Simple Syllabus: Student Engagement and Acknowledgement

Published on Friday, January 24, 2025

By: Elizabeth Jacobs

Simple Syllabus (Simple) is a valuable tool for both educators and students, designed to streamline the distribution of important course information and track students' engagement with the syllabus. It plays a crucial role in ensuring that the School of Medicine meets the accreditation standards by providing required information to students and recording that delivery. Simple Syllabus also monitors and records students' engagement with the syllabus content and their acknowledgment of the information provided.

For educators, one of the key goals is to make essential course information easily accessible to students. With courses using the Canvas platform, the integration between Canvas and Simple Syllabus allows students to access the syllabus directly from their course page. As students engage with the course content, they can easily review the syllabus to ensure they understand the course requirements. This includes important details like institutional policies, school-specific guidelines, grading scales, required textbooks, and attendance expectations. Keeping all this information readily available helps students stay informed and on track throughout the course.

Even for courses not using Canvas, Simple Syllabus offers another layer of accessibility. Students can visit the UMMC Simple Syllabus site at any time to access their course syllabus, ensuring they have the necessary information at their fingertips. Faculty members and course administrators also have access to both the Canvas-integrated version and the standalone site. This allows them to monitor student engagement and complete administrative tasks.

One of the most helpful features for instructors is the student engagement report, which is available for review. This report provides details such as student enrollment, engagement percentage, the most recent access date and time, the number of times the syllabus has been accessed, and whether the student has clicked the acknowledgment button. Faculty can view this data directly within Canvas or export it to Excel for further analysis. The report automatically updates as students access and engage with the syllabus content.

To ensure students acknowledge the syllabus, instructors can direct them to scroll to the end of the document, where they will find an "Acknowledge" button. By clicking this button, students confirm they have read and understood the course materials.