Your syllabus does more than outline your course. It sets the tone for how students will experience it. You can use it to motivate students, build confidence, and create a sense of purpose from the start. Use the three tips below to encourage a growth mindset and begin the term on a positive note by adopting a warm tone, using a clear structure, and making your syllabus accessible.

Tip 1: Use a warm tone

The way you communicate information in your syllabus has the potential to set the tone for the entire term. A study by Richard J. Harnish and K. Robert Bridges shows that using a warm tone, which is positive and friendly, can impact student self-efficacy and retention even before the course begins, shaping how students view you and your course. This is especially true for at-risk and first-generation learners. 

Below are examples comparing warm and cold tones from the Harnish et al. 2011 study, with emphasis added. Notice that using a warm tone does not mean you need to loosen your rules or lower your expectations.

People interpret tone, whether intended or not. When we are not intentional about using a warm tone, students could inadvertently interpret it as cold. The following are few quick steps you can take to ensure you are using a warm tone: 

• Use everyday language and address students as “you” instead of “students” 
• Visualize your students as engaged, successful learners; how we visualize our audience can impact our word choices, which affect our tone 
• Include humor and/or enthusiasm 
• Read your syllabus out loud – better yet, ask someone else to read it out loud to you, and revise and repeat as needed.  

Tip 2: Adopt a clear structure

Section headers

Using clear sections to organize similar content makes your syllabus easier to navigate, which can encourage students to keep reading. You can take two approaches:

• Succinct headers help clarify what type of information students will find in each section.  
  • Examples: “Course Information” or “Grades” 
• Questions as headers can better connect students to how the information impacts them.  
  • Examples: instead of “Course Information,” you could use “What is the purpose of this course?” Instead of “Grades,” you might use “What are my deliverables and what dates are most important?” 

Declutter

After you revise your syllabus with your new headers, read through the content and decide if each piece of information belongs in the syllabus or if it would better serve students in another part of the course. This helps declutter your syllabus, highlights key areas of the course, and reinforces the structure students will use as they move through the content. 

Keep in mind that students are not the only audience for your syllabus. Program and department leadership also use syllabi for planning and accreditation. Be sure to retain any information needed for those purposes.

Tip 3: Make your syllabus accessible

Finally, make sure all students can access the information in your syllabus. Many students use screen readers to access or better understand written material. Others rely on clear contrast and color to read content effectively.  

Use the following tips to ensure all students have quick and reliable access to your syllabus content. The linked resources provide more information and how to apply it in your course.

• Use the built-in heading styles to format headers 
• Use web-friendly colors 
• Add alternative text (aka, alt text) to convey content provided through images or illustrations (e.g., graphs); if the image is purely decorative, mark the alt text as “decorative” 
• Use meaningful text as hyperlinks instead of the URL or vague messaging, such as “click here” 

Tip: Let the tool or software do the heavy lifting for you! Microsoft Office products have built-in formatting and web-friendly color palettes. They also include an Accessibility Checker, which can help you quickly identify any area of your document that is inaccessible for students with alternate abilities.