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Friday, February 10, 2012
Designing writing assignments
What pedagogical and practical considerations typically inform your design of a writing assignment? How much do these change from semester to semester and course to course?
Hey all! The first practical and pedagogical consideration that I keep in mind from class to class and semester to semester is the number of students in each class. With larger classes, it take exponentially more time to grade writing assignments. However I also consider my work load and access to a GA for assistance. Unfortunately what gets sacrificed with students is effective and well thought out feedback. Something I am consciously aware of, and makes me sad to admit. Thanks Scott
Like Scott, how many students I have plays a big part in the length of the writing assignments that I give. I have found over the years that my word number requirements have gone down substantially just to accommodate the limited time I have to grade papers. But I have also found that students can cover the same amount of content in fewer words when required to do so- there seems to be a lot less ‘fluff’.
In LIS we train professionals to go out into the workforce, and I make a conscious effort to assign written work that is both reflective ("this is what I have learned and how it's important to the profession") and applied ("this is how it could be done or could be done better"). Pedagogically, I am very aware of the connection between writing assignments to the course content, and often do not assign papers as much as projects. This changes substantially from class to class to address very different topics. I also listen to students’ comments and confusions about assignments and try to supply examples of quality work whenever I can.
The assignments change from semester to semester as I introduce new material and try to maintain the connection between course content and desired outcomes. I also try new assignments when I have taught a course many times and find myself getting bored with the students’ topics.
Also like Scott, I factor in work load, TA availability, class size, and the level of the class (100 vs 300). Teach HON 300 - Prospectus Writing obviously is centered around writing. With a class of 13 students there is a lot of interaction, modeling, and mentoring. The reality is that it is much more effective to have students submit smaller parts of the paper over the entire semester. This keeps the student on task (so the paper is not written the night before the due date), and allows for personal and detailed feedback. Sadly I only get to use this approach in this class. For a comparison, consider my Intro Psych class with 300 students. The university requires each student to produce a 10page paper for this class. For the sake of ease (and sanity) we have the students produce 10 1-page reaction papers. Because of the sheer volume we only check the papers for the word minimum (350) and that the writer stayed on topic. The irony is that the student who is enrolled in Intro Psych is typically a freshman that could really benefit from constructive and detailed feedback on writing assignments.
Ok, I must break the norm of the blog replies. I am not concerned with large class sizes. I have 12 students across both sections. Even the others classes in my departments are reasonable size. Request that you are not jealous, there is more to it.
Writing assignments change very little from semester to semester. However, after this course the assignments may not change but assignments details will improve and how I (and my backfill) assess will improve.
Considerations - paper size, citation req'ts, like LIS instruction I attempt to assign according to what they will do in the Army. So they have to answers questions in Army memo format. Later, Bo
In my writing and speaking intensive course I have 22 students (on roll, I've had several absentees lately). So I think this size is doable. I have the luxury of having another faculty member help with the grading as it pertains to the writing and speaking assignments. This brings balance to the assessment and helps with workload. One thing we do that works for us is break the class into lab sections and give 2 or more faculty the responsibility of grading their work. This gives the students credit for the time they spend outside of class working on each assignment and gives the instructor of record some help in lessening the work load. In this class, we don't have a formal handout for the written and spoken assignments, however, we do have a Powerpoint lecture that covers the material. I can see where writing a comprehensive, concise handout for the students on each assignment could be a much more effective way to cover the material so that class time can be better spent on in class writing and exercises.
Hello everyone! When designing a writing assignment, practical considerations initially guide my design process. Typical practical considerations include: the course's current work load on the students, specific requirements for Writing Intensive courses, and class size. Class size is typically not a concern since most courses have about 30 to 40 students enrolled; however, classes with closer to 50 students can make it difficult to give timely, detailed feedback, which I strive to provide for every course, every semester.
