That was a great read, and one of the most accessible academic papers I've read. (I read academic papers in various fields out of personal interest. I'm that much of a nerd.)
It reminds me of a branching trend from my later academic years. When I got my first two degrees, instructors used transparencies on overhead projectors. Later, when I went to a technical college (which became a polytechnic university), Power Point was just coming into wide use. I saw many examples of bad presentations. You know the ones: small text crammed onto every slide, read verbatim by the instructor.
Even worse, our Technical Communications course featured a presentation (which apparently cost the college several thousand dollars to use) that advocated using every high-contrast color combination, every slide transition, every animation in the toolkit, and having an image on every slide, regardless of whether it enhanced the information, or was even related to it. I learned a lot from that presentation: How *not* to design a slide deck. (I couldn't believe that presentation wasn't ironic!)
Then there was my Math instructor. His slides complemented his presentation, rather than duplicating it. His titles and text were large, clear, and concise. And the way he used animations to precisely illustrate geometric relationships has inspired my presentation style ever since. I've never studied Universal Design, but I'd guess that Scott's presentations ticked many of the boxes.
As I've gotten older, I've become more interested in readability in written materials, both in print and online. As a safety person, clear, immediately-visible communication is essential. I have a couple of comments on the accessibility of your sample documents.
- The header font on Technical Writing Syllabus 2 might not be as effective for older or visually impaired students. The serifs make up 80% of the letters!
- The title on the Redesign Prompt New pamphlet is superimposed on a full-color image. With text that big, it's not a significant barrier (and the shadow definitely lifts it off the background), but for someone with ADHD or dyslexia, it can delay comprehension. I looked at the title three times, seeing "Red Ensign" for some reason.
Overall, however, if I had been given syllabi that looked like that in university, I might actually have retained the information, rather than snoozing through it the first time and having to search through it later to find what I missed. I read everything including online terms of service. Good design makes it so much easier!
The term "contractual syllabus" helps distill an unease I have felt deepening over my decades-long career as a university classroom instructor.
Students -- or at least, lots and lots of students -- seem no longer to enter the classroom with a foundational trust that the instructor has their best interest at heart, knows what she is doing, and makes decisions about the course accordingly.
Many students instead have absorbed the mindset that university instruction is a product; that they are *customers*; and that the job of the instructor is generate in them an experience of 'customer satisfaction'.
I hate it. I like discussing and sharing ideas with students: that's why I like teaching. I have no patience for being addressed like a short order cook who allegedly f*cked up an order of fries, by a customer who now demands a re-do, on pain of going over my head to speak to the manager.
Writing for The Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan described such stand-offs pungently: "they wanted me to change the grade; I wanted them to drop dead". (*)
I used to be shocked. Now I am just dismayed.
I don't blame the students. They are young: they are reflecting back the culture they find at the university, and in the larger world.
In response to such complaints, demands, and haggling, I found myself increasingly treating my syllabi as contractual documents. I wanted to anticipate and head off every conceivable pain-in-the-ass complaint the most entitled student might come up with.
Unfortunately, as you articulate so well, this approach degrades the educational environment and experience for all students. I realize that I have allowed the whiniest, most entitled, must anti-intellectual students to set the initial tone for the whole course, to an unacceptable degree.
More unfortunately, I've basically given up. Pressed between a noisy minority of students emboldened in their customer-driven entitlement, and a wholly indifferent if not meddling administration, I've mostly stopped accepting classroom teaching jobs.
Instead, I look for other opportunities to engage in intellectual sharing with other human beings.
Thanks for sharing your intellectual work with us.
I feel your pain. One thing I've found with designed syllabi is that the frequency of grade grubbing and legal weaseling drops dramatically for me. Especially with contract grading, these issues have largely vanished into history for me--instead, syllabi set a tone for the class, and when it's warm and inviting, that classroom tends to be as well.
