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What are Learning Styles, and How Should Teachers Use Them?

• Learning Strategies, Tactics, and Methods

Introduction

Learning styles are an essential aspect of education that impact both student performance and teacher effectiveness. Teachers must recognize and understand these learning styles to create a conducive learning environment for their students. This article explores what learning styles are, their importance, and how teachers can use them to enhance student experiences.

What are Learning Styles?

Learning styles refer to the various ways individuals process and retain information. They describe a person’s preferred method of gathering, interpreting, organizing, and thinking about new information. Various models categorize learning styles differently, but some of the most common include:

1. Visual Learning: Visual learners process information effectively when presented in charts, diagrams, or other visual aids.

2. Auditory Learning: Auditory learners absorb information best when it is spoken or heard.

3. Kinesthetic Learning: Kinesthetic learners prefer hands-on experiences or physical activities to understand new concepts.

4. Reading/Writing Learning: Reading/writing learners effectively gather information through reading text or writing about the material they learn.

Why are Learning Styles Important?

Understanding different learning styles has several benefits for both students and teachers:

1. Enhances Students’ Understanding: A tailored approach to teaching can help clarify complex topics and improve comprehension by addressing each student’s preferred learning style.

2. Encourages Active Participation: Students feel more engaged when lessons match their preferred learning style, promoting participation in classroom discussions and activities.

3. Boosts Confidence: When students experience success through tailored teaching methods, their confidence and motivation increase.

4. Personalized Education Experience: Customizing instruction according to learning styles ensures that no student is left behind due to a one-size-fits-all approach.

How Should Teachers Use Learning Styles?

Teachers can implement various strategies based on understanding their students’ learning styles:

1. Offer Diverse Instructional Methods: Teachers should incorporate visual aids, auditory explanations, hands-on activities, and reading/writing assignments in their lessons to appeal to a range of preferences.

2. Cater to Multiple Learning Styles Simultaneously: Presenting material in diverse formats at once can engage multiple learning styles and foster a deeper understanding.

3. Foster Collaborative Learning: Teachers can encourage students with different learning styles to work together on projects or assignments, promoting active engagement and shared understanding.

4. Adapt Assessments: Varying assessment formats, such as oral presentations, written essays, or practical tasks, enables students to perform at their best based on their preferences.

5. Maintain Flexibility: Educators must be willing to adjust teaching methods based on student feedback and ongoing assessments of class progress.

Teachers play a vital role in facilitating the growth of every student by recognizing and adapting their teaching style to meet each student’s unique needs. Understanding learning styles and employing strategies that cater to them can have a profound impact on student success, resulting in a more inclusive, engaging, and effective classroom experience for all involved.

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Types of Learning: All About Learning Styles

ALI Staff | Published  September 20, 2023

Anyone who’s ever stood before a classroom to teach quickly understands that not all students are created the same. This is true regarding your students’ behavior, their style, and even how they learn. 

Even though learning styles may differ, your ability to meet students where they’re at, to get them interested in what you’re teaching, is always possible.

You just have to understand that different learning styles exist and then ensure your curriculum addresses as many ways to learn as possible.

It’s not always easy, but with the right tools, support, and understanding of the various styles of learning, you can do it.

What are learning styles?

Labels associated with styles of learning emerged as studies illustrated that there’s no one way everyone learns.

Categorizing types of learning helps explain how students process information, and most students will lean in a certain direction when it comes to a preferred method of learning.

Offering activities that fit into various learning styles can help more students succeed, with greater levels of comprehension and more motivation to continue learning.

It is worth noting that, although there are distinct learning styles, most people aren’t a single type of learner.

A person’s learning style can also change over time. This is why it’s important to understand the different ways to learn and craft lessons to hit more than one at a time.

Why are there multiple styles of learning?

Gaining access to information in the format that works best for each student helps build academic confidence.

Instead of grappling with the challenges of adapting their thinking and unfamiliar information, students can now access new content at their own level.

This not only enhances their comfort and ease with learning but also provides them with a deeper understanding of their own cognitive processes.

How different types of learning help reach all students

Meeting students where they learn allows you to optimize their ability to absorb, process, understand, and retain information.

Think about a single objective on a lesson plan -- by teaching it just one way, you’ll only have a handful of students truly learn what you’re trying to teach.

Providing a variety of methods to access the same objective gives every student an equal chance at hitting the benchmarks you’ve set for the curriculum.

How many different learning styles are there?

There are a variety of learning styles out there, and understanding the most common ones can help make you a more effective teacher.

It can also improve the effectiveness of curriculum, assessments, and daily activities, leading to stronger engagement with students. New research continues to emerge with new labels for learning styles, but the primary four used today are visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing.

Visual learners

Visual learners like images, maps, and graphics. They’ll primarily gravitate toward patterns and shapes over photos and videos, so think charts and diagrams.

Using these to present new information can help visual learners see the relationship between ideas and understand how content fits together.

Auditory learners

Auditory learners hit their sweet spot in both lectures and group discussions. They consume information best when speaking about it or listening to someone else talk.

They’ll often need repetition and mnemonic devices to build retention and may need to say information out loud, in their own words, to understand fully.

Kinesthetic learners

For kinesthetic learners, it’s all about the hands-on activity . They need tactile representations of the material to make connections, so simulations and practice work best for them.

For schools incorporating STEAM into their curriculum, students with this learning type may benefit the most, although STEAM learning hits all the major learning styles in its approach. 

Reading/Writing preference learners

Copious note-takers and avid readers often fit into this learning style. Here, text is the most powerful tool, and reading/writing learners learn best through words.

You’ll find that these students excel at essay writing and all written assignments.

Other learning styles you might see

While many students will exhibit, in part, one of the four primary learning types, they may also fit into these newer categories of learning styles.

• Analytical learners — use logic and analytical skills to understand an idea. They’ll thrive when they can find patterns and make connections in their learning.
• Social learners — like a learning environment where they can engage with others. They’ll thrive in group and peer-to-peer work.
• Solo learners — are the champions of individual work. They want to put their heads down and focus on an assignment independently.

Research continues to present new learning styles you may want to consider, so be on the lookout for studies in this area.

Providing activities in a variety of learning methods

An ideal activity considers all the ways to learn and hits as many learning styles as possible. It may not encompass them all, but what’s important is to not lean too heavily on any single learning type.

A great activity that accommodates a variety of learning methods would have the following:

• Verbal instructions
• Written instructions with a diagram or graphic 
• Hands-on components to the activity
• Written follow-up to evaluate the results or share impressions

Mixing all these elements into a single activity has the added bonus of reaching students whose learning style is a combination of types. And having a learning style mix is also pretty common.

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• Learning styles and strategies...

Learning styles and strategies for effective learning

by Oxford University Press | Sep 29, 2021 | News , Schools

A learning style is the learner’s preferred way of learning.  It is their unique way of understanding and remembering information for assignments, tests and especially for the exams. Encourage your learners to capitalise on their strengths and learn more effectively by sharing these great learning strategies with them.

Visual learners

Visual learners have an interest in art and things of beauty. They may be drawn to images and colour and enjoy visual projects and presentations. They “see” what they study in their heads and can remember diagrams, charts and maps easily. They understand information best when they  see  it.

Strategies for visual learners:

• Write down the things that you want to remember.
• Look at the person who is speaking to you; it will help you focus.
• Use colour to highlight main ideas.
• Before reading a section of work, preview it first by scanning the pictures, headings and sub headings.
• Write your own flashcards. Look at them often and then practise writing out the main points in full.
• Where possible and appropriate, use charts, maps, posters, films, videos, computer software and overhead projectors, both to study from and to present your work.

Auditory learners

Auditory learners learn best through listening in class and saying or reading what they are learning out loud. They enjoy oral presentations, small-group discussions and debates. They can remember instructions well. They often remember things they hear in songs. They understand information best when they  hear  it.

Strategies for auditory learners:

• Read out loud. You need to  hear  the words as you read them in order to understand them well.
• Study with a friend so you can talk about the information and  hear  it again.
• When reading, skim through and look at the pictures, chapter titles and other clues and say out loud what you think the section of work could be about.
• Make flashcards and use them repeatedly, reading them out loud. Use different colours to aid your memory.
• Set goals for your assignments and say them out loud each time you begin.
• Make your own recordings of work you want to remember and listen to them repeatedly.

Read or write learners

Some learners learn best by reading and writing things down. Read or write learners are generally good readers; their best method of learning is reading the textbooks and writing detailed class notes. They usually prefer to read in a quiet space with no disturbances. Writing notes or rewriting information from textbooks in their own words helps these learners to better understand and remember the information. They may also highlight words in colours to help them to remember. They comprehend and remember what they read and they often enjoy writing.

Strategies for read/write learners:

• Re-write your notes after class.
• Find a quiet place to learn and study.
• Write notes to yourself in the margins.
• Write out key concepts and ideas.
• Use coloured pens and highlighters to focus in on key ideas.
• Compose short explanations for diagrams, charts and graphs.
• Write out instructions for each step of a procedure or Maths problem.
• Stick note cards/Post-its in places you see often, like on the bathroom mirror, on a cupboard door or on the bottom of the TV remote.
• Compare your notes with someone else’s.

Kinaesthetic learners

Kinaesthetic learners perform best when action and movement are part of the learning process. They also remember things better through experience. They prefer classroom activities which involve experiments and demonstrations, and projects which involve building or making things. They learn best from real-life situations and like to touch, feel, hold or experience what they are learning about.

Strategies for kinaesthetic learners:

• To improve memorisation, pace or walk around while reciting to yourself or use flashcards or notes.
• Play with a stress ball or tennis ball when learning and try doing hand/ finger exercises while you work.
• You might not study best while at a desk. Try lying on your stomach or back.
• Use coloured paper to cover your desk or even decorate your whole study area. Choose your favourite colour as this will help you to focus. This technique is called colour grounding.
• While studying, take frequent breaks, but be sure to settle back down to work quickly. A reasonable schedule would be to alternate 15 to 25 minutes of study with 3 to 5 minutes of break time.
• When learning new information, make task cards, flashcards, electroboards, card games, floor games, etc. This will help you to process the information.

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Approaches to Learning and to Essay Writing

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Part of the book series: Perspectives on Individual Differences ((PIDF))

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The terms learning styles and learning strategies would seem to refer to two different aspects of student learning. Styles are stable ways of approaching tasks that are characteristic of individuals, while strategies are ways of handling particular tasks: styles are focused on the person, strategies on the task.

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Biggs, J. (1988). Approaches to Learning and to Essay Writing. In: Schmeck, R.R. (eds) Learning Strategies and Learning Styles. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2118-5_8

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• Teaching Tips

17 Learning Strategies to Implement In Your Classroom

Learning strategies are a critical element in ensuring students grasp course concepts and are especially important in blended and online learning environments

Danielle Leboff

Learning strategies are methods used by instructors to initiate students into effective learning by using a variety of engaging learning techniques, activities and practices. These methods are all derived from years of meticulous research into how people learn best.

In any lesson plan, instructors can incorporate multiple learning strategies. By catering to different learning styles and varying your approach, you can better engage students while helping them master new concepts.

Top Hat’s 2021 Online Teaching Toolkit gives you easy-to-use teaching templates, active learning strategies and more to engage your students in an online or hybrid learning environment. Get free access today.

Why are learning strategies important?

Learning strategies are an essential component of creating an effective learning experience. They can help learners develop proficiency in various subject matter areas and develop new skill sets. They also help learners develop confidence in their own knowledge, proficiency and learning abilities.

The following describes some common strategies for achieving various learning outcomes, along with practical examples you can incorporate directly into your learning environment.

