in class assignment meaning

Inclass, In class, or In-class? Untangling the Confusion (With Examples)

Marcus Froland

March 28, 2024

Have you ever found yourself scratching your head, wondering which version of “inclass,” “in class,” or “in-class” is the right one to use? You’re not alone. This seemingly simple choice can trip up even the most seasoned writers. And let’s be honest, English can be a tricky beast. With its rules, exceptions to the rules, and exceptions to the exceptions, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.

Today, we’re tackling this conundrum head-on. But don’t worry, we’re not just throwing grammar rules at you. Instead, we’re going to break it down, piece by piece, making it easy to understand . By the end of this, you’ll know exactly which form to use and when. But here’s the catch – the answer might not be as straightforward as you think.

Many people get confused about how to write phrases involving classroom settings. The correct way to write it depends on its use in a sentence. If you’re using it as an adjective before a noun, you should use “ in-class .” For example, “We have an in-class assignment today.” However, if you’re talking about where something happens, you would say “in class” without the hyphen. For example, “Please don’t talk loudly in class .” The term “ inclass ” is not correct in any context. So remember, the key is whether it’s describing something (use a hyphen) or stating a location (no hyphen).

Exploring the Correct Usage: ‘In class’ or ‘In-Class’?

When you’re sharpening your writing skills or just crafting an email for your classroom peers, the decision to write in class or in-class may have you pausing mid-sentence. This critical juncture in phrase usage not only affects grammatical correctness but also the interpretation of your intended message. Below, we delve into the particulars to ensure your classroom communications are crystal clear.

Understanding the Difference: ‘In class’ as a General Phrase

Think of ‘in class’ as a snapshot capturing your presence within the four walls of a learning environment. It’s straightforward and didn’t need the embellishment of a hyphen. Using ‘in class’ correctly greatly enhances writing clarity , positioning it as the phrase of choice when referring to participation in a classroom setting. Here’s the simple guideline: If it’s not modifying anything, ‘in class’ is your go-to phrase.

The Compound Modifier: When to Use ‘In-class’

On the other hand, should you need to describe activities, discussions, or any noun associated with the learning arena, ‘in-class’ plays a pivotal role. This hyphenated form serves as a compound modifier , an adjective before the noun, offering readers a clear context. For instance, an ‘in-class discussion’ distinctly indicates a conversation happening during classroom time, thanks to our friend, the hyphen.

“Inclass”: Identifying Incorrect Usage

What about ‘inclass’? If your grammar checker flags it, heed the warning. The term ‘inclass’ enters the fray as a common grammar mistake , often the result of an attempt to create a compound adjective that doesn’t exist. To steer clear of this inclass incorrect usage , always remember: ‘in class’ for presence, ‘in-class’ for adjectives, and never ‘inclass’. Keep this in mind, and you’ll navigate the complexities of English grammar with deft assurance.

Embedded within these distinctions lies the secret to mastering in-class hyphenation and avoiding the pitfalls of ambiguity in your educational discourse. So the next time you sit down to type up a report on the day’s classroom presence , remember: a dash can dash confusion, and the space in ‘in class’ allows your grammatical prowess to breathe.

The Role of Hyphenation in ‘In-class’

When you’re focused on honing your writing skills, hyphenation importance should never be underestimated, especially when it involves modifying nouns . Hyphenation in in-class serves as a beacon of clarity, guiding your readers through the intricacies of your sentences. It’s essential to get a firm grasp of in-class grammar rules , to wield hyphens with precision and purpose.

Let’s sink our teeth into what makes hyphenation in phrases like in-class exams or in-class activities a cornerstone of grammatical finesse. When you encounter a scenario where ‘in class’ directly precedes a noun, transforming into in-class , that hyphen isn’t just a tiny dash—it’s a powerful tool that connects words, enhancing their meaning as they team up to modify the noun.

Consider these examples:

• Without Hyphenation: The in class assignment was confusing.
• With Hyphenation: The in-class assignment clarified the concept.

Notice how, in the second example, in-class unambiguously modifies ‘assignment,’ letting us know that the task is meant to be completed during class time. In-class , therefore, isn’t merely about following rules—it’s about communicating effectively and precisely.

There’s a certain rhythm and flow to writing that hyphens contribute to, and the in-class conundrum is no exception. Let’s break it down:

One simple hyphen in in-class can be the difference between a sentence that sings and one that falls flat. Remember, when you modify nouns like ‘discussion,’ ‘presentation,’ or ‘assignment,’ brandishing that hyphen with confidence is key.

By internalizing these grammar commandments and observing them in your daily writing ventures, you’ll elevate your prose from good to great. As a rule of thumb, think of the hyphen as the tiny glue that holds together modifiers and nouns, ensuring your message isn’t lost in a grammar mishap.

Embrace the hyphen—your unsung hero in dispelling ambiguity and championing clear communication.

Capitalization Considerations for ‘In-Class’ in Academic Writing

When it comes to academic writing standards , paying close attention to capitalization rules is a sign of meticulous care and professionalism. In particular, the phrase ‘in-class’ can pose a unique challenge. You might wonder whether the word ‘class’ should ever be capitalized in this compound modifier . Normally, ‘class’ in ‘in-class’ does not begin with a capital letter unless it is part of a title or at the beginning of a sentence. This detail might seem minor, but it is significant in the context of proper title formatting and academic documentation.

Let’s examine the scenarios where capitalization becomes essential:

• Title Case : If ‘in-class’ appears in a title that adheres to a style which capitalizes major words, then it would be styled as ‘In-Class.’
• Sentence Starters : When ‘in-class’ kick-starts a sentence, the first letter should be uppercase as ‘In-class.’

Both examples adhere to standard title formatting and begin a sentence, which are exceptions to regular lowercase usage.

Capitalizing ‘Class’ in Titles and Proper Nouns

When entangled in academic writing standards , you might find ‘in-class’ in the title of a book, a header in an essay, or a slide in a presentation. Here, capitalization becomes more nuanced. Follow the capitalization rule that every word in a title should have the initial letter capitalized, treating hyphenated words as separate entities.

In the table below, let’s compare scenarios where capitalization of ‘class’ is proper against the general lowercase rule:

For everyday use, when ‘in-class’ is neither starting a sentence nor a part of a title or proper noun, you’ll want to stick with the lowercase ‘class’—a small detail that upholds writing precision and clarity.

Recognizing when to capitalize in academic contexts underscores your attention to detail and respect for academic writing standards .

By understanding when to apply uppercase letters, especially for terms like ‘in-class’ that may not always need capitalization, you demonstrate a nuanced grasp of title formatting and the capitalization rules crucial for presenting scholarly work. Refining these skills will serve you not just in academic halls, but also throughout your professional journey.

Using ‘In class’ in Sentences: Real-world Examples

Do you find yourself puzzled over how to convey that you or someone is present in the educational sphere? Let’s improve your grasp of in class usage examples and infuse your writing with proper grammar in context and impeccable sentence construction . Through these real-world scenarios, you’ll understand how ‘in class’ functions as a general phrase, enhancing communication within academic settings.

When invoked correctly, ‘in class’ effortlessly informs the reader of someone’s presence in a classroom, without the need for any grammatical embellishments. Check out these practical instances:

• I’ll catch up with you in class after the seminar, to discuss our project further.
• Keep your questions handy, as we’ll address them during the Q&A session in class.
• The level of engagement in class truly determines the success of the lesson.

Notice how ‘in class’ naturally integrates into these sentences without creating a jarring note or causing any ambiguity? Such usage underscores the importance of context and the convenience of adhering to established norms in sentence formation.

When you effectively incorporate ‘in class’ into your vernacular, you’re not only upholding grammatical standards but also fostering clear understanding amongst your peers.

To underscore the versatility of ‘in class’, consider this table showcasing the contrast between its use in academic and casual contexts:

As showcased here, ‘in class’ offers clarity and accuracy whether you’re delineating a location, arranging a rendezvous, or underscoring the importance of concentration in a learning environment. Remember these examples next time you craft a message or an assignment. Your commitment to proper grammar in context will surely shine through, distinguishing your writing in both academic and informal settings.

Hyphenation Rules According to the AP Stylebook

Grasping the hyphenation rules of the AP Stylebook is essential for producing polished and professional writing. As you aim to master these AP Stylebook hyphenation guidelines, understanding their role in forming compound adjectives like ‘in-class’ is particularly important. It’s not just about the hyphens—it’s about constructing sentences that readers can navigate effortlessly and that reflect writing standards . Adhering to these principles ensures your writing stands on a solid ground of consistency.

Why Adherence to the AP Stylebook Matters for ‘In-Class’

When ‘in class’ morphs into a compound adjective , the AP Stylebook becomes an indispensable ally, wielding its hyphenation rules to maintain clarity. Remember—the role of the hyphen is to link words together to form a descriptive unit that acts as a single idea. This is particularly clear when ‘in class’ becomes ‘in-class’ to modify a noun that follows. Correct usage of ‘in-class’, according to AP Stylebook guidelines, communicates your message without causing confusion. Moreover, it’s a testament to your professionalism and mindful approach to writing.

Let’s dissect a common example to spotlight why these hyphenation rules are not to be overlooked:

• Without hyphenation: Students must complete their assignments in class.
• With hyphenation as a modifier: Students must complete their in-class assignments.

Notice how the second sentence clearly indicates that the assignments are meant to be tackled during class time? A simple hyphen integrates the concept of ‘in class’ as an intrinsic characteristic of the assignments, which is exactly what the AP Stylebook advises for compound adjectives .

In-class hyphenation—governed by AP Stylebook rules—sharpens your writing, serving as a visual cue that enhances your reader’s understanding.

Now, let’s dive into a table that highlights instances where ‘in-class’ should—and shouldn’t—be hyphenated, according to the AP Stylebook’s unwavering standards:

By committing these AP Stylebook recommendations to memory and deploying them in your writing endeavors, you can trust that your text will not only meet professional standards but will also resonate with clarity and precision. While the rules can seem minutely detailed, their significance is far-reaching, ensuring your writing craft remains impeccably sharp.

‘In-Class’ vs. ‘Best in Class’: A Closer Look at Hyphenation

When you’re striving for a best in class comparison in your writing or presentations, understanding the nuances of hyphenated phrases becomes paramount. Let’s examine the proper use of ‘in-class’ and how it correlates with other adjective phrases , such as ‘best in class,’ to ensure precision and professional polish in your documents.

Hyphenated Phrases: Establishing Clarity in Writing

Hyphenated phrases , those small punctuation marks can make a world of difference. As with ‘in-class,’ the hyphen isn’t simply decorative—it’s a beacon ensuring each part of the phrase works together to modify the following noun. Similarly, when you praise a product or service as ‘best in class,’ employing a hyphen before a noun solidifies the relationship between ‘best’ and ‘class,’ turning the phrase into a potent, clear modifier.

Comparing ‘In-Class’ and ‘Best in Class’

Both ‘in-class’ and ‘best in class’ are adjective phrases that require hyphens for clarity. Using these phrases without hyphens may confuse your reader—is ‘best in class’ an incomplete comparison or an unqualified superlative? The hyphen signals the tie between words, reaffirming that you’re communicating something specific and distinct.

In the realm of academic writing or industry analysis, juxtaposing best in class offerings against their peers necessitates this grammatical precision. Consistent application of hyphens in phrases like ‘best-in-class performance’ or ‘in-class assignments’ enables a direct, unambiguous delivery of your thoughts.

Hyphens serve as the silent enforcers of clarity and intent in your writing. Don’t overlook their power in adjective phrases .

Think of the hyphen in these phrases as the quiet yet crucial connector that promotes an immediate understanding of what you’re evaluating or describing. Just as with any best in class comparison , the precision of your language reflects the quality of your analysis.

This table helps you visualize when and why you should or shouldn’t use a hyphen in these situations. Note the subtle yet significant changes in meaning facilitated by that small horizontal line.

So in your hunt for exemplary performance or quality—whether it’s describing a product as ‘best in class’ or detailing ‘in-class expectations’—always remember the crucial role of hyphens. It’s not just about following the rules; it’s about crafting adjective phrases that stand out for their sharpness and clarity, much like the very best in class entities they describe.

