Course Syllabus Audit: Outcomes, Workload and Assessment Balance

Check a syllabus for coherence and a realistic workload.

Added October 15, 2026. Written with AI assistance and checked for clarity and placeholders; not reviewed by a lawyer, accountant, clinician or other professional. How these prompts are made

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Audit a course syllabus. The syllabus text with learning outcomes, weekly topics, assessments, weighting and readings: [SYLLABUS]. Credit hours or expected study time: [STUDY_TIME].

Map each outcome to the weeks and assessments that address it. Make a table with Outcome, Taught in weeks, Assessed by, and Gap. Check that weightings add to 100, that deadlines do not cluster, that the reading load per week is plausible (estimate pages per hour assumptions I can change), and that policies (late work, absence, accessibility) are clear. Calculate total expected study hours from reading, classes and assignments with the arithmetic and compare with the credit expectation. Suggest changes.

Mark institutional requirements [VERIFY].

Add a worked weighting and workload check: assessments 30 + 30 + 40 = 100; assignments due in weeks 6, 7 and 7 cluster, so move one; weekly reading of 120 pages at 12 pages an hour is 10 hours for a 3-credit course expecting about 9 hours total including classes. Suggest which outcomes are assessed only once and need a second opportunity.

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Outcome | Taught in weeks | Assessed by | Gap
O1 explain concepts | 1 to 6 | essay | none
O2 apply methods | 7 to 10 | exam only | assessed once
O3 communicate findings | 11 to 12 | none | not assessed
Weights: 30 + 30 + 40 = 100. Deadlines: weeks 6, 7 and 7 cluster. Reading: 120 pages a week at 12 pages an hour = 10 hours against about 9 total expected for a 3-credit course.

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