More Content or More Policy? A Closer Look at Syllabus Detail, Instructor Gender, and Perceptions of Instructor Effectiveness

Jenkins, Jade Marcus; Bugeja, Ashley D.; Barber, Larissa K.

doi:10.1080/87567555.2014.935700

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…There may be, however, an alternative explanation of why or, more importantly, when the length of a syllabus is associated with learner-centered design. A recent study by Jenkins, Bugeja, and Barber (2014) may suggest that the association between length and learner-centeredness may be moderated by what is written in a lengthy syllabus. Jenkins and colleagues (2014) investigated whether adding restrictive versus content-laden language to the syllabus affected students’ perceptions of competence and support.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Project Syllabus: An Exploratory Study of Learner-Centered Syllabi

Richmond

Morgan

Slattery

et al. 2018

Teaching of Psychology

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Recent research suggests that designing a syllabus using learner-centered principles may increase students’ perceptions of their instructor on the characteristics of rapport, caring, helpfulness, willingness to seek help from the instructor, and student motivation. Typically, a learner-centered syllabus is one that presents a positive tone at the point of a student’s first contact with a course and describes collaborative opportunities, repeated opportunities for formative assessment, and a sense of ownership of the learning experience. In the present study, we assessed the learner-centeredness of 109 syllabi sampled from Project Syllabus. Analyses revealed these syllabi to be disproportionately learner-centered on almost all of the factors assessed. In addition, there were moderate to strong associations among learner-centered factors, syllabus length, and use of images in syllabi. Finally, results indicate that syllabi from Project Syllabus have become increasingly more learner-centered over a 19-year period. Implications for a model of learner-centeredness are discussed, including how learner-centered syllabi impact a student’s perceptions of teacher effectiveness and strategies for assessing learner-centeredness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Project Syllabus: An Exploratory Study of Learner-Centered Syllabi

Richmond

Morgan

Slattery

et al. 2018

Teaching of Psychology

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show abstract

“…As discussed earlier, students appreciate and react positively to lengthier syllabuses that bear the marks of being well planned. Jenkins, Bugeja and Barber (2014), compared the effect of additional course content information and additional restrictive course boundary information such as fixed deadlines and expectations on students' perception of instructor's effectiveness showed that addition of the latter leads to a more positive impression. As a result, including straightforward restrictive boundaries in the syllabus would not only improve the instructors' status in the eyes of the learners but also clear up the confusion which some student might have about the course.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plagiarism policies in Iranian university TEFL teachers’ syllabuses: an exploratory study

Nushi

Firoozkohi

2017

Int J Educ Integr

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Plagiarism has been on the rise amongst university students in recent decades. This study puts university teachers in the spotlight and investigates their role in raising students' awareness about plagiarism. To that end, plagiarism policies in 207 Iranian university TEFL teachers' syllabuses were analyzed. The researchers analyzed the syllabuses to find out if they contain a plagiarism policy, and if so, how the term is defined; whether they approach the issue of plagiarism directly; if they offer students any guidelines on how to avoid plagiarism; and if the consequences of committing plagiarism are specified. The results indicated that the majority of the syllabuses (83. 6%) lacked a plagiarism policy and those that did include a policy were often vague in their definition of the phenomenon. However, when there was a plagiarism policy in the syllabuses, the teachers tried to address the issue directly half of the time and offered students brief guidelines on how to avoid plagiaristic behavior, which was a small step in the right direction. It is recommended that other higher education institutions make it obligatory for their academic staff to include a plagiarism policy in their syllabuses if they wish to cultivate academic integrity in students.

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“…Other studies have used the TBC to examine how syllabus and course designs affect student ratings of their teachers. Jenkins, Bugeja, and Barber (2014) found that, relative to descriptions of course content, detailed re-NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING • DOI: 10.1002/tl strictive policies in a syllabus were associated with higher student TBC ratings of the teacher. Similarly, Richmond et al (2016) found teachers who wrote a learner-oriented rather than teacher-oriented syllabus received significantly higher student TBC ratings.…”

Section: The Tbc As a Set Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Brief History of the Teacher Behavior Checklist

Kirby

Busler

Keeley

et al. 2018

New Drctns for Teach & Learn

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Initial Development of the TBC Buskist et al. (2002) asked 114 undergraduates to list three qualities of a master college or university teacher. So that their participants had a common starting point, the researchers defined a master teacher as a teacher from whom students have learned much and enjoyed the learning process. This procedure produced a list of forty-seven qualities. The researchers then gave this list to 184 other undergraduates and asked them to list three specific behaviors exemplifying each of those qualities. Based on these NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, no. 156, Winter 2018

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More Content or More Policy? A Closer Look at Syllabus Detail, Instructor Gender, and Perceptions of Instructor Effectiveness

Cited by 26 publications

References 27 publications

Project Syllabus: An Exploratory Study of Learner-Centered Syllabi

Project Syllabus: An Exploratory Study of Learner-Centered Syllabi

Plagiarism policies in Iranian university TEFL teachers’ syllabuses: an exploratory study

A Brief History of the Teacher Behavior Checklist

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