What Happens When an Assignment Is Unclear?

students confused over assignment
This installment of our continuing series on assignments is devoted to assignment clarity. We believe that many good assignments fall short of achieving what faculty expect because students struggle to understand what they are to do and why they are doing it. The assignment description is read differently by students who have come to believe that success on an assignment depends on figuring out what the professor wants. Deliver what the professor wants and get the good grade; assignment goals and potential learning opportunities are not often student priorities. The situation is further complicated when professors think they have been perfectly clear. They know what they want and have spent time crafting the description. Why are students confused? We’d like to try an answer that question by contrasting a couple of assignment descriptions.

To continue reading, you must be a Teaching Professor Subscriber. Please log in or sign up for full access.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles

I have two loves: teaching and learning. Although I love them for different reasons, I’ve been passionate about...
Active learning is a mostly meaningless educational buzzword. It’s a feel-good, intuitively popular term that indicates concern for...
Perhaps the earliest introduction a student has with a course is the syllabus as it’s generally the first...
Generative AI allows instructors to create interactive, self-directed review activities for their courses. The beauty of these activities...
I’ve often felt that a teacher’s life is suspended, Janus-like, between past experiences and future hopes; it’s only...
I teach first-year writing at a small liberal arts college, and on the first day of class, I...
Proponents of rubrics champion them as a means of ensuring consistency in grading, not only between students within...

Get unlimited access to The Teaching Professor

Stay informed. Subscribe Now.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.95 $14.95/month

Billed as $14.95 every month for your first 6 months, then $19.95 thereafter. Cancel or pause anytime.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of The Teaching Professor

You only have  free article views remaining.

WELCOME OFFER

$19.95 $14.95/month

for your first 6 months.

$19.95 a month thereafter. Cancel or pause anytime.

Create a free account, or log in.

Gain access to limited free articles, news alerts, and select newsletters

Login here

Are you signed up for free weekly Teaching Professor updates?

You'll get notified of the newest articles.