use the work on these assignments to create your final course project. Completing this work over time will help you see and demonstrate your progress, and you will find that you do not need to take “short cuts” in your work by using sources inappropriately. In addition, as you complete your work, you will learn how to document and cite sources in ways that will ensure you are giving others credit for their ideas and avoiding plagiarism.
In addition to your individual work, you will do a lot of work together in this course, mostly through small-group discussions. You will also have the opportunity to give each other feedback on your developing ideas as you work on course assignments. There will be times, however, when I will explicitly ask you to work on your own so that I can get a clear sense of your learning and can give you the most helpful feedback. I will be sure to clearly communicate in assignments whether you should be working on your own or can collaborate with others. I will also clearly explain how and whether you should use resources outside the class to complete your work.
You can learn more about the University’s policies regarding Academic Integrity on the Community Standards website.
Resources about communicating your course effectively
Harrington, C., & Thomas, M. (2018). Designing a motivating syllabus. Stylus Publishing.
Hirsch, C. C. (2010). The promising syllabus enacted: One teacher’s experience. Communication Teacher 24(2), 78-90.
Palmer, M.S., Wheeler, L.B., & Aneece, I. (2016). Does the document matter? The evolving role of syllabi in higher education. Change 48(4), 36-46.