Practical considerations are always present, but the pedagogical considerations are equally important. When I design a writing assignment, I am guided by the end goal. I consider two questions during the design process: what do I want my students to gain from this assignment and are there any areas in my course that could be strengthened with a writing assignment? A great example of the end goal guiding the design process is the Job Site Report in my Building Materials course. For this report, I have students visit a construction site and write a 5 page report with images describing the materials and installation process they viewed during their visit. This report forces students to visit a construction site, which is incredibly valuable but not always feasible during class time. The end goal of exposing students to an actual construction site is well suited to a writing assignment.
For most writing assignment, the intent of my guidelines vary from course to course but the documentation stays very similar from semester to semester. I typically only make changes if there is an omission or if the directions need clarification.
Well, for a short prompt, this is a pretty deep question, and I enjoyed the other posts. From a pedagogical perspective, I always try and have a real-world tie-in with my writing assignments. In both Organizational Communications and in my Accounting course, I find that it is easier to engage the students in producing a well-executed and well-written document if they believe these are very similar to what they will be expected to produce in the workplace. For this reason I rely heavily on samples of actual work products, videos from practicing professionals, and my extensive work background. Because my students are learning specific writing skills that translate directly to their future professional aspirations, the assignments must be grounded in reality. I also try to make sure each assignment is specific in both instructions and expectations.
As regards the practical considerations of written assignments, I think Scott, Catharine, and David the major issue, class size and available time. In Org Comm I was lucky to have class sizes capped at 24, wherein writing assignments were not too burdensome, even with three sections. Now, I have large sections of accounting majors and writing is a luxury, not the main purpose of the classes. Unlike Cynthia and Jessica, I am less concerned with student workload than accomplishing the objectives of the assignment, although I do admit this often impacts their ability to do a great job. That said, I try and make the length of written assignments fit what would be required in a work situation, not just assigning pages for the sake of length.
Of course, as we all probably would agree, the creation, deployment, and evaluation of written assignments is a constantly shifting terrain requiring a sensitivity to make necessary changes and adjustments. I often find that while the pedagogical foundation does not change, the landscape does. For example, where we used to concentrate on business letters and reports, we now have to teach writing for electronic sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, etc. This is especially true in business where the traditional expectations regarding mechanics and construction still apply, but the writers walk the line between personal use and business use.
Hello! I definitely side with both arguments that seem to be trend within this discussion. I do not have a large load of students, but I have so many other responsibilities that come with my job and life in general that make it a little harder for me to find the time to grade the written papers, and especially to provide the feedback that is needed. The implementation of rubrics has definitely helped me work through this problem.
Another issue I have encountered is that (Like Bo) many of our writing assignments are very different from your average research paper. We write medical SOAP notes in many classes that utilize abbreviations and very clear and concise writing styles. In other courses we write very professional research papers with strict formatting.
For me it is not hard to swap from the different types of writing, but for the students I think that the expectations could be somewhat confusing. Similar to my findings with the speaking assignments, I think that I do not give adequate instruction to the students. I know what I want from them and I give minimal guidelines, but I feel like I could certainly create a better outline for each assignment (possibly giving examples of writing). I do give my students the grading rubric; however, I have found that students do not use this information to their benefit. Some would say that if they don't use the information given then their grade suffers - oh well. I just can't be okay with that though, it bothers me when the students do so poorly.
Great comments all around. I know some of these issues are difficult to deal with, but I appreciate that you are all attempting to think of ways to deal with the problems while giving your students the best experience. I don't think it's a cure all, but I will say that I am using Turnitin's "Grade Mark" option for the first time and I really think it's a time saver. AND I think I'm giving the students some pretty good feedback without a lot of effort. We can talk about this more later.
Wendy, I really like GradeMark in TurnItIn. I'm not sure, however, how much the students really tune it and use it as constructive criticism so they can do a better job on their paper. I took time out of class last time to pull up a paper (with permission) and show the students how to check the comments and the originality report. Now we'll see if it helped the current students do better on their final draft of a case study assignment.
Good point, although I think they can just as easily toss the paper once they've seen the grade. And the hand written comments might have taken longer (just not sure if I believe that yet).
