5.3 Assignment Instructions
Instructions for completing assignments are clear and include due dates. Provide concise instructions that include all needed information for students to be successful.
Points: 2 (Very Important)
QM Alignment: 3.6
Overview
In line with standard 4.5, ensure your instructions for completing assignments are clear and transparent. The Transparency in Learning and Teaching site has guidance on making your course activities, assignments, and assessments clearer to your students, including a Transparent Assignment Template and Checklist.
Tips
- Set the due date, availability date, and (optionally) until date for each of your graded activities.
- Here is the Transparent Assignment Template adapted for the HCC Canvas Starter Kit.
- Link to tutorials that help show students how to complete the activity. For example, Canvas student tutorials about how to reply to a discussion or submit an assignment.
- Optionally add rubrics to your Canvas assignments and discussions. Here are some sample discussion rubrics. Another alternative is sharing student exemplars (see standard 4.8).
Examples
The bottom of the transparent teaching site has several examples of transparent assignments. Here is part of one example:
Original Research Poster Reading Assignment Instructions
Read through your example scientific poster and answer the following questions.
More Transparent Introduction to Research Poster Reading Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze an existing scientific poster. This will increase your familiarity with how scientific posters are constructed and will help you later in the course when you research, design, and create your own effective poster with sufficient scientific evidence that supports your conclusion. As a result of completing this assignment, you will be able to identify the sources of scientific information, interpret the results, and critically analyze the scientific merit of the conclusion of an existing scientific poster.
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