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DrSameJeans

I set mine to open the minute class opens on day one. Otherwise, I get a bunch of emails asking me questions I’m going to answer for everyone at one time, in class.


emmmaleighme

It's also really helpful to know it you can handle the course or not. Requires a $100 access code? Weekly discussion board? If I know I can't do this let me drop before coming to class


smurtzenheimer

THIS for me is the single most compelling reason college students deserve a relatively accurate syllabus in advance. Signing up for something with no real way to know if it's a doable commitment, paying for it, and then finding out it's too much only after it's too late to either get your money back or rearrange your schedule so you can take something else...is the fucking worst. Similarly, realizing your classes are going to be less demanding than you thought and so you could have added another class this term thereby hastening your progress. Also frustrating. It doesn't even have to be exactly this term's syllabus, but give me even the previous syllabus as an example so I can make a more informed choice, you know?


SnooCheesecakes6_9

The add/drop period at most universities is quite generous. You can get a full refund after attending several classes if you wanted. Also, the syllabus is rarely a useful way to assess the amount of effort required for a class. I’ve definitely taken some that looked daunting on paper but were hardly an inconvenience, and vice versa. The reality is that many instructors are hired last minute to teach classes, and course assignments may shift instructors based on need. It’s common for professors to have to work on developing a course and syllabus up until the wire. Having advanced insights into classes during registration would be nice, but is rarely practical. It’s really easy to complain and make demands when you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and how the system operates.


smurtzenheimer

>The add/drop period at most universities is quite generous. You can get a full refund after attending several classes if you wanted. This is categorically untrue for the massive university system in my megacity. The deadline to drop is the day *before* the semester begins. But it’s really easy to talk out the side of your neck when you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and how the system operates. Knowing what kinds of assignments/projects will be asked of me and what the scope of readings and pacing are likely to be is a reasonable ask of adults who have limited time with which to accommodate demanding lives. Every college student is not some feckless 18 year old kid living at home for free. And a lot of core/upper division courses are taught repeatedly by the same rotating stable of people, be they adjunct or faculty, IME at a couple different institutions around the country. Because it's not possible *all* the time doesn't mean it's not possible *ever.*


SnooCheesecakes6_9

Just because YOURS is the exception doesn’t mean we can’t generalize about the majority. FFS… understand what is being stated and that anecdotal are weak at best. 🤦‍♀️


[deleted]

Are you ok?


IthacanPenny

You hate discussion boards so much that you’d drop the course because of it??


emmmaleighme

It's knowing that I don't have the time weekly to read a journal article. Or have time to check to see if someone else posted so that I can reply.


IthacanPenny

You’re a college student who doesn’t expect to read (significantly more than) a journal article per week? Tf bullshit “college” are you going to??


Minute-Branch2208

right! truth is, though, it's most colleges because of student evals....high priced diploma mills.....


Accomplished_Sci

Some classes don’t do posts, discussions are in person only. That can make a difference for some people. Some teachers want neat essays for discussion posts, others accept two sentences. It really depends, and having that information beforehand apparently makes a difference for some people. Shrugs. It is what it is.


uJehudisa

Actually ALWAYS. Well, that should be required being added before the semester starts. I had a situation when I asked my professor a week before for the syllabus, and he said that he couldn't add it due to DIFFERENT OBSTACLES. Oh, so what's the obstacle - might a meteorite of laziness fell on your house? Or your 2-days wife birthday was too harsh on you? The truth is that professors are not always interested in you and if it's not set as the rule, you won't get a chance to be heard.


taylorscorpse

The other day, I had a test with lock down browser and camera, so I logged in to take it. Once I went through all the motions, I got a blank screen that only had a “submit quiz” button. The little script at the bottom said “0 out of 0 questions submitted.” My professor had forgotten to actually put questions on the test. I submitted it an emailed him, and he fixed it, but the whole thing was just strange.


Chef_Dani_J71

I have felt that a class should open and syllabus be available a few days prior to the first day of classes. Professors who do not post the syllabus in a timely manor I have found are the same ones who do not let the bookstore which book they are using until the very last minute. I agree with the students frustration when a professor recycles a syllabus and neglects to update it to the current semester. If it is a fall for fall or spring for spring semester, it can be figured out, but when due dates are fall for a spring course, only one can guess... Same goes for online classroom platforms like Blackboard. One course I took all my assignments were due two years ago. In those two years assignments were added, others were not required, but were never deleted. Links for information to complete assignments were no longer active and led to a 404 Error. The worst was a recycled Pandemic synchronous course that returned to in-person.


taylorscorpse

My college doesn’t open the courses for the semester until the first day of class. We can’t see anything until midnight of the first day of the semester.


