English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)

Video 2.4: Creating a Syllabus For an EMI Course

Keywords:
Syllabus: A summary outline of a discourse, treatise, or course of study or of examination requirements
Learning objectives: Learning outcomes
Knowledge: The fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association
Comprehension: The act or action of grasping with the intellect
Application: An act of putting something to use
Analysis: A thorough study
Synthesizing: To combine or produce by synthesis
Evaluation: Determination of the value, nature, character, or quality of something
(Definitions are from Merriam-Webster)

Welcome to our video on Creating a Syllabus. I’m Dawn Bikowski at Ohio University.

This video will discuss the parts of your course syllabus and we’ll look at examples together.
First of all, what is a syllabus? Well, it is a type of road map for how your course will run. It should include a few
basic parts, and then you can add more over time as you see fit. First, you will want to be sure you include the
basics of your course, such as the times the course meets, the room, your name and contact information, your
office hour times when students can come ask you questions, the course description, and any required
textbooks/materials or technologies. For the description, you will focus on the topics that your course needs to
cover.

The next thing is the student learning objectives. Here, you want to be sure the objectives are observable and
measurable. That means that you as the instructor can see that students have progressed in the content area you
are assessing. Student learning objectives should start with “Students will be able to” and use verbs that
correspond to the type of learning you want your students to have. Many educators use Bloom’s Taxonomy to
write their student learning objectives [on screen: (Davis, 2014; Shabatura, 2018)]. This taxonomy offers six levels
of learning objectives, moving from lower to higher order thinking skills [on screen: Bloom et al., 1956)]. It is
suggested that courses have at least some learning objectives from the higher-level categories. Some of the levels
have been modified slightly over time, but the original six levels are discussed here. [on screen: image of Bloom’s
Taxonomy]

© 2022 by Ohio University. Reading 2.1 Strategies to Support Students as They Begin to Learn
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For each level, a set of verbs to use in the objectives is suggested. Keep in mind that some verbs can be used in
more than one category.

• The most basic level is Knowledge. This means you want students to be able to simply display that they
know something, perhaps recalling facts or showing that they memorized information. In this case, you
can use words such as “Students will be able to define, describe, identify, list, match, memorize, recall, or
state certain information.” An example is, “Students will be able to list Newton’s three laws of motion.”

• Slightly higher than Knowledge is students being able to demonstrate Comprehension. This means that
students will be able to interpret important information and discuss course content in their own words.
Useful verbs are that “Students will be able to... classify, convert, describe, discuss, explain, or summarize
a point.” An example for this level is “Students will be able to describe Newton’s three laws of motion to
in their own words.”

• And above Comprehension is Application. For Application, students should be able to take concepts they
have covered in class and apply them to a new situation. Useful words are, “Students will be able to...
apply, calculate, demonstrate, discover, modify, predict, or solve something.” An example of Application
is “Students will be able to calculate the kinetic energy of a projectile.”

• Above Application is Analysis. In this level, students should be able to take new information and break it
down into smaller parts in order to establish the relationship between them. Verbs: include “categorize,
compare, differentiate, or question,” and an example is “Students will be able to differentiate between
potential and kinetic energy.”

• The fifth level is students being able to Synthesize. For this category, students should be able to use
different pieces of information and form a pattern or whole. Verbs in this category are “arrange,
assemble, categorize, combine, design, formulate, or generate.” An example is “Students will be able to
design their own goals for fiscal and monetary policies.”

• Finally, the last and highest category of higher order thinking skills is Evaluation. This involves students
being able to look at someone else’s ideas and evaluate their conclusions. Verbs in this area include

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 “argue, assess, choose, conclude, judge, justify, and predict.” An example student learning objective is,
“Students will be able to assess whether using conservation of energy or conservation of momentum
would be more appropriate for solving a dynamics problem.”

Those are the six levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy and some useful verbs you can use for your student learning
objectives, and you can see how the top categories of Evaluation or Synthesis require more critical thinking from
students. There are words to avoid as well—these include “understand, know, learn, appreciate, or think about.”
These words should be avoided in student learning objectives because they cannot be observed and measured.
How will you know that a student appreciates something or learns something? Instead, re-write the objectives to
be observable, for example that students can identify or label something. After you write these student learning
objectives, you can create specific assignments and rubrics to assess how well students meet these objectives.

Let’s look at an example together. In an Introduction to Biology course, the instructor includes these student
learning objectives: “Students will be able to explain the importance of each step in the scientific method and why
society should rely on the process of science; relate biology to modern scientific issues; identify reliable sources of
scientific information and explain why it is reliable; and interpret scientific figures and tables.” Stop the video and
look back at these learning objectives. Are they observable and measurable? Would you as the instructor be able
to say Yes or No that students could do these things? Yes, I think these student learning objectives are observable
and measurable. I can imagine assessments that would allow the instructor to evaluate to what degree students
succeeded in these areas, such as through exams or even student presentations.

Let’s look at another course. In this one, an objective is that “students will be able to understand the concepts of
stress and strain.” What do you think? Is this an objective that is observable and measurable? No, I don’t think it is.
The word “Understand” cannot be observed. Instructors who use these words therefore need to find other verbs
that can express their goals for students and at the same time be more precise. For example, “Students will be able
to understand the concepts of stress and strain” is abstract. Instead, maybe the professor could say “Students will
be able to compare stress and strain fractures in the leg.”

In addition to course information and student learning objectives, your syllabus should include the assignments
that will be graded and what their weighting should be. You can make a list of your graded and assignments and
then how much they will be worth. For example, you might include a group presentation that is worth 50% of the
grade, or you might make it worth 50 points. Be sure that each graded assignment that you’ll include is also
included in your syllabus under assignments section. You should also include any course policies—for example
about attendance or plagiarism—and the course schedule. If your entire course won’t be in English, you will want
to list which modules will be in English for the students. Finally, you’ll want to include your course schedule with
the assignment due dates and any readings or video homework.

Ok, we have looked at the parts of your course syllabus and some examples. While every institution has different
requirements for a syllabus, these parts are useful for any course planning. They include the basics of your course
with the course description, your student learning objectives (which should be observable and measurable and
have active verbs), your course assignments along with their weighting, your course policies, and your schedule.
Thanks for watching!

References1

Bloom, B. S., Englehart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H., & Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of educational
objectives: Handbook I. Cognitive domain. New York, NY: David McKay.

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(This content is copyrighted and cannot be adapted in any way or distributed after the end of this course. It is not Public Domain or Creative
Commons-licensed, and therefore not for public use.)

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Davis, S. (2014). Using Bloom’s taxonomy to write learning outcomes. Pearson. Retrieved from
https://www.pearsoned.com/using-blooms-taxonomy-to-write-learning-outcomes/

Shabatura, J. (2018). Using Bloom’s taxonomy to write effective learning objectives. University of Arkansas.
Retrieved from https://tips.uark.edu/using-blooms-taxonomy/