Sorry this is late everyone, but my wife laid down the law about going away for the 'holiday'...no internet except my phone.
From a practical point, as has been repeated over and over, my primary issue is the number of students, which determines how many class periods I will lose. In business, giving a 3-minute oral presentation is not much good...while they don't have to be 15-20 minutes, they often need to be around 7-8. Multiply that by 30 students, factor in the downtime, and I can burn 3 classes with nothing but presentations.since I do not give a final exam, I often use the last class of the semester and the final exam period.
From a pedagogical perspective, I try and design my assignments so that students are expected to present a proposal or results in a given block of time using a presentation software package and good visual aids. While they do not have to write anything, they also cannot use notes, notecards, papers, or other prompts except the projected slides. This is typically the way business presentations are done. Another aspect of the pedagogical process is that the students learn the proper physical traits for giving successful presentations.
I used to have 2 speaking assignments per semester, but because my course was writing intensive there simply was not enough time, so I switched to a video presentation.
Ok, so still asleep from Mardi Gras...as I wrote the last post from an oral presentation perspective. Sigh...
As for writing, much of the same consideration still holds true. The number of written assignments is often practically limited by the number of students, however in my Org Comm class I had 24 assignments that had to get done, of which 22 were written, albeit some not more than 1 page. Still, I had to be careful because I had no GA support, so you can imagine the grading. Even now, I have 60-90 students in two sections, with 3 major projects. If I include even a short written piece--which I do--the grading just gets out of control. While I am supposed to have GA help, they often disappear leaving me to grade. So, I think the most pressing practical issue is smaller classes if we are to really be solid with our writing and speaking assignments.
Pedagogically, I am concerned that my students improve their skills to the level expected in business, and in Org Comm that often means writing shorter documents where every word counts. They often agree that a well-written one page business letter is more difficult to write than a 10-page term paper. My students have to learn to write in first person, present tense, and active voice, which is often completely foreign to them because that is the opposite of academic writing. Secondly, I have to hammer on the mechanical components because this will be expected of them in the workplace.
13 comments:
Hey all! The first practical and pedagogical consideration that I keep in mind from class to class and semester to semester is the number of students in each class. With larger classes, it take exponentially more time to grade writing assignments. However I also consider my work load and access to a GA for assistance. Unfortunately what gets sacrificed with students is effective and well thought out feedback. Something I am consciously aware of, and makes me sad to admit. Thanks Scott
Like Scott, how many students I have plays a big part in the length of the writing assignments that I give. I have found over the years that my word number requirements have gone down substantially just to accommodate the limited time I have to grade papers. But I have also found that students can cover the same amount of content in fewer words when required to do so- there seems to be a lot less ‘fluff’.
In LIS we train professionals to go out into the workforce, and I make a conscious effort to assign written work that is both reflective ("this is what I have learned and how it's important to the profession") and applied ("this is how it could be done or could be done better"). Pedagogically, I am very aware of the connection between writing assignments to the course content, and often do not assign papers as much as projects. This changes substantially from class to class to address very different topics. I also listen to students’ comments and confusions about assignments and try to supply examples of quality work whenever I can.
The assignments change from semester to semester as I introduce new material and try to maintain the connection between course content and desired outcomes. I also try new assignments when I have taught a course many times and find myself getting bored with the students’ topics.
Also like Scott, I factor in work load, TA availability, class size, and the level of the class (100 vs 300). Teach HON 300 - Prospectus Writing obviously is centered around writing. With a class of 13 students there is a lot of interaction, modeling, and mentoring. The reality is that it is much more effective to have students submit smaller parts of the paper over the entire semester. This keeps the student on task (so the paper is not written the night before the due date), and allows for personal and detailed feedback. Sadly I only get to use this approach in this class. For a comparison, consider my Intro Psych class with 300 students. The university requires each student to produce a 10page paper for this class. For the sake of ease (and sanity) we have the students produce 10 1-page reaction papers. Because of the sheer volume we only check the papers for the word minimum (350) and that the writer stayed on topic. The irony is that the student who is enrolled in Intro Psych is typically a freshman that could really benefit from constructive and detailed feedback on writing assignments.