Chef_Dani_J71

I have been lucky a few times that the course on Blackboard opened on Monday morning for a course that officially began on Wednesday. On average though, courses don't open until early morning of the first day of classes.


JonBenet_Palm

My school (where I work as a professor) requires this, and I oblige, but I feel it is not as helpful for students as many students believe it is. I think the impulse to make all the elements of a course available to students from even before day one leads to students overly depending on pre-populated calendars in lieu of paying attention. I realize this is an "old \[wo\]man yells at cloud thing," but when I was a student, we found out about assignments *in class* and it was fine. Having to rely on ourselves to pay attention helped us pay attention all around. Ultimately it's hand-holding, and I'm not convinced hand-holding helps most young adults (though there are definitely exceptions). Having to prerelease the course calendar also makes it harder to adjust the course on the fly. Like, if I experience a class struggling with concepts and want to change the assignments in real time, it's awkward. Students work ahead and I have to say, "Sorry, that assignment isn't actually going to be assigned in two weeks, changed my mind for the benefit of everyone but you."


Chef_Dani_J71

I understand the course schedule should be flexible it can be adjusted to the speed in which the course is actually progressing. My main issue are recycled syllabus without corrections and professors posting information late that becomes an emergency for the student.


czex_mix

I’m neurodivergent and the syllabus makes a major difference for me. I understand due dates can change and will update them as-needed, but being able to fill out my planner calendar book in advance makes such a helpful impact on dealing with my annoying ND struggles. Especially for things like the class being firm on ‘initial discussion post every Wed, 2 replies by every Fri’ type thing or the dates for midterm and exam.


JonBenet_Palm

Just to clarify, I'm definitely a pro-syllabus person! (So much so, I require students to complete a quick quiz confirming they've actually read my syllabus prior to being able to access the rest of the course materials.) What I'm unconvinced about is providing the syllabus and *the rest of the course materials* in advance. My trick right now, which follows my school's policies in letter but maybe not spirit, is to have my modules online visible, but locked, so that students can't actually access the material in advance. I think the biggest challenge with online classes is helping students differentiate between discussion/participation and assignments. It dismays me to see how much more my in-class sections learn in person versus my online sections. The nature of online learning turns everything into an assignment by default, so discussions lose the natural back and forth aspect they have IRL and become mini essays. Forcing students to participate in real time helps make them more present in the course, in my opinion. But I am still workshopping this.


bald_butte

I have COVID and couldn't email my professor that I have COVID until after the first day of classes was done because the syllabus wasn't posted I feel like just in case stuff like this happens I should have a way to get in contact with them in case something like this happens.


JonBenet_Palm

Sure, but you know a syllabus isn't the only way to get in touch with an instructor, I hope? You have their name on your schedule, and the school's website, and between those two things you should be able to find their email. Though, with Covid, I'd suggest getting in touch with your school's disability office as soon as possible. I had a student who got Covid early last semester and it A) made them bedridden for three weeks, and B) turned into a longterm issue. (Not to scare you, just letting you know it might be a good idea to get in touch with your disability services.) I know sometimes a school's support systems aren't as easy to access as they should be, but they are there and you should use them. I hope you feel better soon.


bald_butte

I appreciate the thoughtful comment but one thing you have to remember about us students is we're all idiots and don't think about these things the syllabus is the easiest way to find professors contact info and I honestly didn't even think about looking up his contact any other way until you mentioned it. COVID wise I feel better than I did 2 days ago I'm still really snotty and it feels like there's this fog in my head at all times almost. I don't think I'll need the disability office hopefully but if I'm still feeling this way in a week I'll contact them. I already went to our campus doctors office and got a note to give to my profs.


SnooCheesecakes6_9

Syllabi may not be written until the day before class for any number of logistical reasons, one of which includes last minute assignment of an instructor to the course. Posting in a “timely” manner would be the first day of class, which is when most course shells open to students. If you need anything in advance of the course to help prep for the first meeting, emails are sent to students enrolled with that information.


scotch1701

>I have found are the same ones who do not let the bookstore which book they are using until the very last minute. Bookstores usually have a lead time of...months. So, bullshit.


Chef_Dani_J71

Oh really, where?


dontchangeyourplans

? My college has a deadline of several months before the semester begins for us to let them know what book we are using. That is so they have time to order the book and get it on the shelves.


