Working Bibliography on Higher Ed Syllabi

September 18, 2023 by

Al Harahap asked about research on what people (ok, really students) look for in syllabi today on Facebook. Here’s an “as-is” export of all the sources I have in my Zotero bibliography.

Editing Note: I will likely come back to edit and clean this up. Zotero adds a lot of junk to the HTML. I also prefer the Kairos Style of including full names to amplify gender as possible.

Afros, E., & Schryer, C. F. (2009). The genre of syllabus in higher education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8(3), 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2009.01.004
Altman, H. B., & Cashin, W. E. (1992). Writing a Syllabus. IDEA Paper No. 27. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=title%3asyllabus&ft=on&pg=5&id=ED395539
Baecker, D. L. (1998). Uncovering the Rhetoric of the Syllabus: The Case of the Missing I. College Teaching, 46(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567559809596237
Bayraktar, B. (2020, July 28). Tip: Creative Syllabi [Substack newsletter]. Tips for Teaching Professors. https://higheredpraxis.substack.com/p/tip-creative-syllabi
Bazyar, Z., Dastpak, M., & Taghinezhad, A. (2015). Syllabus Design and Needs Analysis of Students in Educational System. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 6(4), 162–165.
Biktimirov, E. N., & Nilson, L. B. (2003). Mapping your course: Designing a graphic syllabus for introductory finance – ProQuest. Journal of Education for Business, 308–312.
Birdwell, M. L. N., & Bayley, K. (2022). When the Syllabus Is Ableist: Understanding How Class Policies Fail Disabled Students. Teaching English in the Two Year College, 49(3), 220–237.
Bogost, I. (2023, August 21). The Most Disrespected Document in Higher Education. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/08/college-syllabus-courseware/675069/
Brown, C. (1975). The Devil’s Syllabus. College Composition and Communication, 26(4), 365–367. https://doi.org/10.2307/357088
Brown, S. (2015, October 9). Should a syllabus ever tell students what not to say? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 62(6), A12+. General OneFile.
Burdina, M., & Sasser, S. L. (2018). Syllabus and economics: Reasoning with Generation “Why.” Journal of Economic Education, 49(1), 38–45.
Caesar, T. (2005, January 27). Against Syllabi | Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2005/01/27/against-syllabi
Calhoon, S., & Becker, A. (2008). How Students Use the Course Syllabus. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(1). https://eric.ed.gov/?q=syllabus&ft=on&ff1=eduHigher+Education&id=EJ1136789
Carello, J., & Thompson, P. (2022). What Are We Centering? Developing a Trauma-Informed Syllabus. In P. Thompson & J. Carello (Eds.), Trauma-Informed Pedagogies: A Guide for Responding to Crisis and Inequality in Higher Education (pp. 203–218). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92705-9_17
Carrasco, M. (2022, April 21). Creating a Friendlier Syllabus. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/04/21/instructors-revise-syllabi-add-supportive-language
CETL. (n.d.). Syllabus Tips and Sample Statements. Retrieved June 29, 2021, from https://teaching.vt.edu/content/teaching_vt_edu/en/teachingresources/syllabi-and-learning-contracts/example-syllabus-statements.html
Clarke, D. F. (1991). The negotiated syllabus: What is it and how is it likely to work? Applied Linguistics; Oxford, 12, 13–28.
Cody, J. (2003). Asynchronous online discussion forums: Going vibrantly beyond the shadow of the syllabus. Teaching English in the Two Year College, 30(3), 268–276.
Cohen, D. (2011, March 31). A Million Syllabi. Dan Cohen. https://dancohen.org/2011/03/30/a-million-syllabi/
Combs, D. S., Frost, E. A., & Eble, M. F. (2015). Collaborative Course Design in Scientific Writing: Experimentation and Productive Failure. Composition Studies, 43(2), 132–149.
Comer, A. R. (2016, July 27). The Syllabus as a Contract. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Syllabus-as-a-Contract/237251
Cunliff, E. (2014). The Boring Syllabus. The Teaching Professor, 28(2), 5.