Expert Insights on Common Misuses of ‘Inclass’, ‘In class’, and ‘In-class’

As you journey towards writing excellence , remember to harness expert grammar tips that eliminate common usage errors from your writing repertoire. Knowing when to use ‘in class’ versus ‘in-class’, and avoiding the erroneous ‘inclass’, is pivotal for achieving that crisp, professional edge in your documents. To recap, ‘in class’ is the phrase of choice when you’re referring to something occurring within the classroom environment, whereas ‘in-class’ should be utilized as a compound modifier preceding a noun.

It’s the seemingly minor mishaps, like a missing hyphen or an unwarranted capitalization, that often lead to the compromise of a written piece’s integrity. Whether you’re drafting academic papers or business reports, a firm grip on these grammar nuances will position you as a meticulous communicator. Internalize the essentials: ‘in class’ seamlessly describes participation or location, and ‘in-class’ acutely modifies nouns as an adjective. Let ‘inclass’ fall to the wayside, where it rightfully belongs.

By steering clear of these stumbling blocks, your text will not only adhere to recognized style guides, but it will also radiate clarity and precision. Achieving writing excellence is more than dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s – it’s about crafting sentences that resonate with readers for their ease of understanding and grammatical prowess. Keep these guidelines handy, and your future compositions will stand as testaments to your refined writing abilities.

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Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Homework vs Assignments: Key Differences and How to Effectively Manage Them

Homework is tasks or exercises assigned to students to complete outside of class. It is often used to reinforce or practice the material covered in class and may be graded or ungraded.

Table of Contents

Purpose of homework and assignments

The purpose of homework is to allow students to practice and reinforce the material covered in class. It helps students to solidify their understanding of the material and prepares them for exams and other assessments.

Importance of understanding the difference between homework and assignments

Understanding the difference between homework and assignments is important because it can help students to manage their time more effectively and prioritize their tasks.

Differences between homework and assignments – Definition and examples of homework

1. Typically given to students to be completed outside of class: Homework is usually assigned outside of class, often to reinforce the material covered in class.

For example, a student might be assigned math problems as homework to practice solving equations.

Definition and examples of assignments

2. Typically completed in class or under the instructor’s guidance: Assignments are usually completed in class or under the instructor’s guidance. This allows the teacher to provide guidance and support as the student works on the assignment.

For example, a student’s final research paper in a history class might count for 30% of the student’s final grade.

Similarities between homework and assignments

They provide opportunities for students to engage with the material and apply what they have learned in a real-world setting.

Teachers or instructors usually assign both: Homework and assignments by teachers or instructors responsible for creating and grading the tasks.

Students will need to set aside dedicated time to work on the tasks and may need to use study strategies and time management techniques to complete them effectively.

How to effectively manage homework and assignments

Time management strategies.

1. Setting aside dedicated time for homework and assignments: One of the most important things students can do to effectively manage their homework and assignments is to set aside dedicated time to work on them.

This means focusing on the most important tasks and working on them before moving on to less important ones.

Study Strategies

Flashcards are also useful for memorizing definitions, formulas, and other important information.

Tips for staying motivated

2. Breaking up long study sessions with short breaks: Breaking up long study sessions with short breaks can help students to stay focused and motivated.

Final thoughts on the importance of understanding the difference between homework and assignments:

Understanding the difference between homework and assignments is essential for students because it can help them to manage their time more effectively and prioritize their tasks.

By using effective time management techniques, study strategies, and tips for staying motivated, students can improve their ability to complete tasks and achieve academic goals.

Homework V/s. Assignment

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• Teaching Tips

Dealing With Students Missing Exams and In-Class Graded Assignments

Teachers often become more aware of students’ out-of-class activities than they might wish. Announcements and memos from the dean of students inform about sporting teams and their games and tournaments, forensics, service learning conferences, community-based work, and the like. And teachers quickly become familiar with student lifestyles and illnesses ¾ mono, strep throat, hangovers, the opening of deer and fishing seasons, quilting bees, family vacations, and their family mortality statistics. The relationship between exams and mandatory in-class work and the death of students’ cousins and grandparents is so high it should be a concern of the National Center for Disease Control. Given all this, it is a certainty that students will miss exams and other required activities. What is a teacher to do?

If you want to hear colleagues express frustration, ask them about make-up exams and assignments. Despite knowing intellectually that such absences will occur, teachers hope and pray, even in public institutions, that all of their students will take exams as scheduled. Alas, such prayers are rarely answered, and teachers are faced with the practical issues of keeping track of students who miss exams and assignments, as well as managing make-ups.

All of our advice, except that related to ethics, should be read through the filter of the type of institution where you teach, and the types of courses you teach and how large they are. For example, at a small liberal arts school, where teaching is a faculty member’s primary responsibility, more time may be spent with students who miss exams or assignments, and more creative (time consuming) alternatives may be practical as compared with someone teaching classes of 300 or 500 or more in a Research I institution.

Ethics Teachers are not to cause students harm; we must treat them fairly and equitably, and they must be allowed to maintain their dignity (Keith-Spiegel, Whitley, Balogh, Perkins, & Wittig, 2002). Whatever your procedures are for students who miss exams and required in-class work, they must be equitable, providing students equal chances to earn a good grade by demonstrating equal knowledge. The hard part may be balancing academic rigor and accountability for what students are to learn with a fair and manageable process for those who miss required exams and assignments.

Make-up Exams These should not be more difficult than the original test but must be, as best as you can design, alternate forms of the same exam. Exam banks that accompany texts make designing such alternate forms of multiple-choice tests relatively easy, and colleagues teaching two or more sections of the same course in a semester, who give alternate forms of exams, are often a good source of advice on this matter. Be thoughtful about the following:

• An essay make-up exam may be unethical if regular exams are multiple choice or short answer (or vice versa), since students must study differently and they may be more difficult.
• An oral exam may “punish” students who do not think well on their feet, or are more socially anxious.
• Scheduling make-up exams at inconvenient or undesirable times may express your frustration, but you or someone else will have to be there at the “inconvenient” time also, and such arrangements raise issues of foul play.
• It may be inequitable to students who meet all course requirements to allow their peers to do extra credit or drop their lowest grade instead of making up a missed exam.

In-class Assignments The same considerations exist for students who miss in-class required presentations, or other graded work. If possible, students who were to present should be given opportunities to make up the assignment using the same grading criteria.

Planning Ahead

Spell-out Missed Exam Procedure in Course Policies No matter how well you teach or what inducements or penalties you impose, some students will miss exams and required class activities. Good educational practice argues that you plan for this reality as you design your course, not two days before (or after) your first exam. You want as few surprises as possible once the course begins.

Put your policies in your syllabus. Have a section in your syllabus on exams and other graded work. Specify your policies and procedures if students know in advance they will be absent, or how to notify you if, for whatever reason, they were absent, and any effect, if any, absences will have on their grade.

Keep your policy clear and simple. Before finalizing your syllabus, ask a few students to read your make-up policy to determine if it can be easily understood. If your explanation of what students are to do in the case of missing an exam, and how their grade is affected, is not easily understood, revise it. In developing your policy, do you want students to:

• Notify you if they know they will miss, preferably at least 24 hours in advance, and give you the reason? Talking with you before or after class offers the best opportunity to provide feedback if the reason is questionable, to work out alternatives, and so forth. E-mail also can be useful.
• Notify you as soon as possible after missing an exam or required assignment and give the reason? Again, in person or e-mail work best.
• Present a letter from an authority (e.g., physician) documenting the reason? Keep in mind any student can “forge” such documentation or manipulate it in other ways, e.g., “Fred came to see me complaining of a severe headache.”
• Have their grades lowered if their absence is not “acceptable” (e.g., overslept versus seriously ill)? How will you decide what is acceptable? Our experience suggests that “legitimate” reasons for absence include, but are not limited to: illness of the student or a close relative, accident, court appearance, military duty, broken auto, hazardous weather, and university activities (e.g., athletics, forensics).

Policies should reflect the nature of the exam or graded assignment. If you are teaching an introductory course and each module largely stands alone, it may be appropriate for students to make up a missed exam late in the semester. But if you want students to demonstrate knowledge or competency on an exam or assignment because future course material builds on that which comes earlier, you want to give the students much less time to make up the missed work.

Common policies. A common procedure is for the teacher, teaching assistant, or departmental secretary to distribute and proctor make-up exams during prearranged times (Perlman&McCann, in press). You might also consider allowing students to take make-up exams during exam periods in other courses you are teaching.

Make your policies easy to implement. To maintain your sanity and keep your stress level manageable, you must be able to easily implement your policies. For example, even if you, a secretary, or a graduate student distribute and proctor make-up exams, problems can arise. For example:

• The secretary is ill or on vacation, or you are ill or have a conference to attend. You never want to change the time make-ups are available to students once these are listed in the course syllabus. Have backups available who know where make-up exams are stored, can access them, and can administer and proctor them.
• Too many students for the make-up space. Investigate room sizes and number of rooms available. You may need more than one room if some students have readers because of learning disabilities.
• Students often forget there is a common make-up the last week of the semester. Remind them often and announce this policy on class days when students are taking an exam, as this may be the only time some students who have missed a previous exam come to class.

Encourage appropriate, responsible, mature behaviors. Take the high road and let students know how they “should” behave. For example, one colleague includes this statement in the syllabus:

I expect students to make every effort to take required exams and make course presentations as scheduled. If you know in advance you will miss such a requirement, please notify me. If you are ill or other circumstances cause you to miss a required graded activity, notify me as soon as possible.

One of our colleagues states in her syllabus for a psychology of aging class, “It is very bad form to invent illnesses suffered by grandparents!” By giving students exemplars on how to behave appropriately, you can then thank them for their courtesy and maturity if they follow through, positively reinforcing such behaviors.

God lives in the details. Always err on the side of being “concrete.” If a make-up exam is at the university testing center, tell students where the testing center is. If you or a secretary hold make-up exams in an office, you may want to draw a map on how to get there. It is not uncommon for students to fail to find the office at the time of the exam, and wander around a large university building.

Students Who Miss Exams You have a variety of alternatives available on how to treat students who miss a scheduled exam. Select those that fit your course and the requirements of learning students must demonstrate.

Requiring make-up exams. If you collect all copies of your multiple choice or short answer exams, you may be able to use the same exam for make-ups. Our experience is that it is extremely rare that students deliberately miss an exam to have more time to study, whereas asking peers about specific exam questions more commonly occurs. Your experiences may be different. However, if you put exams on file at the university testing center, and students can take them weeks apart, you may want different forms. If you have concerns, you will need to prepare an equivalent, alternative form of the regular exam, as is often the case for essay tests.

Using procedures other than a make-up exam. Some faculty have students outline all text chapters required for an exam, use daily quiz scores to substitute for a missed exam, use the average of students’ exams to substitute for the one missed, score relevant questions on the comprehensive final to substitute for the missed test, or use a weighted score from the entire comprehensive final substituted for missed exam. Some teachers just drop one test grade without penalty (Buchanan&Rogers, 1990; Sleigh&Ritzer, 2001). Consider whether students will learn what you want from various alternatives and whether this work is equal to what students must demonstrate on exams before adopting such procedures. If your course contains numerous graded assignments of equal difficulty, and if it is equitable for students to choose to ignore a course module by not studying or taking the exam, you should consider this process.

Other teachers build extra credit into the course. They allow all students opportunities to raise their grades, offering a safety net of sorts for those who need to “make-up” a missed exam by doing “additional” assignments such as outlining unassigned chapters in the text.

Scheduling make-ups. Pick one or two times a week that are convenient for you, a department secretary, or teaching assistant, and schedule your make-ups then. Some faculty use a common time midway through the semester and at the end of the semester as an alternative.

Students Who Miss Other In-Class Assignments Allowing students to demonstrate learning on non-exam graded assignments can be tricky. Such assignments often measure different kinds of learning than exams: the ability to work in groups, critical thinking as demonstrated in a poster, or an oral presentation graded in part on professional use of language. But you do have some alternatives.

