Nera, this is an excellent question. I suspect that it has something to do with the top-heavy nature of American syllabi, which prioritize things that students don't really care that much about, such as college policies or assessment-driven language. However, it might also derive from what I describe in this post, which is a kind of inherent anti-intellectualism in American life. A sort of "make me" attitude toward learning. When I was still teaching full-time, we had many conversations about how to force our students to read the syllabus. Some gave quizzes on it, others asked random questions about it in the early weeks. If you were to Google "It's on the syllabus" and "memes," you'd see that this is a widespread point of frustration among American professors. I tended to assume that my students had not read it, and so I emailed updates about every class, even though the reading assignments and formal writing assignments were clearly listed in the course calendar. Does this answer your question?
Yes! I suspect for better or worse some of that "it's on the syllabus" would be "it's on the webpage" in my student experience (I'm European), so I suppose it's difficult to get anyone to take in all the information wherever you are.
Not your topic, but now I find myself very curious to know why American students aren't reading the syllabus.
Nera, this is an excellent question. I suspect that it has something to do with the top-heavy nature of American syllabi, which prioritize things that students don't really care that much about, such as college policies or assessment-driven language. However, it might also derive from what I describe in this post, which is a kind of inherent anti-intellectualism in American life. A sort of "make me" attitude toward learning. When I was still teaching full-time, we had many conversations about how to force our students to read the syllabus. Some gave quizzes on it, others asked random questions about it in the early weeks. If you were to Google "It's on the syllabus" and "memes," you'd see that this is a widespread point of frustration among American professors. I tended to assume that my students had not read it, and so I emailed updates about every class, even though the reading assignments and formal writing assignments were clearly listed in the course calendar. Does this answer your question?
Yes! I suspect for better or worse some of that "it's on the syllabus" would be "it's on the webpage" in my student experience (I'm European), so I suppose it's difficult to get anyone to take in all the information wherever you are.