The Graphic Syllabus:Communicating Your Course

Creatively Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D., Director

Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation864-656-4542 * nilson@clemson.edu * www.clemson.edu/OTEI

Steven N. Pyser, J.D., Assistant Professor (Practice)Department of Human Resource Management, Fox School of

Business(215) 204-4281 * SNPyser@temple.edu

IntroductionWhat if you could …

directly and positively influence student learning and improve business educationvisualize simply for students ambiguity, complexity and connections between course content and your design(re)capture your passion for learning and link subject matter expertise with the energy and momentum of the Fox School 

"Too much light often blinds gentlemen of this sort. They cannot see the forest for the trees."

Musarion [1768], Canto II

Workshop Inspiration Mentoring Appreciation (Pyser)

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/graphic-display-of-student-learning-objectives/27863

Participant Objectives

By the end of this workshop, you will be able to communicate the topical organization of your course to your students by designing a “graphic syllabus.” In doing so, you will also facilitate their learning of the course material.

Can you relate?

Syllabus Review: Foundation for Students Evaluations

Will they be under/overwhelmed??

Applied Pracademics (Practice/Academics)

real-world practice and research driven academics (combining rigor AND pragmatism)infuse critical thinking, problem solving and decision making into the daily thinking of business students and class interactionsengender understanding → content mastery → with a context to simulate "real-world" business environment students experience after graduation

Visual Graphic Syllabus and Communication PerspectiveWhat are we making together?How are we making it?What are we becoming as we make this?

How can we make better “social worlds” through histories, futures, and networks of classroom relationships?

http://www.cmminstitute.net/

Education as “Social” Experience

Social capitalinstitutions, relationships, norms that shape quality and quantity of a society's social interactions.social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper

Social worlds (CMM)allows faculty and students fertile ground to learngraphic syllabus is visual communication create synergies between human and academic sides of the classroom to build learning communities

http://www.russcomm.ru/eng/rca_biblio/p/pearce.shtml

Why Design a Graphic Syllabus?

Text syllabi fail because they:1. depict a complex structure of knowledge--a network of topics, concepts, and principles--as linear; and 2. require familiarity with the terms, which students lack, to understand.

BLAH 300: “Something I Gotta Take”

Week 1: Overview of Something I Gotta TakeWeek 2: The Composition of Apple PeelWeek 3: Introduction to Giraffe ConsciousnessWeek 4: Cooking with Sugar and EggsWeek 5: Sugar and Eggs continuedWeek 6: The Modern Car: The CarburetorWeek 7: The Modern Car: Seat BeltsWeek 8: Advanced Giraffe Consciousness,

Introduction to PineapplesWeek 9: The Relationship between Pineapples

and Buses etc., etc., etc.

How Some Students See a Syllabus

Why Design…? continued

Learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, concrete, holistic/global, “Divergers,” “Intuitive Feelers”Better retention & retrieval of material received 1) in two modalities and 2) visually (more efficient, less working memory and fewer cognitive transformations)“Big picture” of key concepts and their interrelationships; ready-made structure for knowledge processing and storage

Why Design…? continued

Model tool for enhancing cognitive activities involving memory, planning, and organizing.

For students: note-taking, outlining, problem solving, and organizing & summarizing material For you: re-examine and tighten your course design …

and have some creative fun!

Graphic Syllabus

= flowchart, diagram, or picture showing the organization of and interrelationships among your course topics – that is, how your course structures the subject matter and its body of knowledge.

Types of Course Structures

Competition/ComplementarityParallelismProcessChronology (Sequence)Categorical HierarchySelf-Created

HSCI 441: Community Program Planning, Dr. Vicki Ebin

Introduction, Health Education and Behavior Change Theories, Systems Theories (2/1-2/8)

Community Analysis (2/8-2/15)

Community DiagnosisLevel II (2/15)

Community Diagnosis

Level III (2/22)

ProgramFocus(3/1)

TargetedSurveys/Analysis

(3/8-3/15)

Program Goals/ObjectivesMethods/ActivitiesIntervention StrategiesImplementationEvaluation

The Final Product (3/22-5/17)

Steven N. Pyser (2012) Fox School of Business, Temple University

PROCESSES

ME 404: Manufacturing Processes and Their Application, Professor Laine Mears

Material Removal

Material Transformation

Material Addition

Bulk Deform.

Casting Processes

Polymer Processes

AdhesionJoining Rapid Prototyping

Machining Processes

Integration Interpretation Quality

•QFD •GD & T •Metrology

•SPC

•Push / Pull

•Lean Mfg.

•Turning

•Milling

•Drilling

•other

•Sand casting

•Diecast

•Investment

•other

•Forging

•Rolling

•Extrusion

•Drawing

Sheet Metal

•Bending

•Stamping

•Blanking

•Punching

•Inj. Molding

•Blow molding

•Rotomold

•other

•Welding

•Brazing

•SLA

•SLS

•3D Printing

•other

DESIGN INDUSTRIAL

Time

Design for X Process Planning

MANUFACTURING

CULTURECULTURE

Study of Culture & Psychology

Methods

Basic Dimensions of Cultural Variability

Self

Cognition Development

Identity/EthnicitySocial Systems

Research

Personality Social BehaviorAbnormal

Emotion

Sharon Shaughnessy 2006, Univ. of Toronto

The visual system

Object Perception

Colour perception

Depth perception

Motion perception

The auditory system

Sound localization

The sixth sense:proprioception

Touch

The chemical senses:Smell and taste

Christine Burton 2006, Univ. of Toronto

Variations in Graphic Syllabi

Shape of enclosures

ShadingShading of key enclosures, activities, assignments, etc.

Colors of enclosures and connecting lines

Type size, face, features (bold, italics)

Arrangements

Graphic Metaphor

Type of graphic syllabus that compares topical course organization to some object.

Cautions!

Avoid overcomplexity.Course flows in ONE direction following TIME through semester.

No recursive relationships

Structure of course topics or the learning process – not the field, a theory, a model, etc.

Don’t forget to refer to it frequently!