Beyond the Boilerplate: Reimagining the Syllabus with Snoop Dogg's Wisdom

Syllabi are a ubiquitous part of the higher education landscape, as essential as the buildings and faculty. Beyond simply imparting course information to students, a syllabus serves many functions, including as evidence for decisions about course equivalency and for accreditation. The phrase “read the syllabus” is deeply ingrained in college culture. One professor even hired Snoop Dogg (via Cameo) to encourage their students to “read the syllabus.”

Why Students Might Skip the Syllabus

The reasons why students might "skip" the syllabus are complex. Research suggests that students do read the syllabus, but they may only focus on specific content, such as how they will be evaluated. Even students who understand the importance of syllabi may rarely refer to it unless they need specific information.

The Syllabus as a Teaching Tool

Several scholars argue that the syllabus itself has utility as a teaching tool. In addition to serving as a contractual agreement between students and the instructor and succinctly communicating course expectations, the syllabus can also help students plan for how they can achieve course goals and function as a cognitive map for organizing and conceptualizing the course content. Considering the syllabus in this manner, it is important to consider how to get students to engage with it.

Enhancing Syllabus Design and Engagement

If you are looking to completely revamp your syllabus, including the content therein, consider constructing a learner-centered syllabus or adopting an equity-diversity-inclusion mindset to writing your syllabus.

When many instructors begin teaching, they are either handed a pre-made syllabus (perhaps from a previous instructor) or are pointed toward a department or university template. While these may serve as good skeletons of the content that needs to be included, they are often not a great model for direct use.

Read also: Decoding Academic Records

Organizational Structure and Information Flow

Take a minute to consider the organizational structure in your syllabus. Also, consider the flow of that information from the beginning to the end of your syllabus. For example, is all the information related to grading and evaluation together? Or is it in different places? There isn’t a single right way to organize information in a syllabus. Some instructors choose to put all course policies together; others choose to include each policy in the section where it is relevant (e.g., policies about make-up work are included with information about the assignments).

One approach to sequencing syllabus information is to start by welcoming students to the course and giving them a broad overview via the course description about what they will be encountering. Basic course information should be easily accessible (location of the classroom, materials needed, etc.). This is followed by the course schedule, including readings, topics, links to notes, and other materials for each day of the course. Information related to grading, including assignment descriptions, deadlines, expectations, and evaluation, can then be presented. A note about “Stress Management” and an FAQ for the assignments can also be included. Class policies can be grouped together in a single place on the syllabus, including policies on: Missing Class and Making up Missed/Late Work; ChatGPT and Other AI; Technology (more broadly); and our college policy on recording classes. Instructor and TA information, including office hours and contact information, comes next. A picture of the TA (with permission) and of the instructor can help students identify them.

One way to think about syllabus organization and sequencing is to ask your students about it.

Aesthetics Matter: Font, Color, and Images

Once you have the organization and sequencing of the content, it is time to think about improving the aesthetic of your syllabus. Given that the syllabus is often the first thing that students experience in a course (even before meeting the professor), why not set the tone? First impressions matter!

Choose a small set of fonts that look good together (and are readable). Be consistent about how you use them. Setting everything in Times New Roman or Calibri is one way to have students never read your syllabus. Typically, 3-4 fonts are used in syllabi: one title font, one headings/subheading font, and one body font. (Sometimes there is also a boxed/pull-out text font.) If you adopt more than 3-4 fonts, the document begins to look ragtag, so be careful. Most of the text in your syllabus will be the body font, so choose something readable. Serif fonts are often preferred for this, but a readable sans-serif font would also work. Consider choosing fonts that increase accessibility for students.

Pick and utilize a consistent color palette for your syllabus. Although body text is probably best set in black (assuming the background of your syllabus is white), consider setting the headings/subheadings in a different color. What about having some text set in a box-things you want to call attention to such as class policies-and setting the background color of these boxes in some color? Maybe a bold color for your title? Coolors.co can be used to choose color palettes. You can get inspiration from pre-generated palettes or create your own palettes. What looks good on the palette may not look as good when you try it on your syllabus. Some colors are difficult to read. Others just don’t “pop” as well when applied to text. Be careful about choosing colors that people who are colorblind will have a hard time with. The coolors.co site will also allow you to visualize your palette under eight common types of colorblindness.

Font and color aren’t the only way to differentiate text. For example, you could use the same font and color for your headings and subheadings, but use a smaller font size for the sub-headings. You could also use different cases (e.g., small caps, uppercase) or alignment (left vs. justified).