Keeping the required assignment the same. If the assignment is a large one and due near the end of the semester, consider using an “incomplete” grade for students who miss it. Alternatively, students can present their oral work or poster in another course you are teaching if the content is relevant and time allows it. The oral required assignment also can be delivered just to the teacher or videotaped or turned in on audiotape.

Alternative assignments. As with missed exams, you can weigh other assignments disproportionately to substitute for in-class graded work — by doubling a similar assignment if you have more than one during the semester, for example. The dilemma, of course, is not allowing students easy avenues to avoid a required module or assignment without penalty. For example, oral assignments can be turned in as written work, although this may negate some of the reasons for the assignment.

When we asked colleagues about alternatives for missed in-class graded assignments (as compared with exams), almost everyone cautioned against listing them in the course syllabus. They felt that students could then weigh the make-up assignment versus the original and choose the one that gave them the greatest chance of doing well, and also the least amount of anxiety (in-class presentations often make students nervous). They recommended simply telling students that arrangements would be made for those missing in-class required graded work on a case-by-case basis.

Students Who Miss the “Make-Up” On occasion, students will miss a scheduled make-up. Say something about this event in your syllabus, emphasizing the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor. We recommend that instructors reserve the right to lower a student’s grade by “x” number of points, or “x” letter grades. If you place exams at a university testing center, you may not find out the work has not been made up until the course is over, leaving you little choice but to give the student an “F” on that exam or assignment.

When the Whole Class Misses a Required Exam or Assignment On rare, but very memorable, occasions the entire class may miss an exam or assignment. For example, both authors have had the fire alarm go off during an exam. After a bomb threat cleared the building during his exam, the campus police actually contacted one author to identify whether a person caught on camera at a service station was a student calling in the bomb scare. (It was not.) The other author experienced the bomb squad closing a classroom building during finals week due to the discovery of old, potentially explosive, laboratory chemicals. Of course, the blizzard of the century or a flood might occur the night before your exam. What is a teacher to do?

The exam or graded assignment must be delayed. Prepare beforehand. Always build a make-up policy into your syllabus for the last exam or student presentation in a course. Talk with your department chair or dean about college or university policy. State that if weather or other circumstances force a make-up, it will occur at a certain time and place. This forethought is especially important if you teach at a northern institution where bad winter weather is not unusual. For exams and assignments during the semester, the policy that works best is to reschedule them (again, stating this in your syllabus) for the next regular class period. Call attention to this policy early in the semester, and post it on your course Web site. The last thing you want to do is call or e-mail everyone in the class to tell them an exam has been cancelled.

An exam or graded assignment is interrupted. Graded assignments such as oral presentations are easily handled. If time allows, continue after the interruption; if not, continue the next class period or during your designated “make-up” time.

If something interrupts an exam, ask students to leave their exams and answers on their desks or hand them in to you, take all personal materials, and leave immediately. A teacher can easily collect everything left in most classes in a few moments. Leave materials on desks if the class is large, or be the first person back to the room after the interruption. Fire alarms, bomb scares, and the like usually cause a lot of hubbub. Only if you have a lengthy two- or three-hour class, with time to allow students to collect themselves and refocus, and no concern about their comparing answers to questions during the delay, should the exam be continued that same day or evening.

If the interruption occurs late in the class period, you might tell students to turn in their work as they leave. You can then determine how you want to grade exams or the assignment, using pro-rated points or percentages, and assign grades accordingly.

If the interruption is earlier in the hour, the exam will have to be delayed, usually until the next class period. With a multiple-choice exam, we advise giving students the full (next) class period to finish their exams. If you are concerned about students comparing questions they have already answered, you will have to quickly develop an alternate exam.

A teacher’s decisions are more complicated if the exam is short answer or essay. Students may have skimmed all essay or short answer questions before an interruption. Will they prepare for those questions before the next class period? What if some students only read the first essay question but do not know the others they must answer? Preparing an alternate exam may be feasible, but students need to know you will do so, so they do not concentrate their studying on specific topics you will not ask about.

We know that such class interruptions are rare, but they can wreak havoc with students and teachers, be stressful, and raise issues of fairness that echo throughout the rest of the course. We advise teachers to talk with colleagues, and we have found a department brown bag on the topic fascinating. Your colleagues may have some creative and sound advice.

Summary A teacher needs to plan ahead. Take some time to think about what it means for you and students who miss required in-class work. A little preparation can save a lot of time and hassle later in the semester. Students deserve and will appreciate policies that are equitable and manageable.

Author’s Note: The authors are interested how teachers deal with missed or interrupted graded in-class work (and their horror stories). Contact us with your ideas and experiences at [email protected] .

References and Recommended Reading

• Buchanan, R. W., & Rogers, M. (1990). Innovative assessment in large classes. College Teaching, 38 , 69-74.
• Carper, S. W. (1995). Make-up exams: What’s a professor to do? Journal of Chemical Education, 72 , 883.
• Davis, B. G. (1993). Tools for teaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Keith-Spiegel, P., Whitley, B.G. E. Jr., Balogh, D. W., Perkins, D. V., & Wittig, A. F. (2002). The ethics of teaching: A casebook (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
• McKeachie, W. J. (2001). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (11th ed.) Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
• Nilson, L. B. (2003). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (2nd ed). Bolton, MA: Anker.
• Perlman, B., & McCann, L. I. (in press). Teacher evaluations of make-up exam procedures. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 3 (2).
• Sleigh, M. J., & Ritzer, D. R. (2001). Encouraging student attendance. APS Observer, 14 (9), pp. 19-20, 32.

Do you know of any research related to taking points off an exam for students who take a make-up for whatever reason? It is mentioned in this article but I’m interested in evidence to back up that it is fair and/or punitive in a college setting with adult learners. Thank you. Gerri Russell, MS, RN

I teach introductory nutrition and other biology classes. If a student can prove that they missed an exam or assignment for a verifiable reason, even if they let me know ahead of time (usually technology related reasons), I let them make it up without taking points off. If they can’t prove it I take off points as follows: 10% off per day late during the first week after the assignment is due. Half credit earned after that. Even if they know there are always students who just miss things for no apparent good reason. I feel like this is fair because it gives them the responsibility for making it up, and I’d rather people become familiar with the material, rather than just not do it at all.

I think that the mid semester tests must be abolished from all colleges/universities in order to let them prepare for the final exams without any pressure of getting grades,this will not give rise to any decompetition then,so I personally feel that my suggestion will be very useful I want everyone to obey that

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About the Author

BARON PERLMAN is editor of "Teaching Tips." A professor in the department of psychology, distinguished teacher, and University and Rosebush Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in the department of psychology, he has taught psychology for 29 years. He continues to work to master the art and craft of teaching. LEE I. MCCANN is co-editor of "Teaching Tips." A professor in the department of psychology and a University and Rosebush Professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, he has taught psychology for 38 years. He has presented numerous workshops on teaching and psychology curricula, his current research interests.

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Teaching Commons > Teaching Guides > Learning Activities > In-Class Writing

Adding in-class writing to your teaching repertoire can increase student learning and engagement with course materials and support better participation discussion and group activities. The in-class writing activities below can be accomplished with limited class time and none require any formal grading (other than possibly giving credit​  for completion).

Freewriting

Looped/focused freewriting, check understanding.

Take a look at the page on Checking Students' Learning for more activities.

Background Knowledge Probe

Clear skies/muddy waters, metacognitive reflections, understand readings, group summary, silent socratic dialogue, first year writing, information bias, fuzzy situations, multiple perspectives, further resources.

Elbow, Peter. (1973). Writing without teachers . Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.

In-class writing exercises . The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Checking Students' Learning

Activites for Metacognition

Integrating AI into assignments

Main navigation.

Here we offer strategies and perspectives on integrating AI tools into assignments and activities used to assess student learning.

Creating your course policy on AI

• An effective syllabus works to motivate learning, define goals, explain course structure, and provide support to students as they learn.
• Be clearly stated and specific
• Clarify the context or conditions of allowable AI use
• Explain processes and consequences for non-compliance
• Have a thoughtful pedagogic rationale in support of student learning
• Connect to support resources
• Show support for student well-being

Outcomes for this module

In this module, we will analyze activities and assignments used for assessing learning, provide student-centered perspectives, and offer strategies for developing assessment activities and assignments that integrate student use of generative AI chatbots.

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Describe why your assessment activities are meaningful to learners.
• Identify and clarify the learning objectives of your assessment activities.
• Identify relevant strategies that can be applied to assessment activities in your course.
• Empathize with student perspectives on using AI in course assessment activities.

Warm-up with a metacognitive exercise

As you begin to explore, think about what you already know and the opinions you may already hold about the educational aspects of AI chatbots. This metacognitive exercise can help you identify what you want to explore and what you already understand. Making connections to what you already know can deepen your learning and support your engagement with these modules.

Begin with the prompt, “Describe an assignment or assessment activity that integrated technology in a way that was effective and engaging for your learning,” and respond to the poll below.

Unpacking your assessment activities and assignments

When designing or adapting an activity or assignment used to assess learning, whether you integrate AI or not, we encourage you to consider two questions: why is this meaningful, and what are students supposed to learn from it?

Define why it is meaningful

Students can learn better when they are motivated and can make meaningful connections to coursework (Headden & McKay, 2015). We might assume that students’ motivations focus on their grades, but that assumption does not provide the full picture, and when applied in isolation it is not likely to sustain deep learning. Articulating what makes an activity meaningful, motivational, and memorable for students can help you create an engaging activity or assignment that enhances student learning and motivation.

Concerning AI chatbots, perhaps the activity or assignment addresses AI in ways that prepare students for future careers, enhance their social connections, or touch upon broader issues they care about. We encourage you to talk with your students about what they find meaningful to inform the design of your activities and assignments. What leads them to want to engage?

Also, reflect on why the assignment is meaningful to you. Is it simply convenient to implement (and standard in your experience as a student and teacher) or does it connect to something deeper in your pedagogy? Perhaps the assignment reinforces the norms and values that you share with other professionals in your discipline, allows you to connect with students in more meaningful ways, builds foundational skills for other parts of the curricula, or explores emergent opportunities and challenges with AI for your field.

Define what students are intended to learn

Next, identify and clarify the underlying learning objectives of the assignment or activity. The objective should describe the observable skills or behaviors students will have learned to perform after completing the activity. Clearly articulated learning objectives can help you develop activities that support learning and assessments that accurately measure student learning.

When thinking about AI chatbots and how they impact writing, you might ask yourself, “What are the underlying learning objectives being addressed through writing?” Instructors may assign writing tasks to assess how students engage with content. In the past, teachers could assume with good reason that a student producing coherent writing must have engaged with the content to generate writing that makes sense. However, we might also question this assumption about the automatic connection between coherent writing and deep engagement. The advent of generative AI has certainly exacerbated this.

Do you ask your students to write to demonstrate and reinforce content knowledge? Do they write to analyze and critique a position? Do they write to formulate arguments and cite evidence? Do they write as a form of creative expression? When you think about the available options, you can likely develop many ways for students to learn and demonstrate these skills with or without writing. Ultimately, honing in on the underlying learning objectives can help you integrate generative AI tools into an assignment.

Students can benefit from understanding how AI works and the educational opportunities and challenges that it presents. Consider offering the content in the modules in this guide to your students as supplemental reading or as part of a class activity.

Strategies for implementing AI into activities and assignments

As you think through how you might address or integrate AI tools in an assessment activity or assignment, we encourage you to consider a range of possibilities related to the specific aims of your course and the needs of your students. Here we offer a variety of pedagogical strategies for you to consider. We present these strategies in the context of students using AI chatbots, but they also apply to contexts without AI. Remember why your assignment is meaningful in relation to your learning objectives to help you select appropriate strategies.

Leverage multiple modalities

Consider ways to diversify when and where you assess student learning and the formats students use to express what they’ve learned.

Use more in-class assignments

Strategies like the flipped classroom model assign lecture content as homework and use the in-class time for learning activities (Lage et al., 2000). You can use this in-class time to integrate more low-stakes assessment activities during which you can better guide students toward using AI in ways that support learning.