Think-pair-share

This active learning exercise is designed to activate any prior knowledge a student may have on a subject by having them share their thoughts and beliefs with their fellow learners.

A think-pair-share exercise is structured to help students first organize their thoughts, then share these with a partner followed by the broader class.

• Think : Students take a moment to contemplate the new concept or idea on their own. They can also write down their thoughts to help develop their note-taking skills.
• Pair : Students break off into pairs to share their thoughts and beliefs on the topic with another learner.
• Share : Students then share their takeaways from this conversation with one or more successively larger groups, up to and including the whole class.

Putting think-pair-share into action

To execute think-pair-share in your class, define the exercise for the group and display the prompts you’d like to pose for discussion. Once students have completed the exercise, you can then facilitate a larger class discussion.

Make a point of listening to student responses before offering your own ideas. You can also pose probing questions while encouraging other students to offer their own responses and reactions to each other’s ideas.

Tests and quizzes

There are several ways instructors can use tests and quizzes as effective strategies for learning.

Individual plus group quizzes : Have learners complete independent quizzes for grading. Following this, place learners into small groups and give them the same quiz as a form of cooperative learning. This time, allow the groups to discuss their answers and come up with an answer for each question. Then, grade the group as a whole on their collective performance.

Not every student likes group assignments, since this may raise concerns about their individual grades. To avoid penalizing more diligent learners, take an average of each student’s two scores if the group score is higher than their individual score. If the student’s individual score is higher than the group score, let that individual score stand as the average. This process encourages students to be accountable for their own learning while helping develop their test-taking and collaboration skills.

Tests and quizzes with distractors : Distractors are common preconceptions or misconceptions about a topic. Have students answer various questions and, then, discuss their answers with a fellow student. After this discussion, have each student answer the same question again and see if their answers are any different. To close off the activity, initiate a group discussion about why the correct answer is actually the correct one. This acts as a form of metacognition by encouraging students to think about their own learning.

Retrieval practice

The process of bringing information to mind, or retrieval practice, is an effective strategy in boosting learning. In these exercises, students put away all learning materials and answer questions or discuss a topic purely based on their own recall of the information. Students can then refer to learning to evaluate how accurately they conveyed the information. Retrieval practice exercises also work well using the think-pair-share format.

Elaboration

In elaboration, students demonstrate the depth of their knowledge of a given topic by describing and explaining as much as they know about it, including as many relevant details as they can call to mind. This strategy extends the concept of rote memorization by encouraging students to draw connections within the content and between the content and other knowledge they already possess.

Interleaving

Interleaving is the process by which students mix multiple subjects or topics while they study. This allows students the opportunity to practice different modes of thinking and problem-solving as opposed to ‘blocked practice,’ which involves studying one topic thoroughly before moving on to the next.

Interleaving has been shown to improve test scores in a number of studies. As a best practice, it is important to use interleaving for related topics. For example, interleaving works well when switching between different algebra problems but is not nearly as effective when switching between radically different subject matter areas, such as literature and math equations.

Muddiest point

This form of assessment helps educators understand which elements of their course pose difficulties that may impede student progress and performance.

In this exercise, instructors ask students to note the “muddiest points” of the lesson, or the most confusing or difficult to grasp. Have students rate their degree of understanding and capture where the difficulty lies.

While the exercise shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, it has additional benefits beyond helping the instructor understand where the obstacles are for students. It also helps students more effectively analyze their own learning and to zero in on the exact issue that may be holding them back.

Peer instruction

Also known as ‘reciprocal teaching,’ this structured teaching practice asks students to reflect on new concepts they may be confused about and then share their responses to those prompts with a small group. Each group then derives a consensus response to share collectively with the rest of the class.

Peer instruction offers a number of benefits, including:

• Increasing a student’s problem-solving skills and conceptual understanding abilities
• Deepening student understanding of a topic and encouraging greater knowledge retention
• Bolstering student engagement and raising student course satisfaction

Not only does this exercise call upon students to explain their thinking, it asks them to defend it against alternative arguments and modes. This helps reveal for students as much about how they think and process information as it does about the information itself.

Differentiated instruction

Not all students learn the same way. Differentiated instruction recognizes and accommodates for this by tailoring the learning process to individual needs. This is accomplished by altering the content, process, product or the learning environment itself.

With differentiated instruction, instructors consider the different learning styles of their students before devising their teaching strategies. That way, they can incorporate multiple modalities to allow all students to succeed equally in learning the material.

Some other ways to implement differentiated learning include:

• Grouping students together for assignments by shared topics, interests, learning abilities or styles
• Using formative assessment tools to assess individual student learning styles and progress and then adjusting lesson plans accordingly
• Using classroom management tools to create safe and supportive learning environments for all students

Gamification

Sometimes turning a lesson into a game can better engage students in learning and comprehending the material. Gamification essentially incorporates reward-based activities and teaching tools into the lesson plan. Examples of gamification include:

• Earning points for finishing tasks
• Competing against peers toward a goal
• Playing games that teach particular academic skills

Project-based learning

Through project-based learning, students work together on a project over an extended period, generally between one week and an entire semester. The project ideally involves solving a real-world problem or addressing a complex question. The finished product is a public presentation or product they can present to a live audience.

Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning involves incorporating real-world situations as a vehicle to help students apply course concepts in a practical application. This helps make learning more relevant by connecting concepts to the world outside the classroom and can add variety to the learning process itself.

Formative assessments

Formative assessments are designed to monitor learning and provide feedback on each student’s progress on an ongoing basis. The steady stream of feedback allows instructors to refine and improve their teaching strategies to keep the class on track. At the same time, students can practice their test-taking skills, improve information recall while honing in on their areas of strength and weakness.

Formative assessments are typically considered “low stakes.” The primary goal is not a letter grade but generating feedback for the instructor and the student. Examples of formative assessments include:

• Self-assessments
• Entry and exit slips
• Low-stakes polls and quizzes
• Exercises incorporating art or other visual representations of learning content
• Misconception and errors
• Interview assessments

Summative assessments

Instructors use summative assessments to evaluate how thoroughly students learned an area of study. Summative assessments usually come upon the completion of an instructional unit and compare student knowledge and achievement against a previously determined set of benchmarks.

Considered “high stakes,” summative assessments are commonly used to determine a student’s subsequent course work and educational progress. Examples of summative assessments include:

• Final projects
• Term papers
• Midterm, final or standardized exams
• Performance or recital

Educators may sometimes use summative assessments in a formative manner to guide student activities and efforts throughout their coursework.

Quick write

In this exercise, pose a prompt to the group to respond to in writing. Only allow five minutes for this exercise, so students can quickly reflect on their initial thoughts on a subject.

Uses and benefits of a quick write include helping to:

• Determine whether students completed their assigned homework
• Prime students to think about topics to be introduced or developed in the upcoming lesson
• Give students the chance to access previous knowledge they may have on a subject
• Instructors can opt to grade the quick write or simply collect it as a means of confirming attendance.

Pose a question to be answered or explained, and then take an anonymous poll to see how many students favor particular answers or explanations to the question.

Afterward, initiate a group discussion of the question and the poll’s results to see why students voted the way they did. Following the discussion, take the same poll again to gauge whether any students changed their answers and, if so, to what extent and why.

Hearing why students chose a particular explanation or answer helps the instructor understand how students think about that topic. It also helps them determine if additional explanation or clarification may be required before moving on in the lesson plan.

Turn and talk

In this exercise, instructors pose a question to the group, then instruct students to choose a partner to discuss their thoughts on the question with. This can create a comfortable atmosphere for sharing ideas before bringing ideas before the whole group.

Make sure the questions students are asked to discuss are clear and that the understanding of each participant is there in order to contribute to the conversation both as a speaker and listener.

This exercise is performed in small groups in which students read a preselected passage of course material. Students in each group divide up the material so that each member reads a portion of it silently and then shares what they’ve learned with the rest of the group.

Some questions participants can use as points of focus include:

• What’s the big idea here?
• What do you believe it means, and why does it matter?
• How can someone apply this idea to help understand a larger topic?
• What part(s) of the reading do you agree and/or disagree with?
• What questions does the reading raise for you?

Instructors can implement jigsaws in a number of ways. In an ‘expert and cooperative group’ format, assign different groups different pieces of the material to read individually and discuss. Each group then becomes the expert group on that portion of the material. Following this, groups are redivided so that each new cooperative group contains one or two representatives from each of the previous expert groups. Each cooperative group then reviews the material with the expert representative. The jigsaw method is a great way to get students up to speed quickly on material while honing their critical thinking and communication skills.

Learning strategies help you better engage students in active learning by using a variety of activities such as reading, writing, discussion or problem-solving. Easy to execute, these activities promote analysis, synthesis, and the evaluation of class content. Equally important, they provide students with opportunities for feedback on how well they understand course material, ensuring they are making meaningful progress toward achieving course objectives.

Recommended Readings

The Ultimate Guide to Metacognition for Post-Secondary Courses

25 Effective Instructional Strategies For Educators

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Learning Strategies That Work

Dr. Mark A. McDaniel shares effective, evidence-based strategies about learning to replace less effective but widely accepted practices.

How do we learn and absorb new information? Which learning strategies actually work and which are mere myths?

Such questions are at the center of the work of Mark McDaniel , professor of psychology and the director of the Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education at Washington University in St. Louis. McDaniel coauthored the book Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning .

In this Q&A adapted from a Career & Academic Resource Center podcast episode , McDaniel discusses his research on human learning and memory, including the most effective strategies for learning throughout a lifetime.

Harvard Extension: In your book, you talk about strategies to help students be better learners in and outside of the classroom. You write, “We harbor deep convictions that we learn better through single-minded focus and dogged repetition. And these beliefs are validated time and again by the visible improvement that comes during practice, practice, practice.”

McDaniel: This judgment that repetition is effective is hard to shake. There are cues present that your brain picks up when you’re rereading, when you’re repeating something that give you the metacognitive, that is your judgment about your own cognition, give you the misimpression that you really have learned this stuff well.

Older learners shouldn’t feel that they’re at a definitive disadvantage, because they’re not. Older learners really want to try to leverage their prior knowledge and use that as a basis to structure and frame and understand new information coming in.

And two of the primary cues are familiarity. So as you keep rereading, the material becomes more familiar to you. And we mistakenly judge familiarity as meaning robust learning.

And the second cue is fluency. It’s very clear from much work in reading and cognitive processes during reading that when you reread something at every level, the processes are more fluent. Word identification is more fluent. Parsing the structure of the sentence is more fluent. Extracting the ideas is more fluent. Everything is more fluent. And we misinterpret these fluency cues that the brain is getting. And these are accurate cues. It is more fluent. But we misinterpret that as meaning, I’ve really got this. I’ve really learned this. I’m not going to forget this. And that’s really misleading.

So let me give you another example. It’s not just rereading. It’s situations in, say, the STEM fields or any place where you’ve got to learn how to solve certain kinds of problems. One of the standard ways that instructors present homework is to present the same kind of problem in block fashion. You may have encountered this in your own math courses, your own physics courses.

So for example, in a physics course, you might get a particular type of work problem. And the parameters on it, the numbers might change, but in your homework, you’re trying to solve two or three or four of these work problems in a row. Well, it gets more and more fluid because exactly what formula you have to use. You know exactly what the problem is about. And as you get more fluid, and as we say in the book, it looks like you’re getting better. You are getting better at these problems.

But the issue is that can you remember how to identify which kinds of problems go with which kinds of solutions a week later when you’re asked to do a test where you have all different kinds of problems? And the answer is no, you cannot when you’ve done this block practice. So even though instructors who feel like their students are doing great with block practice and students will feel like they’re doing great, they are doing great on that kind of block practice, but they’re not at all good now at retaining information about what distinguishing features or problems are signaling certain kinds of approaches.

