Some people collect tattoos. Others collect South American Indian zanzas and even others Mercedes badges stolen exclusively from cars with a Hungarian number plate. You can call me weird if you like but I'll tell you the truth: I am an enthusiastic syllabus collector. By now, at the end of my fifth year at the university I have quite an impressive collection at my disposal.
You may be curious to know how this unique passion began. Back in the first year I was a diligent student. At that time I had a very false idea about higher education. I thought of university as a dignified and noble institution which opens its gate only for the most distinguished ones to let them enter the empire of pure knowledge through the triumphal arch ( which of course existed only in my fantasy in those days ). I believed once I had the fortune to be among those lucky bastards it would take every effort of mine to remain among them. This belief was quite understandable regarding the fact that I managed to get admitted only for the third attempt.
There I was at last, eager and industrious. However, in spite of all my efforts, I could never catch up on my readings so I retained the syllabi in order to read the left-over books during the summer holiday. But for one reason or other I always found something more interesting to be occupied with. Thus the pile of syllabi with the number of book titles kept on growing. The waves began to dash over my head. I felt like drowning, being pulled under water by a deadly whirlpool. And suddenly I realized what university was all about. The recognition hit me like a thunderbolt. Believe it, the experience was more traumatic than my Oedipus complex. I started to tremble like a leaf then crawled under my desk and whimpered. It was a turning point in my life. At that particular moment I lost my innocence or pureness and became mature. I grew up.
I have lost something, whatever it was, at that frosty November night but I still have my collection. It is far from being complete but this is natural since a real collection never can become complete. You may think that syllabus collecting is a real bore. You're wrong. It is true, that all syllabi come in rectangle shape. A round, triangular, or an octagonal syllabus is a real curiosity. I've never come across any of these kinds so far. But after all each zanza is skull shaped and noone would claim that collecting zanzas is uninteresting. Not to mention the excitements of Mercedes badge collecting. I haven't seen a hand-written syllabus either; each one in my collection is neatly typed. I guess there may be a correlation between shape and appearance. An acceptable explication might be that nowadays it is almost impossible to purchase a non-rectangular shaped xerox paper. However syllabi present a great variety with respect to design, length and content. From all those tiny bits of information they contain one can draw a considerable number of conclusions not only about the tutor's mental health and capacity but also about all the bits and pieces of his or her personality.
In the United States during the nineteen-sixties three fellow students at Michigan University developed their skills of syllabus analysis to a tremendous height. Soon the term xyllabology was introduced and they called themselves, quite obviously, xyllabologists. In the late sixties - early seventies several attempts were made to make it a scientific discipline and establish a department of it at different universities. The attempts met an extensive resistance from the part of the Academy. Despite of all the efforts xyllabology did not gain much publicity and has remained a pseudoscience to this day.
Admit it, you think that this whole is a nonsense. But just think about it: graphology is acknowledged by some as a serious discipline. However a syllabus which requires from the author a cautious consideration, a choice of letter type, an access to a xerox machine, just to mention a few of the numerous factors, contains incomparably much more data than, let's say, a love letter. Xyllabology has the advantage over graphology that while the former one examines the result of a conscious process, the latter one attempts to draw conclusions from the results of an unconscious process. And this is a huge advantage.
To become a good xyllabologist requires a lot of talent, real determination, tremendous training, but most of all a vivid imagination. If you're a high risk taker type it's also an advantage. Do not be disappointed if in the beginning your predictions are below five per cent. As time passes by you become more and more experienced and by the end of the fifth year your score can go up as high as seventy per cent ( which is better than the average score of a qualified graphologist.) Any fifth year student, who has already taken at least sixty courses and thus had the opportunity to analyze sixty syllabi, can set up a relatively fair picture by the studying of the document about the tutor's family background, childhood traumas, marital status, sexual appetite and ambitions concerning a university career. Moreover he or she can also decide whether the teacher snores or not, is an ice cream eater or prefers booze, which side of the bed he sleeps in, or if she secretly takes pleasure in watching Dallas. A true master of the discipline can even estimate the time and strength of the last quarrel with his or her partner, the weather conditions at the time of photocopying, minor personality disorders, the colour of the family pet, etc.
