Empower Students to Take Responsibility for Success

Write a syllabus that motivates and supports student learning

A traditional syllabus outlines the course content, but it doesn’t always help students understand how to succeed in a course. In contrast, a motivating syllabus (Harrington & Thomas, 2018) explains the learning students will do in the course, how they will learn, and why their learning matters.

It shows how the course learning goals, major assessments (e.g., tests, projects, etc.), and formative work (e.g., reading assignments, homework, class work) have been designed to work together and help them succeed.

Moreover, when you use the syllabus to help students understand why they are doing the work of the course, you increase the likelihood that they will see the course work as meaningful - and the likelihood that they will complete that work!  

In addition to reframing the way you communicate the content of your course, a motivating syllabus should also reframe the instructor-student relationship. Rather than detailing policies that put you in the role of enforcer, empower students to take responsibility for their own behavior so they can take control of their learning.

Use the syllabus as an opportunity to explain how coming to class, completing reading or homework assignments, submitting work on time, and seeking support from you will help them be successful in the course.

This will motivate students much more effectively than creating a reward and punishment structure that polices their behavior.

Connect with students

Sending a welcome message (in an email or Brightspace announcement) a few days before the start of classes can help students begin to feel connected to you and learn about what to expect in your course.

This initial contact doesn’t need to be detailed or overwhelming but simply lets students know that you are excited about working with them and opens up the potential for ongoing communication about their learning.

If appropriate, you may want to share the syllabus with students as part of their email or direct them to where they can find it in your Brightspace course. 

In addition to telling them what to expect, your welcome message can invite students to tell you about their circumstances and expectations by asking them to reply directly to your email or to complete a short online survey.

You might ask them questions about their access to technologies to complete course work, outside obligations that may interfere with their schoolwork, or other concerns they may have about their success in your course.  

Design a first day of class that engages students in meaningful work

What students experience on the first day of class makes a lasting impression: in fact, research on student evaluations shows that first-day impressions often endure to end-of-term evaluations (Laws et al., 2010). Focusing the first day of class on your review of the syllabus sends the message to students that they should expect to take all the cues about their learning from you, putting them in a passive role.

If you want students to be active, engaged participants in their own learning throughout the course, communicate this expectation by having them do meaningful work on the first day.

Instead of reading the syllabus to them, assign the syllabus as homework (see below) and focus the first day on a learning task that will introduce them to the exciting disciplinary work they will be doing throughout your course. Not only does this help set expectations, but it also sets a positive tone for the entire semester.

Require students to use the syllabus to make a plan for their success

Instructors often become frustrated when students don’t take time to read the course syllabus carefully, but the reality is that students often do not see the syllabus as a tool to support their learning. You can change this perception by having them use the syllabus to learn about the work they will do in the course and to make a concrete plan for their success.

Require students to complete a short written assignment in the first week of class where they use the syllabus to respond to some prompts like the ones below.  

Based on your reading of the syllabus,  

• What important knowledge will you gain in this course? What important skills will you gain in this course?  
• How will what you learn in this course help you attain some of your important goals (personal, educational, career, other)?  
• What specific steps will you take to be successful in this course? (You can prompt them with suggestions like these: attend class regularly, complete readings before class meetings, participate in class, do all the homework assignments, ask for help when they’re struggling, etc.)  
• Which of your strengths as a learner will you draw upon to be successful? Explain those strengths and how you will use them.  
• What challenges do you anticipate with learning in this course? Explain what those challenges are and how you will respond to them.  

Have students make a plan for completing the work of course assignments

Students will struggle when they don’t understand how course assignments will contribute to their learning in a course, don’t know how to approach the work of assignments, or don’t realize how complex an assignment is until it’s too late for them to put in the requisite work.

Grading work that is sub-par at best (or completely off-base at worst!) can take a real toll on instructors. You can help students respond more effectively to assignments by having them take some time when they receive an assignment to read it carefully, reflect on its value, and make a concrete plan for how they will approach it.

This work should be done in writing either in class or as part of a homework assignment to help ensure that students see it as an important part of their work.  

Below are some examples of prompts that can guide students to plan in helpful ways. 
 

Prompts to help students reflect on the value of an assignment  

• How will completing this assignment prepare me for work I am required to do in other courses or in my major?  
• How does the work of this assignment relate to goals I have for myself in college? Beyond college?  

Prompts to help students plan their work on an assignment  

• In what ways will this assignment draw on my strengths? How will I use these strengths to be successful?  
• What do I expect will be most challenging as I complete this assignment? What resources (e.g., teacher, peers, course materials, outside resources, etc.) will I use to help me work through this challenge?  
• What are two things I will do this week (by date) to begin working on this assignment?  
• If I am not able to complete this assignment on time, what options will I discuss with my instructor (choosing a late submission date, choosing to submit part of the assignment on time, other options that work for your course)?  

Not only will this kind of analysis and planning help ensure that students are reading assignments more carefully, but it will also surface questions early on so that you can more effectively guide students through their work.  

Have students reflect on their approach to learning

When students can’t see a connection between their work and their success in a course, they can easily begin to feel defeated and withdraw from the very activities that are most likely to help them.

It’s easy to assume that students who don’t seem to be working hard just don’t care, but often students put in minimal effort because they don’t realize that they can change their approach to the work of a course and improve the outcome. We can help these students by having them analyze their efforts and the feedback they receive from us so they can be more successful.

After students have received grades or feedback on an assessment or assignment, have them respond in writing to prompts like the ones below to help them use that feedback to analyze their efforts and make plans for future work.  

• How long did I spend working on this assignment/preparing for this test or quiz? Was that enough? Do I need to spend more time on the next assignment/preparing for the next test or quiz?  
• What did I do while I worked on the assignment/prepared for the test or quiz? Did I (*provide students with a list of helpful strategies here)? 
• Given the feedback I received, what are two new strategies (from the list above or others) that I will try when I work on my next assignment / prepare for the next test or quiz?