Ok, I must break the norm of the blog replies. I am not concerned with large class sizes. I have 12 students across both sections. Even the others classes in my departments are reasonable size. Request that you are not jealous, there is more to it.
Writing assignments change very little from semester to semester. However, after this course the assignments may not change but assignments details will improve and how I (and my backfill) assess will improve.
Considerations - paper size, citation req'ts, like LIS instruction I attempt to assign according to what they will do in the Army. So they have to answers questions in Army memo format.
Later, Bo
In my writing and speaking intensive course I have 22 students (on roll, I've had several absentees lately). So I think this size is doable. I have the luxury of having another faculty member help with the grading as it pertains to the writing and speaking assignments. This brings balance to the assessment and helps with workload. One thing we do that works for us is break the class into lab sections and give 2 or more faculty the responsibility of grading their work. This gives the students credit for the time they spend outside of class working on each assignment and gives the instructor of record some help in lessening the work load. In this class, we don't have a formal handout for the written and spoken assignments, however, we do have a Powerpoint lecture that covers the material. I can see where writing a comprehensive, concise handout for the students on each assignment could be a much more effective way to cover the material so that class time can be better spent on in class writing and exercises.
Hello everyone! When designing a writing assignment, practical considerations initially guide my design process. Typical practical considerations include: the course's current work load on the students, specific requirements for Writing Intensive courses, and class size. Class size is typically not a concern since most courses have about 30 to 40 students enrolled; however, classes with closer to 50 students can make it difficult to give timely, detailed feedback, which I strive to provide for every course, every semester.
Practical considerations are always present, but the pedagogical considerations are equally important. When I design a writing assignment, I am guided by the end goal. I consider two questions during the design process: what do I want my students to gain from this assignment and are there any areas in my course that could be strengthened with a writing assignment? A great example of the end goal guiding the design process is the Job Site Report in my Building Materials course. For this report, I have students visit a construction site and write a 5 page report with images describing the materials and installation process they viewed during their visit. This report forces students to visit a construction site, which is incredibly valuable but not always feasible during class time. The end goal of exposing students to an actual construction site is well suited to a writing assignment.
For most writing assignment, the intent of my guidelines vary from course to course but the documentation stays very similar from semester to semester. I typically only make changes if there is an omission or if the directions need clarification.
Well, for a short prompt, this is a pretty deep question, and I enjoyed the other posts. From a pedagogical perspective, I always try and have a real-world tie-in with my writing assignments. In both Organizational Communications and in my Accounting course, I find that it is easier to engage the students in producing a well-executed and well-written document if they believe these are very similar to what they will be expected to produce in the workplace. For this reason I rely heavily on samples of actual work products, videos from practicing professionals, and my extensive work background. Because my students are learning specific writing skills that translate directly to their future professional aspirations, the assignments must be grounded in reality. I also try to make sure each assignment is specific in both instructions and expectations.
As regards the practical considerations of written assignments, I think Scott, Catharine, and David the major issue, class size and available time. In Org Comm I was lucky to have class sizes capped at 24, wherein writing assignments were not too burdensome, even with three sections. Now, I have large sections of accounting majors and writing is a luxury, not the main purpose of the classes. Unlike Cynthia and Jessica, I am less concerned with student workload than accomplishing the objectives of the assignment, although I do admit this often impacts their ability to do a great job. That said, I try and make the length of written assignments fit what would be required in a work situation, not just assigning pages for the sake of length.
Of course, as we all probably would agree, the creation, deployment, and evaluation of written assignments is a constantly shifting terrain requiring a sensitivity to make necessary changes and adjustments. I often find that while the pedagogical foundation does not change, the landscape does. For example, where we used to concentrate on business letters and reports, we now have to teach writing for electronic sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, etc. This is especially true in business where the traditional expectations regarding mechanics and construction still apply, but the writers walk the line between personal use and business use.