Certainly you don't necessarily want to become a xyllabologist as not everyone is supposed to be interested in graphology or astrology either. However, if you want to obtain your diploma without taking the risk of finishing up in a mental institute you've got to have a basic knowledge about applied xyllabology. Because what is much more important than the tutor's private life is that you can make a pretty reliable forecast about the amount of effort it will take you in order to finish the course successfully. If you are somewhat familiar with syllabuses you can make up your mind in time whether it is worth or not to sign up for the course. It is especially crucial if you happen to be a first year student and you don't know anything about the people teaching at your department.
Now let me introduce some simple methods worked out by applied xyllabologists and employed successfully by millions of students all over the world. First of all when you are handed over the syllabus try to behave normally. Put on a poker face and pretend to be absolutely indifferent. Now take a deep breath and carefully glance at the paper. Don't panic! It is crucial to keep your head otherwise your chance to analyze the document correctly will approach to zero. Probably the most important part of the syllabus is the list of readings. If it is pretty long you can relax. It may sound strange but the number of titles listed on the paper are inversely proportional to what you actually will have to read. For example if the list is two pages long, you probably won't have to read anything at all. However, if the syllabus contains only a limited number of readings ( let's say one book or a couple of articles from different magazines ) you will be responsible for those. Leave the room immediately! Poems on the other hand are fine. They can be interpreted in numerous ways and it is rarely checked whether you have read them or not. Do you say that this concept doesn't make much sense? Nonetheless the above argument is backed up by extensive statistical data. You may go further and ask why teachers bother then to suggest book titles when they are supposedly aware of the fact that noone ever cares to read them. The answer is simple: it's about prestige. It's high politics. On the first session they usually dictate a couple of more titles to be added to the list just to keep up the profile.
The syllabus also contains a list of themes to be discussed on the seminars. If the topics offered by the course seem to be interesting be very suspicious. Never pay attention to what is actually written on the paper. Always try to read between the lines instead. The syllabus is out of date as soon as it leaves the intestines of the xerox machine.
Are you getting the hang of it? Or do I still have to explain what university life is about and what made me whimper under my desk? As Darwin stated the evolution is the survival of the fittest. It is nowhere as true as at the university. However while in the jungle you have to be a good athlete, at university you gotta be a good chess player. It's all about strategy: how to achieve the best result with the least effort. And if you don't realize it in time you finish up in a mental asylum or you're a genious. There's a third option as well: Oops! It's already 1579 words.
Showing posts with label syllabus analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label syllabus analysis. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
W 060 F
INTRODUCTION
Students’ opinion about syllabi can influence the popularity of courses. The first piece of evidence which students receive on any first lesson is the syllabus. The first week of the semester is for selecting from the courses. The hints which can be found on syllabi are especially helpful for first-year students. If a paper is fascinating students will favour that class. But if the syllabus is boring and only another piece of paper, students will not go for that course, but look for something else of course.
My aim in analyzing syllabi was to find out what the intentions of teachers are with giving syllabi to students, to see the relations between syllabi and also their contents and finally to discover whether a syllabus tells something about its author.
METHOD
I started collecting syllabi in the middle of November. The first seven pieces were easy to obtain, as I received them at the beginning of my first year at university. In the second round I collected nine from other English majors at Janus Pannonius University and two from my Hungarian major friend. After having 18 already another friend from József Attila University at Szeged sent the last five. Three out of these five were for English majors and two for mathematicians.
When I had these papers I classified them: the first 19 are English-course-syllabi, 20-21 are for Hungarian courses and the last two are for mathematicians. I thought that papers with corresponding subjects might have similar characteristic features, thus I put them next to each other, for example the first two are from Writing Skills courses. Then I renamed them with numbers- from 1 to 23.
Having this numeric order I created the foundation of my analysis: a table. In the first line of the table I wrote the numbers of the papers. Then in the first coloumn I listed every type of information I found on the syllabi. Some data appeared on only one or two syllabi so I divided the table into two parts: Table 1. contains those information of which were more frequent, and Table 2. contains the extra, those which appeared on not more than three papers.
