4 Analyzing Your Course Syllabus

A course syllabus (or course outline) is prepared by your instructor and is like a roadmap for your learning journey ahead. You will want to look at your course Brightspace page before the course starts to see if it is available to you. If not, you will receive it on the first day of class. Sometimes, instructors will email them to you in advance.

Parts of a Syllabus

A course syllabus includes the following:

• Course Description:

Description from the Course Outline, plus anything else the instructor would like you to know about the overall intention of this course.

This is the general overview of what you will be doing in this course.

• Contact Information:

Instructor name, email, phone, classroom, office hour times, and office location.

This should contain all the information you need to contact your instructor when you need to ask questions, meet with them, or share information with them.

PLEASE NOTE: For the UNIV 100 course, your instructor’s information can be found on the home page in Brightspace under the Meet Your Instructor tab.

• Course Materials:

Required and Additional Materials. These may include: reference to handouts, library materials that are used in the course, or other materials.

You will need all of these items. Get them from the indicated sources.  To start your semester off in the best possible way, you will want to acquire any required textbooks and courseware before the first day of class. For information about your required textbooks and courseware at the U of A, see the Campus Store’s course list and textbook FAQ.

• Tentative Schedule of Topics, Classes, and Assignments (may change):

Including times, attendance requirements, external activities, field trips, etc.

This information should go into your scheduling device (planner, calendar, online schedule, etc.).  Later on in this book, you will learn strategies to create a semester and weekly schedule based on the information in your course syllabus.

• Assignments:

Assignments and due dates specified may include rubrics/checklists.

Assignment due dates need to be scheduled in advance so you can plan your work, research, and study. Your course syllabus may also include some guidelines and rubrics that indicate what is required for each assignment, and how the assignments will be graded. Rubrics and checklists must be referenced for projects to ensure that you meet the specified criteria.

• Tests and Exams:

Exam dates may include other ways that testing will be done.

Put these test dates into your calendar as soon as you receive them. You will use this information to plan your study times, so you are well prepared for any tests and can avoid cramming at the last minute.

• Policies:

The University of Arizona has specific policies regarding conduct in the classroom, on campus, and for ethics, etc. Be sure and read your Student Handbook (many colleges within the university also have their own). Many syllabi have links to policies, and you should read the information provided.

By analyzing your course syllabus, you can help to prepare yourself to meet the expectations of the semester ahead.

Navigating your syllabus will help you be a strategic and effective student. Simply reading a syllabus is a great solution to insomnia.​

Take time to see what is in each of your syllabi. Here is something to help you find the most important information quickly:

Syllabus Checklist

• Find important due dates and/or a calendar of assignments. Put these in your Semester on a Page, which we will discuss soon.

• Identify office hours, location, times, and professor contact info.​

• Identify what textbooks or course materials you will need before the first day of class.

• ​Identify the attendance policy.

• ​Examine the grade breakdown — how much are assignments, tests, papers, participation, extra credit, etc., worth?​

• ​What is the late assignment policy?

License & Attribution

Adapted from University 101: Study, Strategize and Succeed © 2018 by Kwantlen Polytechnic University, which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Any changes to the original chapters can be found in the Appendix.