Not everything in your syllabus needs to be text. Adding images will break up the text and make the information in the syllabus easier to digest. With the internet, you can find graphics quite easily. But be sure you have permission to use the graphics you choose; many are copyrighted. (Note: Even copyrighted images can be used under the Fair Use doctrine.) If you worry about copyright, you could search for images in the “public domain.” Images licensed under the Creative Commons license are also generally usable, but you may need to include a citation. An image attribution section can be included in your syllabi. Several image sites allow you to search using these criteria (e.g., Flickr, The Noun Project). Your institution likely has an image repository of university-related images.

When choosing images, also consider your color palette. If the colors on the image clash with your palette, consider using an image processor to change the image to greyscale, black-and-white, or sepia-toned.

Whitespace and Readability

Text is easier for humans to read when whitespace is included. The most obvious whitespace in a text document is the margins. While the default margins may be reasonable, play around with some different choices. For example, books often have asymmetric margins to account for the binding which also is nice if students are printing the syllabus and say, adding it to a 3-ring binder. Another potential place for whitespace is in the line spacing. Try a little bigger line spacing to see if the text you chose reads easier. Different fonts look better and are easier to read at different line spacing; experiment with this. Also consider the space between paragraphs. This is typically set in the “before” and “after” values of your word-processing program.

Embracing Authenticity and Flexibility

The suggestions herein are only suggestions, and like all suggestions, can be ignored. A syllabus reflects not only the course content but also the instructor. Have fun! Choose fonts, images, and palettes that reflect your personality. Don’t feel you need a perfect syllabus. Like our courses, syllabi have imperfections, despite our best efforts. But, like our courses, a syllabus should get better with each iteration; some parts we like and keep in future versions, others we discard or change.

Learning from Snoop Dogg: Collaboration, Prioritization, and Preparation

After the last time convincing educators about Jay-Z’s credentials as a muse for their teaching, another rapper might be more fitting for this type of exercise: Calvin “Snoop Doggy Dogg” Broadus. Snoop Doggy Dogg a.k.a. Snoop Dogg a.k.a. Snoop has been a muse, and teachers should look beyond the Cadillacs, weed proliferation, and three-quarter naked women and see the honesty, integrity, and intelligence Mr. Broadus brings to the rap game.

In the song, Snoop Dogg proliferates the idea of collaboration against all odds. Because of how hard it is for a G to do his thing, Snoop Dogg asks for his team’s help to relieve stress and have fun with his homies. In the same way, teachers should develop professional learning networks to collaborate on what’s best for student learning.

In this Neptunes-produced song, Mr. Broadus implores us to consider the situations we consistently encounter and make the most effective choices given the situation. With lyrics like “When the pigs try to get at you, park it like it’s hot,” he understands that his reputation as a thug might find him the opposite of peace, and he prioritizes his well-being over getting in trouble. In the same way, teachers can learn to prioritize the important parts of their teaching. In an era where we’re asked to be superhuman, sometimes it’s more important to choose our battles wisely. Some arguments with students won’t work. Some topics in your curriculum might not go smoothly. And that’s OK.

In this song, Snoop confides in us the travails of someone who has captured entire audiences with his rhythmic tones and aggressive movements. Every so often, this lifestyle leads to him having to accelerate situations he doesn’t normally encounter. He has to be prepared for any and all situations, especially with those around him who erroneously consider him soft and defenseless. Teachers can learn lots about this when it comes to their students. In their lesson planning, they should consider some of the common errors students come with, whether assessed in their diagnostic tests or not. Sometimes, students come in with deficiencies that we can’t prepare for. As long as we consider alternatives and have an arsenal of solutions in your belt in case students want to pop off.

Though this is technically Dr. Dre’s album, Snoop Dogg ghostwrote a majority of Dr. Dre’s lyrics here, putting his touches on the verses we’ve uttered for decades. In the intro to the legendary album, named “The Chronic,” Dr. Dre and Snoop set the stage for a defining album of its era. They also list the set of issues and concerns they will expound upon during the album. They also dedicate the album to friends-turned-foes in a flippant manner. This relates to educators because we often have our own set of haters. Socially, the list of ed-reformers that don’t have love for educators is plentiful. If anything, one thing we can pick up from Snoop’s entire career is the confidence and ease he takes his profession. While he obviously works hard (dozens of hit records to his name), he also has a belief in himself only paralleled by his earthier habits.

Flexibility and Student Support

Instructors should provide flexibility in scheduling to allow students to deal with other courses and with life issues. Trust students to make good decisions and encourage them not to procrastinate. Encourage students to communicate any issues that might disrupt their schedule, such as illness, family emergencies, or other unforeseen circumstances.

Instructors are there to help students succeed. They care about their students and understand how hard college can be. Students in community colleges often have struggles that amaze them how they’re able to do it. If there is anything that is getting in a student's way - food insecurity, family/illness/work issues, disability issues - encourage them to talk to you. While you can’t promise to fix everything, if it’s a course-related problem, you will make it work.

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