Cydis, S., Galantino, M., Hood, C. L., Padden, M., & Richard, M. (2017). Integrating and Assessing Essential Learning Outcomes: The Syllabus and Formative Feedback. Journal of Learning in Higher Education, 13(2), 81–97.
Deans, T. (2019, January 20). Yes, Your Syllabus Is Way Too Long. ChronicleVitae for Higher Ed Jobs, Career Tools and Advice. https://chroniclevitae.com/news/2154-yes-your-syllabus-is-way-too-long
Devitt, A. (n.d.). Syllabus as Genre. Amy Devitt. Retrieved May 8, 2017, from http://www.amydevitt.com/1/post/2016/08/syllabus-as-genre.html
Doolittle, P. E., & Lusk, D. L. (2007). The Effects of Institutional Classification and Gender on Faculty Inclusion of Syllabus Components. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7(2), 62–78.
EXAMPLE: College Writing II. (n.d.). Campus Compact. Retrieved June 2, 2018, from https://compact.org/resource-posts/college-writing-ii/
Faris, M. J., & Wilson, G. (2022). Mapping Technical Communication as a Field: A Co-Citation Network Analysis of Graduate-Level Syllabi. In J. Schreiber & L. Melon�on (Eds.), Assembling Critical Components: A Framework for Sustaining Technical and Professional Communication (pp. 69–115). The WAC Clearinghouse; University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.37514/TPC-B.2022.1381.2.03
Fernandez, D. P., Figares, A., & Cecil, H. W. (2022). Preparing Syllabi: The Art of Self Defense. University of Baltimore Law Review, 51(3. Article 2), 304–327.
Fornaciari, C. J., & Dean, K. L. (2014). The 21st-Century Syllabus: From Pedagogy to Andragogy. Journal of Management Education, 38(5), 701–723. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562913504763
Frey, T. K., Moore, K., & Dragojevic, M. (2021). Syllabus Sanctions: Controlling Language and Fairness as Antecedents to Students’ Psychological Reactance and Intent to Comply. Communication Studies, 72(3), 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2021.1876130
Gannon, K. (2016, October 28). What goes into a syllabus? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 63(9), A40. General OneFile.
Generic Syllabus Maker. (n.d.). Retrieved September 1, 2019, from http://wcaleb.rice.edu/syllabusmaker/generic/
Gere, A. R., Curzan, A., Hammond, J. W., Hughes, S., Li, R., Moos, A., Smith, K., Van Zanen, K., Wheeler, K. L., & Zanders, C. J. (2021). Communal Justicing: Writing Assessment, Disciplinary Infrastructure, and the Case for Critical Language Awareness. College Composition and Communication, 72(3), 384–412.
Germano, W. P., & Nicholls, K. (2020). Syllabus: The remarkable, unremarkable document that changes everything. Princeton University Press.
Gooblar, D. (2017, August 18). Your syllabus doesn’t have to look like a contract. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 63(43), B1+. Biography In Context.
Gowell, J. (2019, August 22). Syllabus-as-Metaphor. Hybrid Pedagogy. https://hybridpedagogy.org/syllabus-metaphor/
Graves, R., Hyland, T., & Samuels, B. M. (2010). Undergraduate Writing Assignments: An Analysis of Syllabi at One Canadian College. Written Communication, 27(3), 293–317. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088310371635
Habanek, D. V. (2005). An Examination of the Integrity of the Syllabus. College Teaching, 53(2), 62–64. JSTOR.
Hardy-Lucas, F. (n.d.). Constructing Legally Sound Syllabi: Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://provost.hamptonu.edu/cte/legally_sound_syllabi.cfm
Harnish, R. J., & Bridges, K. R. (2011). Effect of syllabus tone: Students’ perceptions of instructor and course. Social Psychology of Education, 14(3), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-011-9152-4
Harrington, C. M., & Gabert-Quillen, C. A. (2015). Syllabus length and use of images: An empirical investigation of student perceptions. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(3), 235–243. https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000040
Harrington, C., & Thomas, M. (2018). Designing a Motivational Syllabus: Creating a Learning Path for Student Engagement: Vol. First edition. Stylus Publishing.
