02 01 assignment instructions

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4 Tips for Writing Good Online Assignment Instructions

Audrey Wick is an English professor at Blinn College in central Texas.

Instructors in higher education classrooms want students to rise to their expectations. They also want students to be academically successful because effective completion of a college course is a win-win for both the student and the instructor.

To help students meet the challenges of their college-level assignments, instructors should take care to craft assignment instructions that are clear, concise, and attainable. As you get started, here’s what to consider:

Itemize the Minimum Assignment Requirements

There are many approaches to writing assignments, but don’t bury information. Front the most important requirements, especially those that are minimum standards for an assignment to be accepted. For instance, in a writing assignment, instructors may want to specify requirements, for example:

• 500 words minimum
• At least 2 sources
• Modern Language Association (MLA) style
• Due to digital dropbox in Blackboard by Thursday, September 24 at 5:00 p.m. (ET)

For an exam, instructors may include things like:

• 50 multiple-choice questions
• 60-minute time limit
• Closed-note/closed-book exam
• Proctored through Honorlock in the eCampus digital classroom
• Deadline = Wednesday, September 30 by 7:00 p.m. (ET)

Avoid acronyms, confusing abbreviations or other ambiguous information in directions. Identifying exact hourly deadlines and avoiding confusion of midnight versus midday 12:00 p.m. noon references may be necessary, especially if students are enrolled in the class from various time zones.

Do Not Overwhelm Students with “Don’ts”

It may be tempting to list items students should avoid—whether topic choices or style considerations or instructional pet peeves—in assignment directions. But listing too many “don’ts” can strike a note of discord with students who may otherwise be eager to please.

Try to find a balance of including what you want students to do, as well as what you want them to avoid, on the assignment directions. You can always direct them to other locations for more information to augment the directions, such as a list of policies on the course syllabus, examples students can use as models or even a rubric for grading to help students manage instructional expectations.

End with Positivity

Show students you’re rooting for their success . Adding a cheerful or encouraging message to the end of the assignment directions will remind students you want them to be successful. And, isn’t it always nice to see reassuring words? A few examples:

• “I look forward to seeing your projects!”
• “Have fun with this assignment—and be creative.”
• “This reflection essay is going to be a great way to end the week!”
• “Good luck as you work on this.”

Students, especially those first-semester college students and those returning after a hiatus, often appreciate that extra bit of encouragement.

Consider Additional Accessibility Concerns

If your institution has certain requirements for your student population related to online standards or digital accessibility, be sure to take those into account before publishing online assignment instructions.

Font styles, color choices and text effects (like bolding, underlining, CAPS, etc.) as well as the use of images and multimedia files can be problematic for some screen readers .

Additionally, certain adjustments may need to be made for compliance in the case of students who have special accommodations for the class. Be sure to visit with leadership and staff members at your institution if this is the case for you.

For more strategies for creating an effective online course, download our free ebook .

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When you are teaching a face-to-face course, you have some freedom to provide assignment instructions to your students that are somewhat imprecise. This is because you have the opportunity to provide further clarification or to answer any questions in person when your students are right in front of you. In an online course, however, assignment instructions should be maximally clear without any vagueness or ambiguity. Without your students sitting in front of you in real time, you won’t have as much of an opportunity to provide further clarification on assignment instructions that are less than precise.

When writing assignment instructions, the goal should be to provide as much precision, clarity, and specificity needed to ensure students have all the information they will need to be successful in their work on the assignment. The following are several attributes of well-written assignment instructions in an online course:

When writing instructions for online course materials, it can be helpful to imagine that you would never be able to provide further clarification on the assignment instructions or make any future edits. The kind of clarity you would provide if you knew you would never be able to provide further clarification is what you should strive for when writing assignment instructions for online course materials. Even if you end up teaching the course yourself, the reality is that the direct interaction with your students is likely to be asynchronous at best and nonexistent at worst. So you should aim to set students up for success with the quality and precision of the online course materials and assignment instructions that you author from the very beginning.

Have an idea for how to make assignment instructions as clear and precise as possible? Let us know about it in the comments section and join the conversation!

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1.1: Assignment- Narrative Essay—Prewriting and Drafting

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• Lumen Learning

For this assignment, you will begin working on a narrative essay. At this stage, you will work through the prewriting and drafting steps of the writing process.

Narrative Essay Prompt

Choose one of the following topics to write your own narrative essay. The topic you decide on should be something you care about, and the narration should be a means of communicating an idea that ties to the essay’s theme. Remember in this essay, the narration is not an end in itself.

• Gaining independence
• A friend’s sacrifice
• A significant trip with your family
• A wedding or a funeral
• An incident from family legend

The World Around You

• A storm, a flood, an earthquake, or another natural event
• A school event
• The most important minutes of a sporting event

Lessons of Daily Life

• A time you confronted authority
• A time you had to deliver bad news
• Your biggest social blunder
• Your first day of school
• The first performance you gave
• A first date

Getting Started on Your Narrative Essay

STEP 1 : To get started writing, first pick at least one prewriting strategy (brainstorming, rewriting, journaling, mapping, questioning, sketching) to develop ideas for your essay. Write down what you do, as you’ll need to submit evidence of your prewrite.

