Human Centered Syllabus Design: Positioning Our Students As Expert End-Users

This study examines how the layout of syllabi in first-year writing courses can aid or obscure content that is key to student success. Understanding the function of a syllabus as a charter document in a genre ecology helps to underscore the importance of the syllabus as a regulatory document that can have a significant impact for students. This study makes the case for considering students as expert end-users that have valuable knowledge useful to composition programs interested in redesigning first-year writing course syllabi using a human-centered design approach.