Critiquing Your Assignments
Ask yourself the following questions (from John Beans’
Engaging Ideas, p. 86) about your assignments in order to refine and improve them:
- Is the assignment clear? Might a student misread the assignment and produce something not anticipated? Is its purpose clear? Will a student see how it fits into course goals?
- Does the assignment seem interesting and challenging? From a students’ perspective, how difficult is this assignment? How much time will it require?
- What kinds of students would this assignment particularly appeal to? What kinds of students might not like this assignment?
- Does the assignment specify or imply a suitable audience? Are the grading criteria clear?
- Are the mechanics of the assignment clear? (due dates, expected length, manuscript form, other particulars)?
- Is the process I want students to follow as explicit as possible? Should I build checkpoints into the assignment (submission of a prospectus, abstract, peer review dates, and so forth)?
- How easy or difficult will this assignment be to coach and grade?
