Savannah Lopez, Allison Pham, Jeremy L Hsu, Patricia A Halpin
{"title":"Students bypass the syllabus to utilize alternate LMS locations for assignment deadlines.","authors":"Savannah Lopez, Allison Pham, Jeremy L Hsu, Patricia A Halpin","doi":"10.1152/advan.00004.2024","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The syllabus is a required document for all courses to provide students with course information, policies, and assignment deadlines. The goals of this study were to investigate students' perception of the role of the syllabus, preferred location of assignment deadlines, and preferred style of receiving deadline notifications. Faculty (<i>n</i> = 14) and students (<i>n</i> = 324) from community colleges through professional schools were invited to participate and complete a survey. We used a mixed-method design of survey questions, and the results demonstrated that students defined a syllabus as both a contract and a learning tool and that it should be flexible. Students ranked assignment deadlines as the most important part of the syllabus, yet a follow-up question indicated that most referred to four distinct locations in their learning management system (LMS) to find these deadlines. Although students preferred to receive deadline notifications on their smartphones, they also wanted to be reminded by faculty in class. This study helps faculty to obtain a glimpse of current student practices. We recommend that faculty communicate with students the role and expected use of the syllabus in their course while emphasizing its use to identify deadlines. This renewed practice will be time well spent to avoid student confusion and missed deadlines.<b>NEW & NOTEWORTHY</b> With the adoption of learning management systems (LMSs), students may no longer rely on the syllabus to locate or confirm assignment deadlines and instead rely on various LMS locations, which may not be accurate. We suggest that faculty consider taking the time to review the role and use of the syllabus on the first day of class to ensure that students know where to access current assignment deadlines to avoid confusion and missed deadlines.</p>","PeriodicalId":50852,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Physiology Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advances in Physiology Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00004.2024","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/6/6 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The syllabus is a required document for all courses to provide students with course information, policies, and assignment deadlines. The goals of this study were to investigate students' perception of the role of the syllabus, preferred location of assignment deadlines, and preferred style of receiving deadline notifications. Faculty (n = 14) and students (n = 324) from community colleges through professional schools were invited to participate and complete a survey. We used a mixed-method design of survey questions, and the results demonstrated that students defined a syllabus as both a contract and a learning tool and that it should be flexible. Students ranked assignment deadlines as the most important part of the syllabus, yet a follow-up question indicated that most referred to four distinct locations in their learning management system (LMS) to find these deadlines. Although students preferred to receive deadline notifications on their smartphones, they also wanted to be reminded by faculty in class. This study helps faculty to obtain a glimpse of current student practices. We recommend that faculty communicate with students the role and expected use of the syllabus in their course while emphasizing its use to identify deadlines. This renewed practice will be time well spent to avoid student confusion and missed deadlines.NEW & NOTEWORTHY With the adoption of learning management systems (LMSs), students may no longer rely on the syllabus to locate or confirm assignment deadlines and instead rely on various LMS locations, which may not be accurate. We suggest that faculty consider taking the time to review the role and use of the syllabus on the first day of class to ensure that students know where to access current assignment deadlines to avoid confusion and missed deadlines.
期刊介绍:
Advances in Physiology Education promotes and disseminates educational scholarship in order to enhance teaching and learning of physiology, neuroscience and pathophysiology. The journal publishes peer-reviewed descriptions of innovations that improve teaching in the classroom and laboratory, essays on education, and review articles based on our current understanding of physiological mechanisms. Submissions that evaluate new technologies for teaching and research, and educational pedagogy, are especially welcome. The audience for the journal includes educators at all levels: K–12, undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.