Hewings, A., & Seargeant, P. (2014). Constructing a discipline: Pedagogically focused knowledge production in open and distance education. Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 29(2), 131–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2014.951619
How to Create a Syllabus. (2018, September 12). The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/advice-syllabus
Iannarelli, B. A., Bardsley, M. E., & Foote, C. J. (2010). Here’s Your Syllabus, See You Next Week: A Review of the First Day Practices of Outstanding Professors. Journal of Effective Teaching, 10(2), 29–41.
Jones, J. B. (2011, August 26). Creative Approaches to the Syllabus. The Chronicle of Higher Education Blogs: ProfHacker. http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/creative-approaches-to-the-syllabus/35621
Jones, N. N. (2018). Human Centered Syllabus Design: Positioning Our Students As Expert End-Users. Computers and Composition, 49, 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2018.05.002
Kauffman, K. D. (2014). Is Your Syllabus a Contract? A Comparison of the SoTL Literature and “The Law.” 14. http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2014/89
Kay, S. L. M. (1980). On Notional Syllabuses. The Modern Language Journal, 64(2), 179–186. https://doi.org/10.2307/325300
Kim, Y., & Ekachai, D. “Gee.” (2020). Exploring the Effects of Different Online Syllabus Formats on Student Engagement and Course-Taking Intentions. College Teaching, 68(4), 176–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2020.1785381
Lang, J. M. (2015a, February 23). The 3 Essential Functions of Your Syllabus, Part 1. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-3-Essential-Functions-of/190243
Lang, J. M. (2015b, March 30). The 3 Essential Functions of Your Syllabus, Part 2. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/The-3-Essential-Functions-of/228909
LINK: UTexas Access Syllabi and CVs. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2018, from https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/student/coursedocs/nlogon/?semester=20182&department=RHE&course_number=&
course_title=&unique=&instructor_first=&instructor_last=&course_type=In+Residence&search=Search
Ludy, M.-J., Brackenbury, T., Folkins, J. W., Peet, S. H., Langendorfer, S. J., & Beining, K. (2016). Student Impressions of Syllabus Design: Engaging versus Contractual Syllabus. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(2). https://eric.ed.gov/?q=syllabus&id=EJ1134516
Luke, A., Woods, A., & Weir, K. (2012). Curriculum, Syllabus Design and Equity: A Primer and Model. Taylor & Francis Group. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vt/detail.action?docID=1020267
Matejka, K., & Kurke, L. B. (1994). Designing a Great Syllabus. College Teaching, 42(3), 115–117. JSTOR.
Maybee, C., Carlson, J., Slebodnik, M., & Chapman, B. (2015). “It’s in the Syllabus”: Identifying Information Literacy and Data Information Literacy Opportunities Using a Grounded Theory Approach. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 41(4), 369–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2015.05.009
McDonald, J., Siddall, G., Mandell, D., & Hughes, S. (2010). Two Sides of the Same Coin: Student-Faculty Perspectives of the Course Syllabus. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 3, 112–118.
McNair, T. B., Bensimon, E. M., & Malcom‐Piqueux, L. (2020). From Equity Talk to Equity Walk: Expanding Practitioner Knowledge for Racial Justice in Higher Education (1st ed.). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119428725
Mocek, E. A. (2017). The Effects of Syllabus Design on Information Retention by At-Risk First Semester College Students. Syllabus, 6(2), Article 2. http://www.syllabusjournal.org/syllabus/article/view/222
Moosavian, S. A. Z. N. (2017). Using the Interactive Graphic Syllabus in the Teaching of Economics. American Journal of Business Education, 10(2), 45–64.
Neaderhiser, S. E. (Ed.). (2022). Writing the classroom: Pedagogical documents as rhetorical genres. Utah State University Press.
