Use this very simple checklist to assess your assignment design.
Purpose:
- What is the assignment asking students to do?
- Does what the assignment asks match the author’s purposes (given the nature of the class, etc.)?
- Is there a discernible central question or task?
Clarity:
- Is the assignment clear?
- Are there words or phrases that might be confusing or unclear to the intended audience?
- Is the assignment itself separate from thought questions or process suggestions?
Format and Organization:
- Look at the layout on the page. Is there a long narrative of unbroken text?
- A long series of questions?
- How is it organized?
- Do the layout and order help the audience understand the assignment?
- Can it be broken into steps or paragraphs?
- Are suggestions separated from the assignment itself?
- If the assignment is a major essay, are there any steps or process work assigned along the way to the final draft?
Adapted from Gail Offen-Brown, College Writing 300, UC Berkeley, Fall 2005