The purpose of this paper is to analyze and reflect upon the residential assistant (RA)

formational courses across five different institutions of higher education. In doing so, themes
and trends found in syllabi structure will be articulated and connections to literature will be
made. Finally, the guiding search criterias for syllabi was that the course lasted a full semester,
focused on undergraduate populations, and require students to be in the classroom. This provided
consistency for analysis.
Syllabi Description and Integration with the Literature
As previously mentioned, all syllabi selected were used for "RA class". The overarching
purpose of these courses was to provide RA's with continual development and training
throughout the year. In addition to describing the overall structure of the syllabi, this section will
also examine the degree to which these courses follow an integrated course design. This idea was
introduced by Fink (2013) and focused on how instructors made a connection between the
learning goals, teaching and learning activities, and feedback and assessment practices of their
courses. In other words, these three components must all reflect and support one another (p.
71). As a note, although learning goals and assessment practices are mentioned in the different
syllabi, the specific learning practices and activities were generally not described.
College Student Affairs (CSA) 397A, is The Pennsylvania State Universitys formational
RA course. The syllabi begins by listing the course instructors and their contact information and
moves on to describing the best way to reach them. Afterwards, it outlines the course description
- especially focusing on the importance of this course. These features are consistent across the
five syllabi. The four learning outcomes associated with this course are also articulated: as a

result of this course, students will " understand and be able to articulate the philosophy of
residence life and the roles and responsibilities of the resident assistant position; gain an
increased awareness of diversity and social justice and be able to identify ways that diversity
impacts interpersonal relationships and residence hall communities; develop skills to address
community standards, respond to crisis situations, and mediate conflict within the residence hall
community; and, finally, be able to recognize elements of healthy, positive residence hall
environments by utilizing community development, communication, and programming skills"
(College Student Affairs, 2012). This syllabus stands out in the depth to which it describes the
overarching structure of the course. There are clear units that students will be moving through
when taking this course. Furthermore, it outlines what content will be covered as well as some
specific learning activities that will be used during class periods. Finally, the syllabi focuses on
the logistics of the course including grading, attendance, examination, and academic integrity
policies.
There is consistent integration throughout the course. The third learning outcome focuses
on developing the skills to address community standards, respond to crisis situations, and
mediate conflict (College Student Affairs, 2012). There is a specific unit focused on building
these skills. The first day of this unit focuses on developing foundational knowledge about
identifying students in distress. The unit then moves onto introducing communication skills for
working with distressed students. Finally, this unit ends with a role playing exercise - where it is
inferred that students have the opportunity to actually practice the skills they have learned. Based
just on the learning activities, the curriculum moves students from simply holding onto
foundational knowledge to actually applying that knowledge to practical situations. The only
formal assessment used in this unit is a short quiz during the first portion of the unity. However,

the successful completion of the role playing portion of this unit also serves as an example of
forward looking assessment (Fink, 2013).
Human Development and Psychology Counseling (HPC) 3400 is Appalachian State
Universitys formative RA course. In comparison to CSA 397A, this syllabus then puts a large
focus on the course description explicitly stating why students should care about this course.
Furthermore, this syllabus generally describes that specific assignments that students will be
completing information that was missing from the CSA 397A syllabi. Finally, the syllabus
includes a chart that breaks down what topics will be covered and when assignments are due.
There were no learning outcomes articulated for this course - suggesting a list of topics approach
(Fink, 2013). Additionally, the chart that outlines the course assignments of topic is simply that a list of consecutive topics with a few assignments periodically used to assess student learning.
Although these assessments require students to articulate their learning through reflective papers,
they are loosely connected to the topics being taught.
The course syllabus for ED 492, Black Hills State University's formative RA course,
follows a similar structure as was seen in both CSA 397A and HPC 3400 in presenting logistical
information. Course objectives were identified; as result of taking this class students will be able
to "develop the skills and practices essential to the resident assistant positions; increase their
critical thinking abilities as well as problem solving abilities; and, acquire skills in working with
others as a member of a team" (Course Syllabus, 2012). Similarly to CSA 397A, these course
objectives are geared toward increasing the foundational knowledge of students. However, there
is a lack of goals that address other forms of significant learning. This syllabi also includes a

section that details the instructors pedagogical approaches and includes the rubric for all
assignments a piece that was missing from the previous two syllabi.
Similarly to the syllabi for CSA 397A, there is a specific link between objective
outcomes and the learning activities and assessments. This is especially seen in the integration of
the second course objective in which students should increase their critical thinking abilities as a
result of this course (Course Syllabus, 2012). For each reading, students are required to complete
a read and reflect assignment. This assignment is an example of Fink's (2013) active learning.
Through this assignment, "students reflect on what one is learning and how one is learning"
(p. 116). Students reflections are evaluated based on the "critical thought used in assigned work"
(Course Syllabus, 2012). The act of reflecting on the reading, with a consistent critical lens,
connects the second course objective to the learning and evaluation that is happening in this
course. Overall, the syllabus does an excellent job of connecting various course objectives to the
learning and evaluation happening within the classroom. However, the biggest critique of this
syllabus is the lack of a clear structure in how the different course content units are organized.
Structurally, the syllabi for EDG 310, University of Hartford's formative RA course, is
very similar to ED 492. However, the learning objectives of this course stand out in comparison
to the ones previously described. As a result of taking this class, students will be able to "
identify student development theories and leadership practices; assess current trends and
pertinent issues that student leaders encounter; participate in a service learning based activity and
asses their experiences on a global and personal perspective; and, analyze what it means to be a
student leader" (EDG 310, 2014). These learning outcomes focus on establishing foundational
knowledge and requires students to apply this knowledge. Furthermore, this course incorporates

