Why Give Assignments?

2. Why Give Assignments? • Gauge what students have learned. • Assess their ability to express themselves in writing. • Test their comprehension of course material. • Look for the extent to which they can synthesize disparate views on a topic. • See what they got from the experiment.

3. Why Give Assignments? • Provide an opportunity to practice skills of close observation and analysis. • Help them learn how to describe different positions on an issue in the discipline and evaluate those positions. • Acquire the conventions of writing in my discipline. • Get them to think critically.

4. Orientation of Assignments • Learning-Oriented • Particularized • Multiple texts • Goal-driven • Integrated • Assessment-Oriented • Generalized • Single texts • Format-driven • Not integrated

5. Orientation of Assignments • Learning-Oriented • Particularized • Multiple texts • Goal-driven • Integrated • Assessment-Oriented • Generalized • Single texts • Format-driven • Not integrated

6. Paper-as-Test Model ACTIVITIES Paper Paper

7. Paper-as-Test (Plus Accountability) ACTIVITIES Paper plus “evidence” Paper plus “evidence”

8. Semi-Integrated Model ACTIVITIES Paper Paper

9. Fully Integrated Model ACTIVITIES WRITING Paper WRITING ACTIVITIES Paper WRITING

10. The Instructional Design Model Develop Goals for Student Learning Selection & Design of Assignments Informal Formal Create Supporting Activities for Student Learning Evaluate Learning

11. The Instructional Design Model Selection & Design of Assignments Develop Goals for Student Learning Informal Formal Create Supporting Activities for Student Learning Evaluate Learning

12. Consider. . . • Read the Art History assignment. • In a small group, articulate 2-3 learning goals for this assignment. • For each goal, think up one activity (in-class or out) that would help support the goal. • Now reassess the assignment: can you accomplish your goals with a series of separate activities, or do you want to assign the entire paper?

13. Art History 101 Assignment • Learning-Oriented • Particularized • Multiple texts • Goal-driven • Integrated • Plagiarism is hard/unalluring • Assessment-Oriented • Generalized • Single texts • Format-driven • Not integrated • Plagiarism is easy/alluring

14. My Experiment in Plagiarism • I tried to create a paper responding to the Art History 101 assignment without using my own words. Focus: Gauguin’s The Yellow Christ(1889). • My “research” for this dubious task involved several dozen Web sites and one book that included a brief section on Gauguin.

15. What Happened? • It took me two sittings of about an hour each to do the “research” for text not my own, and then about an hour to assemble a paper that was somewhat shorter than required. • Finding research that “fit” the biography section took me to eleven sites. • Each site had both unique and overlapping information that I had to read and consider.

16. What Happened? • Searching for something at the right level of generality was challenging. • In the process of searching, I was also exposed to a lot of other information. • Finding commentary on my selected piece of art was more difficult than finding biographical information. • I had to assemble a descriptive analysis from bits and pieces at different sites.

17. A Bit of My “Not-My” Text • Paul Gauguin’s The Yellow Christ (1889) • On loan from the Albright Knox Gallery (Buffalo); Centerville Museum of Art • Paul Gauguin was born on June 7, 1848, in Paris and lived in Lima, Peru, from 1851 to 1855. He served in the merchant marines from 1865 to 1871 and traveled in the tropics. Gauguin later worked as a stockbroker’s clerk in Paris but painted in his free time.

18. Skills I Practiced • Internet searching • Reading and comparing • Assessing usefulness of text • Selecting relevant material • Weighing appropriateness of “level” (syntax, diction, complexity, cross-references) • Making splicing of material plausible (assessing “connective tissue” of text) • Comparing result to my style, ability, etc.

19. Consider Goals • Goal: Learn about an artist in the context of a work you’ve found in a museum. • Goal: Practice taking someone else’s words (about an artist) and putting them into your own words. • Goal: Learn how to tell others, orally, something about an artist in a way that will interest and motivate them.

20. Suggestions • Begin with goals • Let activities and assignments follow (they may or may not involve writing) • Mix high- and low-stakes tasks • Avoid formulaic “school” genres • Break down large assignments into smaller tasks and activities.

21. What About Large(r) Classes? • Design unique assignments. • Use series of short, less formal assignments and assess for evidence of learning and engagement. • Allow specifics of classroom to enter into the “genre” of the writing. • Combine writing with other media • Use writing in the class.

22. Summary • Our view of plagiarism is often shaped by our assumptions about what writing is for in our classes. • Starting with learning goals can help us to create assignments that engage students and make it difficult and unnecessary for them to plagiarize. • Starting with goals can also help us to put writing into the context of other learning tools and media.