The Inclusive Syllabus: A First Step in building a welcoming environment

CHAD 133: Quantitative Methods

Course Description

I redesigned my syllabus for an upper-division 4-unit course required for the major. This is a discussion course with combined lecture, activity, and group application elements with around 40 students in each section.

Before:

The syllabus made some efforts at accessibility, but needed edits on headings (especially tables), spacing, and some language elements.

Motivation for Redesign of your Syllabi

I was looking for ways to improve document accessibility for screen readers, ways to improve my language around flexibility, and a reduction of the syllabus (the last of which was not a goal I was able to meet).

Download my original syllabus as a Word document here.
Original accessibility score was 68%, which is marked as "high"; the Canvas tool reports only issues with tables missing headers.

After:

I revised heading and spacing format throughout and added references to the welcome module on my Canvas page throughout to address concepts from UDL.

Include Evidence of Accessibility or Language Choice Changes

Download my new syllabus as a Word document here.
Current accessibility score is 100%.

Techniques Incorporated Into Redesign

The most helpful techniques came from the first meeting when we covered why specific format changes were more useful for screen reading technology. This helped change some of my resistance to making edits that felt visually "messy" to me. I appreciate that I can now incorporate both the spacing I need to make it readable for me and allow screen readers to read it more easily for students.

Assessment of Syllabus Redesign

My syllabus redesign maintains the requirements from the department and campus, while also adhering to ideas of accessible access for all. These changes mean that I will not have to create separate "accessible" versions in future semesters, but can have all versions be accessible from the start.

Reflection: Challenges and Lessons Learned

The biggest challenges to me involved incorporating the UDL elements from the rubric. I realized that I see the syllabus as a contractual document that outlines policies with a rigid set of rules and a firm hand. I am working on making my actual feelings on flexibility and openness more evident throughout the syllabus while maintaining the policies that remain important to me.

I still feel the syllabus is too long and unwieldy, but I am unsure how to change that when I am required to keep an extensive list of information within the syllabus by policy. I am considering a "highlights" single-page version to hand out while keeping the official document longer. This information is all also available with more welcoming language in my Canvas welcome module in each course, which may help for students who find the formal document too long.

Faculty Biography

Faculty Biography
[I have no picture to use here; thanks!]	Hi, I'm Megan! I'm a lecturer in Child and Adolescent Development and am in my sixth year of teaching at CSUS. I teach a variety of courses within the department, largely focused on contextual factors of development and quantitative research methods. When I'm not on campus, I'm likely either with my first-grader and/or toddler, working on my "to read" pile, or playing Animal Crossing.

Sponsors