5.2 Assignment Timing

The number and release of assignments is appropriate for the estimated time of module completion and student workload.

Points: 2 (Very Important)

QM Alignment: 3.5

Overview

Consider how much time students need to complete a specific assignment or the sequence of assignments.

Tips

• Use a consistent day of the week and time for assignment due dates so that they are more predictable for students.
• Set the due date, availability date, and (optionally) until date for each of your graded activities.
• Break multi-week assignments or projects into stages with their own deadlines to track student progress and encourage students not to wait until the last minute to begin work on them.
• In general, students are expected to work on average 2 hours out of class for every 1 hour of class time per week. In an asynchronous online course, there is no “class time,” and so that would be 3 hours of work per credit hour per week.
  • A 3 credit course would thus entail around 9 hours of work for the student per week.
  • A full course load of five 3-credit courses would entail around 45 hours of work per week (5 courses x 3 credit hours x 3 hours of student work). Thus, being a full-time student is somewhat equivalent to working a full time job.

Common Issues

• Too light or too heavy of a course workload in a particular module or week.
• Course workload varies greatly during certain weeks or modules.
• Larger or more difficult assignments or projects are not broken into stages.

Examples

Example: Student Profile Project

• Lesson 1 & 2: Grade Level Research—Select a Grade Level at a specific K-12 School. Research and obtain key information about your students such as Student Demographics, Culture, Gender, Grade Level Information, School Information, State Standards for this Grade Level, Developmental Stages: Physical, Cognitive, Intellectual, Social.
• Lesson 3 & 4: Student Motivation Reflection—Identify Their Educational Experience by considering student Cognitive Development Level, Thinking Process and Learning Style, and Motivational Theory and Strategies.
• Lesson 5: Information Processing Infographic—Create an infographic that captures how your students process information using Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Theory, or Information Processing Theory.
• Lesson 6: Final Product: Student Profile—Complete a student profile that captures the entire educational experience by adding in Social and Emotional Needs, Teaching Methods and Strategies, and Learning Activities and Assessments.

Resources

• Course Workload Estimator