What you want to do is interleave practice in these problems. You want to randomly have a problem of one type and then solve a problem of another type and then a problem of another type. And in doing that, it feels difficult and it doesn’t feel fluent. And the signals to your brain are, I’m not getting this. I’m not doing very well. But in fact, that effort to try to figure out what kinds of approaches do I need for each problem as I encounter a different kind of problem, that’s producing learning. That’s producing robust skills that stick with you.

So this is a seductive thing that we have to, instructors and students alike, have to understand and have to move beyond those initial judgments, I haven’t learned very much, and trust that the more difficult practice schedule really is the better learning.

And I’ve written more on this since Make It Stick . And one of my strong theoretical tenets now is that in order for students to really embrace these techniques, they have to believe that they work for them. Each student has to believe it works for them. So I prepare demonstrations to show students these techniques work for them.

The net result of adopting these strategies is that students aren’t spending more time. Instead they’re spending more effective time. They’re working better. They’re working smarter.

When students take an exam after doing lots of retrieval practice, they see how well they’ve done. The classroom becomes very exciting. There’s lots of buy-in from the students. There’s lots of energy. There’s lots of stimulation to want to do more of this retrieval practice, more of this difficulty. Because trying to retrieve information is a lot more difficult than rereading it. But it produces robust learning for a number of reasons.

I think students have to trust that these techniques, and I think they also have to observe that these techniques work for them. It’s creating better learning. And then as a learner, you are more motivated to replace these ineffective techniques with more effective techniques.

Harvard Extension: You talk about tips for learners , how to make it stick. And there are several methods or tips that you share: elaboration, generation, reflection, calibration, among others. Which of these techniques is best?

McDaniel: It depends on the learning challenges that are faced. So retrieval practice, which is practicing trying to recall information from memory is really super effective if the requirements of your course require you to reproduce factual information.

For other things, it may be that you want to try something like generating understanding, creating mental models. So if your exams require you to draw inferences and work with new kinds of problems that are illustrative of the principles, but they’re new problems you haven’t seen before, a good technique is to try to connect the information into what I would call mental models. This is your representation of how the parts and the aspects fit together, relate together.

It’s not that one technique is better than the other. It’s that different techniques produce certain kinds of outcomes. And depending on the outcome you want, you might select one technique or the other.

I really firmly believe that to the extent that you can make learning fun and to the extent that one technique really seems more fun to you, that may be your go to technique. I teach a learning strategy course and I make it very clear to students. You don’t need to use all of these techniques. Find a couple that really work for you and then put those in your toolbox and replace rereading with these techniques.

Harvard Extension: You reference lifelong learning and lifelong learners. You talk about the brain being plastic, mutability of the brain in some ways, and give examples of how some lifelong learners approach their learning.

McDaniel: In some sense, more mature learners, older learners, have an advantage because they have more knowledge. And part of learning involves relating new information that’s coming into your prior knowledge, relating it to your knowledge structures, relating it to your schemas for how you think about certain kinds of content.

And so older adults have the advantage of having this richer knowledge base with which they can try to integrate new material. So older learners shouldn’t feel that they’re at a definitive disadvantage, because they’re not. Older learners really want to try to leverage their prior knowledge and use that as a basis to structure and frame and understand new information coming in.

Our challenges as older learners is that we do have these habits of learning that are not very effective. We turn to these habits. And if these aren’t such effective habits, we maybe attribute our failures to learn to age or a lack of native ability or so on and so forth. And in fact, that’s not it at all. In fact, if you adopt more effective strategies at any age, you’re going to find that your learning is more robust, it’s more successful, it falls into place.

You can learn these strategies at any age. Successful lifelong learning is getting these effective strategies in place, trusting them, and having them become a habit for how you’re going to approach your learning challenges.

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Home » Blog » 15 Active Learning Strategies and Examples

15 Active Learning Strategies and Examples

This paradigm shift from traditional teaching to active learning underscores the learner’s role in constructing knowledge. Rather than being just a recipient of information, the learner becomes an active participant in a two-way process, whereby learning is imprinted through memorable, interactive activities and challenges.

With today’s dynamic global environment, active learning has become more critical in L&D than ever before. This teaching approach encourages employees to play an active role in their own education, fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptability, vital in the ever-evolving world of work.

What is Active Learning and How Does it Work?

First defined in 1991 by educational theorists Charles C. Bonwell and James A. Eison , the method includes “anything that involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing.” It’s a reciprocal process where cognition and demonstration combine to reinforce key learning points.

A recent study conducted at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute concluded that “active learning can put students in the driver’s seat of their lessons. Active learning techniques encourage students to produce thoughts and get feedback through interactive settings rather than passively receiving information as is common in pervasive approaches to education like lectures and readings.”

Active learning allows students to analyse, synthesise and apply knowledge rather than passively receive information. It fosters learner engagement , interaction, and deeper understanding, moving beyond the memorization of facts to cultivate higher-order thinking skills.

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Key components of active learning strategies.

At the heart of active learning are three fundamental components: Engagement , Reflection, and Application. Learners actively engage with the material, reflect on the content’s relevance and meaning, and apply what they’ve learned in practical, often collaborative, situations.

Here’s how those three components work in more detail:

Engagement : This aspect describes a mix of concentration and interest. Students focus on the topic in hand because it is taught in a manner that makes it intrinsically interesting.

Reflection : Students are asked to consciously reflect on the subjects they have been learning. This helps personalise and imprint the knowledge, and the repetition of key points helps fix them in memory.

Application : This aspect focuses on the practical use of key pieces of learning. By making the topic practical, students learn how useful the subject can be, motivating them to remember and focus.

Another key element of active learning is that it’s frequently collaborative. Not only do learners benefit from interaction with the educator, but they join forces in team exercises, or share their opinions and experiences in group discussion.

Benefits of Active Learning

Active learning has a plethora of benefits, some of which include:

Boosting Retention

Active learning strategies help learners retain information better. When learners actively engage with content—discussing, debating, teaching, or applying it—they’re more likely to remember it. Part of the reason for this is that activities help personalise the learning content, creating appreciation and some of the positive emotions that make an experience memorable. Information Processing Theory explains retention in three stages – sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.

Critical Thinking

Active learning cultivates critical thinking skills. Learners don’t just absorb information; they analyse, evaluate, and synthesise it, fostering problem-solving and decision-making skills. Critical thinking is considered a soft skill and is essential to any modern educational programme, from social science to the humanities, hard science, and vocational subjects.

Collaboration

Active learning often involves teamwork and collaboration. Through group activities and discussions, learners develop interpersonal skills and learn to work effectively as a team. This is particularly helpful in workplace settings where learners can support one another in the shared goal of picking up new skills they can use at work.

Increasing Engagement

Active learning increases learner engagement. Interactive activities stimulate interest and motivate learners, contributing to a more enjoyable and effective learning experience. By creating engaging interactive content, you can avoid the glazed eyes or after-lunch slump of less involving courses!

15 Active Learning Examples

Now that we understand active learning and its benefits, let’s delve into some practical strategies to implement this learning approach.

1. Think-Pair-Share

Think-Pair-Share encourages collaboration and peer learning. Learners think about a question or problem individually, pair up to discuss their thoughts, then share their insights with the larger group. This method combines social learning activities like collaboration and reflection in a way that draws out the strengths of both modalities.

2. Three-Step Interviews

Three-Step interviews allow learners to apply different questioning strategies and reflect on understanding. They take turns acting as the interviewer, interviewee, and observer, promoting active engagement and deep reflection. This kind of active learning works particularly well for courses emphasising social and negotiation skills, including hospitality, politics, journalism, and sales.

3. Case Studies

Using case studies enables learners to apply concepts to real-world scenarios. This strategy fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, linking theoretical learning to practical application. Case studies should be designed to chime with course participants’ lives and experiences, allowing them to offer their own personal insights. This allows them to become emotionally and intellectually involved in the subject under discussion, and the learning is likely to stick.

4. Role-Play

Role-play enhances empathy and problem-solving skills. By acting out scenarios, learners gain insights into different perspectives and learn to navigate complex situations. It can be particularly instructive to ask learners to inhabit both sides of an interaction, for instance, a police officer and suspect, or sales professional and buyer. Not all students will be comfortable in such a performative exercise, however.

5. Flipped Classroom

In a flipped classroom, learners explore content independently before class, freeing up classroom time for active discussions and problem-solving activities. This method works best in a highly motivated educational setting, such as vocational training resulting in professional qualifications. An obvious drawback is that, if students don’t prepare, they’ll get very little out of the class-based content. It’s also important for participants to reflect on in-class discussions after each session.

6. The Muddiest Point

The Muddiest Point requires learners to reflect on challenging areas, providing invaluable feedback for the educator. The educator will typically ask “what didn’t you understand?” or “what point did you find most complex?” and then follow up with a focused session exploring that concept. This technique helps identify misconceptions and knowledge gaps, as well as improving future iterations of course content.

7. Problem-Based Learning

Problem-Based Learning cultivates critical thinking and decision-making skills. Learners tackle real-world problems, applying knowledge and skills in a practical context. Rather than the theoretical situations covered in a typical case study, problem-based learning might take a story from the news or social media and explore it under the lens of the topic in hand. This makes the subject feel more relevant to the students, and more useful.

8. Simulations and Gamification

Simulations and gamification create immersive learning experiences. These methods engage learners in an interactive, competitive environment, enhancing motivation and learning outcomes. Such games could involve anything from quizzes to physical games or puzzles to be solved by teams. Some subjects will lend themselves to this better than others, and competitive workplaces , such as sales teams, may prove more comfortable with such challenges.

9. Peer Teaching

Peer teaching reinforces understanding and builds confidence in knowledge. By teaching their peers, learners gain a deeper understanding and consolidate their learning. The classic American “show and tell” in junior school is an example of this, but adult learners can also benefit from sharing their experiences or explaining a point with reference to an example from their own working lives.

10. Debates and Discussions

Debates and discussions encourage active participation and analysis. They foster critical thinking and the ability to articulate and defend viewpoints. Although a little out of favour in modern schools, nevertheless this classic strategy serves to imprint key issues in social, cultural, and political thinking. It’s possible to reduce the antagonistic elements of debates by imposing strict discourse rules (such as addressing the chair or avoiding ad hominem attacks).

11. Interactive Quizzes and Polls

Interactive quizzes and polls engage learners and assess knowledge. They make learning fun, while also serving as valuable tools for instant feedback. These can work just as well in-person as they might online, or in blended learning settings. They are essential as part of any eLearning Platform that offers online courses – as both a measurement tool and a method of monitoring progress and content effectiveness.

12. Experiential Learning

Experiential learning involves hands-on activities for practical skill development. Learners gain practical experience, increasing the transfer of learning to real-world situations. For situations in which site visits are impossible, bringing pieces of the subject into the classroom can be highly instructive. First aid lessons require this aspect, and children love this aspect of learning. It’s worth not neglecting this for adult learners of any subject, however.

13. Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming sessions stimulate creativity and idea generation. They foster open-mindedness, encouraging learners to consider various possibilities and solutions. When brainstorming, it’s vital not to make any value judgments on suggestions, but simply to group and list student ideas. Once everyone has had their say, the educator and class can begin to identify common themes and recurring ideas.

14. Field Trips and Site Visits

Field trips and site visits connect learning to real-world situations. They enhance understanding and contextualization of knowledge. Site visits are fun and instructive and add much-needed variety to an in-person course. They often introduce students to hands-on skills they might pursue in greater depth, or to potential workplaces or causes they can become invested in.

