General Strategies:

• Clearly link the assignment to the course goals and learning objectives.
• Design assignments around real-world issues and events to engage and motivate students.
• Aim the assignment just slightly above students' current expertise.
• Break large, high-stakes assignments into multiple, lower-stake assignments. For example before the final project is due students might have already turned in and received feedback on a short summary of the issue, a list of library resources, or a first-person interview with an expert.
• Identify resources required for the assignment and make them readily available. For example, link directly to assignment readings through the library - unless one of the course learning goals is library research expertise!
• Be clear about assessment: Provide grading guidelines for the assignment in the form of rubrics or examples of acceptable and unacceptable work.
• Provide supporting structures - templates, peer review, examples, multiple drafts, guidelines for library research, etc.. Remove these supports slowly as students achieve greater levels of competency and expertise.
• Provide prompt and clear feedback.
• Include plagiarism, re-write and overdue policies in the syllabus.
• Revise assignments for next term based on student performance and feedback. Is the assignment successful at developing student expertise as identified in the course learning goals?

Strategies and resources-- specific types of assignments

• Library research
• Critical thinking
• Internships
• Community service
• Writing-intensive assignments

   In addition to the specific resources above, contact:

Center for Writing

Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment

1. Resources on drafting learning outcomes and course goals
2. Resources on designing assignments that promote critical thinking

Instructional Design and Development (IDD)

• Assignments for online and hybrid learning environments

Academic Integrity

• Faculty resources