Your syllabus can be an important point of interaction between you and your students, both in and out of class. The traditional syllabus is primarily a source of information for your students. While including basic information, the learning-centered syllabus can be an important learning tool that will reinforce the intentions, roles, attitudes, and strategies that you will use to promote active, purposeful, effective learning. Problems, questions, or issues are the point of entry into the subject and a source of motivation for sustained inquiry. Successful courses balance the challenge to think critically with support tailored to students' developmental needs.
Courses are assignment centered rather than text and lecture centered.
Goals, methods and evaluation emphasize using content rather than simply acquiring it. Students are required to formulate their ideas in writing or other appropriate means. Students collaborate to learn and to stretch their thinking, for example, in pair problem solving and small group work. Courses that teach problem-solving skills nurture students metacognitive abilities. The developmental needs of students are acknowledged and used as information in the design of the course.