15. Learning Circles and Communities

Learning circles and communities help foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. They create a supportive learning environment where learners can learn from one another, share insights, and collaboratively solve problems. With digital courses, it’s often important to create a forum for learners where mutual encouragement and support can occur. When classes are held in-person, students can be encouraged to help one another with coursework and collaborative projects.

Implementing Active Learning Strategies

Key considerations.

When incorporating active learning strategies, consider the learning objectives , the learners’ characteristics and needs, and the available resources. It’s also important to ask what students want to get out of the course (rather than any objective need for certification or qualification).

The right blend of active learning strategies can enhance the learning experience, making it more engaging, meaningful, and effective.

For instance, you’ll need a very different approach with a community of language learners from different countries, with varying levels of proficiency, than you would teaching an established workplace group where the main variable is seniority.

Let’s break these variables down a little:

Student Objectives: What would each student like to get out of the class, in terms of educational purpose and enhancement of their working or home life?

Student Characteristics: What proficiency and understanding level are your students at? If it’s a workplace course, what level of seniority do they have (how easily can the effect change)? If you have shy students, how can you involve them in activities without undue pressure?

Student Needs: What is the practical outcome supposed to be? It could be a qualification, a certificate, or simply a better understanding of a topic. It’s also worth asking, going into a class, if anyone has any additional needs, since you may have students with dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning challenges.

Available Resources: Do you provide paper and pens, devices, calculators? Do you invite guest speakers? Are their physical challenges and hands-on experiences? Do you provide meals? All these ingredients could affect the success of your course.

Challenges of Active Learning Strategies

Active learning strategies, while beneficial, pose certain challenges. They require time, resources, and planning. They also require students to buy into a style of learning that some may not be familiar with.

Let’s unpack three more common challenges of active learning in a little more detail:

Student Hesitancy: To make active learning inviting, it’s best to design courses so that students come to expect and are prepared for this style of education from day one. Begin with simple exercises like a current knowledge quiz or simple pair exercises, and then progress to more involved exercises.

It’s also important to be clear with instructions and allow time for students to get used to being active rather than passive participants. Explain why you’re using these methods, rather than more rote methods of learning. If students believe it’s in their best interests to participate, they will.

Lack of Collaboration: Before you can expect a group of disparate individuals to work together, they must feel comfortable together. Begin with simple introductory exercises, so students get to know one another before being asked to share more personal experiences. Where students are too shy to choose partners, it’s okay to assign partners for them, so long as you attend to any obvious signs of discomfort.

Running out of Time: This is very common. When students are engaged, they can lose track of time. It’s often a good sign!

However, to avoid your course running out of control, make sure you do time trials of collaborative exercises, and be very upfront with any timescales you impose. You can even use a bell or whistle to warn students when they have five or two minutes left to finish up an exercise.

All these challenges can be overcome through careful design, strategic planning, scene setting, and the use of technology to streamline and support the learning process.

Remember that active learning is often a process of trial and error. What works well with one group may not prove so successful with another. It’s worth having alternative exercises to hand in case it becomes obvious that you need to pivot to a different approach.

Measuring the Impact of Active Learning Strategies

Methods to measure the effectiveness of active learning include surveys, assessments, observation, and feedback. Make sure you incorporate a bit of time for learners to complete satisfaction surveys or training feedback forms and make it as easy as possible to do so anonymously. Don’t make these too lengthy but do allow space for comments.

It’s essential to evaluate not only engagement and knowledge acquisition but also the development of skills and attitudes and the transfer of learning to real-world scenarios. Ideally, whoever has commissioned the course will have some method for following up and measuring KPIs after some weeks or months have passed. Ask if you can receive a copy of this information too.

Final Insights

Active learning, with its focus on engagement, reflection, and application, offers numerous benefits. It boosts retention, enhances critical thinking, fosters collaboration, and increases engagement.

At Skillshub, we fully commit to active learning, and incorporate many of its strategies into our learning solutions, creating eLearning content which is engaging, active and involving.

Our offerings are designed to facilitate active learning, equipping learners with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to thrive in today’s dynamic world.

If you’re ready to incorporate active learning into your L&D strategy with the help of an eLearning company , get in touch with us today!

Sean McPheat

Sean is the CEO of Skillshub. He’s a published author and has been featured on CNN, BBC and ITV as a leading authority in the learning and development industry. Sean is responsible for the vision and strategy at Skillshub, helping to ensure innovation within the company.

Updated on: 4 October, 2023

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Composing Effective Writing Assignments

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Resources for Teaching Writing

Course & assignment design, examples of effective writing assignments.

• Scaffolding Writing to Support Student Learning
• Creating Assignments for Miami Plan Capstone Courses
• Teaching Literature Reviews
• Using Threshold Concepts to Design Assignments and Courses
• Teaching Grammar Rhetorically 
• Structuring Purposeful Group & Team Work
• Mentoring Graduate Writers

Feedback & Assessment

• Using ePortfolio Assignments 
• Giving Feedback to Writers
• Facilitating Meaningful Online Discussions
• Engaging Students in Effective Peer Response

Teaching Online and with AI

• Providing Online Writing Support
• Integrating AI to Guide Learning

Writing is a valuable educational tool for learning. In the classroom, writing can help students grapple with and understand content more deeply and help students learn disciplinary ways of knowing and communicating. For instructors, writing can help evaluate students’ understanding of course content, and help assess students’ prior knowledge and gauge how well they’re understanding current material.

In this resource, we provide some recommendations based on best practices in writing studies research to help you compose meaningful writing assignments that promote deep learning. You can also view our companion resource “Scaffolding Writing to Support Student Learning” to see more ideas on how to scaffold and teach writing day-to-day in your courses.

Before we get started, we encourage you to pull up the writing assignment you are reworking, or to open a new document as you plan a brand new assignment. Take some notes as you read through each step and engage with our questions. Planning course assignments is a learning activity just like any other that benefits from writing about it.

Recommendations for Composing Effective Writing Assignments

• Identify your learning goals for the course. We often assign writing because we think we should, or because that’s how we were taught in school, or for some other reason unrelated to the purpose of the course. But sometimes writing, or more likely the type of writing we assign, isn’t the best way for students to learn, achieve, and demonstrate learning of course goals. Therefore, we suggest you start at the end by first identifying your course goals; then consider how you could use writing to achieve and assess those goals. Defining your goals and then aligning assignments to those goals leads to assignments that are targeted and cohesive within your course. (In this process, you may also find that writing isn’t the best way to assess your learning goals; yet read on, because writing has many other uses.)
• Explicitly articulate the audience for an assignment. Oftentimes students will write assignments with their teacher in mind as the audience, even as they will write for a broad array of audiences in the workplace. To encourage your students to explore the real power and impact of the writing they will do in the world, consider more explicitly identifying audiences in each of your assignments. Will a CEO be reading this business memo? Concerned parents in a school district? Eligible voters across an entire county with various interests? A important first section in an assignment prompt can be articulating audience, even if that’s asking students to identify and describe audiences themselves. 
• Differentiate between declarative and procedural knowledge in your course. When determining course goals, remember that there are two types of knowledge: declarative knowledge (knowing “about” something, such as what the various parts of a microscope are) and procedural knowledge (knowing “how to” do something, such as actually using the microscope during a lab). Procedural knowledge tends to lag behind declarative knowledge. Knowing about something doesn’t necessarily mean that you know how to do something with that knowledge. Declarative knowledge is often learned through reading and lecture. Procedural knowledge requires practice, and if complex, requires practice of the component parts while building to the whole, with ongoing feedback and additional practice of those parts. It can be helpful to determine which kind of knowledge you want students to learn in your course, and then which assignments can teach which specific knowledge. Consider using this declarative and procedural knowledge worksheet as a place to get started.
• problem-focused activities
• critical thinking skills
• case studies
• synthesized reviews of literature
• assigned positions 
• real world applications

Consider reframing your writing assignments to more closely appear as one of these tasks.

• Name assignments to illustrate the goals and genre . In line with the above, research also indicates that giving your assignments relevant, descriptive names (rather than “Paper 1”) can improve students’ disciplinary knowledge and knowledge transfer. For example, “Company Stakeholder Analysis” or “Marketing Change Plan” to get at some of the more specifics of what the assignment entails and is about.
• Think about how many assignments you have in the course, and how long students will need to complete this writing assignment. A lot of faculty organize their courses into units or modules, with a set number of weeks for each. Keeping in mind the kinds of declarative and procedural knowledge you wish students to learn, take stock of how many units and assignments you have overall, and think about how long students will need to complete your desired writing assignment. To do so, also consider what component skills students will need to require each task, and how much class time you might need to devote to those skills. Check out this backwards planning worksheet to help keep track of skills, tasks, and assignments in your course as you plan.
• Explain expectations clearly. Research shows that providing clear expectations can improve student engagement and the quality of their final product (Anderson et al 2016). Clear expectations can include identifying the purpose of the assignment, how it relates to other assignments/other courses, audiences for the assignment, grading criteria, and more. Try to include clear expectations in every assignment for improved clarity and to help students meet your expectations. You can even ask students to help write and codify instructions with you, helping provide them with agency in the process. 

Economics 344: Country Report Project

Created by: Dr. Ling Shao , Assistant Teaching Professor

Context from Faculty

ECO 344 is a general elective for economics major, but it is a required course for International Studies major and International Business minor. Therefore, students enrolled in the course come from a variety of majors besides economics. They have varied levels of preparedness in math and economics training. For this reason, the course is not heavy in math. Instead, it focuses on presenting essential international trade and international macroeconomic theories in a relatively simple way. The Country Report Project (CRP) is created so that students can apply their learning of these theories to real world data and policy discussions.

The CRP is a series of assignments closely tied to the weekly content of the course. I chose this format over a single big project after learning about the merits of scaffolding. Students will have a country to work on. Depending on the number of students, it can be done individually or as a group. The country will either be assigned by the instructor or be decided by students themselves. It works well in both face-to-face and online classes. I used the CRP in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020.

Sample Assignment for Economics 344

Module 1 | discussion.

For this discussion, please decide on a country that you are interested in and use the World Trade Organization (WTO) database to look at actual data on your country’s exports and imports.

Discuss the following questions based on your country’s data:

• Does your country run a surplus or deficit in total merchandise trade? How about the balances on certain smaller categories of merchandise trade such as agriculture and manufactures?
• Please include a data table in your discussion with exports and imports side by side to support your responses.

Module 2 | Discussion

For this discussion, please continue to use your country’s trade data that you have obtained. You will discuss winners and losers from trade based on your country’s top exports and top imports. Relate it to the specific-factors model. In addition, you can share any knowledge of your country’s attitude toward trade and comment if it makes sense from an economic perspective. Any trade protests you have witnessed or read about you can share as well.

This discussion will be completed through a video recording:

• 2 - 3 minutes
• Must show yourself
• You can use a few powerpoint slides if it helps make your discussion easier to follow, but it is not required.

Please respond to at least two videos from your classmates. Comment on the substance of the discussion with a critique, a question, a suggestion, or anything you see fit.

Module 3 | Discussion

For this discussion, you will discuss your country’s tariff policy. Please visit the World Trade Organization’s website. From the homepage, click “WTO membership” box in the upper middle. Find and click on the country of your interest. On the country page, please click on the pdf link under “Tariff profile” on the lower left side. Please respond to the following questions and include a screen capture of the pdf in your discussion:

• In the summary box at the top of the pdf, what is the country’s average MFN tariff rate in the most recent year?
• How does the MFN tariff compare to other summary tariff stats (e.g., final bound, trade weighted average)?
• In part A.2 of the pdf, find the product group that has the highest MFN tariff. What is that product group’s share of imports? Who do you think benefits from the tariff on the product? Who do you think is hurt by the tariff?

