Accentuate the positive
- Make clear the purpose of the assignment in the context of the course.
- Make the assignment interesting and clearly relevant to the students and course material.
- Make the assignment do-able in a reasonable amount of time.
- Provide and briefly discuss models of the assignment, so that students will know what you’re expecting (the added benefit is that they will see that you are interested in the product).
- Make it clear that you are interested in the process as well as the product of the assignment.
Make the process transparent
- Make the topic narrowly focused.
- Ask students to submit an early draft for review.
- Set aside time for students to work in peer response groups.
- Make the final product a portfolio of work, not just a report or paper: require students to prepare an annotated bibliography.
- Ask students to submit all drafts and notes along with the final product.
- Ask students to write a short reflection on the process of working on the assignment.
For more information, see Berkeley Campus Code of Student Conduct