Syllabus
Essentially, a syllabus
is a descriptive outline and summary
of topics that are to be covered in an
education or training course. The
syllabus will usually provide specific
information about the said training
course and is often drafted by the
governing body or by the instructor of
the course. A curriculum is the set of
courses, and their content, offered at
a school or university. A general
curriculum, in the broadest sense of
the word, may list all courses offered
at a specific school. A curriculum is
prescriptive, which means that is
issued by the governing body and lists
topics the must be understood by the
student at the end of the course, and
what level to achieve a particular
grade or standard.
Essentially, a syllabus is a descriptive
outline and summary of topics that
are to be covered in an education or
training course. The syllabus will
usually provide specific information
about the said training course and is
often drafted by the governing body
or by the instructor of the course.
Syllabi, on the other hand, are the
plural form of a syllabus.
According to Dictionary.com, a
syllabus is:
An outline or other brief statement of
the main points of a discourse, the
subjects of a course of lectures, the
contents of a curriculum, etc.
A short summary of the legal basis of
a court's decision appearing at the
beginning of a reported case.
A book containing summaries of the
leading cases in a legal field, used
especially by students.
A typical syllabus will contain
information on how, where and when
to contact the lecturer and teaching
assistants; an outline of what will be
covered in the course; a schedule of
test dates and the due dates for
assignments; the grading policy for
the course; specific classroom rules;
etc.
The purpose of a syllabus is to ensure
consistency between courses thought
at different colleges under the same
governing body. A syllabus issued by
the governing body, i.e. the board of
education, the head of department,
etc, may be modified by the instructor
as long as it is consistent with the
curriculum.
The syllabus also serves as a means
for the students to be aware and
understanding what they will be
thought in the duration of the course.
Wikipedia lists the various purposes
served by a syllabus:
fair and impartial understanding
between the instructor and students
such that there is minimal confusion
on policies relating to the course
setting clear expectations of material
to be learned
setting clear expectations of behavior
in the classroom
setting clear expectations of effort on
student's behalf to be put into the
course
providing a roadmap of course
organization/direction relaying the
instructor's teaching philosophy to the
students
providing a marketing angle of the
course such that students may
choose early in the course whether
the subject material is attractive
clarifying student understanding of
specified material such as grading
policy, grading rubric, late work policy,
locations and times
providing contact information for
instructor and teaching assistant such
as phone or email
listing materials required and/or
recommended such as textbooks,
assigned reading books, calculators,
lab vouchers, or other equipments
listing outside resources for subject
material assistance, including
extracurricular books, tutor locations,
resource centers, etc.
important dates in course such as
exams and paper due-dates
tips for succeeding in mastering
course content such as study habits
and expected time allotment
suggested problems if applicable
necessary pre-requisites or co-
requisites to current course
safety rules if appropriate
objectives of the course
Types of syllabus include:
Notional-Functional syllabus
Grammatical syllabus
Lexical syllabus
Situational syllabus
Text-based syllabus
Skill-based syllabus
Task-based syllabus
Learner-generated syllabus
Mixed syllabus
Online course syllabus
Curriculum
A curriculum is the set of courses, and
their content, offered at a school or
university. The term, ‘curriculum’ is
derived from the Latin word
"Currere" which means to run/to
proceed. Currere refers to the ‘course
of deeds and experiences through
which children grow to become
mature adults.’
Dictionary.com defines curriculum as:
The aggregate of courses of study
given in a school, college, university,
etc.: The school is adding more
science courses to its curriculum.
The regular or a particular course of
study in a school, college, etc.
A general curriculum, in the broadest
sense of the word, may list all courses
offered at a specific school. A
curriculum is prescriptive, which
means that is issued by the governing
body and lists topics the must be
understood by the student at the end
of the course, and what level to
achieve a particular grade or standard.
It may also refer to a defined and
prescribed course of studies students
must fulfill in order to complete the
course. An individual teacher may
refer to the curriculum to ensure that
her lessons are covering all the topics
as required by the curriculum.
The various purposes served by a
curriculum:
may refer to all courses offered at a
school
may refer to a defined and prescribed
course of studies
lists course of studies which students
must fulfill in order to pass a certain
level of education
may discuss how the sum of lessons
and teachings will help students learn
the basics
The main difference between a
syllabus and a curriculum is that a
curriculum is a more generalized or
an overview of the subjects or topics
that the students are meant to learn.
However, a syllabus is a more detailed
overview of the subject of study. For
example: a math curriculum may list
basics of algebra, basics of geometry
and basics of trigonometry. While, the
class syllabus will list what topics will
be covered under each of the basic
topics, what will be the concepts that
students may understand by the end
of each topic, and it may even list
what exercises or problems in the
textbook will be covered during class.
Hence, it can be said that syllabus is a
subset of curriculum.
No comments:
Post a Comment