More Variations on Assignments
Assignments can come in many forms, but teachers can lack ideas on how to design more engaging forms of assignments. Most teacher can think up having student write an essay, but what does that actually entail?
Having access to a reportoire of variations in assignments can help in forming ideas for a specific course or project. Teacher can choose to select one or two ideas their that fit the best with the intended Learning Outcomes of that course.
So, below, we list a number of ideas in terms of keywords. They enable you to hopefully apply them to your teaching situation and develop your own particular assignments.
Abstract
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Annotated bibliography
Biography or autobiography
Brochure, poster
Budget with rationale
Case analysis
Chart, graph, visual aid
Client report for an agency
Cognitive map, web or diagram
Contemplative essay
Debate
Definition
Description of a process
Diagram, table, chart
Dialogue
Diary of a real or fictional historic character
Essay exam
Executive summary
Fill in the blank test
Flowchart
Group discussion
Instructional manual
“Introduction” to an essay or scientific report (rather than the full report)
Inventory
Laboratory or field notes
Letter to the editor
Matching test
Materials and methods plan
Mathematical problem
Memo
“Micro-theme” (a tight, coherent essay typed on a 5x 8 note card)
Multimedia or slide presentation
Multiple-choice test
Narrative
News or feature story
Notes on reading
Oral report
Outline
Personal letter
Plan for conducting a project
Poem, play, choreography
Question
Regulations, laws, rules
Research proposal addressed to a granting agency
Review of book, play, exhibit
Review of literature
Rough draft or freewrite (writer writes freely, with no constraints for a certain amount of clock time)
"Start" (a thesis statement and outline or list of ideas for developing)
Statement of assumptions
Summary or precis
Taxonomy or set of categories
Technical or scientific report
Term paper, research paper
Thesis sentence (sentence that expresses author’s main point)
Word problem
Resources
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