Multiple modes of expression

Students may differ in how they can best articulate what they know. Using multiple modalities of expression, such as having students complete assignments that require speaking or graphic representations instead of only written text, stands out as an established strategy within the Universal Design for Learning framework that could apply here. While chatbots primarily generate written text, other AI tools can generate music, graphics, and video. You can thus create assessment activities that integrate multiple modalities at once.

For example, if you are assessing students’ understanding of cultural exchange in the ancient world, students might create a mind map or timeline to visually represent important trends, events, or concepts covered in the assigned readings. AI might then be used to generate images of artifacts, portraits, or cityscapes based on historical descriptions.

Make grading practices clear

Consider ways to clarify for students how they are being graded and what is expected of them.

Require robust citation

Have students learn about and adopt more robust citation practices, especially if they use AI tools for writing. You might begin with conversations about what plagiarism entails and why ethics matter in higher education and your discipline. Then connect students to resources on citation and documentation .

If you and your students decide to use AI tools, you can find style guidelines about citing AI-generated text for APA style and MLA style . These guidelines advise writers to cite the AI tool whenever they paraphrase, quote, or incorporate AI-generated content, acknowledge how they used the tool (for brainstorming, editing, and so on), and vet secondary sources generated by AI. For example, students could include citations for AI in the Works Cited section of their work and also include a statement describing why and how they used AI chatbots.

Establish and communicate clear assessment criteria

Try to bring assessment activities, learning objectives, and evaluation criteria into alignment. For example, if your objectives and assessments center around students proposing a solution to an open-ended problem, then the evaluation criteria might touch upon the feasibility, impact, or comprehensiveness of the proposed solutions. The criteria can vary a lot depending on your content and course, but your students benefit when you communicate these criteria and the purpose and reasoning behind them (Allen & Tanner, 2006).

For example, when integrating AI chatbots into a writing task for students, you might put more weight on the quality of their ideas and the validity of cited sources and less weight on structure, grammar, and word choice. You might then create a rubric that you discuss with students in advance so they have a clear understanding of what will guide you in assessing their work.

Assess learning throughout the course

Consider ways to assess student learning throughout your course as opposed to assessing mostly at the end of the course.

Emphasize the process

You may be able to more effectively assess student learning during the different stages of the process as opposed to assessing learning based on their finished work (Xu, Shen, Islam, et al., 2023). Whether or not students use AI tools, they can benefit from segmenting a large project into smaller components with multiple opportunities for feedback and revision. Also, consider how you might adjust grading criteria or grade weights to put more emphasis on the process.

For some steps in the thinking process, such as brainstorming ideas, formulating a position, and outlining a solution, allowing students to use AI tools might benefit their process. For example, you might have students begin with low-stakes free-writing, such as brainstorming, then use AI chatbots to explore possible areas for further investigation based on the ideas students generate through their exploratory writing. Students might then critique and revise the AI-generated ideas into an outline.

Leverage formative feedback

Teachers provide formative feedback to students throughout the learning process to stimulate growth and improvement. Formative feedback can help students identify misunderstandings, reinforce desirable practices, and sustain motivation (Wylie et al., 2012). You and the teaching team might provide feedback directly to students or you might facilitate students giving feedback to each other. You might then assess how students follow up on feedback they receive.

You can use AI tools to inform your feedback to students or generate feedback directly for students. AI tools could provide instant, individualized feedback efficiently and frequently, supplementing the feedback provided by your teaching team. For example, you might share your existing assignment, rubric, and sample feedback with the chatbot and give it instructions on when and how to give feedback. Importantly, you should review feedback generated by chatbots for accuracy and relevance. Refine and save the prompts that work best. You might later share the prompts you’ve developed with students so they may use them to generate feedback themselves.

Make assignments more meaningful

Consider how you might make your assignments more relatable and meaningful to your students.

Personalize assessments

When done thoughtfully, connecting assessments to the personal experiences, identities, and concerns of students and their communities can help to motivate and deepen learning (France, 2022). You might also connect assignments to contexts specific to Stanford, your course, or your specific group of students.

With AI, you or your students might generate practice questions on topics that came up during a specific class discussion or generate analogies for complex concepts based on their interests and backgrounds. You might ground an assessment activity in local contexts, such as having your engineering students propose a plan to improve Lake Lagunita.

Use real-world assessment tasks

Assignments that leverage real-world problems, stakeholders, and communities that students are likely to engage with in their work lives can be motivational and valid ways of evaluating a student’s skills and knowledge (Sambell et al., 2019).

For example, students might work with real (or AI-simulated) business or community partners to develop a prototype product or policy brief. Students might have more time to work with those stakeholders and refine their proposal concepts if they can use AI tools to assist with time-consuming tasks, such as summarizing interview transcripts, writing a project pitch statement, or generating concept images.

AI itself might provide a relevant topic of study for your course. For example, you might examine AI as part of a discussion in a course about copyright and intellectual property law. Or you might analyze AI companies such OpenAI or Anthropic as case studies in a business course.

Assess more advanced learning

Consider ways you might assess more advanced or wider-ranging learning goals and objectives.

Emphasize metacognitive reflection

Metacognitive reflection activities, where students think about what and how they learn, can help students improve their learning (Velzen, 2017). You might use polls, discussion activities, or short writing exercises through which students identify what they already know about the topic, what they learned, what questions remain, and what learning strategies they might use for studying.

AI chatbots can help guide the reflection process like this reflection tool being developed by Leticia Britos Cavagnaro at Stanford d.school . Or perhaps students complete some activities with AI, then reflect on how it benefits or hinders their learning, and what strategies they might use to best leverage AI for learning.

Prioritize higher-order thinking

While students should develop mastery over foundational skills such as understanding concepts, identifying key characteristics, and recalling important information, practicing higher-order thinking skills, such as solving complex problems, creating original works, or planning a project, can deepen learning. For example, you might frame student essays as a defense of their views rather than a simple presentation of content knowledge. You might adjust assessment criteria to prioritize creativity or applying skills to new contexts.

Prioritizing higher-order thinking can encourage students to use AI tools to go beyond simply generating answers to engaging deeply with AI chatbots to generate sophisticated responses. Students could conduct preliminary research to find reliable sources that verify or refute the claims made by the AI chatbots. AI chatbots might then generate feedback, provide prompts for further reflection, or simulate new contexts.

Putting it all together

Here we offer a practical example: first, a typical assignment as usually designed, and then how you could enhance the assignment with some strategies that integrate AI chatbots.

When thinking about your course, start with small changes to one assignment and steadily expand upon them. Try to use AI chatbots for your other work tasks to build your fluency. Talk with students and colleagues about how the changes to your course work out concerning student engagement and learning. When integrating AI into an existing assignment, begin with an assignment that already has clearly defined learning objectives and rationale. Begin by using AI or other technology to supplement existing parts of the process of completing the assignment.

More examples of AI assignments

• AI Pedagogy Project from metaLAB (at) Harvard
• Exploring AI Pedagogy from the MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI
• TextGenEd: Continuing Experiments, January 2024 Collection from WAC Clearinghouse

Example of an assignment without AI

Currently, your students in an epidemiology course write essays summarizing the key concepts of an academic article about the socio-determinants of diabetes . This assessment activity has meaning because it focuses on a foundational concept students need to understand for later public health and epidemiology courses. The learning objective asks students to describe why socio-economic status is a strong predictor for certain diseases. Students write a five-page essay about a disease that can be predicted by socio-economic status including at least three additional citations. Students complete the essay, which counts for 30% of the final grade, before the final exam.

An example of an assignment that integrates AI

Using some of the strategies in the above sections, you might redesign this assignment to integrate the use of AI chatbots. Keep in mind that you would likely make small changes to a major assignment over multiple quarters. Consider some of the ideas below.

A meaningful assignment

The redesigned assessment activity carries more meaning to students because they might have personal experience of some communities adversely affected by these kinds of diseases, and public health issues like this intersect with other social injustices that students have expressed concern about.

Learning objectives

The objectives of the assessment activity include that students will be able to:

• Describe how this disease affects particular communities or demographics
• Explain the difference between correlation and causality regarding socioeconomic status and the disease
• Propose a public health intervention that could help to address this issue

Assignment elements with AI

Students generate explanations of medical terminology in the selected articles to aid with reading comprehension. They generate several analogies for the core concept that apply to their own life experiences and communities. Students share these analogies in a Canvas forum graded for participation. Instructors provide general feedback in class.

Informed by the article, students then prompt a chatbot with biographical stories for two fictional characters from communities they care about incorporating differing socio-economic factors. Then they guide the chatbot in generating a dialogue or short story that illustrates how the two characters could have different health outcomes that might correlate with their socio-economic status. Students might use AI image generators for illustrations to accompany their stories. Students submit the work via Canvas for evaluation; the teacher shares exemplars in class.

Using an AI chatbot prompt provided by the instructor, students explore possible ideas for public health interventions. The provided prompt instructs the chatbot only to help students develop their ideas rather than suggesting solutions to them. With the aid of the chatbot, the students develop a public health intervention proposal.

Assignment elements without AI

Students discuss the differences between correlation and causation, critically analyze the generated characters and stories, and address any biases and stereotypes that surfaced during the activity. You facilitate the discussion with prompts and guidelines you developed with the aid of AI chatbots. Students write an in-class metacognitive reflection that you provide feedback on and grade for completion.

Students draw posters that summarize their proposed intervention. They critique and defend their proposals in a classroom poster session. Students complete a peer evaluation form for classmates. You evaluate the posters and their defenses with a grading rubric that you developed with the aid of an AI chatbot.

Students write an in-class reflection on their projects summarizing what they have learned over the length of the project, how the activities aided their learning, and so on. This is submitted to Canvas for grading and evaluation.

Student-centered perspective on using AI for learning

When thinking about integrating generative AI into a course assignment for students, we should consider some underlying attitudes that we, the authors, hold as educators, informed by our understanding of educational research on how people learn best. They also align with our values of inclusion, compassion, and student-centered teaching. When thinking through ways to integrate AI into a student assignment, keep the following perspectives in mind.

AI is new to students too

Like many of us, students likely have a wide range of responses to AI. Students may feel excited about how AI can enhance their learning and look for opportunities to engage with it in their classes. They may have questions about course policies related to AI use, concerns about how AI impacts their discipline or career goals, and so on. You can play a valuable role in modeling thoughtful use of AI tools and helping students navigate the complex landscape of AI.

Work with students, not against them

You and your students can work together to navigate these opportunities and challenges. Solicit their perspectives and thoughts about AI. Empower students to have agency over their learning and to think about AI and other technologies they use. Teaching and learning are interconnected and work best in partnership. Approach changes to your teaching and course to empower all students as literate, responsible, independent, and thoughtful technology users.

Look at AI and students in a positive light

Education as a discipline has repeatedly integrated new technologies that may have seemed disruptive at first. Educators and students typically grapple with new technology as they determine how to best leverage its advantages and mitigate its disadvantages. We encourage you to maintain a positive view of student intentions and the potential of AI tools to enhance learning. As we collectively discover and develop effective practices, we encourage you to maintain a positive and hopeful outlook. We should try to avoid assuming that most students would use generative AI in dishonest ways or as a shortcut to doing course assignments just because some students might behave this way.

Assess and reinforce your learning

We offer this activity for you to self-assess and reflect on what you learned in this module.

Stanford affiliates

• Go to the Stanford-only version of this activity
• Use your Stanford-provided Google account to respond.
• You have the option of receiving an email summary of your responses.
• After submitting your responses, you will have the option to view the anonymized responses of other Stanford community members by clicking Show previous responses .

Non-Stanford users

• Complete the activity embedded below.
• Your responses will only be seen by the creators of these modules.
• Course and Assignment (Re-)Design , University of Michigan, Information and Technology Services
• ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today , University of Central Florida

Works Cited

Allen, D., and Tanner, K. (2006). Rubrics: Tools for Making Learning Goals and Evaluation Criteria Explicit for Both Teachers and Learners. CBE - Life Sciences Education. 5(3): 197-203.