Newbold, C. (2014, July 2). Would a Course Syllabus Be Better as an Infographic? The Visual Communication Guy: Designing, Writing, and Communication Tips for the Soul. http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com/2014/07/02/would-a-course-syllabus-be-better-as-an-infographic/
Nilson, L. B. (2007). The graphic syllabus and the outcomes map: Communicating your course (1st ed). Jossey-Bass.
Nowogrodzki, A. (2016). Mining the secrets of college syllabuses. Nature, 539(7627). Science In Context. http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu/apps/doc/A468725922/SCIC?u=viva_vpi&sid=SCIC&xid=b75eb8f9
Nusbaum, A. T., Swindell, S., & Plemons, A. (2021). Kindness at First Sight: The Role of Syllabi in Impression Formation. Teaching of Psychology, 48(2), 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320959953
O’Brien, J. G. (2008). The Course Syllabus, Second Edition (2 edition). Jossey-Bass.
One Syllabus Nearly Reached to Roanoke – Hokies Write. (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2019, from http://www.hokieswrite.com/2019/07/30/one-syllabus-nearly-reached-to-roanoke/
Ostergaard, L. (2015). Working with Disciplinary Artifacts: An Introductory Writing Studies Course for Writing Majors. Composition Studies, 43(2), 150–171.
Paradowski, M. B. (2002). Needs Analysis as the First Step in Syllabus Design. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=title%3asyllabus&ft=on&pg=3&id=ED503443
Parkes, J., & Harris, M. B. (2002). The Purposes of a Syllabus. College Teaching, 50(2), 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567550209595875
Parson, L. (2016). Are STEM Syllabi Gendered? A Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. The Qualitative Report 2016, 21(1), 102–116.
Perry, D. (n.d.). Syllabus as Contract. How Did We Get Into This Mess? Retrieved March 17, 2018, from http://www.thismess.net/2014/03/syllabus-as-contract.html
Ramírez Espinosa, A. (2016). Fostering Autonomy through Syllabus Design: A Step-by-Step Guide for Success. HOW, 22(2), 114–134.
Raymark, P. H., & Connor-Greene, P. A. (2002). The Syllabus Quiz. Teaching of Psychology, 29(4), 286–288.
Reed, M. (2013). Syllabus Bloat? | Inside Higher Ed. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/syllabus-bloat
Richmond, A. S. (2016). Constructing a Learner-Centered Syllabus: One Professor’s Journey. IDEA Paper #60. IDEA Center, Inc. https://eric.ed.gov/?q=title%3asyllabus&ft=on&id=ED573642
Robinson, P. (2009). Syllabus Design. In The handbook of language teaching (pp. 294–310). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444315783.ch17
Rocha, S. D. 1982-. (2021). The syllabus as curriculum: A reconceptualist approach (1–1 online resource (xii, 221 pages) : illustrations.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429027901
Roen, D., Pantoja, V., Yena, L., Miller, S. K., & Waggoner, E. (Eds.). (2002). Strategies for Teaching First-Year Composition. NCTE.
Rumore, M. M. (2016). The Course Syllabus: Legal Contract or Operator’s Manual? American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 80(10). https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe8010177
Sample, M. (2013, September 9). Accessibility Statements on Syllabuses. The Chronicle of Higher Education Blogs: ProfHacker. https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/accessibility-statements-on-syllabuses/52079
Sauer, K. M., & Calimeris, L. (2015). The Syllabus Evolved: Extended Graphic Syllabi for Economics Courses. Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research, 16(1), 135–148.
Schumacher, J. (2019, January 19). Opinion | An Adjunct Instructor’s Final Syllabus. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/opinion/sunday/adjunct-instructor-syllabus.html
Schwab, K., & Schwab, K. (2019, July 16). This historic map of 6 million syllabi reveals how college is changing. Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90376685/this-historic-map-of-6-million-syllabi-reveals-how-college-is-changing
Show Don’t Tell: Decolonize your classroom, syllabus, rules, and practices. (2018, September 13). Liberated Genius. https://liberatedgenius.com/2018/decolonize-your-syllabus/
Slattery, J. M., & Carlson, J. F. (2005). Preparing an Effective Syllabus: Current Best Practices. College Teaching, 53(4), 159–164. JSTOR.
