A high percentage of students enter college with prior trauma, and trauma-informed practices are increasingly recognized as valuable in higher education. We examined if the tone of a syllabus would interact with levels of trauma or stress to impact participants' perceptions of the instructor, willingness to seek help, and self-efficacy. We tested…

This study was conducted to analyze first impressions of a professor and student motivation for taking a college course. The researcher hypothesized that a course syllabus with a professor welcome statement would have a more positive effect on first impressions of the professor and student motivation as compared to a course syllabus without a…

This purpose of this research focuses on the use of literary fiction as case studies to develop empathy with preservice teachers in a teacher education program using the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Empathy, defined in three manners as cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy, is an essential attribute of educators.…

This study applied Lambert's 3R framework (redistributive, recognitive, and representational justice) to explore the impact of social justice framing and open educational practices on undergraduate students' perceptions. Using a within-subjects design, 191 participants were exposed to four hypothetical course syllabi, each reflecting different…

This study follows a study that researchers conducted at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester to investigate the first-day impacts of using an updated, visually stimulating syllabus on conveying essential course information and on initial perceptions of teachers. Findings indicated that students perceived the syllabus as easier to understand…

There is an increasing trend in course design for reading and writing classes to include multimodal texts such as comics, television programs, music videos, and social media posts on course syllabi. Often the practice is justified by arguing that students need to develop critical literacy skills and multiliteracies and that these popular texts are…

The present study investigated how course policies and enforcement strategies designed to curb classroom digital distraction affect undergraduates' perceptions of student-instructor rapport. Data gathered from online surveys completed by undergraduates at four United States universities revealed that student perceptions of rapport can be…

Syllabus-boundness constitutes an important attribute of a so-called surface approach to learning, whereby students are seen as highly assessment-oriented, doing what is minimally required from them, and wanting well-organized courses and clear instructions. When this concept emerged in the late 1960ies, it was linked to a discussion on issues of…

Finding ways to motivate learners in online courses can be difficult when the interaction between the instructor and the learner is conducted through written text. The use of syllabi is an important component to help guide learners and provide them with course expectations. A poorly written or misinterpreted syllabus can contribute to a negative…

Co-creation involves giving students an active role in the design of entrepreneurial courses, with important consequences in terms of autonomy support and entrepreneurial intention. In study 1, we manipulated cocreation and hypothesized a positive influence on autonomy support and entrepreneurial intention. Results showed a positive influence of…

This study used critical discourse analysis (CDA) to explore how course syllabi may impact disability disclosure in higher education. By examining 15 syllabi from across three disciplines at a public university, the analysis reveals the use of neutral but bureaucratic disability terminology and impersonal tones that may fail to foster an inclusive…

Nowadays, few professionals understand the techniques and testing criteria to systematize the software testing activity in the software industry. Towards shedding some light on such problems and promoting software testing, professors in the area have established Massive Open Online Courses as educational initiatives. However, the main limitation…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' use of mediated immediacy in a syllabus to determine effects on students' communication apprehension with instructors and student out-of-class communication with instructors. Participants viewed either a basic course syllabus with high levels of mediated immediacy or low levels of mediated…

This study investigates university students' perceptions and impressions of a visually stimulating syllabus, focusing on its effectiveness in conveying course expectations and its influence on initial impressions of instructors. A mixed-methods approach was used to gather quantitative and qualitative data from 168 university-level…

Strong faculty-student relationships are an important predictor of student retention and success in higher education. Faculty often work to establish these relationships by developing rapport with students in the classroom, but minimal research has been done on whether syllabus design and language can affect these relationships. The goal of…