Module 5: Creating Assignments
The learning activities that you designed around the learning resources that you selected for students to learn the course content comprise the formative assessment component of your course. In this module, we will focus on designing assignments, which are part of the summative assessment component of your course.
Objectives
After working on this module, you should be able to:
- Explain the purpose of assignments;
- Describe different types of assignments;
- Plan the assignments that are appropriate for your course; and
- Write effective assignment guides.
Nature and Purpose of Assignments
Assignments, like examinations, are course activities that are designed to “sum up student achievement at a particular point in time” (Victoria Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2013). As a form of summative assessment, assignments require students to integrate what they have learned about a set of topics, and to demonstrate multi-domain and higher-level learning. In addition, student performance in assignments is formally evaluated and given marks or scores that are included in the computation of the student’s final grade for the course.
Assignments can be contrasted with formative learning activities and exercises that are focused on specific topics and where student performance is assessed by teachers in an informal way throughout the course. In UPOU courses, assignments and examinations comprise the key course requirements that students must fulfill in order to pass the course.
Types of Assignments
Assignments in tertiary-level or college-level courses (whether undergraduate or graduate) typically take the form of reports or research papers, case studies, critical essays, proposals, and multimedia projects such as video productions and slide presentations.
Different disciplines have their own preferred assignment types and it is expected that the assignments you set for your course result in ‘knowledge products’ that are expected of students in your discipline.
However, the following guidelines for creating assignments from the Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center cut across disciplines and should be borne in mind when planning assignments:
- Consider your learning objectives and ensure that assignments are aligned with these learning objectives.
- Design assignments that are interesting and challenging.
- Name assignments accurately.
- Sequence assignments such that they build skills in a logical manner.
- Consider how much time each assignment will require and the spacing of assignments throughout the term.
- Check the feasibility of each assignment.
- Articulate the task description clearly.
- Establish clear performance criteria.
- Specify the intended audience of the assignment output.
- Specify the purpose of the assignment.
- Specify the parameters for the assignment.
Activity 5-1
- Read the guidelines for creating assignments provided by the Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center at http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning/creatingassignments.html.
- With the guidelines for creating assignments in mind, plan what assignments you will require in your course. Use the table below to plan these assignments.
| Assignment Name | Module/s Covered | Course Objective/s Covered | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
In deciding on the total number of assignments, keep in mind that assignments are supposed to be integrative/summative in nature. They are also not the only form of summative assessment that you might include in your course. If your course includes examinations (e.g. a mid-term and a final examination), this will impact on how many assignments can be reasonably required of students to complete within the term.
As an additional note on types of assignments, at UPOU assignments are also sometimes classified into 1) assignments to be marked by the faculty-in-charge, called faculty-marked assignments or FMAs; and 2) assignments to be marked by tutors, called tutor-marked assignments or TMAs.
Writing the Assignment Guide
An assignment guide is a document that gives students detailed guidance on what an assignment requires. It specifies the assignment number and title or name, and includes the following specifications:
- Submission date
- Task
- Procedures or specific guidelines to be followed
- Evaluation criteria
Submission date. It is important to clearly stipulate in the assignment guide when an assignment is due. This will help students to schedule work on the assignment vis-à-vis other course work as well as their non-course-related work.
Task. This is a clear and concise description of the learning task and the expected final output or product.
Procedures or specific guidelines. This consists of the steps that students should follow in accomplishing the assignment.
Evaluation criteria. This indicates in the form of a scoring guide or rubric how assignment submissions will be evaluated.
The assignment guide can also specify the following:
- The percentage of the final grade the assignment will account for
- A definition of terms used especially in the task overview
- A list of tools and resources to be used in completing the assignment
Activity 5-2
For each assignment that you have planned for your course (in Activity 5-1), write an assignment guide. Refer to Annex 5-1 for an example of an assignment guide.
Annex 5-1 Sample Assignment Guide
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EDDE 201 – Foundations of Distance Education Guidelines for Assignment 1 Date due: 1 February 2014 Percent equivalent of final grade: 20% Task Definition of terms
A “DE experience” may also be any combination of the above. Specific guidelines
Evaluation criteria Use the evaluation criteria below as a checklist for ensuring that you meet the assignment requirements before you submit your assignment.
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