help.unc.edu | my.unc.edu

Developing Assignments

To help students acquire and develop key skills, and to check on their progress, most teachers plan and assign tasks and projects that students need to complete outside of class time. Good planning is necessary to be sure these assignments are linked to course goals and that they are conceptually and chronologically in synch with course reading and class work.

Technology can help.

Reading Assignments.
You can use the internet in several ways to support reading assignments. You can provide readings on your course web site, or you can provide links to readings that are located elsewhere on the internet, or simply provide students with the appropriate internet locations in class or by email or list serv message. Also, the Electronic Reserves program of the University Libraries (e-reserves) can help you make published documents and texts available to your students via the internet.

Research assignments.
Research assignments involve locating and assessing information relevant to a topic or hypothesis of interest. Assignments may be focused on finding and/or evaluating literature, data, non-print information resources, primary sources and documents, laboratory findings, observations, or other kinds of information. IT tools associated with information storage, access, retrieval, recording, and presentation can play a large role in such assignments. Library research services and IT tools can be helpful in planning and developing research assignments, and can also provide support for your students as they engage with the research process.

Writing assignments.
Many teachers make writing assignments to encourage students to think critically about issues, ideas, and processes taught within a course. The fact that it's fairly difficult to write without thinking makes writing a favored assignment type. Writing often involves thought at a fairly high level, incorporating synthesis of ideas, critical evaluation of evidence, and documentation of ideas to support an argument. Writing assignments may also require doing research to find relevant information and data. New technologies have had an immense impact on the process of writing as well as the process of preparing to write. Writing may take place on individual desktop computers or in on-line writing space. It can also be evaluated and reviewed by a variety of audiences. Web site publishing and communication tools and editing options in word processing software open up a range of possibilities for supporting the development of student writing and thinking skills.

Problem-solving assignments.
In these kinds of assignments, teachers create opportunities for students to apply learned course information and skills to actual problems that require this knowledge in order to solve or address them. Assignments might take the form of case studies, tutorials, problem sets, simulations, etc. The major defining characteristic is that they require the student to use acquired knowledge and skills to engage with a situation, problem, or phenomenon. There are a number of IT services and software packages on campus designed to help create these active learning tools and strategies and to make them easily accessible to students. Problem-solving exercises can be distributed to students on CD-ROM or via the internet.

Glossary of Related Terms.

Acrobat (Adobe)
AFS space
Authoring (Multimedia Authoring)
Blackboard
CBT (Computer Based Training)
CITRIX
Computer labs
Course management software
Digital images
Digital video
Discussion forums
Dreamweaver (Macromedia)
File transfer and upload
Flash (Macromedia)
Graphics software
Library instructional services
Office (Microsoft)
Multimedia
PDF
PowerPoint (Microsoft)
Presentation software
Scanning
Web sites
Web page software

next section: Preparing Students for Class or Lab

Contact Us
email: itconnections@unc.edu
CTL: Tel 919-966-1289 | Fax: 919-962-5236
CIT: Tel 919-962-6042 | Fax 919-962-0784