Ashford-Rowe, K., Herrington, J., & Brown, C. (2014). Establishing the critical elements that determine authentic assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.819566&nbsp ;

Bijlsma-Rutte, A., Rutters, F., Elders, P. J. M., Bot, S. D. M., & Nijpels, G. (2018). Socio-economic status and HbA1c in type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, 34(6), e3008. https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3008&nbsp ;

CAST. (n.d.). UDL: The UDL Guidelines. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://udlguidelines.cast.org/&nbsp ;

Exploring AI Pedagogy. (n.d.). A Community Collection of Teaching Reflections. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://exploringaipedagogy.hcommons.org/&nbsp ;

France, P. E. (2022). Reclaiming Personalized Learning: A Pedagogy for Restoring Equity and Humanity in Our Classrooms (2nd ed.). Corwin.

Headden, S., & McKay, S. (2015). Motivation Matters: How New Research Can Help Teachers Boost Student Engagement. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED582567&nbsp ;

Hume Center for Writing and Speaking. (n.d.). Documentation and Citation. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://hume.stanford.edu/resources/student-resources/writing-resources… ;

Lage, M. J., Platt, G. J., & Treglia, M. T. (2000). Inverting the Classroom: A gateway to creating an inclusive learning environment. Journal of Economic Education, 31(1), 30-43.

metaLAB (at) Harvard. (n.d.). The AI Pedagogy Project. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://aipedagogy.org/&nbsp ;

MLA Style Center. (2023, March 17). How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/&nbsp ;

Office of Community Standards. (n.d.). What Is Plagiarism? Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://communitystandards.stanford.edu/policies-guidance/bja-guidance-… ;

Sambell, K., Brown, S., & Race, P. (2019). Assessment to Support Student Learning: Eight Challenges for 21st Century Practice. All Ireland Journal of Higher Education, 11(2), Article 2. https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/414&nbsp ;

The WAC Clearinghouse. (n.d.). January 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://wac.colostate.edu/repository/collections/continuing-experiments… ;

U-M Generative AI. (n.d.). Course and Assignment (Re-)Design. Retrieved January 22, 2024, from https://genai.umich.edu/guidance/faculty/redesigning-assessments&nbsp ;

Van Velzen, J. (2017). Metacognitive Knowledge: Development, Application, and Improvement. Information Age Publishing. https://content.infoagepub.com/files/fm/p599a21e816eb6/9781641130240_FM… . ISBN 9781641130226. 

Wylie, E. C., Gullickson, A. R., Cummings, K. E., Egelson, P., Noakes, L. A., Norman, K. M., Veeder, S. A., ... Popham, W. J. (2012). Improving Formative Assessment Practice to Empower Student Learning. Corwin Press.

Xu, X., Shen, W., Islam, A. A., et al. (2023). A whole learning process-oriented formative assessment framework to cultivate complex skills. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, 653. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02200-0  

Yee, K., Whittington, K., Doggette, E., & Uttich, L. (2023). ChatGPT Assignments to Use in Your Classroom Today. UCF Created OER Works, (8). Retrieved from https://stars.library.ucf.edu/oer/8  

You've completed all the modules

We hope that you found these modules useful and engaging, and are better able to address AI chatbots in your teaching practice. Please continue to engage by joining or starting dialogues about AI within your communities. You might also take advantage of our peers across campus who are developing resources on this topic.

• Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence
• Accelerator for Learning
• Office of Innovation and Technology , Graduate School of Education

We are continuing to develop more resources and learning experiences for the Teaching Commons on this and other topics. We'd love to get your feedback and are looking for collaborators. We invite you to join the Teaching Commons team .

Learning together with others can deepen the learning experience. We encourage you to organize your colleagues to complete these modules together or facilitate a workshop using our Do-it-yourself Workshop Kits on AI in education. Consider how you might adapt, remix, or enhance these resources for your needs. 

If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected] . This guide is licensed under  Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 (attribution, non-commercial, share-alike) and should be attributed to Stanford Teaching Commons.

Assignments usually ask you to demonstrate that you have immersed yourself in the course material and that you've done some thinking on your own; questions not treated at length in class often serve as assignments. Fortunately, if you've put the time into getting to know the material, then you've almost certainly begun thinking independently. In responding to assignments, keep in mind the following advice.

• Beware of straying.  Especially in the draft stage, "discussion" and "analysis" can lead you from one intrinsically interesting problem to another, then another, and then ... You may wind up following a garden of forking paths and lose your way. To prevent this, stop periodically while drafting your essay and reread the assignment. Its purposes are likely to become clearer.
• Consider the assignment in relation to previous and upcoming assignments.  Ask yourself what is new about the task you're setting out to do. Instructors often design assignments to build in complexity. Knowing where an assignment falls in this progression can help you concentrate on the specific, fresh challenges at hand.

Understanding some key words commonly used in assignments also may simplify your task. Toward this end, let's take a look at two seemingly impenetrable instructions: "discuss" and "analyze."

1. Discuss the role of gender in bringing about the French Revolution.

• "Discuss" is easy to misunderstand because the word calls to mind the oral/spoken dimension of communication. "Discuss" suggests conversation, which often is casual and undirected. In the context of an assignment, however, discussion entails fulfilling a defined and organized task: to construct an argument that considers and responds to an ample range of materials. To "discuss," in assignment language, means to make a broad argument about a set of arguments you have studied. In the case above, you can do this by
• pointing to consistencies and inconsistencies in the evidence of gendered causes of the Revolution;
• raising the implications of these consistencies and/or inconsistencies (perhaps they suggest a limited role for gender as catalyst);
• evaluating different claims about the role of gender; and
• asking what is gained and what is lost by focusing on gendered symbols, icons and events.

A weak discussion essay in response to the question above might simply list a few aspects of the Revolution—the image of Liberty, the executions of the King and Marie Antoinette, the cry "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite!" —and make separate comments about how each, being "gendered," is therefore a powerful political force. Such an essay would offer no original thesis, but instead restate the question asked in the assignment (i.e., "The role of gender was very important in the French Revolution" or "Gender did not play a large role in the French Revolution").

In a strong discussion essay, the thesis would go beyond a basic restatement of the assignment question. You might test the similarities and differences of the revolutionary aspects being discussed. You might draw on fresh or unexpected evidence, perhaps using as a source an intriguing reading that was only briefly touched upon in lecture.

2. Analyze two of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, including one not discussed in class, as literary works and in terms of sources/analogues.

The words "analyze" and "analysis" may seem to denote highly advanced, even arcane skills, possessed in virtual monopoly by mathematicians and scientists. Happily, the terms refer to mental activity we all perform regularly; the terms just need decoding. "Analyze" means two things in this specific assignment prompt.

• First, you need to divide the two tales into parts, elements, or features. You might start with a basic approach: looking at the beginning, middle, and end. These structural features of literary works—and of historical events and many other subjects of academic study—may seem simple or even simplistic, but they can yield surprising insights when examined closely.
• Alternatively, you might begin at a more complex level of analysis. For example, you might search for and distinguish between kinds of humor in the two tales and their sources in Boccaccio or the Roman de la Rose: banter, wordplay, bawdy jokes, pranks, burlesque, satire, etc.

Second, you need to consider the two tales critically to arrive at some reward for having observed how the tales are made and where they came from (their sources/analogues). In the course of your essay, you might work your way to investigating Chaucer's broader attitude toward his sources, which alternates between playful variation and strict adherence. Your complex analysis of kinds of humor might reveal differing conceptions of masculine and feminine between Chaucer and his literary sources, or some other important cultural distinction.

Analysis involves both a set of observations about the composition or workings of your subject and a critical approach that keeps you from noticing just anything—from excessive listing or summarizing—and instead leads you to construct an interpretation, using textual evidence to support your ideas.

Some Final Advice

If, having read the assignment carefully, you're still confused by it, don't hesitate to ask for clarification from your instructor. He or she may be able to elucidate the question or to furnish some sample responses to the assignment. Knowing the expectations of an assignment can help when you're feeling puzzled. Conversely, knowing the boundaries can head off trouble if you're contemplating an unorthodox approach. In either case, before you go to your instructor, it's a good idea to list, underline or circle the specific places in the assignment where the language makes you feel uncertain.

William C. Rice, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

• Teaching Resources
• TLPDC Teaching Resources

How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

Prepared by allison boye, ph.d. teaching, learning, and professional development center.

Assessment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning.  And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments. Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong… and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment.  This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

First Things First…

Before assigning any major tasks to students, it is imperative that you first define a few things for yourself as the instructor:

• Your goals for the assignment . Why are you assigning this project, and what do you hope your students will gain from completing it? What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you aim to measure with this assignment?  Creating assignments is a major part of overall course design, and every project you assign should clearly align with your goals for the course in general.  For instance, if you want your students to demonstrate critical thinking, perhaps asking them to simply summarize an article is not the best match for that goal; a more appropriate option might be to ask for an analysis of a controversial issue in the discipline. Ultimately, the connection between the assignment and its purpose should be clear to both you and your students to ensure that it is fulfilling the desired goals and doesn't seem like “busy work.” For some ideas about what kinds of assignments match certain learning goals, take a look at this page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons.
• Have they experienced “socialization” in the culture of your discipline (Flaxman, 2005)? Are they familiar with any conventions you might want them to know? In other words, do they know the “language” of your discipline, generally accepted style guidelines, or research protocols?
• Do they know how to conduct research?  Do they know the proper style format, documentation style, acceptable resources, etc.? Do they know how to use the library (Fitzpatrick, 1989) or evaluate resources?
• What kinds of writing or work have they previously engaged in?  For instance, have they completed long, formal writing assignments or research projects before? Have they ever engaged in analysis, reflection, or argumentation? Have they completed group assignments before?  Do they know how to write a literature review or scientific report?

In his book Engaging Ideas (1996), John Bean provides a great list of questions to help instructors focus on their main teaching goals when creating an assignment (p.78):

1. What are the main units/modules in my course?

2. What are my main learning objectives for each module and for the course?

3. What thinking skills am I trying to develop within each unit and throughout the course?

4. What are the most difficult aspects of my course for students?

5. If I could change my students' study habits, what would I most like to change?

6. What difference do I want my course to make in my students' lives?

What your students need to know

Once you have determined your own goals for the assignment and the levels of your students, you can begin creating your assignment.  However, when introducing your assignment to your students, there are several things you will need to clearly outline for them in order to ensure the most successful assignments possible.

• First, you will need to articulate the purpose of the assignment . Even though you know why the assignment is important and what it is meant to accomplish, you cannot assume that your students will intuit that purpose. Your students will appreciate an understanding of how the assignment fits into the larger goals of the course and what they will learn from the process (Hass & Osborn, 2007). Being transparent with your students and explaining why you are asking them to complete a given assignment can ultimately help motivate them to complete the assignment more thoughtfully.
• If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the “rhetorical or cognitive mode/s” you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc.  (Verbs like “explore” or “comment on” can be too vague and cause confusion.) Provide them with a specific task to complete, such as a problem to solve, a question to answer, or an argument to support.  For those who want assignments to lead to top-down, thesis-driven writing, John Bean (1996) suggests presenting a proposition that students must defend or refute, or a problem that demands a thesis answer.
• It is also a good idea to define the audience you want your students to address with their assignment, if possible – especially with writing assignments.  Otherwise, students will address only the instructor, often assuming little requires explanation or development (Hedengren, 2004; MIT, 1999). Further, asking students to address the instructor, who typically knows more about the topic than the student, places the student in an unnatural rhetorical position.  Instead, you might consider asking your students to prepare their assignments for alternative audiences such as other students who missed last week's classes, a group that opposes their position, or people reading a popular magazine or newspaper.  In fact, a study by Bean (1996) indicated the students often appreciate and enjoy assignments that vary elements such as audience or rhetorical context, so don't be afraid to get creative!
• Obviously, you will also need to articulate clearly the logistics or “business aspects” of the assignment . In other words, be explicit with your students about required elements such as the format, length, documentation style, writing style (formal or informal?), and deadlines.  One caveat, however: do not allow the logistics of the paper take precedence over the content in your assignment description; if you spend all of your time describing these things, students might suspect that is all you care about in their execution of the assignment.
• Finally, you should clarify your evaluation criteria for the assignment. What elements of content are most important? Will you grade holistically or weight features separately? How much weight will be given to individual elements, etc?  Another precaution to take when defining requirements for your students is to take care that your instructions and rubric also do not overshadow the content; prescribing too rigidly each element of an assignment can limit students' freedom to explore and discover. According to Beth Finch Hedengren, “A good assignment provides the purpose and guidelines… without dictating exactly what to say” (2004, p. 27).  If you decide to utilize a grading rubric, be sure to provide that to the students along with the assignment description, prior to their completion of the assignment.