2 3 5 6 7 10 13 16 18 19 20 21 22 23
Extra help + +
Signiture + + +
Conditions + +
Next time +
L/S + + +
Date + +
Drawings + +
Dates of exams +
For whom + +
Table 2: Data which appeared on not more than three papers
I wrote numbers or letters in the first three lines of Table 1. The rest of the chambers are filled in with a yes-no method: I filled in the chamber with a "+" sign if that type of information appeared on the syllabus. If not, Then I left the box untouched. When I was ready with both tables I started the analysis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
I think teachers’ main purpose in giving syllabi is to give information about their courses. I did not find two identicals, as different types of information appeared on each syllabus. I studied some features together because I found relations between them.
Table 1.
Format, Style and Language
The style of the paper is determined by the author. By style I mean outlook, content and tone.
Among the 23 syllabi No. 2 was the only one with informal tone. The other 22 were formal ones with passive sentences, which addressed the readers, the students, as objects.
All the syllabi I had were printed or typed. Non of the teachers handed out handwritten papers. I approved of this feature because typed or printed texts are easier to read. This format has a second adventage too: students do not have to waste time on decoding illegible handwritings.
No. 10 and 14 were unique in that they size were that of an A/5 page. All the others were bigger: A/4 pages.
The average length was one A/4 page. The shortest I met was one A/5 page or 0.5 page and the longests were two A/4 pages.
There were differences in the languages: The first 19 were written in English, these were the English-course-syllabi, and the last four were in Hungarian.
Names
The name of the course together with the name of the teacher (tutor or instructor) determine the course, thus the rest of the syllabus. Surprisingly three syllabi lacked at least one of these information. In the case of No. 12 and 17 the tutors did not include their names. No. 22 is completely anonymous since I found neither the teacher's nor the course's name on it.
Office Hours, Time of Classes, Place
Although the time, when a class is held, is an important information, it was indicated on 11 papers only. The reason why I put 17 "+"-s in the Table is that "Time of classes" meant two things. In the broader sence it refered to the semester. Though all my papers were from Fall 1997, I found this labelled on six papers only. The other meaning of "Time of classes" was the exact days and hours when the classes were held, for example: "Wednesdays: 12-14" (Gombosné 1). This was indicated on four papers, and I could find both types on seven more.
Where were the classes held? Nine syllabi gave answers to this question on the rest of the papers the place was not indicated.
If students needed further help, they could ask the tutors in the office hours. But when and where? This was shown on eight papers. On No. 1 and 9 they were recorded by the teacher, on the rest students added them later as they were hand written and not printed. No. 22 was the only syllabus which told those hours in the exam period when students could consult the teacher.
University, Code and Credits
At Universities where the credit system was introduced and is used, for example at JPU, the courses' codes and credit points are important data. József Attila University might not use this system since non of the papers from JAU registered neither codes nor credits. Out of 18 JPU syllabi 13 represented their codes and six out of this 13 told the credits too. Analyzing Table 1. I found that only eight papers included their birthplaces: JAU or JPU.
Course Description
Describing the course is the main aim of a syllabus. Course description is a complex feature, thus it is indicated in Table 1. as "Introduction" and "Topics". According to the appearance of a general description or a list of possible topics I found three basic types of syllabi.
Those papers, No. 1, 6 and 12, which contained only an introduction belonged to the first group.
The members of the second group, No. 5, 8, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22 and 23, revealed lists of the possible topics or weekly schedules.
The most developed papers belonged to the third group: these gave both introductions and topic lists. These were No. 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 20.
Requirements
Requirements differed in accordance with the type of the course. Thus syllabi from similar courses showed concordance in this aspect. For example both Language Practise courses - No. 6 and 7- required the same textbooks and participation on the lessons too.
Most JPU syllabi included two other types of requirements. One was that students were not supposed to miss more than two classes and the other was that they shouldn't have been late.
Reading Lists
14 syllabi included reading lists. The books on these lists were either used on the courses or were suggested to be read. Syllabus No. 2 differed from the others in this aspect because it contained two lists: the first included those books which were required and the other the recommended ones.
Assessment
Almost every teacher included an assessment or his/ her grading policy. In my opinion this was the most popular part of the syllabi since the grades, given at the end of the terms, are considered important by students.
