Syllabus Statements

If there are specific software or hardware used, the Technology/Software Requirements statement can help further define what available resources must the students have access to. Additional information may include troubleshooting/installation tips, how to access free versions of the products if available, and what computer labs provide the specified software and hardware. For computer lab information, please visit <http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78577&p=517810>.

The following is a Software Requirements example:

You will be required to have access to SPSS for your assignments for this course. My recommendation is that you have SPSS installed on your personal computer since you will be using this software frequently throughout the semester. Please see the UCF Technology Product Center for details on student discounts for this software. In addition, SPSS is available via UCF Apps at <https://it.ucf.edu/ucf-apps/>.

And the following is an example of a Technology Requirement:

Students will be expected to have access to a computer frequently, as all writing assignments used will be typed out and not handwritten. The software you use to write your assignments is irrelevant, as long as you follow my writing guidelines outlined later in my syllabus. I recommend to have access to a computer weekly. If you do not own a computer, there are computers accessible to you in all of UCF’s student computer labs. For further information on computer labs, please see the following website: http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78577&p=517810.

An Internet Usage statement may be utilized if your course requires accessing the internet, such as using email. The statement can highlight expectations of students in relation to how often must a student have access to the internet, how frequent must email be checked per week, and the semantics involved in online communication. Most computer labs are connected to the internet. For computer lab information, please visit <http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78577&p=517810>.

The following is an Internet Usage example:

You will be expected to have daily access to the internet and email, since I will be emailing you constantly about assignment updates, additions and changes. All students at UCF are required to obtain a Knight’s Email account and check it regularly for official university communications. If you do not own a computer, there are computer accessible to you in all UCF’s computer labs, and most computer labs have computers connected to the internet. For further information on computer labs, please see the following website: <http://guides.ucf.edu/c.php?g=78577&p=517810>.

Whether your students communicate using a Discussion forum or through email, you may wish to have a set of rules of appropriate ways to communicate. You may discuss topics on “netiquette”, email, discussion forums, online chatting, whiteboard, when to come to office hours, how to schedule appointments, and other forms of communication.

The following are three sample rules:

1. Before posting in a forum, always make sure your posting has no grammar, punctuation or spelling errors. You may do this by copying and pasting the text into Microsoft Word, and pasting it back to the posting area.
2. If you would like to send me email, please add the following to the subject line: “: <Student’s last name, first name>“. Since I get a variety of email each day, I do not read all emails I receive. By having this heading in the subject line, I will read your email immediately.
3. No shorthand notation or acronyms (such as “TTYL”, ” LOL”, or “IMO”) may be used at any time for this course. I feel it is unprofessional to use and is ambiguous for those unfamiliar with the acronym. Furthermore, please use smiley sparingly.

Students may have multiple emails recorded with the university, including “campus email” and “personal email,” and they may be confused about how you will communicate with them. The following is a statement appropriate for distribution to your classes or for inclusion on your syllabus:

In this class our official mode of communication is through email. All communication between student and instructor and between student and student should be respectful and professional. As of 2023, students are issued an official @ucf.edu email address.  Communications will be sent only to these official UCF addresses. Students are responsible for checking their email accounts regularly. See https://it.ucf.edu/studentemailmigration/project/support/ for further information.

If you instead use Webcourses to communicate with students by email, here is a sample statement for the syllabus:

In this class our official mode of communication is through email located inside Webcourses. All communication between student and instructor and between student and student should be respectful and professional. It is the student’s responsibility to check the “coursemail” tool frequently.

It is important to set expectations for attendance and to ensure students understand what “attendance” means for your class. Please refer to our Attendance page for further ideas.

The following is a sample statement for attendance:

I highly encourage you to attend the classroom sessions as we will discuss concepts that you will be expected to critique in the exams, and you will have focused time to work with your group members. However, if you are sick, please stay home. I will also record the classroom sessions if you are unable to attend in person. You may choose to watch the recording and answer the question that is embedded in order to receive participation credit. Contact me as soon as possible if you are unable to attend class in any fashion.

If your librarian located a digital version of your textbook through the library, then the below statement can help your students use the material. Please contact your subject librarian or the textbook affordability librarian to ensure you include the correct link.

