Course syllabi content inspiration

[adel9216]

hello,

Quick question.

I plan to teach a couse after I pass my comprehensive exam, and I am expected to teach a least one course during the course of my doctoral studies. It is common practice in my field.

I've came across a few syllabi of tenured professors or tenure-track professors, at different universities, who are teaching on themes related to my research expertise. Since my topic has an angle that is quite new, those courses are taught as a special topics course rather than a mandatory/well-established course in almost all the cases I have came across.

My question is: is it common practice to contact those professors by email to inform them that I would like to take some content from their syllabi (assignments, readings, etc.) and that I would cite them in my syllabus as the ones who have designed the original course content.

Or do I just create my syllabus and cite them (*Inspired by the work of so-and-so)?

What's the politics around that? What about if the professor is teaching at a different university than the one I'd be teaching at? And If I have to contact professors, what do I say to them exactly?

Thank you

[Hegemony]

I applaud your scrupulous ethics, but I haven't ever heard of contacting the instructor or even acknowledging the syllabus. In fact I think it would look very peculiar. Presumably you are not borrowing parts of the syllabus wholesale. That wouldn't be appropriate for your own course anyway; you'll want to change it to reflect your interests and aims. So if you want to borrow the idea of a reading from a certain book, say "Smith chapter 2," you'll check out the book and make sure that your assignment reflects the part you want to emphasize. That might be Smith chapter 2, or it might be Smith chapter 3, or half of Smith chapter 2, or whatever.

Generally when I look at other people's syllabi, their choices seem fine for them and their strengths, but the selection is a group of readings I'd have a hard time teaching. So you may find that other people's syllabi give you ideas to springboard off of, or you may borrow one or two from Person A, one or two from Person B, and the idea of weekly quizzes from Person C.

In designing teaching, we're all really just recombining ideas from a hundred different sources. Copying wholesale would put your own teaching at a disadvantage. So, assuming you're not doing that, no need to cite the syllabi from which you've drawn inspiration.

[dismalist]

Echo.

[adel9216]

That's reassuring. And yes, my intent would be to take inspiration from multiple syllabi.

Thanks to both of you for your replies.

[Parasaurolophus]

Echo.

Yup. Feel totally free to take advantage of the work they've already done for you! Nobody minds, it's totally normal, and it's not at all unethical.

[Morden]

If it's a particular assessment or handout that you're taking wholesale, you could acknowledge the source. Some professors have their material available through creative commons licenses.

[adel9216]

thanks everyone for your input!

[writingprof]

As syllabi at most places are now fifteen pages of administratively-mandated boilerplate and half a page of other stuff, I doubt anyone will notice.

[Caracal]

Echo.

Yup. Feel totally free to take advantage of the work they've already done for you! Nobody minds, it's totally normal, and it's not at all unethical.

When I first taught my intro classes, I imported whole lectures, never mind just readings from a friend. Seven years later, the course still has plenty of his stuff scattered through it, but it has gotten all chopped up over the years as I've put things in and taken other stuff out. The other year, he was retooling a lecture and asked if I could send him mine. It wasn't till he pointed it out to me that I remembered that most of the lecture I sent him had been his originally, but I think he ended up using a new section I'd added in on some topic. There's something nice about the way teaching is basically an open source project.

[Aster]

In this particular case, mimicry is flattery.

It is also best practice. Reinventing the wheel is not.

Browse your colleague's syllabi. Ogle and copy what you like. Accumulate a pile of ideas. Then build your own Lego House.

[marshwiggle]

When I first taught my intro classes, I imported whole lectures, never mind just readings from a friend. Seven years later, the course still has plenty of his stuff scattered through it, but it has gotten all chopped up over the years as I've put things in and taken other stuff out. The other year, he was retooling a lecture and asked if I could send him mine. It wasn't till he pointed it out to me that I remembered that most of the lecture I sent him had been his originally, but I think he ended up using a new section I'd added in on some topic. There's something nice about the way teaching is basically an open source project.

On my website, along with my own lecture notes, sometimes I have links to documents on other websites. If someone else created a great resource on "One handed blindfolded basketweaving" that already covers everything I would have and then some, I direct my students to it and tell them up front that it's far better than I would have come up with myself.
A few times over the years, I've been contacted by profs from elsewhere about using some of my online material, which I am happy to be able to provide, and to know others find it useful.

One reason I have avoided delivering material through our CMS is that students need to login to see anything, so nothing is available to the wider community. I'm very much a fan of "open source education" and I'm pleased when others find something I've done useful. (And I'm very thankful for what others have produced that benefits me.)