A great way to get students engaged with an assignment and build buy-in is to encourage their collaboration on its design and/or on the grading criteria (Hudd, 2003). In his article “Conducting Writing Assignments,” Richard Leahy (2002) offers a few ideas for building in said collaboration:

• Ask the students to develop the grading scale themselves from scratch, starting with choosing the categories.

• Set the grading categories yourself, but ask the students to help write the descriptions.

• Draft the complete grading scale yourself, then give it to your students for review and suggestions.

A Few Do's and Don'ts…

Determining your goals for the assignment and its essential logistics is a good start to creating an effective assignment. However, there are a few more simple factors to consider in your final design. First, here are a few things you should do :

• Do provide detail in your assignment description . Research has shown that students frequently prefer some guiding constraints when completing assignments (Bean, 1996), and that more detail (within reason) can lead to more successful student responses.  One idea is to provide students with physical assignment handouts , in addition to or instead of a simple description in a syllabus.  This can meet the needs of concrete learners and give them something tangible to refer to.  Likewise, it is often beneficial to make explicit for students the process or steps necessary to complete an assignment, given that students – especially younger ones – might need guidance in planning and time management (MIT, 1999).
• Do use open-ended questions.  The most effective and challenging assignments focus on questions that lead students to thinking and explaining, rather than simple yes or no answers, whether explicitly part of the assignment description or in the  brainstorming heuristics (Gardner, 2005).
• Do direct students to appropriate available resources . Giving students pointers about other venues for assistance can help them get started on the right track independently. These kinds of suggestions might include information about campus resources such as the University Writing Center or discipline-specific librarians, suggesting specific journals or books, or even sections of their textbook, or providing them with lists of research ideas or links to acceptable websites.
• Do consider providing models – both successful and unsuccessful models (Miller, 2007). These models could be provided by past students, or models you have created yourself.  You could even ask students to evaluate the models themselves using the determined evaluation criteria, helping them to visualize the final product, think critically about how to complete the assignment, and ideally, recognize success in their own work.
• Do consider including a way for students to make the assignment their own. In their study, Hass and Osborn (2007) confirmed the importance of personal engagement for students when completing an assignment.  Indeed, students will be more engaged in an assignment if it is personally meaningful, practical, or purposeful beyond the classroom.  You might think of ways to encourage students to tap into their own experiences or curiosities, to solve or explore a real problem, or connect to the larger community.  Offering variety in assignment selection can also help students feel more individualized, creative, and in control.
• If your assignment is substantial or long, do consider sequencing it. Far too often, assignments are given as one-shot final products that receive grades at the end of the semester, eternally abandoned by the student.  By sequencing a large assignment, or essentially breaking it down into a systematic approach consisting of interconnected smaller elements (such as a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, or a rough draft, or a series of mini-assignments related to the longer assignment), you can encourage thoughtfulness, complexity, and thoroughness in your students, as well as emphasize process over final product.

Next are a few elements to avoid in your assignments:

• Do not ask too many questions in your assignment.  In an effort to challenge students, instructors often err in the other direction, asking more questions than students can reasonably address in a single assignment without losing focus. Offering an overly specific “checklist” prompt often leads to externally organized papers, in which inexperienced students “slavishly follow the checklist instead of integrating their ideas into more organically-discovered structure” (Flaxman, 2005).
• Do not expect or suggest that there is an “ideal” response to the assignment. A common error for instructors is to dictate content of an assignment too rigidly, or to imply that there is a single correct response or a specific conclusion to reach, either explicitly or implicitly (Flaxman, 2005). Undoubtedly, students do not appreciate feeling as if they must read an instructor's mind to complete an assignment successfully, or that their own ideas have nowhere to go, and can lose motivation as a result. Similarly, avoid assignments that simply ask for regurgitation (Miller, 2007). Again, the best assignments invite students to engage in critical thinking, not just reproduce lectures or readings.
• Do not provide vague or confusing commands . Do students know what you mean when they are asked to “examine” or “discuss” a topic? Return to what you determined about your students' experiences and levels to help you decide what directions will make the most sense to them and what will require more explanation or guidance, and avoid verbiage that might confound them.
• Do not impose impossible time restraints or require the use of insufficient resources for completion of the assignment.  For instance, if you are asking all of your students to use the same resource, ensure that there are enough copies available for all students to access – or at least put one copy on reserve in the library. Likewise, make sure that you are providing your students with ample time to locate resources and effectively complete the assignment (Fitzpatrick, 1989).

The assignments we give to students don't simply have to be research papers or reports. There are many options for effective yet creative ways to assess your students' learning! Here are just a few:

Journals, Posters, Portfolios, Letters, Brochures, Management plans, Editorials, Instruction Manuals, Imitations of a text, Case studies, Debates, News release, Dialogues, Videos, Collages, Plays, Power Point presentations

Ultimately, the success of student responses to an assignment often rests on the instructor's deliberate design of the assignment. By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students. If you would like further help in constructing or revising an assignment, the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center is glad to offer individual consultations. In addition, look into some of the resources provided below.

Online Resources

“Creating Effective Assignments” http://www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/resources/Assignments.htm This site, from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,  provides a brief overview of effective assignment design, with a focus on determining and communicating goals and expectations.

Gardner, T.  (2005, June 12). Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml This is a brief yet useful list of tips for assignment design, prepared by a writing teacher and curriculum developer for the National Council of Teachers of English .  The website will also link you to several other lists of “ten tips” related to literacy pedagogy.

“How to Create Effective Assignments for College Students.”  http:// tilt.colostate.edu/retreat/2011/zimmerman.pdf     This PDF is a simplified bulleted list, prepared by Dr. Toni Zimmerman from Colorado State University, offering some helpful ideas for coming up with creative assignments.

“Learner-Centered Assessment” http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/learner_centered_assessment.html From the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo, this is a short list of suggestions for the process of designing an assessment with your students' interests in mind. “Matching Learning Goals to Assignment Types.” http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/How_to/design_assignments/assignments_learning_goals.html This is a great page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons, providing a chart that helps instructors match assignments with learning goals.

Additional References Bean, J.C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fitzpatrick, R. (1989). Research and writing assignments that reduce fear lead to better papers and more confident students. Writing Across the Curriculum , 3.2, pp. 15 – 24.

Flaxman, R. (2005). Creating meaningful writing assignments. The Teaching Exchange .  Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008 from http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2005/01_flaxman.pdf

Hass, M. & Osborn, J. (2007, August 13). An emic view of student writing and the writing process. Across the Disciplines, 4. 

Hedengren, B.F. (2004). A TA's guide to teaching writing in all disciplines . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hudd, S. S. (2003, April). Syllabus under construction: Involving students in the creation of class assignments.  Teaching Sociology , 31, pp. 195 – 202.

Leahy, R. (2002). Conducting writing assignments. College Teaching , 50.2, pp. 50 – 54.

Miller, H. (2007). Designing effective writing assignments.  Teaching with writing .  University of Minnesota Center for Writing. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/designing.html

MIT Online Writing and Communication Center (1999). Creating Writing Assignments. Retrieved January 9, 2008 from http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.html .

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Definition of assignment noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• Students are required to complete all homework assignments.
• You will need to complete three written assignments per semester.
• a business/special assignment
• I had set myself a tough assignment.
• on an assignment She is in Greece on an assignment for one of the Sunday newspapers.
• on assignment one of our reporters on assignment in China
• The students handed in their assignments.
• The teacher gave us an assignment on pollution.
• Why did you take on this assignment if you're so busy?
• He refused to accept the assignment.
• assignment on

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• his assignment to other duties in the same company
• on assignment

Nearby words

Assignments

• by teachmint@wp

What is assignment in education? Assignment meaning is the tasks given to students by their teachers and tutors to complete in a defined time. They can also be referred to as the work given to someone as a part of learning. Assignments can be in the form of written, practical, art or fieldwork, or even online. Their purpose is to ensure that students understand the subject matter thoroughly.

Generally, students are assigned a task as a part of their homework. The allocation of assignments is not only restricted to a class or subject but this method can be applied at any stage of life. They are a great way to judge the ability and understanding of an individual towards a subject matter.

The culture of providing homework starts from kindergarten in various forms. Small children are asked to read and write what they learn in the class. Students in the higher class are given work as a part of their revision exercise and help them prepare for exams. Individuals doing honors write journals as a part of an assignment that determines their knowledge in that subject.

The structure of assignments depends upon the nature of the task and subject. They must be well-researched, including case studies or examples within a proper framework. These studies are useful for students to achieve the desired examination results. It also helps them to concentrate better on education. Knowing what is assignment in education helps teachers assess students better.

Importance of Assignments

Giving assignments to the students is a crucial part of student assessment. The importance of giving assignments to the students is discussed in detail below:

• Learning practical skills Assignments enable students to develop new skills. In order to complete the assignments, students learn new skills which help them in their academic careers. 
• Enhances time management skills Whenever assignments are allocated to the students, a time limit is set by teachers within which the assignment has to be submitted. What is assignment in education enable students to complete their tasks and learn timely submission of work. 
• Learning researching skills Students tend to do a lot of research about the questions given in the assignment. Assignment meaning is to help them develop their research skills and come in handy in their future careers. 
• Enhance the Writing Caliber Many students have a problem of not being able to put their thoughts into words. Writing assignments can help them develop writing skills and be expressive in real life as well. 

Since assignments are deadline-based, they help students take responsibility and manage time. The work assigned to students may be individual or group activities, or both, to develop teamwork in them. 

The above-mentioned information gives us a context of assignment meaning and its importance to the students. Assignments provide a basis for the student assessment and should be given timely.  

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Definition of assignment

task , duty , job , chore , stint , assignment mean a piece of work to be done.

task implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance.

duty implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for performance.

job applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may sometimes suggest difficulty or importance.

chore implies a minor routine activity necessary for maintaining a household or farm.

stint implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or service.

assignment implies a definite limited task assigned by one in authority.

Examples of assignment in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assignment.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

see assign entry 1

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing assignment

• self - assignment

Dictionary Entries Near assignment

Cite this entry.

“Assignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assignment. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

Legal Definition

Legal definition of assignment, more from merriam-webster on assignment.

Nglish: Translation of assignment for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of assignment for Arabic Speakers

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Meaning of assignment in English

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• It was a plum assignment - more of a vacation really.
• He took this award-winning photograph while on assignment in the Middle East .
• His two-year assignment to the Mexico office starts in September .
• She first visited Norway on assignment for the winter Olympics ten years ago.
• He fell in love with the area after being there on assignment for National Geographic in the 1950s.
• act as something
• all work and no play (makes Jack a dull boy) idiom
• be at work idiom
• be in work idiom
• housekeeping
• in the line of duty idiom
• join duty idiom
• undertaking

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

assignment | Intermediate English

Assignment | business english, examples of assignment, collocations with assignment.

These are words often used in combination with assignment .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Translations of assignment

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Word of the Day

shrinkflation

the situation when the price of a product stays the same but its size gets smaller

Never say die! (Idioms and phrases in newspapers)

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/əˈsaɪnmənt/.

Other forms: assignments

Whether you’re an international spy with a new mission or a high school student with math homework — when you get an assignment , you’d better do it! An assignment is a task that someone in authority has asked you to do.

The word assignment is just the noun form of the common verb assign , which you use when you want to give someone a duty or a job. When you assign something, that something is called an assignment . The word can also refer to the act of distributing something. If you are distributing new office furniture at work, you might say, “ Assignment of the new chairs will begin tomorrow.”

