| name | syllabus |
| description | Build or restructure a course syllabus from a topic list or reading list — course description + prerequisites, week-by-week schedule (topic → readings → deliverables), measurable learning objectives, an assessment scheme + rubric, standard policies (late work, AI use, academic integrity, accessibility), and a per-week work-list to hand to `/create-lecture`. Use when user says "build a syllabus", "structure my course", "turn this reading list into a schedule", "draft a course outline", "make a syllabus for Econ 7xx", or "map weeks to lectures". Economics-aware (PhD metrics/micro/macro sequences, undergrad); generic enough for any field. |
| argument-hint | [course title or topic/reading list] [--weeks N] [--level phd|grad|undergrad] [--sessions-per-week N] [--no-policies] |
| allowed-tools | ["Read","Grep","Glob","Write"] |
| effort | medium |
Build a Course Syllabus
Turn a bare topic list or reading list into a teachable syllabus: a course description, a sequenced weekly schedule, measurable objectives, an assessment scheme with a rubric, the boilerplate policies every syllabus needs, and a week→lecture work-list you can feed straight into /create-lecture. The instructor owns the academic judgment; this skill structures it.
When to use
- You have a pile of topics or papers and need them ordered into a term.
- You are converting last year's syllabus to a new length, level, or modality.
- You want the schedule's weeks pre-mapped to lecture decks before you start building slides.
Not for building the slides themselves (/create-lecture), reviewing a deck's pedagogy (/pedagogy-review), or assembling the reading list from scratch (/lit-review).
Phase 0: Intake (elicit before drafting)
A syllabus is shaped almost entirely by three parameters. Resolve them first — from flags, then by asking. Do not start sequencing until all three are pinned.
- Level + audience —
--level (phd / grad / undergrad). For economics, name the sequence (first-year metrics, micro theory, macro, field course, undergrad intermediate). Level sets reading depth, proof-vs-application balance, and assessment type.
- Length + cadence —
--weeks (default 14) and --sessions-per-week (default 2). A reading seminar and a problem-set course at the same length need very different schedules.
- Material — the topic list or reading list (
$ARGUMENTS, a file path, or a .bib). If the user points at a .bib or a folder of PDFs, Glob/Read to inventory it; if topics are bare, ask for 1-2 anchor texts per topic.
Echo a short Intake Report (level, weeks, cadence, N topics / N readings, any gaps) and get confirmation before Phase 1.
Phase 1: Sequence topics into weeks
- Order by dependency, not by the reading list's order. Build a prerequisite chain — foundational tools before the topics that use them (e.g., asymptotics → GMM → applications; consumer theory → GE → welfare). Front-load what later weeks assume.
- Allocate readings to weeks. Distribute material so each week's load is realistic for the level (a PhD field week carries 2-4 papers; an undergrad week, 1 chapter + 1 application). Flag any week that is overloaded or thin.
- Place deliverables on the calendar. Problem sets after the tools they exercise; the midterm at a natural conceptual break; referee report / replication / paper proposal milestones spaced so they don't collide. Mark reading-break and no-class weeks.
- Emit the schedule table (topic → readings → deliverable per week) and get sign-off before writing objectives — re-sequencing is cheap now, expensive later.
Phase 2: Objectives + assessment
- Write measurable learning objectives. One course-level set plus per-unit objectives, each using an observable verb (derive, estimate, replicate, critique, prove) — not "understand" or "be familiar with". Tie each objective to the week(s) that deliver it.
- Design the assessment scheme. Pick instruments that fit the level (problem sets + final for a methods course; referee report + replication + paper for a field/PhD course; exams + project for undergrad). State weights summing to 100%, and check every objective is assessed by something.
- Write one rubric for the highest-stakes deliverable (the paper, project, or referee report) — criteria × levels, with point bands. Keep it short and concrete.
Phase 3: Emit the syllabus + the lecture work-list
- Assemble the syllabus document in the Output format below (skip policies if
--no-policies).
- Generate the per-week
/create-lecture work-list — one row per teaching week mapping it to a deck name, its objective(s), and its anchor reading, so the instructor can hand each row to /create-lecture in order. This is the bridge from syllabus to slides.
Output format
Write to syllabus.md (or a user-specified path):
# [Course title] — [Term, Year]
[Level · meeting cadence · units]
## Course description
[2-4 sentences: what the course is, what students leave able to do.]
## Prerequisites
[Courses / skills assumed. Be specific — "first-year metrics or equivalent".]
## Learning objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- [observable verb] … (Weeks N-M)
## Weekly schedule
| Week | Topic | Readings | Deliverable |
|------|-------|----------|-------------|
| 1 | … | … | — |
## Assessment
| Component | Weight | Maps to objectives |
|-----------|-------:|--------------------|
| … | …% | … |
### Rubric — [highest-stakes deliverable]
| Criterion | Excellent | Adequate | Weak |
|-----------|-----------|----------|------|
## Policies
Late work · AI / LLM use · academic integrity · accessibility / accommodations · attendance.
## Week → lecture work-list (hand to `/create-lecture`)
| Week | Deck name | Objective(s) | Anchor reading |
|------|-----------|--------------|----------------|
End the chat message (not the file) with a gap summary: weeks with no reading, objectives not assessed, deliverable collisions, or topics dropped for lack of time — the instructor decides how to resolve each.
Flags
--weeks — term length in teaching weeks (default 14).--level — phd / grad / undergrad; sets reading depth and assessment type.--sessions-per-week — meetings per week (default 2); affects per-week load.--no-policies — omit the boilerplate Policies section (use when an institutional template supplies it).
Exit behavior
- Phase 0 halts until level, length, and material are all resolved — a forked or unattended run never guesses these. If the material is empty, ask for a topic/reading list and stop.
- Each phase gates on user sign-off (schedule before objectives, objectives before policies); re-ordering is offered cheaply at Phase 1.
- The deliverable is the syllabus file plus the work-list; the chat message always carries the gap summary, even when empty (
No gaps — every week has a reading and every objective is assessed.).
- This skill is text-only; it never compiles, renders, or builds slides.
Cross-references
What this skill does NOT do
- Does not write slide content or scaffold
.tex/.qmd decks — that is /create-lecture.
- Does not search for or vet readings — pair with
/lit-review.
- Does not grade, generate problem sets, or build answer keys.
- Does not assert institutional policy as binding — the Policies section is editable boilerplate the instructor must reconcile with their department's rules.
- Does not invent citations; every reading in the schedule comes from the material the user supplied.
