A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses''
or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the
curriculum. A syllabus may be set out by an
examination board or prepared by the tutor or instructor who teaches or controls the course. The word is also used more generally for an abstract or programme of knowledge and is best known in this sense as referring to two
catalogues of doctrinal positions condemned by the
Catholic Church in 1864 and 1907.
Etymology
According to the
Oxford English Dictionary, the word ''syllabus'' derives from
modern Latin 'list', in turn from a misreading of the Greek (the leather parchment label that gave the title and contents of a document), which first occurred in a 15th-century print of
Cicero's letters to Atticus.
Earlier Latin dictionaries such as
Lewis and Short contain the word , relating it to the non-existent Greek word , which appears to be a mistaken reading of 'syllable'; the newer
Oxford Latin Dictionary
The ''Oxford Latin Dictionary'' (or ''OLD'') is the standard English lexicon of Classical Latin, compiled from sources written before AD 200. Begun in 1933, it was published in fascicles between 1968 and 1982; a lightly revised second edition ...
does not contain this word.
The apparent change from to is explained as a
hypercorrection
In sociolinguistics, hypercorrection is non-standard use of language that results from the over-application of a perceived rule of language-usage prescription. A speaker or writer who produces a hypercorrection generally believes through a mi ...
by analogy to ( 'bring together, gather').
agrees that it derives from the Greek for a book label, but claims that the original Greek was a feminine noun, , , borrowed by Latin, the misreading coming from an accusative plural Latin .
['' Chambers Dictionary'', 1998, p. 1674.]
Modern research
In a 2002 study, Parks and Harris suggest "a syllabus can serve students as a model of professional thinking and writing".
They also believe effective
learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...
requires a complex interaction of skills, such as time management,
prioritization of tasks,
technology use, etc., and that a syllabus can promote the development of these skills.
In 2005, Slattery & Carlson describe the syllabus as a "contract between
faculty
Faculty may refer to:
* Faculty (academic staff), the academic staff of a university (North American usage)
* Faculty (division), a division within a university (usage outside of the United States)
* Faculty (instrument)
A faculty is a legal in ...
members and their
student
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
s, designed to answer student's questions about a course, as well as inform them about what will happen should they fail to meet course expectations". They promote using action
verbs (identify, analyze, evaluate) as opposed to passive verbs (learn, recognize, understand) when creating course goals
Habanek stresses the importance of the syllabus as a "vehicle for expressing accountability and commitment."
See also
*
Bibliography
Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...
*
Guide to information sources
*
Lesson plan
* ''
Syllabus of Errors''
* ''
Lamentabili sane exitu''
References
{{Reflist, 2
Curricula
Educational materials