Ending the Syllabus Struggle: Three Creative Hacks to Get Students to Actually Read it!

The age-old gripe about how “students never read the syllabus” has transcended generations and left most educators scratching their heads. Why doesn’t Kevin or Maria just sit down and read this very monotonous, 10-page legal-looking document?

Listen—do you read Apple’s terms and conditions every time you update your iPhone? Let’s be real: most of us scroll straight to the “I agree” button without a second thought. Only to discover that we have no clue where our favorite features are located or how much of our personal data companies can now access. Well, that’s how most of our students operate, too—they don’t want to be bothered with the fine print… until they do.

Here are three simple ways that I’ve had luck getting students to read and understand my classroom policies:

An Open Internet Syllabus Quiz

I design a low-stakes, open-internet quiz that asks key questions about the syllabus. Students can use the syllabus while taking the quiz, so there’s no pressure to memorize it. The goal is to have them actively engage with the document and find the answers themselves.

I focus on critical policies they’ll need throughout the course, like grading, late submission rules, and how to contact me. This strategy gets students familiar with the document from day one, and because it’s open internet, they’re encouraged to actually read and navigate the syllabus instead of skimming it.

A Visually Creative Syllabus

Let’s face it: long blocks of text are overwhelming. So I’ve taken my syllabus from legal-looking and boring to visually engaging. I break up the text with icons, color-coded headings, and a few well-placed images. I use bold words to make certain points stand out, bullet points, and fun fonts to make the document more approachable and easier to navigate.

This is especially effective in online courses, where students are used to visual content. I make sure to emphasize key areas (like assignment deadlines or participation policies) so they stand out visually. Students are far more likely to engage with something that doesn’t look like a legal contract!

Breaking My Syllabus Into Clickable Canvas Pages

Most professors I know have syllabi that are several pages long. Most of the students I know have the attention span of a goldfish when it comes to scrolling through lengthy documents.

I take the PDF version of my syllabus and break it up by page. I create separate clickable links on Canvas that have clear labels for all of the different policies included on that particular portion of the syllabus. ?Instead of having students scroll through my 6-page infographic, I divide the syllabus into short, digestible chunks. If they have a question, they can scan the sections on Canvas, select the link with the correct label and VOILA, no scrolling and it minimizes both their frustration and mine.

A Game-Changer!

Simply implementing these three easy classroom hacks has reduced the amount of emails asking about my policies by half (that is not an exaggeration as I have been keeping track over the years). Students will thank you and you'll be thanking yourself.

If you want to get started building your first visually engaging syllabus, here is a video that walks you through the basics of Canva, a free graphic design website.

Ashley Berry is the CEO and Founder of The Higher Ed. Institute, an educational consulting firm that specializes in collaborating with faculty on best pedagogical and andragogical classroom practices.

If you are interested in learning more about best practices for syllabus design or other equitable strategies, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].