The Syllabus Doctor’s intake process uses a questionnaire to examine the context for a given syllabus, assignment, or course design. Questions asked include:
- Course name, title, academic level, and academic discipline.
- Expected enrolment.
- Mode of delivery.
- Contact hours and schedule.
- Departmental, disciplinary, and faculty expectations.
- Course calendar description.
- Course prerequisites, if any.
- Known/expected relevance of current events (including local and global events).
- Limitations on course material (e.g. requirements for accreditation, exclusions).
- Instructor experience.
- Pandemic context.
This examination of context allows the Syllabus Doctor to design accessible and appropriate syllabi and assessments that meet the expectations of the instructor, department, faculty, and university. We advocate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and assume that any cohort of students will include a range of adult learners with a variety of needs, experiences, and backgrounds. Courses and assignments include flexibility and choice for learners, but without requiring students to disclose any personal information. So, while the specific expectations dictated by university, course, and instructor context constrain the contours of the course design, UDL designs for success from as wide a range of student experiences and contexts as possible.