Language and accessibility are important to consider when creating your syllabus
“A syllabus should frame the sort of encounters that you would like to have happen in the class. The language of the syllabus should be the language that you would like to hear spoken in the class”
— On the Creation of the Syllabi, from Notes on My Dunce Cap by Jesse Ball
When you have come across this tool, chances are, you need inspiration, something about your learning practice feels like it has run out of juice, or you feel like you cannot connect with your students as you would like to. When you are here, we might need to take a moment to identify the specific issue at hand, that might often be connected to a lack of access.
If you want to make your syllabus more accessible, start with addressing a particular accessibility hurdle in your specific context (learned from Mathura Govindarajan). For this, you need to make yourself aware of where you are at, in terms of location, time, and history. A specific hurdle we identified is processing information against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic that puts a significant strain on students and teachers alike. We observed that it has become more difficult for many to take information in amidst the stresses of this crisis. Cut off from communities and deprived from sensory experiences, it becomes more difficult to access intuitive tools to move through the world, make sense of it, and not get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information raining on them. Our goal was thus to find ways to counter isolation, overcome distance, and create collective learning experiences on- and offline.
Our approach starts thus with coming back to the first technologies available to us: the body and senses.
Checklist for a more engaging STEM syllabus
Sparking curiosity, and starting with your own: “The most precise thing I can say about the making of a syllabus is this: a syllabus should in essence be a manifesto” – Jesse Ball (read in: https://github.com/tchoi8/teachingasart, referred to by Mathura) – what do you believe in? What is your teaching philosophy? What do you want your students to learn in this class? What is the best case scenario? Be creative, be imaginative, aim high. Then, get in conversation with the students you teach and see where they are at and how to modify your syllabus as you go to address their needs and tune into their curiosities
Using active language in your class and in your syllabus → it does not only signify movement, but active language provides responsibility and clarity
Interconnections against isolation: of disciplines and people – try and find connections to each topic you introduce that provides context and translates into everyday life
Be precise. Example: When your class has asynchronous elements – what exactly does that mean for your class? Be as specific as possible for the rest of your syllabus.
Model the behavior you want to see in class, in style, language, respect, etc.
When you talk about a “we”, define the “we”. Who exactly do you mean by this term? Who are you speaking to/about? Who is included in this definition? Who isn’t? How can you make space for “multiple wes” (Kim Tallbear) and acknowledge them? How are you (not) part of that “we” as an educator (and what is the result of that think hierarchy vs equality, think disconnection vs connection, think prioritizing one way of knowing over another)? How are your students part of f.e. a scientific community?
Explain the terms you use: Scan your syllabus for technical terms that need a certain degree of specialized (academic/institutional) knowledge. Simplify or offer direct explanations in the text.
When you refer to other platforms, websites, academic infrastructure or other, add links and if not self-explanatory, add descriptions/directions (assume that you will need to add descriptions anyways)
If you use pictures, provide an ALT text as image description, both for screen readers and to make it more understandable what an image is supposed to represent. Guiding question: What do I see? What is in the center of this picture? Why is it a useful representation of a concept I want to unpack?
Syllabus writing as storytelling: Use your syllabus as a tool to introduce a narrative. The introduction into your class could include some storytelling that provides answers for the following questions: Start What is this course about? What can students expect? What are some of the learning goals for the semester? What are students going to know by the end of the class? When writing this introduction, imagine talking to a person who has no clue whatsoever what is happening in the classroom (and an academic institution) and tell a story/build a map to guide them through the process of what your class is. At the same time, do not assume that your students do not have the tools to work through this space (they do, in more ways than one can anticipate), but, importantly, they need to know the space first. If possible, delineate boundaries of this class in regards to other classes or disciplines or emphasize how they are in conversation with each other. 
Treating students as adults and colleagues– outline/delineate responsibilities, rights, and expectations. “The students cant gain anything if they aren’t rowing the boat”. (Jesse Ball)
Outline the behavior you expect in this classroom and point to reciprocity. What do you value and how is it enacted? Fairness, academic, social and otherwise, is a two-way street, so is respect for students and teachers (their time, health/integrity, attention).
To enhance commitment, invite students to draft a community agreement/protocol together
Instead of pointing to punishment/using threatening language/making sure that they know that you will not be outsmarted, use “when – then” sentence structures so that students know what kind of behavior leads to what kinds of consequences in the classroom. Clear boundaries and directions allow everybody to know what to expect
“It can be useful to describe in the syllabus some of the tools that you intend to use, and that you intend to see used. As well, it can be helpful to make clear the time commitment that you expect from the students – and the deformation of their schedules in the daytime and nighttime.” (Jesse Ball) Participation and time management in asynchronous learning: how many hours are expected/ideal? How are the asynchronous learning elements built and intended? Outline ideal work-through otherwise, it is likely that people will scramble at the last minute and not understand the assignment/despair.
Give a roadmap on one method of tackling the workload while emphasizing that this is only one way of doing it, talking through different strategies in class. Example: Log into Canvas and read the assignment before our in-person class. Come prepared with questions for class and assignment if any arise. Work on assignments throughout the week in chunks (perhaps introduce some effective learning strategies such as the pomodoro technique or other successful methods that you like and know of as a time-management tool). Finish in time without being stressed out before the deadline. Repeat.