The following is an example library eTextbook statement:

The digital version of the course textbook is available courtesy of the UCF Libraries. Accessing the textbook requires that you authenticate (log in) with your NID. You are permitted to read the textbook online and/or download content to read offline. If PDF downloads are available for your book, this method is recommended to ensure uninterrupted access to the content. Any unauthorized sharing of the textbook content is in violation of the license agreement between the publisher and university. The license permits access to this textbook for current UCF students, staff, and faculty only. Contact your librarian if you have any questions.
eTextbook Link: (insert link from librarian)

If you are using an e-pack or electronic content from a publisher or linking to a publisher website, your publisher may require that students purchase a PIN. The PIN grants permission for the students to access the information. If students need a PIN, please include the requirement with your textbook information. Generally, you can bundle the PIN with the purchase of a textbook. However, students purchasing used books will need to purchase a PIN from the publisher.

During this course you might have the opportunity to use public online services and/or software applications sometimes called third-party software such as a blog or wiki. While some of these could be required assignments, you need not make any personally identifying information on a public site. Do not post or provide any private information about yourself or your classmates. Where appropriate you may use a pseudonym or nickname. Some written assignments posted publicly may require personal reflection/comments, but the assignments will not require you to disclose any personally identity-sensitive information. If you have any concerns about this, please contact your instructor.

Note to Faculty: Please be sure to indicate in the syllabus statement which model of clicker you have chosen.

We will be using clickers in class on a regular basis. You will need to purchase an iClicker/iClicker2 pads (commonly called a “clicker”) from the bookstore or computer store and bring it with you to every class session. It would be wise to bring extra batteries as well, as we will be using the pads in activities that count for class points. The purchase of an iClicker/iClicker2 pad is NOT optional; it will be used as an integral part of this course. I will provide a short demonstration of how to use iClicker/iClicker2 in class.

After you purchase your clicker, you must register your clicker online for this class. It is imperative that every student register their unit no later than __________. Instructions for the registration process can be found at http://www.iclicker.com/.

This section describes the importance of learning teams. You may include the purpose for having learning teams, such as improved learning for study groups, working on a team project, or working on group quizzes. Students may also would like to know when and how they will be grouped, the number of people per group, and what kinds of activities and tasks will be expected to be accomplished while in groups. Such information is important for students who feel less confident about working in groups and would like to be more familiar with what is required. This statement is also important to further inform students of what is expected of them and whether they feel they will be more successful compared to another course sections.

Example:

This course relies heavily on teamwork and cooperation throughout the semester. Early on in the semester, you will be assigned into groups of four at random and will be asked to accomplish various tasks in a group effort. Since your final grade is mostly composed of grades on various team projects, teamwork skills are essential for this class. If you are having difficulties with working in groups, please feel free to discuss this with me and whether this course is ideal for you.

The Study statement is a list of observations that you found helped students succeed in your course. For example, if the textbook and/or supplemental materials are technical and not easy to read for students, you may provide tips in this statement as to how to read it. Also, you may give suggestions about how to study for a test in your course, such as group studying or practicing problems.

Example:

Since the textbook is technical and in depth about the topics, I recommend skimming through the reading first, then reading it again in more detail so that you have a greater grasp of the material. I would also like to recommend making a list of questions or confusing points in the reading so that I can emphasize it more in my lecture. I have seen that study groups that go over key concepts is the most effective way to studying for my tests.

The statement answers a student’s potential question about your course: “Why even bother knowing this material?” In this section of the syllabus, you have the opportunity to answer this question. In order to help portray this, you may link your topic to other disciplines, real-life applications, and unexpected applications. The statement also gives you an opportunity to briefly explain why do you study this particular field.

The following is an example:

Computer Science is a rewarding field to study, since its application is used in a variety of fields. For example, the study of sorting algorithms takes intuitive ways that humans normally sort any set of items, such as cards, lists, or documents, and improves them using a variety of changes. Think about how you would sort objects. It can most likely be linked to any one of the more common sorting algorithms. Computer Science is connected strongly in math, engineering and the sciences in general, while the study of how users interact with computers is highly connected to psychology and humanities, and the theory is related deeply in history. I would recommend all students to take Intro to C and get a sense of what this exciting field is about.

If fieldwork is required for the course, a Fieldwork statement is important for a student’s health and success in your course. Essential information includes what kinds of allergens will students be exposed to, what kinds of fieldwork will be done, how will they be done, and how often will students be engaged in these activities. In order to provide a more general idea of the fieldwork done, you may further provide your purpose for the fieldwork, the importance of the fieldwork in the course, and how it will change and/or enhance student learning experience. Also, feel free to include materials that students are expected to have, and where they are readily available.

