%0 Journal Article
%T Project Syllabus: An Exploratory Study of Learner
%A Aaron S. Richmond
%A Anna Grace Cooper
%A Jeanne M. Slattery
%A Nathanael G. Mitchell
%A Robin K. Morgan
%J Teaching of Psychology
%@ 1532-8023
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0098628318816129
%X Recent research suggests that designing a syllabus using learner-centered principles may increase students¡¯ perceptions of their instructor on the characteristics of rapport, caring, helpfulness, willingness to seek help from the instructor, and student motivation. Typically, a learner-centered syllabus is one that presents a positive tone at the point of a student¡¯s first contact with a course and describes collaborative opportunities, repeated opportunities for formative assessment, and a sense of ownership of the learning experience. In the present study, we assessed the learner-centeredness of 109 syllabi sampled from Project Syllabus. Analyses revealed these syllabi to be disproportionately learner-centered on almost all of the factors assessed. In addition, there were moderate to strong associations among learner-centered factors, syllabus length, and use of images in syllabi. Finally, results indicate that syllabi from Project Syllabus have become increasingly more learner-centered over a 19-year period. Implications for a model of learner-centeredness are discussed, including how learner-centered syllabi impact a student¡¯s perceptions of teacher effectiveness and strategies for assessing learner-centeredness
%K learner-centered
%K syllabus design
%K scholarship of teaching and learning
%K syllabus assessment
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0098628318816129