Taking or Not Taking a Class: Students ’ Perceived Physiognomies Associated with Syllabi

Abstract

This paper has tried to reconcile and synthesize the existing literature on course syllabi and create an interconnected and cohesive conceptual framework capable of bringing together the findings of previous conceptualization. The spin-off objectives involved conducting a survey to establish the students ’ overall perceptions regarding the course syllabi in general and the most recent syllabi they have been exposed to in particular. More importantly, we wanted to find out if the students ’ current perceptions were significantly different from an ideal syllabus perception and whether students ’ gender, ethnicity, academic standing, option, time of class, and class structure (i.e., regular vs. totally online) influenced students ’ perception of a syllabus. This study identified four factors contributing to an ideal syllabus. This study extended the previous research on syllabi because no other study has focused on syllabus format and its visual presentation. The findings suggest that alternative strategies should be used to communicate syllabus information