Do you read the syllabus?

[bjcheung77]

So, do you bother or not bother to for a course you are taking now or soon?  Many students have missed out on a few pointers or some important information within the required reading, but this instructor had a simple "reward" for any one of their students, the prize was unclaimed!

Link: A professor hid a cash prize on campus. All students had to do was read the syllabus - CNN

[origamishuttle]

This reminds me of the movie Draft Day.

Ralph Mowry : A kid mailed the $100 bill back to them. That kid put it in a card, and he wrote on the card "Save this for when I win you the Super Bowl."
Sonny Weaver Jr. : Nice.
Ralph Mowry : Don't you wanna know who that kid was?
Sonny Weaver Jr. : No!
Ralph Mowry : It was Brian Drew.

[P226mem]

ah yes. The one where the "clue" looked like a copy and paste error in the middle of a sentence. If I had been a student reading that, I would not have realized it was "cash prize" (money is not really mentioned). I certainly would not have tried to open a locker like that. If I weren't the first person, would I then be opening someone else's locker unethically? I wouldn't bother to do it.

and yes, I'm a syllabus reader.

here's my weird but true stories about reading syllabus.
Some instructors have been quite upset when I find the big mistakes. There was the time the syllabus at community college said on one page No midterm. No Final. Then the next paragraph said the midterm and final were worth so many points and percentage and listed dates. so which was it?
Or the dates for everything on a spring course were dates from fall from 4 years prior. or same instructor different class who told us she didn't write that syllabus and couldn't edit it either. Oh, she was the department chair in office technology (word processing course). She got upset when one student asked what her name was since two different instructors were listed. Turns out her mom wrote the original course and it was her mom's name on it. yeah, I read the syllabus. It was drilled into us about RTFS. Read the "Friendly" Syllabus. (well, the other F word)

[origamishuttle]

ah yes. The one where the "clue" looked like a copy and paste error in the middle of a sentence.

This. It was more of an easter egg that was too well hidden than a "Gotcha! Nobody read the syllabus..."

[studyingfortests]

I always read the syllabus. I am one of those nerds who tries to get it a week or two in advance of the class so I have time to read it fully and leisurely before the class starts, in case there's stuff I need to prepare for.

But then, I'm also the nerd that reads instruction manuals and owner's manuals.

[allvia]

When I'm taking a class 'I live by the syllabus'.

[Vle045]

Hahah… yes. the first time I ever had a syllabus was in my High School history class. I was a very motivated student back then. I read the syllabus, then completed ALL of the homework for the quarter inside of a week. When I turned it in, my teacher wasn’t exactly happy about it. I was like, what? I did all of the work you listed. He wasn’t happy because he was expecting us to do it during class. So now I could just sleep, write notes, or do work from other classes during class time.

[ReyMysterioso]

Hahah… yes.   the first time I ever had a syllabus was in my High School history class.  I was a very motivated student back then.  I read the syllabus, then completed ALL of the homework for the quarter inside of a week.  When I turned it in, my teacher wasn’t exactly happy about it.  I was like, what?  I did all of the work you listed.  He wasn’t happy because he was expecting us to do it during class.  So now I could just sleep, write notes, or do work from other classes during class time.

Another testament that the slow pace of traditional education doesn't make sense for a lot of students. Bring on more CBE!

[Vle045]

Hahah… yes.   the first time I ever had a syllabus was in my High School history class.  I was a very motivated student back then.  I read the syllabus, then completed ALL of the homework for the quarter inside of a week.  When I turned it in, my teacher wasn’t exactly happy about it.  I was like, what?  I did all of the work you listed.  He wasn’t happy because he was expecting us to do it during class.  So now I could just sleep, write notes, or do work from other classes during class time.

Another testament that the slow pace of traditional education doesn't make sense for a lot of students. Bring on more CBE!

I’ll bet that teacher made his syllabus more general the next year instead of listing the exact assignments.  

[ss20ts]

I always read the syllabus. Some of them have really good info on what to expect when it comes to the exams. Some have included all of the instructions for research papers in the syllabus and there's not another word about it in the class. That one was weird. Professor's response was always check your syllabus if you had a question about that paper and deadlines. He was a VERY odd duck.