Skip to Content

Encourage 'time and effort' on challenging learning tasks

Encourage 'time and effort' on challenging learning tasks

  • Are your assessments designed to encourage students to work in and out of class throughout the semester or year?
  • Can the students see the relevance of the assessment task?

This is particularly useful in helping first year students’ transition to University level study.  Spreading activities either as discrete pieces of work or building up to make a single piece of work throughout the module brings balance to the student workload and can encourage deep learning.  This approach also provides opportunities for ongoing feedback.  Even if marks are attached to the individual elements (summative assessment) the activities will also be formative assessments, because students should be able to build on the feedback provided for the next or subsequent stages or elements. 

Although a particularly useful approach to use with first year students, this can be extended to students in other years.

 Adapted from REAP and the Viewpoints Project e-AFFECT and JISC Logos
Some ways to do this... Technologies to consider...
Students complete a number of small summative assessments with regular feedback Online Testing/ Written Feedback Tools
Group work activities or large assessment broken down into smaller tasks. Progress is monitored and feedback provided in a staged way over the course of the module Collaboration Tools/ Written Feedback Tools/ Peer to Peer Tools
Get students to set their own schedule for completing an assignment task with milestones. Marks could be awarded if the student delivers as planned and on time Written Feedback Tools
Portfolio of activities that is taken in regularly - the activities could become progressively more challenging Portfolio Tools
Regular activities to be completed in class Interactive Voting/ Lecture Participation
Provide opportunities to practise skills before doing the assessed work Online Testing/ Written Feedback Tools
Mock exams or provide opportunities for students to do past exam questions with feedback in a safe environment Online Testing/ Screen Recording
Staged final year projects - literature review delivered first Online Submission
Have students prepare basic material prior to a session and use the time for more in depth activities Collaboration Tools
Explain the rationale for the assessment task Screen Recording Tools/ Sound Recording

Some Queen’s examples