Welcome to the Tuesday Teaching Tip, an easy-to-implement tool that you can use immediately in your classroom teaching. 

TUESDAY TEACHING TIP: Talking About Syllabus Statements

We all know that there are several required and recommended statements we all include in our syllabus. But what happens then? Talking about syllabus statements with students provides an opportunity to set a positive tone and serve as a shared resource for your students’ learning journey. Rather than treating it as a static legal contract—a document of rules and requirements—you can approach the syllabus with active, student-centered strategies that help transform it into a dynamic and welcoming guide, emphasizing partnership and collaboration from day one.

This week, we challenge you to engage in an active, warm and inclusive classroom conversation about your course syllabus statements. 

Here’s one way to do it: 

• Ask students to work in pairs or small groups to review the syllabus statements and the SCU Community Guidelines and Student Conduct Code.
• Explain your philosophy and expectations related to course policies, offering concrete examples.
• Encourage questions to ensure everyone is clear on how these policies support the shared learning environment and invite suggestions for establishing your class’s key values and standards as a learning community.
• Invite your students to contribute to the class’s code of conduct and communication policy. This code of conduct can be tailored to your discipline-specific standards and should build on your syllabus statements. This process opens your classroom as a place where student voices matter, and communicates that your students are partners in their educational process and that success is a shared responsibility.
• Establish these statements and community guidelines as living documents: refer back to them often by connecting them to daily classroom activities and to assignments and/or assessments. Strive to be approachable, welcoming, and conversational to foster student engagement. 

 

DID YOU DO IT?

Let us know how it went. We would love to hear your feedback about how you implemented today’s Tuesday Teaching Tip in your classroom. Click here to fill out our 3-question survey. The survey is anonymous, but if you choose to enter your name, you’ll be entered in a drawing at the end of the quarter to win a new book from Faculty Development!

 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

• CAFE: AI Course Policies on January 9 at 11:45am
• Teaching Observation Workshops on January 13 at 2:00pm (in-person only) and January 14 at 1:00pm (hybrid)
• AI Listening Session (for Students) on January 14 at 2:30pm
• SCU Classrooms: A Conversation on Teaching Experiences on January 16 at 12:00pm
• CAFE: Social Justice in the Academy, Part 2 on January 22 at 12:00pm

 

WANT TO READ A LITTLE MORE?

• Visit the Talking About Syllabus Statements DRT page developed by our Faculty Associate, Thiadora A. Pina. 
• Andrea Rodriguez Mooney, ‘Co-Creating the Classroom: Collaborative Ground Rules for Engaged Learning’ Faculty Focus (05/14/2025).

 

This week’s Tuesday Teaching Tip was prepared by Caitlin Flynn and is based on Thiadora A. Pina’s ‘Talking About Syllabus Statements’ Digital Resource for Teaching (DRT) page on behalf of the Faculty Development and the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Missed a teaching tip? Read them all here. 

And check out our full calendar of CAFEs and other Faculty Development events.