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January 04, 2007
A dynamic syllabus?
Categories: Classes
I've spent most of the say getting my syllabi in order for this semester. The hard part is always the schedule for readings. I generally know what I want my students to read during a given semester, even if occasionally I will run across something that I want them to read that I didn't think of at the beginning. The hard part is sticking to the reading calendar, as we invariably run long on some topics, or things have to be moved around because of some event, and the reading schedule gets screwed up. Last semester, I distributed a revised reading schedule twice, then made in class modifications to the final one.
So I am toying around with an idea -- using the blog to post readings a week in advance. For my undergrad classes, which meet twice per week, I'll do an entry every Friday morning which will tell them the next week's readings. I'll also throw in some reading questions that they can think about while they read.
I am not sold on this idea yet, though. If I post on Friday, is that enough time for my Monday 2:00 section to check the blog and read? Will posting assignments week by week really help with organization? Will it be confusing for my students? Will it encourage students to actually read? The only way to really see is to actually try it out, but I am stil a little nervous.
Posted by Nakia at January 4, 2007 02:52 PM