Remember that “story starters” are everywhere. Think about it—status updates on social media websites can be a good place to start—you may have already started a “note” to post on social media, and now is your chance to develop that idea into a full narrative. If you keep a journal or diary, a simple event may unfold into a narrative. Simply said, your stories may be closer than you think!

STEP 2: Next, write an outline for your essay. Organize the essay in a way that:

• Establishes the situation [introduction] ;
• Introduces the complication(s) [body] ; and
• States the lesson you learned [conclusion]

STEP 3: Lastly, write a first draft of your essay. Remember, When drafting your essay:

• Develop an enticing title—but don’t let yourself get stuck on the title! A great title might suggest itself after you’ve begun the prewriting and drafting processes.
• Use the introduction to establish the situation the essay will address.
• Avoid addressing the assignment directly. (For example, don’t write “I am going to write about my most significant experience,” because this takes the fun out of reading the work!)
• Think of things said at the moment this experience started for you—perhaps use a quote, or an interesting part of the experience that will grab the reader.
• Let the story reflect your own voice. (Is your voice serious? Humorous? Matter-of-fact?)
• To avoid just telling what happens, make sure your essay takes time to reflect on why this experience is significant.

Assignment Instructions

• Choose a writing prompt as listed above on this page.
• Review the grading rubric as listed below this page.
• Create a prewrite in the style of your choice for the prompt.
• Create an outline for your essay.
• Minimum of 3 typed, double-spaced pages (about 600–750 words), Times New Roman, 12 pt font size
• MLA formatting
• Submit your prewriting and draft as a single file upload.

Requirements

Be sure to:

• Decide on something you care about so that the narration is a means of communicating an idea.
• Include characters, conflict, sensory details.
• Create a sequence of events in a plot.
• Develop an enticing title.
• Use the introduction to pull the reader into your singular experience.
• Avoid addressing the assignment directly. (don’t write “I am going to write about…”—this takes the fun out of reading the work!)
• Let the essay reflect your own voice (Is your voice serious? Humorous? Matter-of-fact?)
• Avoid telling just what happens by making sure your essay reflects on why this experience is significant.

If you developed your prewriting by hand on paper, scan or take a picture of your prewriting, load the image onto your computer, and then insert the image on a separate page after your draft.

Contributors and Attributions

• Authored by : Daryl Smith O' Hare and Susan C. Hines. Provided by : Chadron State College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution

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2.1: Pre-lab assignment

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A critical skill you will gain in this module is to be able to correctly use volumetric pipettes and volumetric flasks to create solutions. Please prepare by reading all of the contents of Module 2 and watch the videos below to learn how to use the volumetric glassware correctly.

Pre-Lab Assignment

• Read the contents of this module
• Download the example calibration template (Excel document), open it, and examine its contents (it is linked within the reading assignment in this module and copied here for convenience:  Link for Duke Students ).
• Draw the structure of bromocresol green in its basic and acidic forms. Which is the form you will measure, and what is the wavelength used to monitor its concentration?
• Transcribe a table into your notebook so that you have an organized place to record absorbance readings. Leave room to record three absorbance readings for each solution F through B (you will read them backward, in the order F, E, D, C, B) and to record the average and standard deviation of those readings. You will also need a place to record readings for the "control" solution and the "unknown solution".
• Calculate the molarity of bromocresol green in each solution. ( Remember: \(M_1V_1=M_2V_2\).) Also calculate the error associated with each solution's concentration.

You should complete the above tasks prior to the start of your laboratory period.

Instructions

Watch the following videos. The first two videos explain the correct use of volumetric pipettes and bulbs. The third video explains the correct use of volumetric flasks. And the fourth explains how to use automatic pipettes.

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• Watch or read the following topics.
• Complete the W01 Practice Quiz in Canvas .

Practice Videos and Text

Watch OR read the topics. Here are the direct links:

Tips for Being a Successful Online Student

Find a quiet and distraction-free area where you can study. This may be in your home, at a church, or a quiet public setting. Creating or finding this space will help you focus, and this will allow you to spend more time on study and less on distractions. BUS 105 Tips The skills you learn each week are the foundation for building more complex Excel worksheets in the future. Being comfortable with these skills can help you be successful in other areas of your life. Take time to create spreadsheets outside of class for budgeting, tracking expenses, or making lists to help you become more comfortable using Excel. 

Week 1-01 Getting Started with Microsoft Excel Mobile App 

• To get started with your mobile smartphone, go to the Google Play store or Apple App store.
• Find the Excel App.
• Download the Excel App onto your phone.

Example from the Apple App store:

Week 1-02 Downloading, Saving, and Submitting

Under the course in the canvas app, go to the modules tab.

Click on the weekly project.

Select the link to go to the textbook.

Scroll down to the link to the assignment and select it.

Select open in excel.

Once in the assignment, to save it, select the three dots in the upper right hand corner.

Select save as.

Select your device as the save location.

Save the assignment somewhere you can find it.

Go back to canvas.

Exit the textbook.

Select submit assignment.

Select File Upload.

Select this device.

Select the file to submit for the assignment.

If the file isn’t in recent files go to where you was saved.

Hit submit.

This content is provided to you freely by BYU-I Books.

Access it online or download it at https://books.byui.edu/spreadsheet_essentials/w01_practice__mobile .