# Two of my three classes don't have actual physical syllabi **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 4, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970 "2005-09-04T01:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970/21 "2005-09-04T16:42:09Z")
Geez, I can’t get it right in this thread. Assignments as in papers or presentations, not as in reading assignments. I’m fine with those being assigned day to day - in all of my classes this semester, that’s the case. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970/22 "2005-09-04T18:17:27Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Damn, I grimace to think I’m have become a old fogey enough to play the “well, in real life” card. But,… > > any job that is well organized enough to have a rigid schedule 4 months in advance is going to burn your ass out on anal crap in 2 years. Jobs that are interesting make you go with the flow and wing it on uncertain criteria all the time. Get used to working in a clusterfuck and pulling shit out of the air, because unless you are independantly wealthy, uncertanty is the spice of working life. Why in fifteen hells would I compare a class to a job? That’s just stupid. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970/23 "2005-09-04T19:17:21Z")
> [@LaurAnge](#): > > Teachers who do not give detailed (and that means assignments for each class listed, even in a general sense) deserve to be thrown into the depths of hell. I don’t need detailed. But there’s got to be something … even if it gets changed, the general plan the prof/instructor is planning on following. There should be a description of the class and what the teacher expects the student to know already and what the class will cover by the end of the term. There should be a list of books that the student should expect to find useful. There should be a list of major assignments the student is expected to do and major tests the student is expected to take and approximate dates for those. There should be an explanation of the grading policy. And there should be instructor contact information. It doesn’t need to be in paper form. Electronic is fine. But it absolutely should be available to students on the first day of class. Yeah, things change - but… ---
**Author:** ![bitwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@bitwise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bitwise)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970/24 "2005-09-04T22:02:14Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > One of them has a stupid calendar/message board on the web which gets changed regularly. This means I can’t write anything down. The other one doesn’t even have that, it’s just the teacher telling us what to read before the next class. > > Screw saving paper! If I can’t tape it to the wall, how am I supposed to know what to do when? Schedules are the balm for my neurotic little mind!! For some reason, I find this very amusing, probably because I am somewhat of a disorganized person and find the type of personality that needs to have everything planned out in advance to be slightly insane. So why can’t you just print it out, if you really need a hardcopy? Also, teachers may change syllabi in the middle of the semester. They may add some topics and remove some others. You’re just going to have to get used to that. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970/25 "2005-09-04T22:36:54Z")
A few notes: 1. Taking classes is alot like working a job. There is an imbedded contract, in ideal cases embodied in a complete syllabus. In taking a class, you are making an intellectual investment in yourself. The big payoff at the end is intellectual growth and a degree, 2. The idea that an instructor’s base material should be prepared and planned on a daily level is not at all unreasonable, especially in the cases when one is teaching a basic or core class. Moreover, certain courses are taugth over and over again by the same instructor over many semesters, so it is a major benefit to the instructor and the students to have a developed, detailed preparation. 3. Most places do have a boilerplate, official base description of each course, and most places do have policies about having a minimally complete syllabus/course plan in place before classes begin. Enforcement and follow-up, however are frequently lax. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-of-my-three-classes-dont-have-actual-physical-syllabi/319970.md?page=1)