Some teachers calculated the final grades on the basis of the given points, others on percentages. Most assessments included not only written or oral tests and reports but active participation on the lessons also.
Phone, Email
I marked six "+" signs in this line of Table 1., which means that six teachers indicated either their phone numbers or their email addresses. I found phone numbers on 2, 16, 23 and on 20 which included fax number too. Five email addresses were given, on 2, 14, 18, 20 and on 23 I found the homepage address too.
TABLE 2.
As Schubert says we can find out personal information about teachers by analyzing their syllabi (66). He suggests that we can conclude even their hobbies (66). I agree with him partly, but I would not go that far. Table 2. contains extra data, hints which appeared on not more than three papers. These extra information certainly influence the mood of a syllabus.
Extra Help
József Horváth and Gabriella Vöõ gave extra help. Both of them told that the required books or pieces of papers could be found in the library. József Horváth even told the section of the library.
Signiture, Drawings
Three teachers signed their syllabi and two others included drawings on theirs. In my opinion these features reduced the impersonality of the texts.
Dates of Exams, For Whom
I considered No. 22 unique, because this was which addressed the widest group of students. It was written for students of four different departments at JAU. József Terjéki also included the dates of possible exams too. No. 23 told that it was for mathematicians in their second year.
Conditions, Next, L/ S, Date
Two papers, 5 and 7, told the preliminary conditions of the courses and 5 told the next time when the course would be held. 10, 18 and 21 indicated the whether the particular course was a lecture or a seminar . This was shown in Table 2. as: L/ S. And finally 10 and 20 showed the dates when the papers were printed or typed.
CONCLUSION
After studying the two Tables I counted the number of different types of information appearing on the syllabi. The top number was 14, on No. 20, and the smallest was 3, on No. 17. From these results I concluded that there were significant differences between syllabi. Paper No. 17 is just an image of the course, while papers with more than ten types of information are precise descriptions and fulfill the aims of syllabi.
Before analyzing the tables I thought that there would be correlations between some features: for example if the times of the classes were indicated the places would be indicated too. But the Tables and the analysis showed that the correlations are not as significant as I thought they would be. I found two correlations: true and false.
There is true correlation between the language of the course and the syllabi. In the cases of the 19 English-course syllabi the language was always English, and in the cases of the syllabi for Hungarian majors and mathematicians they were written in Hungarian.
By false correlation I meant that if the credit points were indicated, the code numbers were present too. I call this a false correlation because it did not work backwards: the presence of codes did not mean the presence of credits.
I expected similar syllabi from similar courses, but as I look at the results I must say that there is not more relation between paper No. 3, 4 and 5 -although all of them are from Descriptive Grammar courses- than between paper No. 3 and 6. Thus my conclusion is that the most determining factor of a syllabus is its author.
My final conclusion concerns the practicality of xyllabology- the pseudoscience that considers the analyses of syllabi (Schubert 66). The facts I found and the relations I experienced between the contents of the papers and their executions will be helpful at the beginning of the next semester when I will receive more papers. I shared my findings with you because I did not want to be in a priviledged position. The last detection analyzes reading lists:
If the list is two pages long, you probably won't have to read anything at all. However, if the syllabus contains only, let's say, one book or a couple of articles from different magazines... Leave the room immediately! (Schubert 67)
Thank you for not leaving and reading the Research Paper.
Students’ opinion about syllabi can influence the popularity of courses. The first piece of evidence which students receive on any first lesson is the syllabus. The first week of the semester is for selecting from the courses. The hints which can be found on syllabi are especially helpful for first-year students. If a paper is fascinating students will favour that class. But if the syllabus is boring and only another piece of paper, students will not go for that course, but look for something else of course.
My aim in analyzing syllabi was to find out what the intentions of teachers are with giving syllabi to students, to see the relations between syllabi and also their contents and finally to discover whether a syllabus tells something about its author.
METHOD
I started collecting syllabi in the middle of November. The first seven pieces were easy to obtain, as I received them at the beginning of my first year at university. In the second round I collected nine from other English majors at Janus Pannonius University and two from my Hungarian major friend. After having 18 already another friend from József Attila University at Szeged sent the last five. Three out of these five were for English majors and two for mathematicians.
