| Assignments are exercises, usually essays or other writing, that distance learners are
expected to complete at regular intervals throughout their course. The assignment serves
two main purposes. First it provides students with a vehicle for organizing their
understanding of what they are studying. People seldom learn only by listening or
observing, but must practice and in other ways engage themselves with the subject of their
study. The assignment is a planned and controlled technique for providing this engagement. Second,
the assignment provides instructors with feedback that helps them determine that their
students are mastering the subject, and to identify individual problems that may require
remedial action. For the students, receiving the instructor's comments about their
assignments is particularly important in maintaining motivation. Assignments must be
carefully designed, to fit with course, module and unit objectives. In institutions where
students are graded, the system for determining grades of each assignment, standardizing
and monitoring the grading is a complex administrative as well as teaching process.
- More on assignments
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- Welch, T. 1999. Evaluating the quality of assessment in
teacher development programmes. Paper presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference
held 11-13 August 1999
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