Hello! I definitely side with both arguments that seem to be trend within this discussion. I do not have a large load of students, but I have so many other responsibilities that come with my job and life in general that make it a little harder for me to find the time to grade the written papers, and especially to provide the feedback that is needed. The implementation of rubrics has definitely helped me work through this problem.
Another issue I have encountered is that (Like Bo) many of our writing assignments are very different from your average research paper. We write medical SOAP notes in many classes that utilize abbreviations and very clear and concise writing styles. In other courses we write very professional research papers with strict formatting.
For me it is not hard to swap from the different types of writing, but for the students I think that the expectations could be somewhat confusing. Similar to my findings with the speaking assignments, I think that I do not give adequate instruction to the students. I know what I want from them and I give minimal guidelines, but I feel like I could certainly create a better outline for each assignment (possibly giving examples of writing). I do give my students the grading rubric; however, I have found that students do not use this information to their benefit. Some would say that if they don't use the information given then their grade suffers - oh well. I just can't be okay with that though, it bothers me when the students do so poorly.
Great comments all around. I know some of these issues are difficult to deal with, but I appreciate that you are all attempting to think of ways to deal with the problems while giving your students the best experience. I don't think it's a cure all, but I will say that I am using Turnitin's "Grade Mark" option for the first time and I really think it's a time saver. AND I think I'm giving the students some pretty good feedback without a lot of effort. We can talk about this more later.
Wendy, I really like GradeMark in TurnItIn. I'm not sure, however, how much the students really tune it and use it as constructive criticism so they can do a better job on their paper. I took time out of class last time to pull up a paper (with permission) and show the students how to check the comments and the originality report. Now we'll see if it helped the current students do better on their final draft of a case study assignment.
Good point, although I think they can just as easily toss the paper once they've seen the grade. And the hand written comments might have taken longer (just not sure if I believe that yet).
Sorry this is late everyone, but my wife laid down the law about going away for the 'holiday'...no internet except my phone.
From a practical point, as has been repeated over and over, my primary issue is the number of students, which determines how many class periods I will lose. In business, giving a 3-minute oral presentation is not much good...while they don't have to be 15-20 minutes, they often need to be around 7-8. Multiply that by 30 students, factor in the downtime, and I can burn 3 classes with nothing but presentations.since I do not give a final exam, I often use the last class of the semester and the final exam period.
From a pedagogical perspective, I try and design my assignments so that students are expected to present a proposal or results in a given block of time using a presentation software package and good visual aids. While they do not have to write anything, they also cannot use notes, notecards, papers, or other prompts except the projected slides. This is typically the way business presentations are done. Another aspect of the pedagogical process is that the students learn the proper physical traits for giving successful presentations.
I used to have 2 speaking assignments per semester, but because my course was writing intensive there simply was not enough time, so I switched to a video presentation.
Ok, so still asleep from Mardi Gras...as I wrote the last post from an oral presentation perspective. Sigh...
As for writing, much of the same consideration still holds true. The number of written assignments is often practically limited by the number of students, however in my Org Comm class I had 24 assignments that had to get done, of which 22 were written, albeit some not more than 1 page. Still, I had to be careful because I had no GA support, so you can imagine the grading. Even now, I have 60-90 students in two sections, with 3 major projects. If I include even a short written piece--which I do--the grading just gets out of control. While I am supposed to have GA help, they often disappear leaving me to grade. So, I think the most pressing practical issue is smaller classes if we are to really be solid with our writing and speaking assignments.
Pedagogically, I am concerned that my students improve their skills to the level expected in business, and in Org Comm that often means writing shorter documents where every word counts. They often agree that a well-written one page business letter is more difficult to write than a 10-page term paper. My students have to learn to write in first person, present tense, and active voice, which is often completely foreign to them because that is the opposite of academic writing. Secondly, I have to hammer on the mechanical components because this will be expected of them in the workplace.
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