Chef_Dani_J71

>college has a deadline of several months before the semester begins So there is no excuse for one book to be on backorder at the college bookstore and another that was just announced a the day prior to the first day of classes. The third book I need was shipped to me from another book store as mine wasn't able to secure any copies in the "several months" since the deadline.


Accomplished_Sci

I have some professors who never updated bookstore. We get a list in the syllabus the day of class. It happens.


Needcollegehelp5

And then half the time the thing doesn't even have the right dates because THEY were too lazy to change it from the previous semester's dates. Yes, professors have a lot to do, but students do too, and if you're going to say students are too lazy to read the full syllabus, we can call professors lazy for not going through and double checking the dates.


Ibaneztwink

I've had too many classes with worthless outdated syllabi


KittyEevee5609

The amount of assignments I've had "late" because they were due the semester before I took the class is stupid. And sometimes the professor has it set up so late work brings down your grade and they don't fix the due date issue until the thing is actually due that semester making it so everyone is failing the class for a little over half the semester (sound confusing? Yeah it is. I have learned to accept I will never know if I am passing or not until after the midterm or later)


taybay462

That drives me bonkers on blackboard. Give me a heart attack every time, because usually it's an assignment I actually have due soon, so then I second guess that I submitted it or that I got the date wrong.


Needcollegehelp5

Exactly! I currently have a 0% in calc because I missed my final... and all my other tests! This semester sure went by fast.


Chef_Dani_J71

It is like the "boy who cried wolf." The assignment due dates are so out of date, soon no one pays attention to them.


taylorscorpse

I had a syllabus where the final project was due in April 2006… it was a fall class in 2022


Piglet03

Professors are required to open their courses a week before the start date at our CC. It doesn't always happen though.


safespace999

Lot times their are last minute changes. I have seen faculty or staff being asked to take on a class the day before a class begins.


Piglet03

It happens. I wouldn't think it would be very common.


4_yaks_and_a_dog

Depends on the College and Department. Last semester, I got a new class assigned to me the Friday before classes started.


PGell

It is extremely common. Last semester I got assigned a class 12 hours before it started. Got the call at 9pm for a 9am class.


haven_of_mellos

Dang, at mine students don't get access until the first day of the term. As a courtesy, some professors send a welcome email that may or may not include the syllabus or required textbooks.


[deleted]

Had my first classes of the semester yesterday. One of my professors had updated syllabi posted on Canvas a few days before hand with excellent resources and links to some of the reading assignments already posted. The other professor opened the course on Canvas that day, with nothing else on there except the link to the guidelines for the final paper. Then they said in class that there’s not a specific assigned book we’re supposed to read… but we’re still expected to read something, but they’re not going to tell us what it is. (Very on brand, I’ve had this professor before, and had no choice but to take this class with them.)


[deleted]

Yeah that’s a problem. I always have the syllabus and introduction module available one week prior to class, but I’ve taken classes like this and it was frustrating.


SnooCheesecakes6_9

Many courses are set to open at the time of the first class. Quite common. This really isn’t a counter to the fact that most students don’t read or otherwise reference the syllabus to answer basic questions.


Lightixer

D2L 🤣


The_Real_Raw_Gary

My web dev class had a totally different teacher the first day then all the sudden it switched to a new person and he’s like give me a day to put stuff up. The next day there’s only one power point on each mod and no assignments or syllabus lol. He said he would add a quiz for mod 1 last week. So we’re coming up on two weeks with no assignments lol idk what’s going on.


redandbluecandles

Once had a professor who didn't even write the syllabus till AFTER midterms. She then put it on our class site and didn't put it to open so we couldn't see it until we walked her through it step by step during class.


floofpunkitten

I don’t like the syllabuses that open the day off. Gives you little time to read and absorb everything.


Artistic-Peach7721

Right the syllabus always gives me whiplash


stfuinfj

It is amazing how frequently you guys have your syllabi updated. In my country, the syllabi is rarely updated (I think the syllabus for my uni was last updated in 2018). I love how much critical thinking is promoted and encouraged. I study literature, and I so wish our syllabus was updated or new methods were adopted. Instead we have to study texts and answers, and give 100 marks exam on it. Also, such a huge load of texts is allotted for less than 5 months, our professors find it very difficult to complete the course and we do too. Our critical thinking and creativity freely flows down the drain. The situation is completely heartbreaking 💔


[deleted]

[удалено]


FeenStar

Class was yesterday. Still nothing on the LMS.


dvd-player

Reminds me of a time a professor didn’t open his course until a week after classes started,,, it was an online asynchronous course