Deciding What Type of Writing Assignments to Use
The Second-Level Writing Handbook // Creating and Implementing Effective Writing Assignments // Responding to Student Writing // In-Class Writing Activities // Peer Response // Preventing Plagiarism // OSU Resources.
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As you choose the best type of assignment for a given class or project, you should also consider how you wish to employ that assignment, given the following options and information:
Ideally, your course would include both types of writing as the two forms work well together. For example, you might use an informal assignment as a starting point for a formal assignment that comes later. Informal writing often focuses on raw content and ideas as opposed to finished thoughts and polished text. Informal work is helpful in getting students to generate ideas in a more relaxed fashion and/or shorter period of time; it also helps instructors with their grading loads since informal writing may be read quickly and responded to succinctly. You may also decide not to grade or even collect the informal writing; instead, have the students respond to each other's work in peer response or small group sessions. Strategic informal writing assignments often help students to produce better formal texts since they have had time to develop their ideas and practice writing about them.
Combining these two types of writing assignments can add variety to your course and encourage your students to practice different skills. Generally, in-class assignments will have to be brief and to the point, and they should support the class material and activities as much as possible. For example, you might assign a short in-class writing that asks students to develop critical questions for that day's reading or to write a short reading response, both of which are designed to improve class discussion. In-class assignments also lend themselves to collaborative work since the students are on-site and available for peer response, small group work, etc.
Out-of-class assignments may be longer and require more student involvement in terms of background reading, research, or cumulative work over time (such as a reading log). Out-of-class writing may be formal or informal, depending on the goals and timing of the assignment. This type of writing is effective if you want the students to arrive in class with prepared and/or polished work. You may also use collaborative assignments here, but be sure to allow enough time and logistical guidance if students are required to meet outside of class.
Whichever assignments you choose, be sure that they encourage students to conceive of and practice their writing in terms of process. There are many ways to accomplish this. Overall, the assignments on your syllabus should make sense as some sort of process in terms of writing and/or the course material, even if the individual assignments are varied and distinct. You might also consider linking assignments so that they function both as individual units and as complementary projects. An example of this would be to assign an annotated bibliography or research proposal as an assignment that emphasizes research and planning; then, you could assign a research paper to follow later in the quarter. While the paper uses additional skills, it builds on the work done previously in the research assignment(s). Finally, within individual writing assignments it is important to emphasize elements of writing process: brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading (for the writer) as well as reviewing, responding, and evaluating (by the readers).
