Writing and Sequencing Assignments Christopher J. Bilodeau, Ph.D. Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, USA

Content of Workshop 1.Bloom’s Taxonomy 2.Principles of Assignment Design 3.Sequencing Assignments 4.Discussion

Bloom’s Taxonomy: A Vocabulary for Instruction

Bloom’s Taxonomy and Keywords Remembering: recognizing, listing, describing, identifying, retrieving, naming, locating, finding Understanding: interpreting, summarizing, inferring, paraphrasing, classifying, comparing, explaining, exemplifying Applying: implementing, carrying out, using, executing Analyzing: comparing, organizing, deconstructing, attributing, outlining, finding, structuring, integrating Evaluating: checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging, testing, detecting, monitoring Creating: designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising, making

Assessing Your Students and Your Writing Assignments Where would you place your students’ educational level within Bloom’s taxonomy? Where would you place your first assignment within Bloom’s taxonomy? What is the relationship between the two: i.e., where are your students in relation to your assignment? Are the skills implicit in your assignment far beyond what your students are able to do? Where does your last assignment end up on the pyramid?

Principles of Assignment Design, Part I 1. Topic What do you want your students to do (describe, analyze, synthesize, and so on)? Are you telling them to do what you want them to do? Are you asking for one thing, assigning another, and grade on something you did not assign? 2. Audience Most students believe the audience is the grader, professor, teacher Can be explicit by placing your audience in the writing assignment

Principles of Assignment Design, Part II 3. Purpose What is the purpose of the assignment? First-year writers often have difficulty discovering their own purposes for assignments. By stating the purpose, you can enhance motivation and sharpen their focus. 4. Writing Process If you are taking a process approach, you should specify what kinds of planning exercises and revision you require.

Principles of Assignment Design, Part III 5. Format How long? What kind of documentation? How many sources, if any?

Sequencing Assignments Two questions for those that write assignments: What do you want your students to learn, what skill do you want them to know by the end of the semester? What do you think your students will find difficult in achieving those goals?

Four Common Assignment Sequences 1.The Iterative Pattern 2.The Scaffolded Sequence 3.Dividing and Conquering 4.The Grand Tour

The Iterative Pattern Students repeat the same assignment with varying subject matter Examples: for “minor assignments,” like fifty-word assignments of course readings Several two-page “close readings” of literature texts throughout the semester Numerous experimental research reports in sciences or social sciences

The Scaffolded Sequence From simple to complex assignments students begin with simpler, more fundamental genres or ways of thinking, then move to more difficult assignments Six-page critical review, in a series of assignments: a one-page summary of one source a two-page summary and critique of a single source a four-page review of two sources (maybe with revision) a six-page review of four sources (with revision). Or close readings of sources, then later have them write a longer paper that includes these close readings to support a larger argument.

Divide and Conquer Breaking a complex assignment into smaller parts For example, breaking down the research paper into the following stages: Topic Area Statement Library Assignment Paper Prospectus First Version of Paper for Peer Review Peer Review Comments Second Version of Paper Second Peer Review Comments Final Version of Paper.

The “Grand Tour” With this approach, you vary the genre with each new assignment. So in a public policy or urban planning course (for example) you might assign a book review then a letter to the editor and finally a policy analysis Varying the assignments may make it more interesting for the students to write and for you to grade Also might help you see strengths and weaknesses of different students

Links for Further Study (on the Workshop website) On Bloom’s Taxonomy : On Sequencing Assignments: University of Wisconsin, Madison: University of Waterloo: excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing- assignments/assignment-design/sequencing-assignmentshttps://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching- excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing- assignments/assignment-design/sequencing-assignments Florida International University: courses/sequencing-assignments-within-course/ courses/sequencing-assignments-within-course/

Work for Next Seminar, April 29 Part I: Revise your three assignments, taking into consideration today’s workshop on sequencing. Part II: Consider how you might incorporate technology into one of your assignments, using any of the digital tools presented during Workshop 1 (Digital Humanities) or Workshop 2 (Blended Learning). Then, write a short description of this assignment and bring it to the next workshop on April 29.

Discussion