Course Outlines, Plans, and Syllabi
Three official documents provide students with information about the outcomes and activities for the course. They are:
The Course Outline and Course Plan are official College documents that will be provided to you; you will create the Assessment Schedule (or Supplementary Syllabus) for each course you teach.
Course Outline
The Course Outline identifies the primary learning outcomes for the course, the grading breakdown, required resources, and other official policies. This document is the same for all course sections and will be provided to you. It will also be visible on your FOL course site.
- You can see a sample Outline for WRIT 1030.
The information set out in this document must be strictly followed to ensure students meet the course requirements.
You can find a course outline if you know the course code by going onto the Course Outline Mapping and Management System (COMMS) and using the search function. The COMMS site can be found on the myFanshawe portal page under Bookmarks.
Course Plan
The Course Plan provides a general overview of the flow of the course, as well as identifying the weeks of major assignments. This document is also the same for all sections and is also provided to you and visible in your FOL course site.
- You can see a sample Plan for WRIT-1030.
You should try to follow this document; however, some changes may be necessary depending on your class schedule, for example, if you miss a class on a holiday Monday. They are written to be a general guideline to accommodate these situations.
Assessment Schedule or Supplementary Syllabus
The Assessment Schedule or Supplementary Syllabus is a document of your creation setting the plan for your class. It should include the specific activities being completed (the breakdown of discretionary marks) and the specific dates and times when assignments are due. It should also include information about in-class and online topics and activities and highlight the blended hour if applicable.
So long as it is clear and detailed, it can be in the format of your choosing. Some instructors enjoy using the templates provided in FOL, and others prefer to create a Word or PDF document.
You are responsible for creating and uploading this document to FOL on the first day of class. Students will use the specific information you provide to organize their time, and it is important for student success to have this information at the beginning of the term.
As you create your document, keep the following evaluation policies in mind (A131):
- Evaluations must be spaced at timely intervals during the course to provide students with timely and constructive feedback about their progress and opportunities for additional learning prior to a subsequent evaluation (2.2.4).
- Students must have completed at least 25% of their final grade by midterms (2.2.5).
- No single component of a course evaluation may count for more than 40% of the final grade, unless approved by the Academic Manager (2.2.6).
A series of HTML templates is pre-loaded into each FOL course. If you use these templates, you will have included the necessary information; however, as mentioned previously, you can choose the course format. You can follow the FOL Essentials Checklist to ensure that you have included all the important elements.
