Assignment Design

This section deals with designing instruments for assessing your students’ learning.

We’ve chosen the word “assignment” to describe these instruments. You may use the term assessment or activities instead.

A well-designed assignment:

• states the purpose in clear and specific language
• relates to key learning objectives
• tests understanding of core concepts
• asks learners to exercise critical thinking skills
• engages students with content
• leads to increased understanding of the course topics
• identifies areas of misunderstanding
• provides feedback on instructional strategies

Papers (e.g., discussion, essay, and research) are the primary types of assignments in most UVic distance online courses. Online quizzes and exams are used for both formative and summative assessment. Here are some suggestions and links for designing and developing effective assignments for distance learners.

Designing the Assignment

As you draft the assignment, ask yourself:

• What are the main intellectual tasks required?
  • Summarizing readings?
  • Synthesizing material from several sources?
  • Comparing two or more sources?
  • Critiquing someone’s conclusion?
  • Formulating questions?
  • Posing solutions?
  • Creating various media?
• Why do I want them to complete these tasks at this point in the course?
• What will students learn from this assignment?
• How does the assignment fit with the learning objectives at this point in the course?
• What resources do I want students to use? Course readings? The instructional notes developed specially for the course? Other sources (e.g. academic journals, Internet resources)?
• Does the assignment schedule allow enough time for students to complete the planning, researching and writing/production phases?
• How will I evaluate the work? Do I establish a list of priorities for assessment e.g. content — ideas and information; organization — order and relationship between ideas; point of view — purpose, audience; style — diction and syntax; mechanics — grammar, constitutes a successful comment on the assignment? Distance learners need constructive comments that are clear, consistent and focused on the issues that you think are most important for them to consider. Offer help that may be transferable to the student’s future work.

Resources on Designing the Assignment

A short online tutorial on assessment strategies from the University of Wisconsin:

Exam Question Types & Student Competencies
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/teaching-academy/Assistance/course/questions.htm

A useful overview of assessment techniques and process from the University of Georgia's Office of Instructional Support and Development

Evaluating Student Performance
http://www.isd.uga.edu/teaching_assistant/ta-handbook/eval.html

An overview of assessment strategies from James Atherton, De Montfort University, U.K:

Evaluating Student Performance
http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/teaching/assess_form.htm

Guidelines for objective test design from the Computer Assisted Assessment Centre in the UK:

What are Objective Test Questions?
http://www.caacentre.ac.uk/resources/objective_tests/index.shtml

Writing the Assignment Instructions

• Explain to your students why they are doing this assignment and what purpose it serves.
• Clearly explain any sequence of activities and/or deliverables.
• Clearly indicate if group work is expected.
• Use unambiguous wording.
• Be specific about your expectations — length, format, method of delivery, type of sources, currency, style, scope.
• Make sure the due dates are clearly set out.

Assigning a Discussion, Essay or Research Paper

• If the assignment requires the use of required sources, ensure these are readily available.
• If the assignment will require library research, provide the Distance Education Services (Infoline) librarian with the assignment details in advance so she can plan in advance for students’ requests for assistance. Inform the program that you intend to use Library Services so that students will be directed to obtain NetLink Accounts.
• If it involves the use of complex sources or unfamiliar research strategies, you can arrange a customized, scheduled online library instruction session for your students with the Infoline librarian.

Guidelines for Writing Online Quizzes and Exams

The links below provide useful advice and guidance on how to develop a variety of question types:

Multiple-choice

Multiple-choice Questions
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/teaching-academy/Assistance/course/mult.htm

Assessing by Multiple Choice Question Tests
http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/resources/mcqs.html

Writing Multiple-Choice Questions that Demand Critical Thinking
http://tep.uoregon.edu/resources/assessment/multiplechoicequestions/mc4critthink.html

More about developing multiple choice items
http://www.fsu.edu/~ids/fac2002/ma_multiple_choice.htm

Short Answer

Short Answer Questions
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/teaching-academy/Assistance/course/sanswer.htm

Short Answer Items
http://www.isd.uga.edu/teaching_assistant/ta-handbook/short.html

True/False

True/False Questions
http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/teaching-academy/Assistance/course/true.htm

Writing True/False Questions and Evaluating Responses
http://web.utk.edu/~mccay/apdm/t_false/t-f_b.htm

Building Online Interaction into Assignments

When assignments have been submitted, you can use the course discussion tools to extend students’ learning, for example:

• Ask students to post 1–2 questions about the assignment topic(s) that they would like to discuss further. This can be used with online exams or with papers.
• Have each student post a summary or abstract of the main points of his/her paper and respond to questions about their summary.
• Suggest additional resources for students to investigate based on the work they’ve done in their papers.