Assignment and its Types

 ASSIGNMENT AND ITS TYPES

An assignment is a piece of (academic) work or task. It provides opportunity for students to learn, practice and demonstrate they have achieved the learning goals. It provides the evidence for the teacher that the students have achieved the goals. The output can be judged using sensory perception. The assignment can focus on a product as output and a process and the performance of individual skills or competences. There are a lot of benefits to gain from using an assignment as an assessment method. Assignments can for instance be used to test higher cognitive abilities and the application of specific skills or knowledge. It can mirror the future professional practice. It can be used to assess the integration of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

When assessing with assignments, we should pay attention to: 

validity: we really test what we want to test; the assignment and the way we assess the results are aligned with the learning goals.

 reliability: based on the results, we make a right, just, fair, objective distinction between pass/fail or provide the just grade. Our scoring or grading is done in a consistent way and the judgments or the grades are meaningful.

 transparency: it clear upfront for the students what they will learn, what they have to do (as evidence; what to deliver or show), how they will be assessed and what to expect during the process, the assignment and the feedback provided will support the learning process.  

A good assignment assigned by a teacher depends on a factors:

▪ Laying out a task to be performed

▪ Fitting to the task a suitable procedure for accomplishing the task

▪ Teacher’s guidance and pupils will to accept the task and do it accordingly

▪ Assumption that the effective learning takes place as a result of pupil activity self imposed

The importance of assignments

❖ Provides for the arousal of interest

❖ Makes success reasonably sure.

❖ Independent study is not possible without good assignments.

❖ Stimulate thinking.

❖ Encourage initiative.

❖ Clear up misunderstanding.

❖ Strengthen morale.

❖ Develop insight.

❖ Motivation for study.

FUNCTIONS OF ASSIGNMENTS

➢ Reinforcement of learning.

➢ Initiate dialogue / pedagogical interactions.

➢ Continuous assessment.

➢ Student learning.

Characteristics of the good Assignment

❖ It is clear and definite.

❖ It should be motivating, simulative and interesting.

❖ It directs the learning activity.

❖ It removes difficulties.

❖ It takes into account previous learning.

❖ It recognizes individual differences.

❖ It is stimulating.

❖ It should be in syllabus

❖ Clear objectives

❖ Brief

❖ Stimulate reflective thinking

❖ It should be suit to the age, ability and interests of students

❖ It emphasizes essentials.

❖ It develops insight and understanding.

❖ It should be Purposeful and Relevant

Types of assignments

1) Tutor – Marked Assignment: Rely on long answer , short answer, essay type and problem solving questions set by the course team or the course writer of the faculty concerned.

2 ) Computer – Marked Assignments: It consist of objective type questions. It tests the abilities of students to recognize or recall certain facts, patterns and information or manipulate specific argument in the course material.

3) Old Type Assignments: It includes page, paragraph, topic , theme, exercise, question and experiment. They were too brief and too indefinite to stir up with interest and arouse pupils to effort.

4) New Type Assignments: They are inherit in their forms and purpose. They are unified, clear, stimulating, directive , challenging and require the exercise of much more skill and more definite preparation.

5) The Home Assignments: The complex assignment that requires great independence and ingenuity in  devising ways and means or a highly developed power in independent thinking which is not done in class.

6.) Class Assignments

7.) Individual Assignments

8.)Group Assignments

STEPS IN ASSIGNMENT MAKING

• Reference to a previous experience.

• Discussion.

• Proposal of a new activity.

• Explanations and clearing up of activity.

• Outlining materials to be used.