The purpose of this Brief is to describe the use of formative assessment processes with students with disabilities during distance learning. Formative assessment is important for all kinds of learning, and especially focuses students on learning and evidence of learning. This Brief presents five strategies that can be used to support student…

This essay describes an adaptable, multimodal assignment in which students create a comic in lieu of a traditional essay or exam. I outline the theoretical and practical value of this assignment and provide a detailed description of its implementation in two different literature courses: an introduction to the major course and a course on…

Many tertiary-level courses assess students' participation in tutorial or online discussions. However, in educational and pedagogical research literature, criteria for assessing students' skills in engaging with peers remain unclear. This article describes an online assignment with a set of participation criteria and a method for assessing the…

Writing has special importance in anthropology. Writing fieldnotes is a central methodology for documenting and analyzing culture, and written personal reflections upon this process are viewed as providing insight into how knowledge is produced by a "situated" researcher. That said, there is little discussion in the discipline about the…

The development, implementation, review, and subsequent revision of a capstone assignment during teacher education candidates' field experience and the assignments-related rubric was based on research that points teacher education programs to give candidates experiences in rethinking their views of pedagogy as they integrate technology into the…

This paper presents examples of rubrics that can be used in the assessment of the acquisition of generic skills in accounting education. A rubric is a matrix containing the various factors of an assignment along one dimension (rows) and descriptors of the qualitative levels of accomplishment along the other dimension (columns). A rubric can…

In this article, we articulate five principles of curriculum design and illustrate their application in a third-year undergraduate course for environmental and ecological scientists. In this way, we provide a practical framework for others wishing to enhance their students' learning. To apply the five principles, we created a learning environment…

A seminar was held in England in 1981 to come up with a systematic, detailed analysis of argument and with suggestions on how it should be taught on the secondary level. Within a framework of questions designed to distinguish types and purposes of argument, members of the seminar analyzed four essays paragraph by paragraph. Their comments…

This paper discusses rubrics as models of evaluation within a constructivist learning environment. Reasons why rubrics are an appropriate way of evaluating assignments and aspects of importance that are addressed by rubrics are listed. Several World Wide Web sites to gain an understanding and knowledge base through which to further discuss rubrics…

Explores the use of multimedia in assignments that are submitted on compact disks. Examines the sources of media available, including video, still images, and sound; techniques for editing and incorporating media files, including appropriate software; compact disk technology; copyright; assessment criteria; equal opportunity considerations; and…

Because reference librarians at San Antonio College (Texas) often found themselves facing the difficult situation of assisting students who were struggling with ill-conceived, faculty-designed library assignments, they developed a 2-hour workshop for faculty on the construction of course-related assignments. This collection of workshop-related…

Discusses abuse of the Internet as an information source for classroom assignments and emphasizes the need for librarians to teach students and staff to evaluate information sources. Considers content, source, access, and structure, and lists Web sites that have evaluation guidelines as well as examples of bad sites. (LRW)

A credit-rated tandem course unit has been running at the University of Manchester for the past six years and an element of peer assessment has always been present in the assessment procedure. Unfortunately, the course leaders found that this element was not entirely satisfactory. Although there were clear criteria in the course documentation for…

Research indicates that the quality of classroom assignments makes a difference in student learning. Moreover, assignment quality varies between teachers even within the same school and there is room for improvement in many of the assignments that teachers provide to students. Assignment quality, as described in this book, puts into practice…

This paper reports on the use of reflexive practice activities designed to enhance learning for first year law students at James Cook University, Australia. The paper considers various aspects of student learning and explores connections between reflexive practice and concepts such as deep learning, understanding, motivation and engagement, and…