Example:

This class will require catching water and species samples in the Loxahatchee River for identifying, testing and dissecting. You are expected to visit a designated area of the river twice a week for a two months, and bring the samples back to the lab for further analysis. If you are allergic to plants near the water, daisies that grow regularly near the river at this time, or feel uncomfortable with dissecting, I would strongly recommend you to not sign up for this section.

A controversial content statement acts as a disclaimer for classes that may show some form of problematic content as part of study. The statement is to inform students who are sensitive to these issues and to outline your expectations. The following are sample statements:

Example #1: Since we will be studying art throughout history, there may be times when some of this art may have nudity in it. If you feel uncomfortable with this, please let me know and we can make accommodations.

Example#2: This course will discuss some potentially controversial issues. Part of the purpose of the course is to enable you to understand how reasonable people might disagree about such issues (especially involving ethics and justice). You are not required to believe any particular position that we discuss and examine on such issues. You are expected, however, to have an open mind and to try to understand the arguments (and to consider the ideas and evidence used in such arguments) for many different positions on these issues, and to critically examine and respectfully discuss such arguments, ideas and evidence.

If your course requires frequent trips to the library, this statement may be useful to portray your student expectations. You may also provide a link to the library’s website for easy access.

The following is an example Library Skills statement:

Since this course requires writing several research papers, you are expected to know how to use the library’s resources. If you are not familiar with using the library, please ask for assistance from the library’s personnel, take workshops provided by the library, or visit the library’s website (http://library.ucf.edu/).

The Prerequisite Skills statement highlights what courses are needed, or even more specifically, what skills from those courses are needed to succeed in this course. This may be a simple list of pre-requisite or co-requisite courses, or you may briefly explain what concepts you expect students to have already mastered from each course. You may also add a brief list of course that aren’t pre-requisites or co-requisites, but ones that you personally found helpful for students.

An example of a Prerequisite Skills Statement is the following:

College algebra and Geometry is a pre-requisite for this course, since you will be working with 2-D coordinate systems frequently. Also, I have found taking Statistics (STA 2023) facilitates in learning the course material.

Students may want clarification about what Online Learning is, and what it requires from the student to succeed. Expectations about course interaction, participation, self-pacing and whether it’s feasible may be expressed in this section. You may also describe some qualities you recommend online students should have, and what behavior will and will not make a student successful with respect to an online course.

The following is an example of an Online Learning statement:

Online learning is not for everyone; some people may not be able to manage a course that does not meet face to face to learn. Online learning requires lots of planning and self-pacing so that you may be successful in my course. Since I will be covering much material in 16 weeks, I would highly recommend treating this course like a regular lecture course, and keeping up with lectures and assignments. Please do not be tempted to skip two weeks of lectures and expect to catch up easily.

For most students striving for B grades or higher, I recommend that you schedule about hours per week for engaging with this course. Your background knowledge/experience and other variables may require you to spend additional time. Please plan accordingly by scheduling time on your calendar now. Several factors influence student academic performance and long-term learning. Active engagement in all course activities (e.g., class participation, readings, homework, assignments, projects, studying, etc.) will contribute to your learning and to success in this course. According to research, a metacognitive learning approach combined with practice testing and distribution of practice over time is most effective. UCF offers a wide range of free academic resources to support student success, including services offered by KARS (Knights Academic Resource Services), SARC (Student Academic Resource Center), UCF Libraries, the University Writing Center, the Math Success Center, the Chemistry Tutoring Center, and VARC (Veterans Academic Resource Center). I am available at [list preferred method of contact] if you are seeking more information on how to be successful in this course. Your academic advisor is another helpful resource to assist you in meeting the requirements of this course.

This semester, we will have Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs) working with our course. ULAs are undergraduates who have received high marks in this course previously. They are knowledgeable about the structure of the course, the content, and assignments. Research has shown that ULAs have a positive benefit for students in the class, including helping to increase student grades. ULAs are not responsible for any grading or grade distribution. ULAs help to facilitate active learning within the classroom. Our ULAs will act as peer leaders within the course helping with answering questions, group work, discussions, and peer review. [Describe how you will group students with the ULAs or how they will be interacting with the ULAs]. As you would with any Teaching Assistant, you are expected to treat ULAs with respect during the course. Any student misconduct experienced by the ULAs will be dealt with by the instructor.