You must also respond to at least two posts from your classmates. Comment on your impression of their country’s tariff policy and whether their response to the winners and losers of tariff makes sense or not.

Module 4 | Discussion

Below are a few tariff case studies:

• History of U.S. Steel Protectionism
• Welfare Cost of U.S.-China Trade War

Module 5 | Discussion

For this discussion, please decide on a country (excluding the U.S.) that you are curious about and explore the history of its exchange rate policy using this paper. Click on the red PDF icon to access the paper. Please discuss the following questions:

• How many different exchange rate regimes does your country have over time?
• Select one regime change and provide some historical background on this change.
• What is the current exchange rate policy in your country?
• How has your country’s currency been performing against the U.S. dollar in the past year?

You must also comment on at least two posts from your classmates.

Module 6 | Discussion

In this discussion, you will select a country (other than the U.S.) and get exchange rates and inflation data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Then you will use the data to rest if relative PPP holds between your country and the U.S. Then discuss the following questions using the data:

• Compare your country’s inflation rates to the U.S.
• Briefly summarize how your country’s currency has been performing against the dollar over time.
• Test to see how well relative PPP holds up using the data from your country and the US.

You must also respond to at least one post from your classmates. Comment on whether the data looks right or not, and whether their understanding of relative PPP is correct or not.

Module 7 | Discussion

For this discussion, imagine you are an advisor from the International Monetary Fund and you are assigned to advise the central bank of an emerging economy on macroeconomic policy issues. Some research beyond the textbook may be necessary. Please discuss the following in a video (must show yourself; dress properly; use of PPT and visuals allowed; 3 - 4 minutes):

• What data would you collect about this economy to help you make recommendations?
• What exchange rate policy would you suggest, fixed or floating? Why?
• Would you recommend the country open up its capital market (e.g., stock market) to foreign investors or not? Why?
• If the central bank wants to know whether or not it can use monetary policy to influence domestic economics, what would you say?

Please vote for your favorite advisor (other than yourself) by posting a reply. Explain briefly what made you decide to vote for him/her.

Module 8 | Discussion

For this discussion, you will select a country (other than the U.S.) to explore its current account.

Current Account Data:

• Go to IMF BOP data site
• Click on the table titled “1. Balance of Payments Analytic Presentation by Country”
• In the country drop-down menu, select your country
• Is the current account in surplus or deficit in recent years? Any trends?
• Out of TB, NFIA, and NUT, what seems to be the determining factor of your country’s CA outcome? Is this consistent with your country’s development and income status? Why?

You must also respond to at least one post from your classmates. Please comment on whether their data analysis is correct or not and the explanation provided makes sense or not.

Economics 347: Economics of Developing Countries Analysis

Created by: Dr. Janice Kinghorn , Teaching Professor & Assessment Director

Context from the HCWE

This assignment breaks down a complex semester-long analysis into more manageable parts, by having students focus on one or two concepts they are learning each week as they build to the full analysis. The assignment explains the purpose/objectives of the assignment, specifies an audience and genre, provides detailed instructions, and describes explicitly how economists think and write so that students can practice and model those disciplinary ways of knowing.

Sample Assignment for Economics 347

The objective of this project is to allow you to apply ideas and concepts we discuss in class to a specific context - a developing country. Through completing the steps in the project you should gain a better understanding of:

• The usefulness of standard development indicators for understanding the economy of a country
• The difficulties in finding and using standard development indicators in low income countries
• The process of generating hypothesis about development by examining data
• How economists use theory to better understand development experiences
• How economists use evidence to make arguments
• How to communicate like an economist

Students will choose a developing country to work on during the semester and complete a series of assignments, mostly memos, applying what we talk about in class to that country. Through that process I expect students to become experts on their particular country and thus be able to develop a thesis about economic development and write a strong argumentative essay using economic theory to make an argument supported by evidence by the end of the term.

The implied audience for the memos and the final paper is the U.S. ambassador to that country. Remember that the ambassador is busy so it is your job to provide just enough, and never too much information. The communication should be concise, easy to read, and clearly convey your point. More detail on how to write a business memo is at http://www.fsb.miamioh.edu/fsb/content/programs/howe-writing-initiative/HWI-handout-memo.html . Another source on how to write a business memo is here.

General Notes: In the assignments I often ask you to describe. Economists tend to describe by using graphs and tables. As you are learning the field of economics, I want you to follow this convention. Of course your graphs and tables must be correct, clearly labeled, your source data must be cited in a way the reader can easily find it, and they must be original. Excellent graphs and tables will clearly communicate to the reader without making the reader work too hard to understand your point. The objective is not to demonstrate to the instructor that you found the requested data - I’m assuming you did that - rather to make a clear point with that data.

I will assume that you mean everything you write. Be careful that you don’t use generalizations for stylistic reasons that you can not back up. Be careful of using vague words that you can not define. For example, “country X’s growth rate was huge” would be more appropriately written as “country X’s growth rate averaged 6% over the past ten years”.

I expect all data and claims to be sourced (APA style). Remember that I am trying to teach you to write like an economist, so in this project I’m not only concerned that you know things, but that you can appropriately write about them.

General Grading Criteria : Most assignments, unless otherwise specified, will be graded based on:

• Is the memo on time, complete, and conforming to requirements?
• Is the memo professional - free of errors, easy to read, shows evidence of thoughtful tailoring to the audience
• Is the work properly cited?
• Do the claims demonstrate that the student can accurately apply the course concepts?
• Does the application go beyond formulaic to add to an understanding of the country’s experience?

Assignment 1: Millennium Development Goals

Choose a country, which must be approved by your instructor. You must choose a low or middle income country, NOT a high income country. See http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-and-lending-groups#High_income (Links to an external site.). to check and see if your country is high income. You must choose a country with a population of greater than five million. You may not choose a country in which you have lived. You may not choose a country in which war, political instability, or other political factors make the economic situation highly atypical (your instructor will make the judgement about which countries to exclude for this reason). No more than 3 people may choose the same country, and you may benefit from discussing your country with others who are also doing research, but your assignments must be entirely your own. See the shared Google doc linked under the assignment to “sign up” for a country.

Once you have received approval for your country, investigate how well that country achieved the Millenium Development Goals. 1. Choose two goals that you would argue were a success for that country. a. Describe why you can claim they were successful (with evidence) and b. how they were successful (find at least one credible, high quality source). 2. Describe two that they still need to work on, and give evidence for your claim. You might find it helpful to consult http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Host.aspx?Content=Data/snapshots.htm .

Assignment 2: Income

• Describe the income, over time, and in context of your country. In class we discuss ways to measure income, so in this assignment I will not specify which you are to use, but you must justify why you chose the measure you did. You must use a professional looking graph that you have created (not copied from the internet) to communicate. You will need to choose what is meant by over time and in context. We will talk about this in class, but in general I want you to make your description meaningful by the inclusion of time and context.
• Describe the HDI for your country, and comment on the individual components. Pick one other indicator of development that is interest to you, not income or the components of HDI, and describe it for your country. The United Nations publishes data on the HDI at http://hdr.undp.org/en/data .

Assignment 3: Models of Development

We discussed models of development in chapters 3 and 4. Choose two of the models and discuss why they might be applicable to the development experience of your country. This is different from the other assignments because it asks you to apply models to the situation of the country that you have been learning about. To make your argument about applicability you will likely want to use historical experiences, as you are discussing change over time or historical conditions that have an effect on the country today. This assignment may require more library research than the others. In your final paper you will need to use theory to make an argument, so this is an opportunity to try that out. You do not need to stick with what you write for this assignment in your final paper, but you may do so.

Be sure your argument does not rely on “economist x writing in journal y thinks this model is applicable”, rather I want you to make the arguments and provide the evidence yourself. Note that the argument and evidence does not need to be complex - but it does need to be specific, and evidence does need to back up the argument. Because this assignment may be difficult, please discuss with with me if you are having difficulty. This is a great time to come to office hours to brainstorm ideas. You may also want to reach out to the business librarian at this point to help you find high quality resources for background research. You can find more information at https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/ECO347 .

Assignment 4: Poverty and Inequality

Describe the level of poverty and inequality in your country using standard measures of income and multidimensional poverty (UNDP has this data) that we discussed in class. Do you see any indication that there is a kuznets curve? What are the characteristics of those living in poverty (gender, ethnic origin, age, etc.)?

Assignment 5: Demographic Situation

a. Create a population pyramid for your country. The U.S. Census has this data at https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/informationGateway.php. If your excel skills are a bit rusty you can find tutorials on the web. One is at https://www.census.gov/data-tools/demo/idb/informationGateway.php. b. How may the demographic situation in your country affect development? I have not specified what I mean by “demographic situation” so you have some latitude to choose which concept/measure from our class discussion is relevant for your country. You will need to be sure and describe (see the notes above for hints on how economists describe) the situation and make an argument connecting it to development. Note that I have also not specified how you must define “development”, so you will have to make that decision thinking about our discussion at the beginning of the term, but be sure you are intentional both in your work and in your communication.

Assignment 6: Thesis Statement

Develop a thesis about economic development in your country. Unlike the other assignments, the product is not a memo, but a one-sentence thesis. In the prior assignments you were asked to explain something that is straightforward once you did the research to find the “facts”. This assignment is different in that it asks you to take your understanding of “facts” and develop an argument by using what you know about the country and what you know about the theory of development. The following examples may get your thinking started:: country x can improve development indicator y by taking z action, country x is underdeveloped because of action y, X is a binding constraint on development of country y. A thesis is a statement of an argument. A good thesis:

• Tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion.
• Serves as a road map for the paper; tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper.
• Is usually a single sentence that presents your argument to the reader in a nutshell (for this assignment you are required to submit a single sentence).

For more help with writing a good thesis see this handout from the Howe center http://miamioh.edu/hcwe/handouts/thesis-statements/index.html . You are also encouraged to take advantage of the consultations available at the center. More information is at Howe Writing Center . Note that all students in this class may use the Howe Center for Business Writing, even if you are not an FSB student. If you have not looked at the resources our business librarian has put together when you were doing assignment 3 you may want to do so now. See https://libguides.lib.miamioh.edu/ECO347 . Assignment 6 will be graded based on how many times it takes you to get it right. If you submit an excellent thesis on the first try, you will get full credit. If you are asked to revise your thesis you must submit the first thesis and the revision. The more time it takes for you to get it right, the lower the grade, however you may not write the paper until you get this right.

Assignment 7: Draft

Submit a complete draft of your paper. A complete draft will 1. Have all parts complete (bibliography, footnotes, etc.) 2. Be well proofread (it should not by any means be your first draft). Details of the paper are below. For information about how to properly cite an idea or a direct quote see here. You must make sure you are fully aware of Miami’s policy on plagiarism  and take steps to prevent it. Please also review the FSB’s interpretation of the Miami policy.

Assignment 8: Peer Review

Peer review at least two students’ papers. The peer review will happen in class and you will receive instructions about what I want you to do. This assignment asks you to report on your learnings from that exercise. Write a memo describing 1. two pieces of feedback you received on your paper and how you will respond to them. Note that you do not have to accept the feedback, but if you choose not to make changes based on feedback please note your reasoning. Also describe 2. Two pieces of feedback you gave to each of two classmates and why you think this feedback would make their paper more effective.

Assignment 9: Final Paper

Your final paper should be no more than 1500 words (strictly enforced) not including bibliography (APA style) and good papers are often less. I will not specify a minimum number of sources but your sources should be sufficiently diverse so that you are confident you have an understanding of multiple perspectives and your arguments and evidence are properly sourced. I will check your sources - that is, I will find them and evaluate their quality, so be sure your citations provides enough information that I can easily find them, and make sure you are comfortable with their quality (do you know who the author is? Is the author qualified? Is the argument/evidence subject to peer review or editorial review?)

