During the first few weeks of January, the Instructional Design Team will be running a slate of workshops on teaching and tech topics. Our tips emails will reflect some of the content of those workshops. First up, fresh from last week's assessment workshop here are 12 ways to update an assignment. Check out our tech hacks, then look down the list and see if anything makes sense for your class!

Quick Tech Hack

Let Canvas check your course for you! Canvas has a whole-course link-checker, plus an accessibility checker that works anywhere you type (pages, assignment/discussion prompts, etc.). Just click the little person in the circle to help make your class more accessible. Also - keep updating your Zoom! Zoom has been releasing about an update a week this fall, so check regularly.

Main Article: 12 Ways to Update an Assignment

Foundational - great ideas for any class

Revisit your prompt- assignment prompts can feel like they are in a constant state of revision. Mary-Ann Winkelmas, of the Transparency in Learning and Teaching project (TILT Higher Ed), recommends a prompt communicate 3 things: purpose, task, and criteria for success. Learn more in her 4 short videos.

Great Practices- smaller shifts to support students

De-mystify excellence with rubrics, checklists and models. Some students will always remain confused, no matter how good our instructions. These strategies can help students understand our expectations.
Create intermediate checkpoints for feedback - drafts, peer reviews, practice tests, etc. all allow students to get feedback on their progress towards mastery *before* a high stakes assessment. Watch a recording of an assessment workshop to learn more about checkpoints.
Have students annotate the prompt - Assign students to mark up the assignment instructions. Have them circle, underline, write questions and try to restate the assignment in their own words, then debrief. A quick exercise that does wonders to clarify complex assignments.
Do a peer review - with your rubric! - Have students use a version of your rubric or checklist to assess a peer's work for a deeper understanding of your evaluation criteria.
Assign a revision plan - Ask students to read peer or instructor feedback, prioritize suggestions, and write a plan for changes they want to make.
Do student conferences. Meet with students one-on-one to discuss progress and/or set goals. Not enough time for everyone? Meet with the students struggling most.
Do a think-aloud - Students still not getting it? Locate a problem similar to the one your students are going to tackle, and verbally (or physically) walk through how you would approach it. Watching an expert break down their practice step by step can be a powerful learning tool.

Exemplary: redesign practices that require a little more time

Investigate student success - Look at past student grades. Are there any patterns about who has done well and who hasn't? See if this gives you insight into what supports may be needed to help all students succeed.
Have students participate in their own assessment. Help students direct their learning by assessing their own work, setting goals or criterion for projects, or choosing semester-long personal growth areas. Discuss these at individual conferences; perhaps self-assessment becomes an aspect of their final grade.
Make your assessment more authentic - Have your students address a real-world problem. Can they write for a real (or realistic) audience? Participate in a debate? Turn their knowledge into a newspaper article, poster presentation or a lesson plan? Read more here.
Add elements of choice - Allow students choice in demonstrating mastery. For example, they could choose their topic, or be assigned a topic but allowed to choose the format. Check out this UnEssay assignment to see an example of choice.

Further Reading:

Authentic Assessment (Links to an external site.) - Breana Bayraktar.
Alternatives Assessments (Links to an external site.) - Kentucky Community & Technical College System. Scroll halfway down the page to see this section.
Research Paper Alternatives (Links to an external site.) - Breana Bayraktar.
See more examples of UnEssay assignments with Twitter hashtags #UnEssay and #UnEssays.
Ungrading - by Susan Blum in Inside Higher Ed
UDL Assessment for Distance Education (Links to an external site.) Recording of SSU's Johannah Morgen's May 2020 workshop. Lots of tips for student-centered assessment. Approximately 1 hour.