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Equity Institute

Liquid Syllabus

What is a liquid syllabus and why is it referred to as a humanizing element of online learning?

Liquid Syllabus

“A Liquid Syllabus is a humanizing element that ensures students start a course feeling supported by their instructor. It intentionally provides students with what they need to succeed in week one of a course, including a warm, friendly face. It should be emailed to students the week prior to the start of a course. Rather than a PDF or a page locked inside a learning management system, it is a public, accessible, mobile-friendly website that opens instantly and renders beautifully on a phone.”

Michelle Pacansky-Brock, Liquid Syllabus: A Humanizing Element for Online Courses.

As an instructional practice, the liquid syllabus projects faculty human presence and establishes trust and social reciprocity between the instructor and student before an online course begins. Composed in a mobile-friendly medium with artistic liberation, the liquid syllabus serves a warm and engaging entry point for students enrolled in an online course.

Through its welcoming context, the liquid syllabus can deliver messages that encourage social inclusion, learning partnerships, success advice, and a sense of belonging. For historically minoritized students, as Michelle Pacansky-Brock explains, this format can mitigate “belonging uncertainty, a social-psychological phenomenon that is more likely to undermine the ability of students who are racially, ethnically, or socially marginalized to perform at their full intellectual capacity.” Keep in mind that many of our historically minoritized students feel marginalized in face-to-face classes. Consider how this is accentuated even more by the online learning environment. The liquid syllabus, as an entry point, can begin addressing the barrier of “belonging uncertainty.”

Adding a student survey to your liquid syllabus.

In today’s challenging socioeconomic and political world, it is important for faculty to be flexible, proactive, relational, and intrusive in order to maintain learning environments that are equitable and inclusive. More than ever, it is imperative for faculty to know their students and their needs. One way this can be achieved before the semester begins is by embedding in your liquid syllabus an online student survey. This survey can gather details about students including life challenges, their familiarity with online learning, their accessibility to technology, and their access to student services and programs. The information collected by this survey can help faculty make course adjustments before the semester begins in areas of social-emotional engagement, support system cultivation, and equitable instructional design. In the end, the liquid syllabus serves as multifaceted bridge between faculty and students.

Here are three examples of liquid syllabi:

Additional Resources

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