The format of the paper should be an argumentative essay - you will make an argument, supported by evidence, to substantiate your thesis. More information about this type of writing can be found  here .

Because this paper is the culmination of your semester-long effort to apply class material to your country it should be grounded in theories and concepts we used in this class. A paper which may be otherwise excellent but does not reflect the learning in this class this term will not be accepted.

Rubric for Assignment 9 Final Paper

Assignment 10: Class presentation

The audience for the presentation is your classmates. Your objective is to teach them something about development by showing them how a concept we discussed is class applies to your country. Parts of the presentation are:

• Background: give the class enough information about your country so that they can understand the argument you will make, but they do not necessarily need to know everything about the country that you have learned - be strategic in what you want to share.
• Problem/thesis: Share with the class what your thesis is, and also why it is important (what is the larger development issue that is at stake)
• Argument: Clearly make your argument in a way your classmates will easily follow
• Evidence: Convince your classmates that you are correct

Your presentation should be no longer than ten minutes, and you should expect to answer questions. You are expected not only to give a professional presentation but also be professional during your classmates’ presentations. That means your demeanor should indicate to the speaker that you are interested, you should not come in late while someone is speaking, you should occasionally raise your hand to ask questions.

Rubric for Assignment 10 Class Presentation

Due Dates: Fall 2019

A late assignment is an inferior assignment, thus you will receive a 20% reduction per day for an assignment submitted past the due date. Please see Canvas for updated due dates.

History: Dear Reader Memo

Created by: Dr. Erik Jensen , Associate Professor of History

The Dear Reader memo, sometimes called a Writer’s Note, is an assignment developed by Nancy Sommers, Harvard Writing Project , that establishes communication between the writer and the instructor and/or peers (whoever will read the draft) about the state of the draft and the writer’s perceptions of it, both positive and negative, and provides an opportunity for the writer to ask the reader for specific advice. A Dear Reader memo gives the writer an opportunity to reflect on their writing process and in later drafts often includes information about what was revised and why. Instructors should provide a prompt explaining what they want students to include in their memo and should also assign some points or other incentive for completing it.

Sample Assignment

Submit a “Dear Reader” memo (maximum 250 words) at the same time as the draft and a new “Dear Reader” memo at the same time as the final version, but always as a separate document to its own location on Canvas.

The memo for the draft is your opportunity to tell me and your peer reviewer the three aspects of your draft that you are most concerned about, so that we can focus our attention and comments on those three things in particular. (For instance, you might wonder if your organization makes sense, or you might wonder about some particular pieces of evidence that you use.) Your peer reviewer and I will comment on other areas, too, if we see problems and issues in your draft, but your memo should highlight three areas, in particular.

The memo for the final version is your opportunity to tell me how you’ve incorporated my feedback and that of your peer reviewer into this final version. You should highlight specific revisions that you’ve made. You can also use this memo to justify your reasons for not making certain changes that I or your peer reviewer may have recommended, but with which you disagreed.

• Due with your peer-reviewable draft on Tuesday, November 17, by class. Submitted either entirely via Canvas, or by hard copy in class and via Canvas (if we are face to face).
• Due with your polished final draft by Tuesday, December 8, at 5:00pm. Submitted electronically, via Canvas.

History 111: Primary Source Analysis Essay

Created by: Dr. Lindsay Schakenbach Regele , Robert H. and Nancy J. Blayney Assistant Professor of History

This is a scaffolded writing assignment for the class HST111 Survey of American History I. It's intended to introduce students (usually students who are new to history as a discipline) to primary source analysis and thesis-writing in the historical discipline. I created several pre-paper assignment deadlines to get students thinking about their document ahead of time and enable me to help students work through any interpretive issues they were having. Also, I allow students to select their own document to hopefully spark feelings of curiosity and ownership.

Sample Assignment for History 111

*Please read through the assignment description, guidelines and rubric. Following this information, there is a timeline for completing the assignment.

Primary sources form the base that supports historians’ reconstructions of the past. Historians are always trying to discover both the meaning and the significance of a piece of historical evidence. By meaning, we are trying to reconstitute what that document might have meant (or how it might have been understood) by the historical actors in that era. By significance, we attempt to relate how that evidence contributes to a particular interpretation of the past.

This assignment will give you practice in interpreting historical evidence . A good document analysis will focus upon both the text itself (with attention to the specifics and nuances of language used) and the context (the broader picture of the history of that period that informs the document. Never will simply describing what happened be sufficient as an historical interpretation of a document. No outside research is needed for this, just a familiarity with the material in your textbook.

Choose ONE primary source document from your Voices of Freedom book.

In 3-5 double-spaced pages, address the following sets of questions:

• Who wrote the document, and for whom was it written? What does this suggest about the point of view reflected in the document and any potential biases?
• Why was the document written, and how does the style/structure help or hinder its purpose?
• What do the document's author, audience, and style tell us about the historical context in which this document was produced?
• What other kinds of sources would you want to examine to corroborate the document’s claims and understand its context?

Begin your essay with a sentence or two about the author, the date and title of the text, the occasion for which the text was written, and the general subject of the document. If the author's identity is unknown, try to determine as much as you can about the type of person who was responsible for the production of the document. If the document was written after the events it describes, explain what impact that might have had on its construction.

In your introductory paragraph, present a brief summary of your interpretation of the author’s perspective, method, and purpose in writing the text. Your introduction should include a thesis statement that makes an argument about the document’s significance for understanding that period of American history (a good thesis statement requires evidence to support, and could be argued against).

In the body of your essay, you may find that the most efficient and effective way to discuss and analyze the text is to move step by step through the text. After all, that is how the author intended the text to be read or heard. As you present the points that the author makes (offer quotations from the text as evidence for your discussion), you will construct your own analysis, building and developing your interpretation as your essay progresses. Give yourself time to revise your essay, so that you can go back through the essay and refine your interpretation.

In your essay, use the simple past tense to describe what the author wrote: this serves to remind both you and your readers that the author wrote for an audience of his/her contemporaries. Whenever possible, use sentence constructions with the active voice rather than passive voice. Active verbs reiterate the author’s active role in creating the text and the argument, and they encourage you to make connections and draw conclusions about the author and the text.

The essay will be graded according to the following rubric*:

• Builds on the preparatory work you’ve done /100
• Makes a cogent thesis statement /50
• Demonstrates an understanding of the document's main points by successfully answering the questions /200 (50 points for each question)
• Supports the thesis statement with clearly written and well-organized evidence from the documents /200
• Total /500 *Please see the sample essays for what a “cogent thesis statement” and “well-organized evidence,” etc., look like.

In order to help you prepare your essay, I’m asking you to do some work ahead of time. This will help ensure that you understand both the assignment and the document you’ve chosen. It will also allow me to intervene if there are major questions or misunderstandings about the documents. (I expect you to struggle with them a little bit—Primary sources are difficult!)

• Before September 11 , select your document and read through the examples of successful essays that I’ve posted
• On the Canvas discussion board, post your selection and answer the questions that follow the document., DUE Friday, Sept. 11
• Look through other students’ posts, and post 5-7 sentences reflecting on your thoughts after reading other students’ choices and if you would like to change the document you have selected (which you are permitted to do) DUE Friday, Sept. 18
• Upload your answers to the assignment questions (Word document; these can be in draft note form), DUE Friday, October 16
• Upload final primary source analysis essay (Word document), DUE Friday, November 6

History 198: Continuity/Change Essay

I focused extensively in this course on creating a writing-feedback-rewriting framework. HST 198 (“World History since 1500”) engaged students at all levels of the curriculum, both majors and non-majors. I developed a scaffolded approach to the writing assignments that followed this template:

• A best-effort draft
• “Dear Reader” memo for the draft
• Peer review memo about your partner’s draft
• Polished final draft with “Dear Reader” memo for the polished, final draft in which the writer addresses instructor comments on the draft as well as peer reviewer’s comments

Note: I used this framework for all three courses I taught during the same semester—HST 198 (“World History since 1500”), HST 331 (“Nineteenth-century Europe”), and HST 410 (“Twentieth-century Germany”). Each of these classes, which I taught all in one semester, has two or three writing assignments. I’ve provided one sample for HST 198 below.

Sample Assignment for History 198

• Due as a peer-reviewable draft on Tuesday, November 17, by class. Submitted either entirely via Canvas, or by hard copy in class and via Canvas (if we are face to face).
• Due as a polished final draft by Tuesday, December 8, at 5:00pm. Submitted electronically, via Canvas.

Why am I having you write this Essay?

This assignment hones your ability to present a clear argument that is supported by evidence and written in a manner that is accessible to people who may have a limited background in the subject matter. This is a job skill. Whether submitting grant proposals for a non-profit organization or assessing business models for a consulting firm, an ability to write thoughtfully and persuasively will serve you well.

By prompting you to examine the explicit, implicit, and perhaps even unconscious arguments, assumptions, and experiences represented in the five texts for our course, this essay also encourages you to do the historian’s work of interpreting and presenting a vision of the past. This is an unavoidably subjective enterprise, and it makes your engaged and critical reading of these texts so important.

Other than in its expanding size and power, the general nature and purpose of the state has not changed that much over the past five hundred years. Based on your readings and comparison of The Death of Woman Wang, The History of Mary Prince, Abina and the Important Men, Spider Eaters, and The Origins of the Modern World, do you agree or disagree? Why?

The Process

In a well-organized essay of around 2,000 words (roughly 7 pages, double-spaced), answer the question based on your reading of the five assigned texts from this course. You must include at least fourteen (14) direct quotations from the texts, with at least four (4) coming from Spider Eaters; at least four (4) coming from The Origins of the Modern World; and at least two (2) coming from each of the three remaining texts. Explain each quotation’s relevance to your larger argument.

Since this is an historical essay, use dates in order to provide the necessary context for a given quotation, event, or trend. You should cite the source of the quotation in a footnote or an endnote. Here’s an example:

In Chapter 5, Robert Marks argues that transformations in economic production led to the emergence of new forms of identity, noting that "industrialization created new social classes, especially the urban working class and the capitalist class."[1] (This example also highlights the fact that you should introduce every quotation.) For subsequent quotations that come from the same source as the preceding quotation, do this.[2]

Focus on the prompt. Your answer to it constitutes your thesis, which your entire essay should then seek to support. If a piece of information does not advance your thesis, do not include it. You can just as easily write an "A" paper that disagrees with the prompt as one that agrees with it. The skill, clarity, and integrity with which you craft your argument determines your grade.

• No quotation should be longer than 40 words (i.e. NO block quotations).
• Introduce each quotation so that the reader knows who has written the words that appear within the quotation marks and can put those words in context.
• Always underline the title of a book, like this, or place it in italics, like this.

The Audience

Provide enough background information so that a person will understand the logic of your argument and the relevance of your examples even without having read any of the five texts in question.

Academic Integrity

If you are strapped for time before the final version is due, *request an extension,* which in this case might mean asking for an Incomplete for the semester. An “I” is far preferable to a conviction for academic dishonesty. Know the policies stated in the student handbook regarding academic integrity. For this assignment, you should not use any source other than the assigned text (in paper or e-book format) and the in-class discussions. If you have any questions at all about what is appropriate to use, please see me.