When I had these papers I classified them: the first 19 are English-course-syllabi, 20-21 are for Hungarian courses and the last two are for mathematicians. I thought that papers with corresponding subjects might have similar characteristic features, thus I put them next to each other, for example the first two are from Writing Skills courses. Then I renamed them with numbers- from 1 to 23.
Having this numeric order I created the foundation of my analysis: a table. In the first line of the table I wrote the numbers of the papers. Then in the first coloumn I listed every type of information I found on the syllabi. Some data appeared on only one or two syllabi so I divided the table into two parts: Table 1. contains those information of which were more frequent, and Table 2. contains the extra, those which appeared on not more than three papers.
2 3 5 6 7 10 13 16 18 19 20 21 22 23
Extra help + +
Signiture + + +
Conditions + +
Next time +
L/S + + +
Date + +
Drawings + +
Dates of exams +
For whom + +
Table 2: Data which appeared on not more than three papers
I wrote numbers or letters in the first three lines of Table 1. The rest of the chambers are filled in with a yes-no method: I filled in the chamber with a "+" sign if that type of information appeared on the syllabus. If not, Then I left the box untouched. When I was ready with both tables I started the analysis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
I think teachers’ main purpose in giving syllabi is to give information about their courses. I did not find two identicals, as different types of information appeared on each syllabus. I studied some features together because I found relations between them.
Table 1.
Format, Style and Language
The style of the paper is determined by the author. By style I mean outlook, content and tone.
Among the 23 syllabi No. 2 was the only one with informal tone. The other 22 were formal ones with passive sentences, which addressed the readers, the students, as objects.
All the syllabi I had were printed or typed. Non of the teachers handed out handwritten papers. I approved of this feature because typed or printed texts are easier to read. This format has a second adventage too: students do not have to waste time on decoding illegible handwritings.
No. 10 and 14 were unique in that they size were that of an A/5 page. All the others were bigger: A/4 pages.
The average length was one A/4 page. The shortest I met was one A/5 page or 0.5 page and the longests were two A/4 pages.
There were differences in the languages: The first 19 were written in English, these were the English-course-syllabi, and the last four were in Hungarian.
Names
The name of the course together with the name of the teacher (tutor or instructor) determine the course, thus the rest of the syllabus. Surprisingly three syllabi lacked at least one of these information. In the case of No. 12 and 17 the tutors did not include their names. No. 22 is completely anonymous since I found neither the teacher's nor the course's name on it.
Office Hours, Time of Classes, Place
Although the time, when a class is held, is an important information, it was indicated on 11 papers only. The reason why I put 17 "+"-s in the Table is that "Time of classes" meant two things. In the broader sence it refered to the semester. Though all my papers were from Fall 1997, I found this labelled on six papers only. The other meaning of "Time of classes" was the exact days and hours when the classes were held, for example: "Wednesdays: 12-14" (Gombosné 1). This was indicated on four papers, and I could find both types on seven more.
Where were the classes held? Nine syllabi gave answers to this question on the rest of the papers the place was not indicated.
If students needed further help, they could ask the tutors in the office hours. But when and where? This was shown on eight papers. On No. 1 and 9 they were recorded by the teacher, on the rest students added them later as they were hand written and not printed. No. 22 was the only syllabus which told those hours in the exam period when students could consult the teacher.
University, Code and Credits
At Universities where the credit system was introduced and is used, for example at JPU, the courses' codes and credit points are important data. József Attila University might not use this system since non of the papers from JAU registered neither codes nor credits. Out of 18 JPU syllabi 13 represented their codes and six out of this 13 told the credits too. Analyzing Table 1. I found that only eight papers included their birthplaces: JAU or JPU.
Course Description
Describing the course is the main aim of a syllabus. Course description is a complex feature, thus it is indicated in Table 1. as "Introduction" and "Topics". According to the appearance of a general description or a list of possible topics I found three basic types of syllabi.
Those papers, No. 1, 6 and 12, which contained only an introduction belonged to the first group.
The members of the second group, No. 5, 8, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22 and 23, revealed lists of the possible topics or weekly schedules.