• noun an undertaking that you have been assigned to do (as by an instructor) see more see less types: show 6 types... hide 6 types... school assignment , schoolwork a school task performed by a student to satisfy the teacher writing assignment , written assignment an assignment to write something classroom project a school task requiring considerable effort classwork the part of a student's work that is done in the classroom homework , prep , preparation preparatory school work done outside school (especially at home) lesson a task assigned for individual study type of: labor , project , task , undertaking any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
• noun a duty that you are assigned to perform (especially in the armed forces) “a hazardous assignment ” synonyms: duty assignment see more see less types: show 10 types... hide 10 types... guard , guard duty , sentry duty , sentry go the duty of serving as a sentry fatigue , fatigue duty labor of a nonmilitary kind done by soldiers (cleaning or digging or draining or so on) charge , commission , mission a special assignment that is given to a person or group reassignment assignment to a different duty sea-duty , service abroad , shipboard duty naval service aboard a ship at sea shore duty naval service at land bases fool's errand a fruitless mission mission impossible an extremely dangerous or difficult mission martyr operation , sacrifice operation , suicide mission killing or injuring others while annihilating yourself; usually accomplished with a bomb secondment the detachment of a person from their regular organization for temporary assignment elsewhere type of: duty work that you are obliged to perform for moral or legal reasons
• noun the act of putting a person into a non-elective position synonyms: appointment , designation , naming see more see less types: show 6 types... hide 6 types... nomination the act of officially naming a candidate co-optation , co-option the act of appointing summarily (with or without the appointee's consent) delegacy the appointment of a delegate ordinance , ordination the act of ordaining; the act of conferring (or receiving) holy orders recognition designation by the chair granting a person the right to speak in a deliberative body laying on of hands laying hands on a person's head to invoke spiritual blessing in Christian ordination type of: conclusion , decision , determination the act of making up your mind about something
• noun the act of distributing something to designated places or persons “the first task is the assignment of an address to each datum” synonyms: assigning see more see less types: allocation , storage allocation (computer science) the assignment of particular areas of a magnetic disk to particular data or instructions type of: distribution the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning
• noun (law) a transfer of property by deed of conveyance synonyms: grant see more see less types: apanage , appanage a grant (by a sovereign or a legislative body) of resources to maintain a dependent member of a ruling family land grant a grant of public land (as to a railway or college) type of: transferred possession , transferred property a possession whose ownership changes or lapses
• noun the instrument by which a claim or right or interest or property is transferred from one person to another see more see less type of: instrument , legal document , legal instrument , official document (law) a document that states some contractual relationship or grants some right

Vocabulary lists containing assignment

The Dawes Act, or General Allotment Act of 1887, was a law that allowed the U.S. government to take Native American tribal lands and divide them into 40 acre lots for individual Native Americans. The goal was to break up communal tribal lands and speed the assimilation of Native Americans into American society. The Dawes Act caused great suffering with much of the land winding up in the hands of white settlers.

Learn these words from the autobiography by David Lubar (Inside: Level B, Unit 4). Here are our links to the selections of "Every Body Is a Winner": The Human Machine; My Fabulous Footprint , The Beat Goes On; All Pumped Up , Two Left Feet, Two Left Hands , How Coach Told Me; Bionics Here are our links to the units of Level B: Unit 1 , Unit 2 , Unit 3 , Unit 4 , Unit 5 , Unit 6 , Unit 7 , Unit 8 Here are our links to the Inside books: Level A , Level B , Level C Here is our link to a list of academic vocabulary for Inside: Academic Vocabulary

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In-class assessment

  What do we mean when we say ‘In-class assessment’?

Some assessments take place during class time, usually as part of a seminar. These tend to be formative but can also be summative. In-class assessments also tend to happen in short time periods, so that teaching and learning time is not cut short. In-class assessments can be one-off events or they could be arranged in series. The scheduling of in-class assessment needs to be shared and known, so that students are not unduly impacted if they miss class for legitimate reasons. This particular assessment condition tends to work best for discrete assessments such as MCQs, objective tests, oral presentations and problems sets. For in-class assessments using methods more typically used under exam conditions, such as long and short answer formats; multiple choice questions, and problem sets, there should also be careful consideration of logistical issues such as desk spacing; the physical layout of the room, and arrangements for invigilation.

What are assessment conditions?

It is useful to bear in mind that what is sometimes referred to as an assessment method is, in fact, only the condition in which the assessment takes place and thus only one of several choices to be made in assessment design. The term ‘in-class assessment’ mainly describes the conditions under which an assessment will take place – it does not describe the method by which the students will be assessed. Assessment conditions establish the parameters of assessment but within each of these assessment conditions a number of assessment methods may be used. Reflecting on the purpose, timing and assessment mix should help with decisions regarding assessment conditions.

Advantages of in-class assessment

• Takes place in a controlled environment.
• Can be quite a low-stress condition for students.
• Feedback can be quite speedy and can enhance student learning.
• Can be used for single individuals, groups or whole classes.
• Marking and feedback load is low.

Challenges of in-class assessment

• Needs to be carefully timetabled and balanced against other in-class activities.
• If assessment tasks are perceived as having no impact on learning or course success then students may not be fully engaged.
• Classroom conditions are not always ideal for students to fully focus.
• Summative in-class assessments should be supported by earlier formative in-class events.

How students might experience in-class assessment

It is important to consider the way that in-class assessments are explained to students. Some methods of in-class assessment might be perceived as being more stressful than others. Some students excel in presentations and others find this rather nerve-wracking. Some students like regular testing of their skills through weekly MCQs or problem sets and others prefer to accumulate knowledge before they are tested. Since in-class assessments happen before a course has finished, some students might not feel ready. Generally, in-class assessments are perceived by teachers as being a low-stakes activity but it is important to gauge the student perspective and work to ensure they are fully informed.

Reliability, validity, fairness and inclusivity of in-class assessment

To ensure assessment validity and fairness, in-class assessments should only reflect and test the learning that has happened up to that point and that the assessment tool, marking criteria and marker take this into account. Teachers should also reflect on the inclusive nature of the in-class assessments they design (see ‘ Accessible assessment ’ for more information), focussing on students’ specific educational needs but also considering their emotional needs.

How to maintain and ensure rigour in in-class assessment

Whole class events such as MCQ tests are subject to the usual issues of marking and moderation and should follow departmental practice. Individual assessments, such as oral presentations, can be difficult to moderate when used summatively; clear marking criteria, records and teacher notes can aid exam board and external examiners (see ‘oral presentations’ for more guidance). During some methods of in-class assessment (such as presentations) markers should take steps to avoid the 'halo' effect, where one or two positive characteristics of a student overly influence the marker.

How to limit possible misconduct in in-class assessment

As in-class assessments happen under the eye of the teacher/examiner there is little opportunity for academic misconduct. It is relatively easy for a teacher/examiner to have an overview of the class and to check for the use of prohibited notes, material and/or digital devices. Anonymity in in-class assessment is not usually possible and teachers should reflect on methods to deal with this. If students are asked to prepare something in advance of the class, then there is a possibility that they obtain notes and material and try to pass it off as their own. This can be countered through good assessment procedures – where students are tasked to explain and examine information rather than to simply state answers. Misconduct can also be limited through teacher questions and follow-up questions that seek to demonstrate ownership and examine a student’s capacity to think on their feet.

Accessible assessment in in-class assessment

There are practical design issues to consider when using in class assessments to assess students who are either physically impaired; have mental health difficulties; specific learning differences, or Autism Spectrum Condition. Wherever possible design issues should be addressed in the initial course design phase. The Accessible Assessment area of this toolkit provides further information about how this might be achieved. This is a guide and should be treated as such. In all cases the experiences of individual students can be diverse. You should always consult the student’s inclusion plan as well as speaking to the student directly. The discussion in this section is drawn on the work of the Inclusive Practice community at Sheffield Hallam University who we wish to acknowledge and thank.

Physically impaired students

It is important for teachers to reflect on whether the physical task of completing an in-class assessment creates any barriers for the student. If the assessment involves group working at any stage teachers will need to consider if the format of the assessment has any impact on the student’s ability to contribute fully to the group task. For example, do the marking criteria allow marks to be awarded for contribution to the content/data collection of a poster if a student cannot take part in the physical process of making a poster? It is also important for teachers to consider the accessibility of the physical environment where the in-class assessment will take place and whether the physically impaired student has any related communication difficulties. Teachers should examine the task’s marking criteria and examine whether they feel some of these need to be re-visited to ensure equity of assessment experience.

Students with specific learning differences (SpLD)

Time management can be a particular issue for students with SpLD and if the in-class assessment requires students to work in groups it is good practice to ask all groups to draw up a timetable of tasks to aid with this process. If all the other group members decide to leave the work to the last minute the student with SpLD may be doubly penalized! Students with SpLD may therefore need teachers’ support to help motivate other members of the group. If the in-class assessment includes MCQs or objective tests one of the key issues can be the wording of questions and in particular the question distracters. Teachers should ensure that they do not use any language based ‘tricks’ such as similarly spelt or sounding words as distracters. This does not mean that questions should be easy, rather that all distracters should be plausible. Many students with SpLD will be articulate and prefer verbal communication to writing. Others may have difficulty in this area and it can be a source of real anxiety. Students with dyslexia may find the pronunciation of multisyllabic words difficult, or misuse words that sound similar. They may also experience the feeling of going ‘blank’ and have difficulty finding the word they are looking for. More generally reading out loud can present difficulties, particularly when faced with unfamiliar words. Teachers should seek ways to try and make the in-class assessment as inclusive and low stress as possible. If students are to be asked to engage with on written material in an in-class assessment they should be presented with this material in advance to allow them time to read it.

Students with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)

The term ‘Autism Spectrum Condition’ (ASC) is used to describe the range of the autism spectrum, including Asperger syndrome. Students with ASC will often have difficulties with social interaction and their body language and eye contact may appear ‘awkward’. Teachers should be aware of this when marking oral contributions and marks should not be deducted for this reason. If a student has a particular difficulty with oral contributions a reasonable adjustment may be to allow them to write a script and read from it. If the assessment requires students to ‘role play’ teachers should be aware that some students with ASC will find it difficult to envisage themselves in a particular role. Group-work can also be difficult for some students with ASC. Unpredictable changes in routine can result in confusion and upset and may give rise to behaviour others find challenging. Clear guidelines need to be set - addressing roles and responsibilities within the group, a timetable for group meetings and what the group’s assessed outputs should ‘look’ like. Teachers should also be aware that students with ASC can be very dedicated to the work in hand if it is something they find interesting and should therefore be explicit about how much work needs to be undertaken, especially if it will not form a high percentage of the overall mark.

Students with mental health difficulties

Medication can have side effects such as tremors or involuntary movements making co-ordination difficult. Memory, concentration and speech can also all be affected, with speech becoming slurred, slow and/or hurried. Where students experience these kinds of side effects an assessment that requires oral contributions can present particular difficulties causing anxiety and embarrassment. A student should not be penalized for any of these types of behaviours and the marking criteria should reflect this. Teachers should consider strategies to reduce anxiety or embarrassment because of the side effects of medication. For example, a student could have the choice to make a presentation to the marker rather than the whole group, or provide written forms of class participation rather than spoken forms. If the in-class assessment involves some form of peer assessment thought needs to be given to the assessment strategy and criteria to prevent the student from being disadvantaged, and minimize anxiety and the feeling that the individual rather than the piece of work is being critiqued. The student may need help to break down large projects into small chunks with associated deadlines! The student will be doubly penalized if their group chooses to leave all the work until the last minute. Encouraging students with mental health issues to draw up a work timetable can help them structure their time, and might be one of the first activities teachers ask all groups to undertake.

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Major Class Assignment Types and Why I Use Them

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We’ve officially arrived at week four of the “Successful Start” series. So far, we’ve covered the syllabus , the course schedule , and icebreakers . Next week we’ll wrap up with student self-assessments. But today, it’s all about your major class assignments and how to introduce them to your students. In the workbook , I cover standard and nonstandard elements when creating your assignment instruction sheets. In today’s video (embedded in this post), I discuss how I introduce my major assignments to students during the first week of class (and why I do so during week one). In this blog post, I’m going over a few of the major assignment types I’ve used in my courses (examples included), in case you’re stuck on deciding what assignments to include in your courses (or don’t know where to begin). I’ve included my perspective on why I think these assignments work well for students and for instructors, as well.