Grading (and Peer-Review) Rubric

• Is the thesis clear, and does it address the prompt?
• Does the introductory section provide a “roadmap” that succinctly summarizes the author’s main points and organization of the essay?
• If the essay acknowledges the opposing argument, is that acknowledgment brief and concluded with a reiteration of the thesis?
• What pieces of evidence support the argument?
• What types of evidence might be missing?
• Does the author include at least the minimum number of quotations, and does the author effectively frame each one to show how it supports the argument?
• Does the essay stay focused on its thesis and adhere to its organizational roadmap?
• Are transitions between the paragraphs smooth, and does each paragraph have a topic sentence and clear focus?
• Does the essay have a forceful conclusion?
• Are the quotations, dates, and historical context accurate? Are words and names spelled correctly? Peer reviewers: Circle anything that looks suspicious, so that the author knows to double check it.
• Has the author written clearly – avoiding repetition, using comfortable vocabulary, and employing passive voice only where it makes sense to do so?

History 331: Power Essay

I focused extensively in all three courses [taught during one semester] on creating a writing-feedback-rewriting framework. I developed two or three writing assignments in each class. The three courses—HST 198 (“World History since 1500”), HST 331 (“Nineteenth-century Europe”), and HST 410 (“Twentieth-century Germany”)—engaged students at all levels of the curriculum, both majors and non-majors. For all three classes, I developed a scaffolded approach to the writing assignments that followed the same template:

Sample Assignment for History 331

By prompting you to make an argument about which sets of forces you think had the greatest impact on people’s lives during a particular period of time, this essay also emboldens you to “do history,” which entails interpreting, presenting, and supporting with evidence your vision of the past.

The state (governments, judicial systems, laws, national and local bureaucracies) shaped people's lives in the 19th century more profoundly than did broader cultural, social, economic, or environmental forces or non-state institutions. Based on do you agree or disagree? Why?

In a well-organized essay of around 3,000 words (roughly 10-11 pages, double-spaced), answer the question based on your reading of The Transformation of the World, The Communist Manifesto, and A Doll’s House. You must include at least fourteen (14) direct quotations from The Transformation of the World, at least eight (8) of which must come from the last nine chapters (Chapter XI through the Conclusion), and from five different ones among those last nine. In addition, you must include at least three (3) direct quotations from The Communist Manifesto and three (3) from A Doll’s House. Explain each quotation’s relevance to your larger argument.

In Chapter VII, on "Frontiers," Osterhammel seems to downplay the pervasiveness of territorial acquisitions, when he writes, "In nineteenth-century Europe, especially outside Russia, colonial landgrabs on a large scale became a rarity."[1] (This example also highlights the fact that you should introduce every quotation.) For subsequent quotations that come from the same source as the preceding quotation, do this.[2]

Provide enough background information so that a person will understand the logic of your argument and the relevance of your examples even without having read The Communist Manifesto, A Doll’s House, or The Transformation of the World.

• What pieces evidence support the argument?
• Are they the strongest pieces of evidence

References: 1. Jürgen Osterhammel, The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century, trans. Patrick Camiller (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014), 323. 2. Ibid.,115.

HST 410: Dictatorship Essay

Sample assignment for history 410.

• Due as a peer-reviewable draft on Tuesday, November 19, by class. Submitted either entirely via Canvas, or by hard copy in class and via Canvas (if we are face to face).

The individual motivations for cooperating with, opposing, or simply tolerating the Nazi and East German regimes were broadly similar. Based on your reading of Kershaw and Funder, do you agree or disagree? Why?

When you are looking at cooperation, opposition, or toleration/submission, you will want to consider an array of motivations, including patriotism, peer pressure, familial ties, material desire, longing for greater rights, obedience, and so on. Our class discussions will play a central role in helping us to think through these motivations.

In a well-organized essay of around 3,000 words (roughly 10-11 pages, double-spaced), answer the question based on your reading of The End and Stasiland. You must include at least sixteen (16) direct quotations, eight (8) of which must come from Kershaw and eight (8) of which must come from Funder. Draw these quotations from different chapters throughout both works, rather than from just a single chapter or section. Explain each quotation’s relevance to your larger argument.

In his discussion of the role of Jews during the Revolutions of 1848, Elon notes the multi-generational nature of this involvement when he writes, "An older generation of Jewish militants found a role as well." [1] (This example also highlights the fact that you should introduce every quotation.) For subsequent quotations that come from the same source as the preceding quotation, do this.[2]

Provide enough background information so that a person will understand the logic of your argument and the relevance of your examples even without having read The End or Stasiland.

References: 1 . Amos Elon, The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch , 1743-1933 (New York: Picador, 2002), 163. 2. Ibid.,197.

Gerontology 354: Rhetorical Analysis

Created by: Dr. Kate de Medeiros, Professor & O'Toole Family Professorship

For this undergraduate class, students work on a final persuasive paper based on a controversy of their choice over the course of the semester. I wanted them to read carefully to see how written language can be used to set a tone, to subtly persuade, to speak with authority, to leave one with a certain emotion, and so on. They first complete the rhetorical analysis on controversy articles from the “Opposing Viewpoints” database. After they write their draft, they use the same rhetorical analysis steps to provide a peer review on a classmate’s paper.

Sample Assignment from Gerontology 354

A critical part of writing well is learning to read with a discerning eye. A rhetorical analysis is a close reading of someone else’s work where you pay very close attention to not only what the writer says, but how the writer uses language – word choices, sentence structures, opposing arguments, tone, arguments structure, and others – to convey their point.

• Navigate to the “Opposing Viewpoints” database via the library’s website. Here is a brief video that shows you how to do this in case you are not familiar.
• Select a topic that is different than your own but is related to aging.
• Read the viewpoint essay for the topic you selected. Write or paste the title of the essay here, as well as the url.
• Who is the intended audience of this piece? How do you know? I am not asking you to simply guess based on the title, but see if there are subtle ways that the author conveys this.
• What is the purpose of the piece – the thesis? Either copy a sentence that you believe is the thesis or rephrase in your own words.
• What is the effect the author intends to have on readers? How do you know? Include “evidence” in your response (e.g., copy a sentence, some phrases – whatever makes your case.)
• What are the main arguments that the author uses to support his/her case? (You can cut and paste sentences from the text or explain in your own words.) Does the author bring up counter-arguments? (You can cut and paste sentences from the text or explain in your own words.) Overall, how effective would you say the author’s arguments are? Please explain your response.
• Does the author support his/her argument with additional information or data? Please give examples. How believable/reliable is that data? Please explain.
• Overall, what feelings are you left with after reading the piece (e.g., anger, sadness, outrage, etc.) Since emotions in a text are a direct result of the specific words, among other things, find words in the essay that contribute to your feelings.
• Another effective strategy that writers use is varied sentence length. Focus on one paragraph in the essay. How long are each of the sentences? Is there any relationship you see between sentence length and the message and/or emotions conveyed? Explain your answer and provide support.
• After reading this, what, if any, of the literary devices would you apply to your own work? What literary devices in this piece would you not apply to your own work. Please explain.
• In your opinion, was the essay a good piece of writing? Why or why not? (There is no right answer but be sure to support your response with clear examples and/or explanations.)

Gerontology 602: Theory Project

Created by: Dr. Jennifer Kinney , Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

Sample Assignment for Gerontology 602

At this point in the semester you have a good overview of gerontology (in large part on de Medeiros, 2017) and are beginning to read a variety of genre (journal articles, encyclopedia entries, book chapters) written for an academic gerontology audience. Over the remainder of the semester you will continue to learn about gerontological theory and its application. During this time, in addition to your assigned out-of-class reading and our class sessions, you will complete a theory project. For this project, you will explore a specific gerontological concept that you are particularly interested in/that will be most helpful to you as you prepare to be a gerontologist. Specifically, you will document the development of the concept in gerontology and its theoretical underpinnings. You will complete the project in specific steps, and receive feedback/be evaluated on each step of the project. For several of the steps you will revise your work based on the feedback you get from your peers and/or me, and incorporate the feedback into a revision that is included in the final step of the project. At the end of the semester you will present an overview of your paper to the class.

Specific instructions for each step of the project (1-8) are listed below.

Step 1: Your Initial Idea

Pick a contemporary concept in gerontology in which you are particularly interested. If a topic does not immediately come to mind, you might think about: 1) your previous work with/on behalf of older adults; 2) what interested you when you were applying to graduate school; 3) new interests that have emerged through your classwork, GA work, and other experiences and/or an area that you would like to learn more about. For Step 1, please turn in the following:

• List the top 1- 3 ideas or concepts that you have learned from your prior knowledge/experience related to gerontology.
• For each of the concepts listed, how does your prior knowledge relate to what we have read so far or what you are interested in learning more about?
• What do you need to know (e.g., more theories, applicable examples) to gain more insight into the concept/theory that you are most interested in?

Step 1 of your theory project is due during week 4 of the semester and is worth 5 possible points (2% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 2: Identifying and Reflecting on Your Topic

Last week, I asked you to start thinking about a topic you'd like to explore. Now I am asking you to commit to that topic.

• Step 2 Product: Write a 1-2 paragraph description of what concept you plan to explore, and why you chose that concept. The audience for this concept description is me— your course instructor/a gerontology faculty member. Because of the audience, this should be well thought out and well written. You will get feedback from me about your concept description and should take this feedback into account when you complete Step 3.
• How much of your topic relies on your previous learning or experience?
• What new information/perspective do you hope to gain through your topic?
• How do you hope to apply your topic to your future work in the GTY program?
• What additional challenges will you need to face (e.g., mastering a new literature, changing previous ways of thinking) to accomplish your goal for this project?

Your concept description and reflection (in one document) is due during week 5 of the semester and is worth 15 possible points (7% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 3: Contemporary Thinking on Your Topic

• Step 3 Product: For three of the sources (i.e., articles or book chapters) you identified, prepare a summary. You can either prepare a 1-page narrative summary for each source, or you can use a modified version of the Howe Writing Center matrix (similar to the one we have used in class).

Regardless of the format you choose, your summary should include definition of the key concept(s); what lens/perspective/theory the authors use to contextualize and/or ground the concept; and the purpose, major points/findings, and what you learned from each source. The audience for the summary(ies) is primarily yourself and your instructor/consultant who will give you feedback about your ideas (as opposed to the quality of your writing). Be sure that your ideas/writing are clear enough that another reader can understand what you are saying.

Your summary(ies) and the three sources are due during week 7 of the semester and is worth 30 possible points (14% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 4: Looking Back/Historical Influences

• Step 4 Product: Prepare one combined summary for the three sources you identified. In contrast to your summaries from Step 3, which could be in the form of an narrative for each source or a modified version of the Howe Writing Center matrix (either one matrix per source, or one matrix with all three sources), the focus of your Step 4 summary should be how the articles “talk” to one another (e.g., how your concept developed from the earliest to the most recent article, the gerontological lens/perspective/theory used in each source, the commonalities and discrepancies across the three sources), and it should be in the form of one narrative or one matrix for all three sources. The summary (whether it is a narrative or matrix) can address the following topics:
• definitions of the concept
• how the concept is used in the conceptualization/research
• strengths and weaknesses in how the concept is defined/used
• suggestions to improve how the concept is conceptualized/measured

Note: the above topics are suggestions; you should modify them to address the points you want to make in your paper.

The audience for the summary of historical sources matrix is primarily yourself and your instructor/consultant who will give you feedback about your ideas (as opposed to the quality of your writing). Again, make sure that your ideas/writing are clear enough that another reader can understand what you are saying.

Your summary of historical sources is due during week 9 of the semester and is worth 30 possible points (14% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 5: Constructing your “Story”

• Step 5 Product: Develop a “blueprint” of the story you want to tell your audience, which is other scholars in gerontology. This blueprint can take the form of a traditional outline, a “forensic or concept map," or any other format that “works” for you. Although you should keep in mind that the audience for your final paper is other scholars in gerontology, the audience for the blueprint is yourself and your instructor/peers who will give you feedback about your ideas.

