A syllabus serves as an organizing document for a course and also as a guide for students. A syllabus has four functions (Grunert, 1997): 1) describe the course, its goal, and its objectives; 2) describe the structure of the course and its significance within the general program of study; 3) discuss what mutual obligations students and instructors share; and 4) provide a course schedule about learning activities in terms of when, how, and where.

The difference between a distance education syllabus and a traditional classroom teaching syllabus is specificity and completeness. Due to the lack of face-to-face communication, it is critically important for an instructor to present course information as specific as possible and as complete as possible to the distance learners. The distance education syllabus can be a recruiting tool for the distance education course, so it is always better to make the syllabus available to prospective students earlier. At least, it should be available to students no later than the beginning of the first class. 

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek (2006) classify distance education syllabi into five categories of information: course logistics, instructional activities, assessment information, course policies, and additional information (Figure 1).  

 Figure 1. A Distance Education Syllabus

The components for each category are presented in the following table:

Categories

Components

Course Logistics

·         Course title

·         Course meeting dates, times, and locations

·         Instructor information, including name, office address, telephone number, email address, biographical information, and emergency contact information

·         Office hours

·         Textbook and course materials

Instructional Activities

·         Class schedule with topic list (for a synchronous course with regularly scheduled class sessions)

·         Topic list and topic organizational concept map (for an asynchronous course with topics that can be studied at the learner’s pace)

·         Course goals and objectives

·         Reading assignments with links to topics

·         Discussion questions for readings and timeline for discussing certain topics

·         Assignments

·         Test and examination information

·         Study guides

 

Assessment Information

·         Grading scheme

·         Project evaluation criteria

·         Student pre-course assessment

·         Student post-course assessment

 

Course Policies

·         Attendance policies

·         Homework policies

·         Participation information

 

Additional Information

·         Student biographical information

·         Project/assignment examples