a service learning experience that will require them to " integrate this service with meaningful
instruction and reflection" (EDG 310, 2014). Fink (2013) articulated that the more kinds of
significant learning experiences that is incorporated into the goals of a course, the more likely
each kind of learning will happen. Furthermore, the degree to integration is similar to that of ED
492. The outcomes for this course largely focus on applying personal experiences and
knowledge. This course assigns a direct observation experience, in the form of attending a
leadership conference, to build the foundational knowledge. Then this knowledge is applied
during a direct doing experience where students participate in experiential learning activity
(Fink, 2013, p. 120). While there is a strong connection between the learning outcomes and
activities in this course, it struggles to connect the assessment strategies to the learning
outcomes.
The final syllabi chosen belongs to University of Northern Colorado's HESA 260.
Overall, the structure of this syllabus is very consistent with what has been previously described.
However, this syllabus fails to incorporate an overall outline of what topics will be covered
making it difficult to ascertain whether or not there is an overall structure to the course. As result
of taking this course, students will be able to " articulate their understanding of the role of the
RA; examine their identities and how they relate to their RA role; demonstrate a basic
understanding of student development theory and its practice; identify their own strengths and
weaknesses in the RA role and develop plans to improve; and, write learning outcomes for
themselves and programs" (HESA 260, 2013). Unlike other learning and course objectives
already described, these have a strong focus on the human dimension of learning. In other words,
students are being required to examine themselves and how their experiences impact their
growth within the RA position. It is difficult to classify this course as fully integrated. There are

clear connections between course assignments and learning outcomes - for example, the final
project requires students to " select a creative medium for demonstrating their understanding
of the RA role and reflection on their growth throughout the semester" (HESA 260, 2013) which
correlates with the first learning outcome. However, since there is little information that speaks
to the learning activities being used in the classroom, Fink (2013) would classify this course
under the list of activities (p. 68) approach: the instructors have crafted a series of assignments
that address the learning outcomes set for this course.
Synthesis
Based on the five syllabi that have been described, there are clear components that are
necessary to incorporated - including information about policies and logistical information about
instructors and the course. After analyzing the five syllabi, the following are the most important
and helpful features of a syllabus that should be included: learning/ course objectives;
pedagogical approach; a description of assignments including the rubric; and, a detailed outline
of what will be happening during each session of the class. The learning outcomes provide an
opportunity for students to understand what they should be getting out of the course. Following
an integrated course design, there should be a clear connection between the pedagogical
approaches and projects assigned to students. This flows logically into introducing the different
type of teaching methodologies that will be used to create integrated learning experiences. This is
present in ED 492: "this course includes a combination of class discussion, reflective thinking
and writing, small group meetings and dialogue, public speaking, and group presentation"
(Course Syllabus, 2012). Although brief, it alludes to the different learning activities that
students may be experiencing throughout the class. Next, a key element in syllabus construction

is including information about the assignments that students will complete. Along this
dimension, incorporating the rubric information provides students with an understanding of
what the teacher wants and to help the teacher generate more meaningful feedback and
assessment (p. 99). Finally, all syllabi - to some extent - had an outline of what would be
happening during each class period. While most syllabi used this opportunity to let students
know when assignments are due, other syllabi used this outline to fully describe what would be
happening during these course periods. If done intentionally, this outline can provide students
with a mental governing structure that they will be able to plug into the various course units into.
Overall, the largest variation throughout the syllabi was the extent to which an
overarching structure to the course was elaborated. For example, the different course content
areas in CSA 397A can easily be organized into units that build upon one another. Students in
this course are first tasked with reflective work and then move onto the classical view of their
roles. The curriculum then focuses on the interpersonal relationship building portion of the RA
position and subsequently moves onto describing how to create positive communities overall.
Finally, the curriculum looks at factors that influence community building such as intercultural
sensitivity. In this example, the course content logically builds off itself in an organized fashion.
This structure is conveyed within the syllabus. Other syllabi examined lacked this sense of a
logical progression. This fact reiterates why building an integrated course design can be so
difficult. In addition to making sure that the learning outcomes, activities, and assessment are
linked - instructors also need to incorporate some logical structure onto their course. It seems that
a challenge for curriculum development is balancing overarching structure with integration. HPC
3400 is an example of a syllabi that has solid structure, but sacrifices integration. On the other
hand, ED 492 both do an excellent job of demonstrating the integration amongst the different

course parts. However, both fail to provide on overarching or guiding structure to the course.
There needs to be a balance between these two pieces.

References
College Student Affairs (CSA) 397A. (2012). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/reslife/pdf/CSA397_syllabus.pdf
Course Syllabus ED 492. (2012). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://www.bhsu.edu/Portals/0/studentLife/residencelife/Syllabus_SP2012 _ED492.pdf
EDG 310: Residential Education and the College Student. (2014). Retrieved January 25, 2015,
from https://www.hartford.edu/res_life/files/pdf/ra_edg.pdf
Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
developing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
HESA 260: Introduction to Residence LIfe. (2013). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://aimho.org/committees/research/resources#ra
HPC 3400 Resident Assistant Development. (2007). Retrieved January 25, 2015, from
http://syllabi.appstate.edu/syllabi/resident-assistant-development-17