Quiz: Syllabus Essentials

Asking students to 'read the syllabus' and assuming they understand all crucial information about your course is a sure way to create a lot of problems for yourself later. Creating a syllabus quiz allows you to focus students on the key information students must know in order to get off to a successful start in the course.

The quiz can also be a 'test' to familiarize students with the process of taking and submitting quizzes. Here are some guidelines for setting up a syllabus quiz:

• 10-20 questions is enough
• Use a range of question types (e.g. multiple choice, short answer), but don't overdo it, either. 2-3 different question types is enough for now.
• Focus on crucial 'need to know' information over 'nice to know' information
• Allow students multiple attempts and only give 5-10 pts