Syllabus
{{Short description|Outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training course}}
{{Other uses|Syllabus (disambiguation)}}
A syllabus ({{IPAc-en|'|s|ɪ|l|ə|b|ə|s}}; {{Plural form}}: syllabuses{{OED|syllabus}} or syllabiMerriam-Webster Dictionary
The word is also used more generally for an abstract or programme of knowledge, and is best known in this sense as referring to two catalogues published by the Catholic Church in 1864 and 1907 condemning certain doctrinal positions.Chambers Dictionary, 1998, p. 1674.
Etymology
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word syllabus derives from modern Latin {{Lang|la|syllabus}} 'list', in turn from a misreading of the Greek {{Lang|grc|σίττυβος}} {{Lang|grc-latn|sittybos}} (the leather parchment label that gave the title and contents of a document), which first occurred in a 15th-century print of Cicero's letters to Atticus.{{cite web|title=Online Etymology Dictionary - Syllabus|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=syllabus|access-date=22 August 2012}} Earlier Latin dictionaries such as Lewis and Short contain the word {{Lang|la|syllabus}},{{L&S|syllabus|ref}} relating it to the non-existent Greek word {{Lang|grc|σύλλαβος}}, which appears to be a mistaken reading of {{Lang|grc-latn|syllaba}} 'syllable'; the newer Oxford Latin Dictionary does not contain this word.{{cite web|title=The Curious and Quibbling History of "Syllabus" (part 2)|url=http://epectasis.blogspot.com/2010/07/curious-and-quibbling-history-of_23.html|work=Epekteinomene|date=23 July 2010 |access-date=5 May 2014}}{{self-published source inline|date=September 2018}} The apparent change from {{Lang|grc-latn|sitty-}} to {{Lang|grc-latn|sylla-}} is explained as a hypercorrection by analogy to {{Lang|grc|συλλαμβάνω}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|syllambano}} 'bring together, gather').
Chambers Dictionary agrees that it derives from the Greek for a book label, but claims that the original Greek was a feminine noun, {{Lang|grc-latn|sittybā}}, {{Lang|grc|σίττυβα}}, borrowed by Latin, the misreading coming from an accusative plural Latin {{Lang|la|sittybas}}.Chambers Dictionary, 1998, p. 1674.
Modern research
In a 2002 study, Parks and Harris suggest "a syllabus can serve students as a model of professional thinking and writing".{{cite journal
| doi = 10.1080/87567550209595875
| last1 = Parks
| first1 = J.
| last2 = Harris
| first2 = M.B.
| title = The purpose of a syllabus.
| journal = College Teaching
| volume = 50
| pages = 55–61
| year = 2002
| issue=2| s2cid = 143065377
}}
In 2005, Slattery & Carlson describe the syllabus as a "contract between faculty members and their students, designed to answer student's questions about a course, as well as inform them about what will happen should they fail to meet course expectations". They promote using action verbs (identify, analyze, evaluate) as opposed to passive verbs (learn, recognize, understand) when creating course goals.{{cite journal |last1=Slattery |first1=J.M. |last2=Carlson |first2=J.F. |title=Preparing an effective syllabus: current best practices. |journal=College Teaching |volume=54 |pages=159–164 |year=2005 |issue=4|doi=10.3200/CTCH.53.4.159-164 |s2cid=144466211 }} Habanek stresses the importance of the syllabus as a "vehicle for expressing accountability and commitment."{{cite journal |doi= 10.3200/ctch.53.2.62-64|last=Habanek |first=D.V. |title=An examination of the integrity of the syllabus. |journal=College Teaching |volume=53 |pages=62–64 |year=2005 |issue=2|s2cid=143816313 }}
See also
{{Wiktionary|syllabus}}
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