Stein, K. A., & Barton, M. H. (2019). The “Easter egg” syllabus: Using hidden content to engage online and blended classroom learners. Communication Teacher, 33(4), 249–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/17404622.2019.1575440
Stowell, J. R., Addison, W. E., & Clay, S. L. (2018). Effects of Classroom Technology Policies on Students’ Perceptions of Instructors: What is Your Syllabus Saying about You? College Teaching, 66(2), 98–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2018.1437533
Streamas, J. (2013, January 30). The Irascible Professor-commentary of the day-01-20-12.”The bloated syllabus.”. The Irascible Professor. http://irascibleprofessor.com/comments-01-20-13.htm
Sundari, H., Febriyanti, R. H., & Saragih, G. (2018). Designing Task-Based Syllabus For Writing Class. SHS Web of Conferences, 42, 00019. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20184200019
Syllabus-Writing Season | Inside Higher Ed. (n.d.). Retrieved August 13, 2019, from http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/syllabus-writing-season
Taylor, K. (2010, September). The learned word. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(1), 6. Biography In Context.
Taylor, S. D., Veri, M. J., Eliason, M., Hermoso, J. C. R., Bolter, N. D., & Van Olphen, J. E. (2019). The Social Justice Syllabus Design Tool: A First Step in <em>Doing</em> Social Justice Pedagogy. Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity (JCSCORE), 5(2), 133–166.
The Three Most Important Parts of a Syllabus. (2023, May 31). Lifehacker. https://lifehacker.com/the-three-most-important-parts-of-a-syllabus-1850488708
Thompson, P., & Carello, J. (Eds.). (2022). Trauma-Informed Pedagogies: A Guide for Responding to Crisis and Inequality in Higher Education. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92705-9
Tokatlı, A. M., & Keşli, Y. (2009). Syllabus:how much does it contribute to the effective communication with the students? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1(1), 1491–1494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2009.01.263
Toward Cruelty-Free Syllabi. (n.d.). Google Docs. Retrieved January 23, 2020, from https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r45gn0vdnCAlM_aQrX_6NnC0yHiN_GLCBDWG0tjteSI/edit?usp=embed_facebook
Vai, M., & Sosulski, K. (2015). Essentials of Online Course Design: A Standards-Based Guide (2nd edition). Routledge.
Waggoner Denton, A., & Veloso, J. (2018). Changes in syllabus tone affect warmth (but not competence) ratings of both male and female instructors. Social Psychology of Education, 21(1), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9409-7
Williams, A. (2022). A Review of Syllabus: The Remarkable, Unremarkable Document that Changes Everything. Across the Disciplines, 18(3–4), 364–367. https://doi.org/10.37514/ATD-J.2022.18.3-4.09
Wolf, J., Roderick, R., & Rooney, A. F. (2019). Improving Instructor Ethos through Document Design. Composition Studies, 47(2), 146–166.
Womack, A.-M. (n.d.). Accessible Syllabus. Retrieved June 29, 2016, from https://accessiblesyllabus.tulane.edu/
Womack, A.-M. (2017). Teaching Is Accommodation: Universally Designing Composition Classrooms and Syllabi. College Composition and Communication, 68(3), 494.
Wood, T., & Madden, S. (2013). Suggested Practices for Syllabus Accessibility Statements. Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology, and Pedagogy, 18(1). http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/praxis/tiki-index.php?page=Suggested_Practices_for_Syllabus_Accessibility_Statements
Yarosh, J. H. (2021). The Syllabus Reconstructed: An Analysis of Traditional and Visual Syllabi for Information Retention and Inclusiveness. Teaching Sociology, 49(2), 173–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X21996784
Zucker, K. D., Baker-Schena, L., & Pak, M. (2010). The Course Syllabus: Contract, Culture, and Compass. The Teaching Professor, 24(1), 3.

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