Design

Example: Low-Stakes Assignment

Value

*Low-stakes assignments will probably be worth 10% or less.

Sample Value: This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade.

Background

*Provide a rationale for the assignment. Why are students completing this work? It can be useful to reference the course GLOs to demonstrate how the assignment aligns with the course’s learning outcomes. This type of assignment likely assesses one to two learning outcomes, but generally does not integrate or assess learning outcomes across the breadth of the course. Examples of low-stakes assignments might include reflection papers, short presentations without a written components, annotated bibliographies and other specifically-focused assignments.

Sample Rationale: This article summary assignment will give you an opportunity to contemplate, research, and discuss different perspectives on contemporary justice issues. Communication skills such as the ability to clearly and accurately summarize the key arguments of an article in the context of a broader debate are important for academic and long-term professional success. The assignment requires you to conduct research in newspapers, blogs, and websites to identify an author’s key points, succinctly and clearly summarize the article for others in the context of a discussion.

This assignment supports the following General Learning Outcomes [list them].

Instructions

*Provide clear, step-by-step instructions for how students can complete the assignment.

Sample Instructions:

1. Your instructor will provide a list of peer-reviewed articles. You will select an article and then write a summary of that article’s key points. Your summary should be between 400-500 words.
2. This is *not* a research assignment. You are not required to do any research to successfully complete this assignment.
3. An example of an article summary will be posted on Moodle for you to view.
4. Once you’ve selected an article summary, you will write your summary. The summary should address the following points:
   1. Indicate how this article is relevant to our current course discussions and focus.
   2. Reference the author’s academic or professional credentials.
   3. Indicate key questions or issues that arise in this article.
   4. Outline, in your own words, the author’s key points and arguments.
   5. Include a brief assessment of the merits of the article.
   6. Provide one strength and one weakness of the author’s work.
5. Ensure that the summary is double-spaced and uses 12-point Times New Roman font. Spelling and grammar will be graded, so you must proofread!
6. If you have little or no experience writing at a college level, please note the following resources:
   1. NorQuest College Library Resources for Writers
   2. NorQuest Writing Centre
7. Assignments can/must be submitted in the Moodle assignment dropbox, in Word or in another .doc or .docx format (no PDFs). Paper assignments will/will not be accepted.
8. Late assignments will receive a deduction of X% per calendar day. Exceptions will be made in cases of illness (supported by appropriate medical documentation) or with prior arrangement with your instructor.
9. Deadlines will be announced in class and in Moodle, and you should plan to begin work early in the term to avoid last-minute submissions. Consider this assignment your opportunity to integrate what you’ve learned throughout the course.
10. You will be assessed using the assignment rubric below: [the assignment instructions would have a rubric attached here]

Example: High-Stakes Assignment

Value

*High-stakes assignments will probably be worth at least 20% or more.

Sample Value: This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade.

Background

*Provide a rationale for the assignment. Why are students completing this work? It can be useful to reference the course GLOs to demonstrate how the assignment aligns with the course’s learning outcomes. This type of assignment is likely something that requires integration of a variety of theoretical and practical skills. Examples of high-stakes assignments include research papers, case studies, research projects, and other integrative assignments.

Sample Rationale: This research essay assignment provides you with the opportunity to delve a bit deeper into a topic in this course. You will complete research, write an essay, and create citations, all of which are important academic skills.

Instructions

Provide clear, step-by-step instructions for how students should complete the assignment.

Sample instructions:

1. Use one of the following topics listed below to write a three- to five-page (approximately 1000 to 1200 word) essay, not including the reference page. This does not include in-text citations or images.
   1. Topic 1
   2. Topic 2
   3. Topic 3
   4. Topic 4
2. You can choose any of the topics above. Once you have decided on a topic, send your instructor an email to identify which topic you have chosen. If you’d like to do a topic of your own choosing, contact the instructor first for approval.
3. You must support your essay’s argument with 3 to 5 scholarly research sources. Please see point #4 below for further information about choosing scholarly sources. You may reference your textbook and other course materials, but these do/do not count towards your 3 to 5 scholarly sources. In order for your essay to be well-supported, consider including (at a minimum) 2 references to scholarly material in each of your body paragraphs.
4. Sites and articles must be “scholarly” or “reputable” (universities, public education sites, institutions, or reputable news sites such as BBC or CBC). The use of Wikipedia (or other “Wikis”) and study sites is not permitted; however, using Wikipedia or other sources to “mine” the reference list and get a head start on your own research is permitted. Any arguments you make in your essay must be supported by evidence from a reputable source. Non-ethnocentric language is required.
5. You may choose to include images in this assignment, but please note this is optional.
   If you are using images, they must be Creative Commons or public domain, and must include appropriate citations (under the image, and in the reference list). Some common websites for finding images include the following:
   1. Pixabay (all public domain)
   2. Flickr (public domain and copyright)
   3. Google Images (public domain and copyright)
   4. Wikimedia Commons (public domain and various licences)
6. Ensure that the essay is double-spaced and uses 12-point Times New Roman font. Spelling and grammar will be graded, so you must proofread!
7. Your essay must include an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs. If you have little or no experience writing at a college level, please note the following resources:
   1. NorQuest College Library Resources for Writers
   2. NorQuest Writing Centre
8. You must follow APA formatting and citation guidelines for this essay. You can find
   APA citation assistance in the following (recommended) sites:
   1. NorQuest College Library APA 6th Edition (overview of citation and guidelines)
   2. OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab (for style and citation)
   3. Knight Cite (for generating the reference list items)
9. Assignments can/must be submitted in the Moodle assignment dropbox, in Word or in another .doc or .docx format (no PDFs). Paper assignments will/will not be accepted.
10. Late assignments will receive a deduction of X% per calendar day. Exceptions will be made in cases of illness (supported by appropriate medical documentation) or with prior arrangement with your instructor.
11. Deadlines will be announced in class and in Moodle, and you should plan to begin work early in the term to avoid last-minute submissions. Consider this assignment your opportunity to integrate what you’ve learned throughout the course.
12. You will be assessed using the assignment rubric below: [the assignment instructions would have a rubric attached here]