Assignments
Overview
Designing assignments is a key component of any class. This section provides some resources and strategies for designing and implementing various types of assignments in your course. Here, we'll share resources on planning considerations and several types/examples of assignments you may implement in your upcoming courses.
To enhance this discussion, we will leverage SUNY's OSCQR Rubric, more specifically the "Interaction" section, supplying us with a framework on why meeting these standards is important, as well as how to approach meeting those standards.
For those unable to attend the live session, we have pre-recorded a "mini-lecture" describing the main topics, themes and strategies. You can find the recording under the "Pre-Recorded Review" heading.
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Video Recording
Live sessions are not recorded but please feel free to watch and engage with the material, by watching this 10-15 min. recorded session.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information should I include when developing my next set of assignment(s) and instructions?
Being transparent and detailed is helpful in communicating the importance of not only the assignment details but why completing the type of assignment may help improve student motivation. A great resource that further explains and promotes this sense of transparency is from the "Transparency in Learning & Teaching" (TILT).
To help facilitate this process we have created an Assignment Template, containing areas to consider and prompts that may help facilitate creating transparent and detailed assignments.
- Assignment Template [DOC]
How do I get started in creating rubrics?
This is a great question! There are a lot of helpful resources available which would be a great place to start. Source the the rubric that best matches the type of assignment you are implementing (i.e. case study, video presentation, research paper, etc.) and adapt the criteria and point value, as needed.
We have included a helpful resource from UW-Stout: Wisconsin's Polytechnic University.
- Educational Resources and Rubrics. UW-Stout Online Professional Development Resources. Retrieved [Oct. 17, 2023].
Resources
Pedagogical Approaches, Strategies, and Examples
This list of resources is to help guide you through some of that thinking and possibly spark some new ways of assessing your students, regardless of modality.
- Designing Assignments for Learning. Columbia University Center for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved [Oct. 11, 2023].
- Transparent Assignment Design. University of Vermont Center for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved [Oct. 11, 2023].
- Dougherty. (2012). Assignments matter : making the connections that help students meet standards. ASCD.
- Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT). TILT Higher Ed Examples and Resources.
- Bowen, R. S. (2017). Understanding by Design. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [Oct. 11, 2023].
Blackboard "How-To" Guides
Leveraging the tools available to you is a great way of starting to foster community/discussion. This list of instructional guides from Blackboard Support, is our way of centralizing some of the Blackboard guides, related to discussions.