Authentic Teaching Tasks

Syllabus Design

To complete the AT Program, students are required to design their own course syllabus. To fulfill this task, you will need to:

• Write your own course syllabus
• Submit it to a member of your department along with the Syllabus Design Faculty Verification form.
• Once you receive feedback from your designated faculty member, submit the following items to CNDLS in Car Barn 314 by each semester's due dates:
  • your original draft with faculty comments;
  • your revised draft (if you have revised in response to faculty comments); and
  • the signed Faculty Verification form.
• Receive feedback from CNDLS.
• If necessary, edit and submit final version to CNDLS

Deadlines
Your syllabus design must be submitted first to a faculty member in your department and then to CNDLS for review. CNDLS will review submissions twice a semester. You will then receive feedback and notification if any changes are required. The revised version must be submitted no later than the final deadline of your graduating semester (see Submission Schedule).

Suggestions
You can design the syllabus for a course you actually teach or a dream course you would like to teach. As sample course suggestions and syllabi are commonly required for academic job applications, it is useful to start thinking about this task as an opportunity to show off your research expertise and awareness of your field.

The required AT workshop "Syllabus Design: Fundamentals and Innovations" will be helpful to you as you design the syllabus for submission. In addition, you might find the two resources linked below helpful. As mentioned in the Step-by-Step Syllabus Ideas, it is often helpful to start by thinking about what your goals are for the students of your course and what you hope they will learn through the semester. Working backwards from there, decide what assignments students will need to do to accomplish the goals. Taking another step backwards, consider what logistics and structure is most conducive to fulfilling the assignments you planned.

You may also find it helpful to look at syllabi available online either at Georgetown or another college/university, and note specific techniques, formats or content that you find particularly effective.

You might consider adding the below information about the Georgetown University Honor System and the Academic Resource Center to your syllabus.

Undergraduate Honor System
Students are expected to abide by the Georgetown University Undergraduate Honor System. If you have not already done so, please familiarize yourself with the material and information posted on the Honor Council's website: http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/hc/index.html

Georgetown University Honor Pledge
In the pursuit of the high ideals and rigorous standards of academic life, I commit myself to respect and uphold the Georgetown University Honor System: to be honest in any academic endeavor, and to conduct myself honorably, as a responsible member of the Georgetown community, as we live and work together.

Academic Resource Center
If you believe you have a disability, then you should contact the Academic Resource Center (arc@georgetown.edu) for further information. The Center is located in the Leavey Center, Suite 335. The Academic Resource Center is the campus office responsible for reviewing documentation provided by students with disabilities and for determining reasonable accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and University policies.

Additional Resources:
Step-by-Step Syllabus Ideas
Course & Curriculum Design Ideas
Syllabus Design: Fundamentals & Innovations/Sample Syllabus (63 KB Microsoft Word document)