ABSTRACT
A complete syllabus has several parts. There is faculty contact information so students will know immediately that we want them to contact us through specific channels. In my case, those are my email address, my office phone number, and my office hours. Then the syllabus should describe the kinds of students who are expected to take the course, whether the course fulfills certain requirements, whether the course has prerequisites and why these are important, and whether the course is a prerequisite for later courses and what the students are expected to carry forward. It then should give a brief overview of the course, including the kinds of books, assignments, and experience students can expect. I describe the kind of learning environment I want to develop in the class, defining what I mean by lecture, discussion, laboratory, or seminar and what specific role I expect the students to play in that environment. In this section, the reading list uses the preferred reference or bibliographic style for the course, and I point that out to students. The syllabus, thus, also serves as the style sheet for the course.
