Assignment briefs

How do students know what to do for their assignments?

The assignment brief is a key document in helping students understand what is expected of them in their assignments. One of the biggest challenges is to make this document as clear as possible. Have a look at the assignment brief for this course. We have tried to follow the guidance established by the Assignment Brief Consulting group. This guidance was based on research into existing assignment tasks. You may want to read Fiona Gilbert's paper on 'Written assignment types in assessment: a varied and healthy diet?' (Gilbert 2012 in BJeLT vol.4 no.1)

There are other models for writing assignment briefs. Watch this video from Manchester Metropolitan University that discusses an alternative approach to assignment briefs.

Whichever approach you take the key aim is to make sure students understand what is required in the assignment to give them the best chance of being successful.

Helping students understand the task

A useful resource that will help your students understand the assessment process is the Higher Education Assignment Toolkit (HEAT). You may even want to go through the process as part of preparing for the virtual conference on this course.