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Course
Syllabus |
| A
course syllabus in reasonable detail which should also include
the following:
|
| 1. |
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Course
number and title. |
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2.
|
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Instructor's
name, office number and campus telephone numbers. |
| 3.
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Title
of text(s). If you do not plan to rely heavily on a textbook,
students should be made aware of this and purchase of the text
should be optional. |
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4.
|
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Times
and place of instructor's office hours. Important Reminder:
The current scheduling policy leaves Tuesdays and Fridays 4-6
pm as free time. This might be an appropriate time for holding
office hours. |
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5.
|
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Dates
and times of all major exams and major papers (so students can
practice time management). A reminder that the Faculty Senate
Curriculum Committee has discouraged giving exams outside of
scheduled class hours. |
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6.
|
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Specific
assignments (at least for the first 3 weeks, longer if possible;
the entire semester is best). This is particularly important
in undergraduate courses. |
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7.
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Attendance
policy (if any). |
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8.
|
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A
specific statement regarding academic integrity (below).
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9.
|
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Specific grading criteria. The grading
criteria for a course should include the following information:
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|
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The
fraction of the total grade determined by each part of the course
(e.g., exams, papers, recitation performance, homework, labs,
projects, etc.). |
|
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Whether
a single poor performance will be dropped or weighed lower,
or if some form of "resurrection" will be built into
the grading system. |
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The
means that students may appeal grades. |
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Academic
Integrity
|
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Student-teacher
relationships are built on trust. For example, students must
trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about
the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers
must trust that the assignments which students turn in are
their own. Acts, which violate this trust, undermine the educational
process.
|
|
1.
|
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The
Rensselaer
Handbook defines various forms of Academic Dishonesty and
procedures for responding to them. All forms are violations
of the trust between students and teachers. Students should
familiarize themselves with this portion of the Rensselaer
Handbook and should note that the penalties for plagiarism
and other forms of cheating can be quite harsh. |
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2.
|
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Collaborative
or group work should be encouraged at all times. Make clear
to the students when collaboration will be explicitly forbidden
(e.g., take home exams or computer projects). |
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3.
|
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The
syllabus should also contain, in writing, your guidelines for
what is and is not considered cheating and, most importantly,
the associated penalty for violations. |