The most developed papers belonged to the third group: these gave both introductions and topic lists. These were No. 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18 and 20.
Requirements
Requirements differed in accordance with the type of the course. Thus syllabi from similar courses showed concordance in this aspect. For example both Language Practise courses - No. 6 and 7- required the same textbooks and participation on the lessons too.
Most JPU syllabi included two other types of requirements. One was that students were not supposed to miss more than two classes and the other was that they shouldn't have been late.
Reading Lists
14 syllabi included reading lists. The books on these lists were either used on the courses or were suggested to be read. Syllabus No. 2 differed from the others in this aspect because it contained two lists: the first included those books which were required and the other the recommended ones.
Assessment
Almost every teacher included an assessment or his/ her grading policy. In my opinion this was the most popular part of the syllabi since the grades, given at the end of the terms, are considered important by students.
Some teachers calculated the final grades on the basis of the given points, others on percentages. Most assessments included not only written or oral tests and reports but active participation on the lessons also.
Phone, Email
I marked six "+" signs in this line of Table 1., which means that six teachers indicated either their phone numbers or their email addresses. I found phone numbers on 2, 16, 23 and on 20 which included fax number too. Five email addresses were given, on 2, 14, 18, 20 and on 23 I found the homepage address too.
TABLE 2.
As Schubert says we can find out personal information about teachers by analyzing their syllabi (66). He suggests that we can conclude even their hobbies (66). I agree with him partly, but I would not go that far. Table 2. contains extra data, hints which appeared on not more than three papers. These extra information certainly influence the mood of a syllabus.
Extra Help
József Horváth and Gabriella Vöõ gave extra help. Both of them told that the required books or pieces of papers could be found in the library. József Horváth even told the section of the library.
Signiture, Drawings
Three teachers signed their syllabi and two others included drawings on theirs. In my opinion these features reduced the impersonality of the texts.
Dates of Exams, For Whom
I considered No. 22 unique, because this was which addressed the widest group of students. It was written for students of four different departments at JAU. József Terjéki also included the dates of possible exams too. No. 23 told that it was for mathematicians in their second year.
Conditions, Next, L/ S, Date
Two papers, 5 and 7, told the preliminary conditions of the courses and 5 told the next time when the course would be held. 10, 18 and 21 indicated the whether the particular course was a lecture or a seminar . This was shown in Table 2. as: L/ S. And finally 10 and 20 showed the dates when the papers were printed or typed.
CONCLUSION
After studying the two Tables I counted the number of different types of information appearing on the syllabi. The top number was 14, on No. 20, and the smallest was 3, on No. 17. From these results I concluded that there were significant differences between syllabi. Paper No. 17 is just an image of the course, while papers with more than ten types of information are precise descriptions and fulfill the aims of syllabi.
Before analyzing the tables I thought that there would be correlations between some features: for example if the times of the classes were indicated the places would be indicated too. But the Tables and the analysis showed that the correlations are not as significant as I thought they would be. I found two correlations: true and false.
There is true correlation between the language of the course and the syllabi. In the cases of the 19 English-course syllabi the language was always English, and in the cases of the syllabi for Hungarian majors and mathematicians they were written in Hungarian.
By false correlation I meant that if the credit points were indicated, the code numbers were present too. I call this a false correlation because it did not work backwards: the presence of codes did not mean the presence of credits.
I expected similar syllabi from similar courses, but as I look at the results I must say that there is not more relation between paper No. 3, 4 and 5 -although all of them are from Descriptive Grammar courses- than between paper No. 3 and 6. Thus my conclusion is that the most determining factor of a syllabus is its author.
My final conclusion concerns the practicality of xyllabology- the pseudoscience that considers the analyses of syllabi (Schubert 66). The facts I found and the relations I experienced between the contents of the papers and their executions will be helpful at the beginning of the next semester when I will receive more papers. I shared my findings with you because I did not want to be in a priviledged position. The last detection analyzes reading lists:
If the list is two pages long, you probably won't have to read anything at all. However, if the syllabus contains only, let's say, one book or a couple of articles from different magazines... Leave the room immediately! (Schubert 67)
Thank you for not leaving and reading the Research Paper.
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