That was a great read, and one of the most accessible academic papers I've read. (I read academic papers in various fields out of personal interest. I'm that much of a nerd.)
It reminds me of a branching trend from my later academic years. When I got my first two degrees, instructors used transparencies on overhead projectors. Later, when I went to a technical college (which became a polytechnic university), Power Point was just coming into wide use. I saw many examples of bad presentations. You know the ones: small text crammed onto every slide, read verbatim by the instructor.
Even worse, our Technical Communications course featured a presentation (which apparently cost the college several thousand dollars to use) that advocated using every high-contrast color combination, every slide transition, every animation in the toolkit, and having an image on every slide, regardless of whether it enhanced the information, or was even related to it. I learned a lot from that presentation: How *not* to design a slide deck. (I couldn't believe that presentation wasn't ironic!)
Then there was my Math instructor. His slides complemented his presentation, rather than duplicating it. His titles and text were large, clear, and concise. And the way he used animations to precisely illustrate geometric relationships has inspired my presentation style ever since. I've never studied Universal Design, but I'd guess that Scott's presentations ticked many of the boxes.
As I've gotten older, I've become more interested in readability in written materials, both in print and online. As a safety person, clear, immediately-visible communication is essential. I have a couple of comments on the accessibility of your sample documents.
- The header font on Technical Writing Syllabus 2 might not be as effective for older or visually impaired students. The serifs make up 80% of the letters!
- The title on the Redesign Prompt New pamphlet is superimposed on a full-color image. With text that big, it's not a significant barrier (and the shadow definitely lifts it off the background), but for someone with ADHD or dyslexia, it can delay comprehension. I looked at the title three times, seeing "Red Ensign" for some reason.
Overall, however, if I had been given syllabi that looked like that in university, I might actually have retained the information, rather than snoozing through it the first time and having to search through it later to find what I missed. I read everything including online terms of service. Good design makes it so much easier!
The term "contractual syllabus" helps distill an unease I have felt deepening over my decades-long career as a university classroom instructor.
Students -- or at least, lots and lots of students -- seem no longer to enter the classroom with a foundational trust that the instructor has their best interest at heart, knows what she is doing, and makes decisions about the course accordingly.
Many students instead have absorbed the mindset that university instruction is a product; that they are *customers*; and that the job of the instructor is generate in them an experience of 'customer satisfaction'.
I hate it. I like discussing and sharing ideas with students: that's why I like teaching. I have no patience for being addressed like a short order cook who allegedly f*cked up an order of fries, by a customer who now demands a re-do, on pain of going over my head to speak to the manager.
Writing for The Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan described such stand-offs pungently: "they wanted me to change the grade; I wanted them to drop dead". (*)
I used to be shocked. Now I am just dismayed.
I don't blame the students. They are young: they are reflecting back the culture they find at the university, and in the larger world.
In response to such complaints, demands, and haggling, I found myself increasingly treating my syllabi as contractual documents. I wanted to anticipate and head off every conceivable pain-in-the-ass complaint the most entitled student might come up with.
Unfortunately, as you articulate so well, this approach degrades the educational environment and experience for all students. I realize that I have allowed the whiniest, most entitled, must anti-intellectual students to set the initial tone for the whole course, to an unacceptable degree.
More unfortunately, I've basically given up. Pressed between a noisy minority of students emboldened in their customer-driven entitlement, and a wholly indifferent if not meddling administration, I've mostly stopped accepting classroom teaching jobs.
Instead, I look for other opportunities to engage in intellectual sharing with other human beings.
Thanks for sharing your intellectual work with us.
----
(*) https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/04/private-schools-are-indefensible/618078/
I feel your pain. One thing I've found with designed syllabi is that the frequency of grade grubbing and legal weaseling drops dramatically for me. Especially with contract grading, these issues have largely vanished into history for me--instead, syllabi set a tone for the class, and when it's warm and inviting, that classroom tends to be as well.
Just my experience.