A Group Project

Example: a group project my students actually enjoy.

I’m starting with this type of major class assignment because I know how many students dislike having to complete a group project. And I know many of us college instructors were the type of student who hated group projects because we were perfectionists or just constantly worried about our groupmates completing their work.

Whatever subject you teach, your students will need to be able to work collaboratively in the future (if not already). Giving them a chance to practice this skill is imperative, in my opinion. It also has benefits for you, as well. If students are turning in an assignment as a group, you’ll likely have much less material to grade for this assignment. That’s one way to make grading faster . A group project also tends to give students a lot of agency on what class topics or materials to focus on, which helps them get more invested in your course. That should make your life easier, too, as students will need less enticement to take their education into their own hands.

To help insure that students who tend to work twice as hard as their groupmates to complete the activity don’t get penalized for this discrepancy, my group project includes elements completed as a group and elements completed individually. In this way, half of their project grade derives from the group’s work, while the other half derives from the individual’s work. This helps all students feel driven to complete the group project, since they can’t just depend on others to complete it for them. The Type A students feel less stressed, since they know a large portion of their grade depends only on their own work.

I have a YouTube video where I talk more about grading unit projects like this one, in case you’re unsure about that facet of the project design.

And here’s a video all about designing a group project:

An Individual Presentation

Example: types of student presentations.

This class assignment is another one that many students wish they didn’t have to complete. I know I hated them, because I had (and still have at times) such a strong fear of public speaking. But, considering my current profession as a teacher, practicing my public speaking skills was obviously a very valuable element of my education. And, it’s a rare job that doesn’t require you to speak with others. Not just speak to others, but explain ideas, situations, or products in a manner that gets your point across well and produces the end result you’re looking for.

So, I suggest including at least one individual presentation in your course, even if it’s not a major assignment on its own. It can be an element of a larger assignment or just a mini class activity done one day in the semester. Whatever the case may be, this is another project type that can make grading easier for you and that can give students the power to choose what to focus on and really dive into as a student in your class.

A few pieces of advice to help those really nervous students: 1. Model an example or two of the presentation yourself before having students complete their own. 2. Tell them that they can practice their presentation in front of just you during your office hours or by appointment. 3. Remind them of the usefulness of note cards and/or presentation slides if they are worried about forgetting essential information. 4. Let them choose the order in which they present their projects.

Here’s a blog post about connecting with shy students .

A Personal Narrative

Example: a short autobiography.

My blog post on this assignment type goes into a lot of detail on why I include this project in my courses. So, I’ll keep it brief here. I assign this project during week one and it’s due by the end of week two. It’s a 2-page autobiography that asks students to answer a short prompt tied to the course topic. It equates to 10% of the overall course grade, but 5% can work fine, too.

This assignment allows me to get to know my students on an individual level immediately at the start of the semester. It’s a fast way to learn about your students and to help see them as the diverse group of individuals they are, rather than just a “classroom full of undergraduates” or a “group of non-majors,” etc.

Watch Now: How to Introduce Your Major Class Assignments to Your Students

The Assignment with Options

Example: literary analysis discussion posts.

As you’ll notice with all the assignments described so far, I’m a big believer in the power of giving students choices and agency in completing their projects. This major assignment is just one more example of this philosophy. Include an assignment in your class that offers students multiple chances to complete the activity, but gives them room to pick which opportunity they want to use. This type of activity also gives students the ability to improve their grade on the project by completing additional options.

For example: You assign students to read 5 novels or to complete 5 lab experiments. Of those 5 tasks, students have to write 3 literary analysis discussion posts or 3 extensive lab reports. Students can pick which 3 posts/reports to complete, and they can complete more than 3 if they’re unhappy with their first and/or second grade. Only the 3 highest grades on these 5 options will count towards their overall project grade.

This type of major class assignment helps spread out your grading load. It also gives students the opportunity to complete the assignment with the course material that interests them the most. And they can improve their grades without having to ask for extra credit or for special permission to revise an already completed assignment.

A Long Written Assignment

Example: a literary analysis paper or research paper or journal article or blog.

Long written assignments are common practice in the courses I teach (literature and composition), but they are also pretty common in other areas of study, as well. Unsurprising, as they allow students to practice creating a sustained argument or explanation. Depending on the subject you teach, you’re longer writing assignments might have very strict genre conventions. Whatever the case may be, I still suggest giving students the chance to pick their assignment focus.

Writing a literary analysis paper? Let them pick the text and the argument they want to make.

Writing a research paper? Let them pick the topic tied to your course subject.

Writing a business proposal? Let them pick the business.

Students often struggle with writing longer pieces. This task is made even harder if they are required to write about something they have no interest in. They might not have a choice later on (at work, for example), but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have options while still learning how to write these types of genres.

A Creative Project

Example: a festival or literary adaptation or creative narrative.

There are so many ways to design this type of assignment that I’m not even going to try to describe the options here. I’ve linked above a few examples of what I’ve used in my own courses. What I will say here is that creative projects are often not given the respect they deserve. Getting students to think outside the box is a great way to help them improve their critical thinking skills and their ability to be flexible and adapt to different situations. While most of your class assignments can focus on practicing formal types of writing in your field, I highly recommend including an assignment that allows students to expand how they perceive the subject they are studying and also how they can respond to this subject in more than just the standard ways.

This type of class assignment is a great one to consider in terms of multimodal or digital composition, as well. Perhaps have students design a poster or create a website that teaches others about a class topic. Students can practice different types of literacies with creative projects, which isn’t always the case with more academic genres.

Here are five digital major projects to try out!

Additional Resources

Why Digital Assignments Are The Best Assignments (video)

6 Tips for Designing Major Assignments (two videos)

Twenty Ideas for Engaging Projects

Dogfooding: How Often Do You Do Your Own Assignments?

How to Design a Wikipedia Writing & Research Assignment

Next Time, on “Successful Start”…

In the last installment of this series, we’ll be discussing the benefits of including a student self-assessment activity during the first week of class. You can’t meet or purposely not meet students’ expectations of your class if you don’t know what they are. You can’t know what skills and knowledge they already have in relation to your course topic without asking them about these aspects of their experiences. So, designing a self-assessment is an important last step as you prep for your first week. If you don’t have the workbook yet, I highly recommend downloading it in preparation for this final step and to help you with all the other material already covered.

Comment Below: Which of the assignments above are you most likely to include in your classroom?

Assignment Examples , Full Archive , Professional Development , Successful Start: Designing a College Course , Teaching Tips

July 30, 2019 at 6:39 AM

I used to hate group assignments! But you are so right! This introduced me to working in teams in a workplace. Looking back now, I see how important it was.

July 30, 2019 at 11:17 AM

Yes, hindsight really showed me what assignments actually DO have lasting effects on tasks I need to complete all the time now. It’s all about helping students see the benefits, too.

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Assigning a class variable in class definition versus at class instantiation

What are the ramifications of assigning a class variable when defining the class versus in the class constructor? Is the variable assigned in the class definition accessible by all class instances?

Example of assignment at instantiation:

Example of assignment in class definition:

edit: As to the class member being accessible by all instances, I think I was looking for the notion of a static declaration, I guess I'm just new to the curly brace languages.

• initialization
• default-constructor

• I'm not sure what you mean by "accessible by all class instances". –  Nathan Pierson Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 20:51
• C++ - initializing variables in header vs with constructor –  001 Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 20:56
• 3 Side note: Get familiar with the Member Initializer List . It turns the first example into Foo(): x(0), y(1.) { } . This becomes important because all class members and base classes must be initialized before entering the body of the constructor. It's not so important for primitive data types, their default initialization does nothing, but for objects with expensive default initialization that will be undone by a later assignment or types with no default constructor, using the member initializer list is the best (or only) way to go –  user4581301 Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 20:57
• One ramification is that the first variant compiles on older c++ compilers such as Turbo C++ and the second variant does not. –  Dmytro Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 21:04
• In 2022 having to write code to support a compiler from the 1980s is ... problematic. Yes I know it happens, but that doesn't make it any less problematic. I find it best to treat Turbo C++as a different language; It sits like a hominid sitting between proto-ape and humanity with respect to 1980s C and Modern C++. –  user4581301 Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 21:08

2 Answers 2

In this code snippet

there is no assignments. There are initializations.

there is indeed used the assignment operator.

In general for objects of complex types it can be 1) impossible (either the default constructor or the assignment operator is not available) or 2) requiring many resources because at first default constructors are called that create the objects and after that there are called assignment operators.

It is desirable to define constructors at least like for example

using mem-initializer lists.

• I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say "it can be 1) impossible or 2) requiring many resources". Are you talking about the notion of shared instance variables? –  Carter Canedy Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 20:59
• also, with your constructor, is there a practical benefit to adding a scope that's empty, or is it more syntactical? –  Carter Canedy Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 21:33
• @CarterCanedy Do you mean the empty body of the constructor? If so then it depends on how the constructor is complex. –  Vlad from Moscow Commented Sep 14, 2022 at 21:35

Is the variable assigned in the class definition accessible by all class instances?

The difference is that you default-initialize the member variables and then assign values to them in the first case. In the second case you value-initialize them - which is preferred. A third option, that also value-initializes them, is to use the member-initializer list:

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Judge overturns $4.7 billion jury award to NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers

Hope you didn't already spend that nfl sunday ticket court windfall. a federal judge has overturned a $4.7 billion award to subscribers saying a jury improperly arrived at the damages..

A federal judge on Thursday overturned the $4.7 billion jury award in the class action suit for subscribers of the NFL Sunday Ticket programming package.

U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez granted the National Football League's request to toss out the award. The judge said the jury did not follow his instructions and created an "overcharge," he wrote in his order.

Gutierrez also said that models presented during the trial about what a media landscape (and subscription fees) would look like without NFL Sunday Ticket were faulty and "not the product of sound economic methodology," he wrote in the order.

As a result, the damages were more "guesswork or speculation" than figures based on "evidence and reasonable inferences," Gutierrez wrote.

New sports streaming service: Venu Sports sets price at $42.99/month: What you can (and can't) get with it

What were the jury instructions?

Jurors were instructed to calculate damages based on "the difference between the prices Plaintiffs actually paid for Sunday Ticket and the prices Plaintiffs would have paid had there been no agreement to restrict output.”

DirecTV offered Sunday Ticket from 1994 to 2022, with the cost for residential subscribers typically running between $300 and $400. Last year, Google began offering the programming package via YouTube . This year, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $349 to $449.

On June 27, a federal jury in California awarded NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers more than $4.7 billion in damages and nearly $97 million to bars, restaurants, and other businesses with commercial subscriptions to the package.

The plaintiff's attorneys argued that the NFL, CBS, Fox and DirecTV created a "single, monopolized product" in packaging out-of-market NFL games in the Sunday Ticket package. Because the Sunday Ticket was the only way to get those NFL games, consumers paid inflated prices over the years, the plaintiffs alleged.

The NFL denied any wrongdoing and defended the programming package's distribution model as a premium product.

“We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit," the NFL said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "We believe that the NFL's media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television. We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 NFL season.”

So what happens now?

The plaintiffs likely could appeal the latest ruling in the case, which began in 2015 when two businesses and two individual subscribers sued on behalf of NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers from 2011.

An estimated 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses bought the NFL Sunday Ticket package from June 17, 2011, to Feb. 7, 2023. In a January 2024 filing, plaintiffs said they were entitled to damages of up to $7.01 billion.

The judge's order stems from the NFL's argument in court on Wednesday that the jury's award should be overturned.

"There's no doubt about what they did," Gutierrez said Wednesday ahead of his ruling, according to Courthouse News. "They didn't follow the instructions."

The subscribers' attorney, Mark Seltzer, told Gutierrez on Wednesday that the jurors should be able to negotiate a fair damages award provided it falls within an evidence-supported range, Courthouse News reported.

Contributing: Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, Lorenzo Reyes and Brent Schrotenboer .

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads:  @mikesnider  & mikegsnider .

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