Your blueprint is due during week 10 of the semester and is worth 30 possible points (14% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 6: Putting it all Together

• Step 6 Product: Develop your blueprint into a 5-10 ish- page paper. This academic paper should be written for other gerontology scholars. The purpose of this paper is to explain the evolution of gerontological thinking about your concept, with an emphasis on the lenses/perspectives/theories that informed this thinking, and for you to speculate (in an informed way) about how this concept will continue to develop in gerontology.

Your paper is due during week 12 of the semester and you should bring a copy to class, where a peer will be assigned to give you feedback. Your draft is worth 40 possible points (19% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 7: Peer Review

• Step 7 Product: You will be assigned as a peer reviewer for one of your classmates. Carefully read the draft of their paper, and provide written feedback. You will be given specific guidelines for the feedback. Your peer feedback is due during week 13 of the semester and is worth 20 possible points (10% of the written theory project, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 8: The Finish Line

• Step 8 Product: Using the feedback you received, prepare, revise and finalize your paper. Your final paper is due during exam week. Your final paper is worth 40 possible points (20% of the assignment, which is worth a total of 210 points).

Step 9: Final Oral Presentation

• have an appropriate powerpoint presentation that uses minimal text and instead uses engaging graphics/images when appropriate.
• be well rehearsed so that it sounds confident but not scripted.
• final paper. Remember, we as an audience do not need to know everything. Instead, you should present a coherent story of why your concept matters.

NOTE: The presentation must not exceed 12 minutes. I will cut you off at the 12 minute mark. It is important to be mindful of other people's time so staying within the allotted time is key.

The presentation will occur during the last week of classes and will be worth a total of 25 possible points.

Gerontology 702: Weekly Synthesis Assignment

The synthesis exercise was based on our observation that students had a tendency to summarize literature, not synthesize ideas. Through this exercise, I wanted to force students to read two very different articles to come up with a synthesis that somehow brought together key ideas from both. We did this weekly. Although difficult for them at first, they gradually became more comfortable with and proficient at synthesizing literature as the semester progressed.

Sample Assignment for Gerontology 702

I borrow this definition of a literature "synthesis": "Synthesis writing is a form of analysis related to comparison and contrast, classification and division. On a basic level, synthesis requires the writer to pull together two or more summaries, looking for themes in each text. In synthesis, you search for the links between various materials in order to make your point." A synthesis is not just a mere summary. It is an integrated analysis whereby you should demonstrate not only that you read and understood the readings, but also that you can pull key points together in some cohesive way. The readings will often not be obviously related. However, find a way to be true to their essence while also using them to build a new observation or idea.

synthesis: Article 1 and 2

Your synthesis should be at least 2 paragraphs long.

Avoid using block quotes (taking large chunks of direct text in quotations.) Everything should be in your own words with proper citation using APA formatting.

You should demonstrate a deep reading and understanding of some major points.

Bring these points together to pull together something related to gerontology.

Remember, this is a theory course. You should not focus on methods, on study design, findings, or anything outside of theory.

Use only the articles assigned for that week. Do not bring in outside readings or sources.

Gerontology 702: Reverse Genealogy Assignment

I found that students, even doctoral students, were not reading critically. This assignment came about during the Fellows program with relation to understanding how to build on past work when writing an article, especially in the literature review. I wanted students to clearly see what the “bones” of an article looked like by looking at its foundation – the references. It was very successful. Students were surprised to see the connections between the articles cited and the final article, which they were given after completing this exercise.

Attached is a reference list for a gerontology article. Using only this list, attempt to make sense of what the article is about and what are the major influencing literatures cited. Pay close attention to details such as: what journals are cited, what "classic" works (if any) are included, whether there are topics that you could group together, what authors are cited. You do not need to upload this — you can have hand drawn diagrams or notes if that is easier. Be prepared to discuss during class.

Gerontology 705: Genre Analysis

Sample assignment for gerontology 705.

The purpose of this activity is to explain the conventions of a particular sub-genre of gerontological writing (e.g., abstract, introduction, method, discussion) and relate these conventions to the work that the genre does for the gerontologists who use it. The main question the analysis should address is why the genre takes the shape(s) that it does given what gerontologists are trying to accomplish when they use that genre. Doing this type of analysis for different genre will enable us to: 1) articulate what that genre “looks like” in gerontology and 2) be able to more successfully create documents in that genre.

After you have carefully engaged with the exemplars/examples from the genre, identify their commonalities using the categories and questions of analysis identified by Sojna Foss (2018) as a starting point:

• What conditions (situations) call for this genre?
• What prompts this sort of document to be written?
• What is the exigence—the need or reason for a given action or communication?
• Who usually creates this genre—people doing what?
• What sort of content (substance) is typically contained in this genre?
• What do these texts tend to talk about or say?
• Is there information that is typically present (or not present) in these texts?
• What form does this sort of genre take and what does it look like (length, page layout, color, font)?
• How are its parts organized?
• What language does it use?
• Are there specialized terms?
• How are references/citations used in the text?
• What “moves” (e.g., transitions, signposting) are made?
• What tone/voice does it take (formal, informal, dense, light; passive, active)?
• What elements make this genre what it is?
• What are the common denominations of the genre (for example, what makes a resume a resume?
• For each characteristic you identify in 1-3 above, you might ask “If I took out this characteristic, would it still be recognizable as this genre?”

Your analysis should “tell the story” of the genre, including how what the genre needs to accomplish leads to the shape it typically takes; how this genre is most often used; and the features that your analysis indicates are required; features that appear to be optional. A good analysis includes a clear explanation of who uses the genre and for what purpose(s), conclusions based on comparison of several exemplars/examples of the genre; accurate assessments of the genre’s key elements; a clear organizational structure that includes a logical progression through the elements of the genre that your analysis highlights.

The source for the genre analysis guidelines: Foss, Sonja K. 2018. Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice 5th edition . Long Grove, IL: Waveland

Resources/Further Reading

• Anderson, P., Anson, C. M., Gonyea, R.M., & Paine, C. (2016). “How to create high-impact writing assignments that enhance learning and development and reinvigorate WAC/WID programs: What almost 72,000 undergraduates taught us.” Across the Disciplines, 13(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.37514/ATD-J.2016.13.4.13
• Hyland, K. (2013). Writing in the university: Education, knowledge, and reputation. Language Teaching, 46(1), 53-70. 
• Swales, J. (2004). Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge University Press.
• Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press.

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Information Literacy Teaching Toolkit

• Research Assignment Design
• Information Literacy Toolkit
• Information Literacy
• Videos & Tutorials

Designing Effective Research Assignments

• Designing a Research Assignment
• Designing an Information Literacy Curriculum

Below are questions to ask yourself when designing an assignment that promotes information literacy and critical thinking skills.

• What will students learn as a result of completing this assignment?
• What are the information literacy student learning outcomes?
• What are the writing or presentation outcomes?
• What are the discipline-specific outcomes?
• Are these goals clear to students?
• Does our library have these resources? Are they freely and easily available elsewhere?
• Is there a link to the library (or other needed resources) in the assignment and/or syllabus?
• Is there a link to any related student services (peer tutoring, technology help desk, etc.) in the assignment and/or syllabus?
• Does this model a process students can repeat in the future? Is that clear to students?
• Is there space for students to reflect on what they are doing, which strategies are working and which aren’t?
• Does this provide enough time for students to be successful?
• Does it provide time for you to give feedback to students, and for students to revise and/or integrate that feedback into their next piece of work?
• Do you have grading criteria or a rubric to help you score student work? Is this available to students?
• Might you ask past students if you can use their work as a sample, or can you create your own?
• How will students access the sample(s)? Hand out in class, provide in Moodle, etc.?

Source: Greenfield Community College Library.  “Information Literacy Toolkit for Faculty.”  gcc.mass.edu, Greenfield Community College. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

Scaffolding and reinforcing information literacy skills and concepts throughout your courses and program, will allow students to develop and master their skill set. Below are a number of questions to think about while creating course and program materials. 

• Is it clear to students how these skills connect to continued study and/or real life?
• What do they already know? Can you assume, or do you need to find out?
• Which information literacy skills do you need to teach, in addition to your course content?
• What can a librarian help teach?
• What needs to be done during class time (for face-to-face classes)?
• What can be done outside of class, as homework?
• What supports does the library already have available (i.e. Moodle plug-ins, videos, handouts, etc.)?
• If you want a librarian to teach, where does that fit in the course schedule?
• If not, what needs to change? Course content, the research assignment, or both?

Greenfield Community College Library.  “Information Literacy Toolkit for Faculty.”  gcc.mass.edu, Greenfield Community College. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

Ideas and Examples

• Classic Examples of Research Assignments
• Ideas for Research-related Assignments

Assignments below are linked to documents. Please feel to download and edit for your classroom or context and to remix assignments. A librarian would be happy to tailor a version of an assignment or scaffold research skills into your class.

Example of a short assignment that asks students to think critically about two news sources.

Example of an annotated bibliography assignment that asks students to think critically about their sources.

Example of a research paper abstract assignment that asks students to closely evaluate their topics and sources needed.

Example of an assignment that asks students to brainstorm and evaluate research questions.

Example of an assignment that asks to compare and evaluate various sources.

Example of an assignment that asks students to critically approach source use and paraphrasing.

Example of an assignment that asks students to detail the research process by recording search strategies and resources located.

Example of an assignment that asks students to choose and refine a research topic.

Example of an assignment that asks students to think critically about sources.

Example of an assignment that asks students to crucially evaluate their research topic by evalauting sources.

There are any number of library-related assignments that can be incorporated into a course. Here are a few examples that can be adapted to most subjects (assignments may be repeated across categories).

Critical Evaluations & Comparisons

• Locate a popular magazine article, then find a scholarly article on the same subject. Compare the two articles for content, style, bias, audience, etc.
• Analyze the content, style, and audience of three journals in a given discipline.
• Choose an autobiography of someone related to the course content. Find secondary sources which deal with an idea or event described in the autobiography. Compare and contrast the sources.
• Evaluate a website based on specific criteria.
• Determine the adequacy of a psychological test based on the literature about the test. Then develop a test battery designed for a particular clinical (or other) situation, by using published tests and the literature about them.
• To develop the ability to evaluate sources, students prepare a written criticism of the literature on a particular issue by finding book reviews, by searching citation indexes to see who is quoting the context of the scholarship in a particular field.
• Students use bibliographies, guides to the literature and the Internet to find primary sources on an issue or historical period. They can contrast the treatment in the primary sources with the treatment in secondary sources including their textbook.
• Write a newspaper story describing an event--political, social, cultural, whatever suits the objectives-based on their research. The assignment can be limited to one or two articles, or it can be more extensive. This is a good exercise in critical reading and in summarizing. The assignment gains interest if several people research the same event in different sources and compare the newspaper stories that result.
• Contrast journal articles or editorials from recent publications reflecting conservative and liberal tendencies.
• Write a review of a musical performance. Include reference not only to the performance attended, but to reviews of the composition's premiere, if possible. Place the composition in a historical context using timetables, general histories and memoirs when available, using this information to gain insight into its current presentation.

Fact-Finding Research

• Read an editorial and find facts to support it.
• In biology or health classes, assign each student a 'diagnosis' (can range from jock itch to Parkinson's Disease). Have them act as responsible patients by investigating both the diagnosis and the prescribed treatment. Results presented in a two-page paper should cover: a description of the condition and its symptoms; its etiology; its prognosis; the effectiveness of the prescribed treatment, its side effects and contradictions, along with the evidence; and, finally, a comparison of the relative effectiveness of alternate treatments. This can also be accompanied by oral or visual presentations, slideshow, poster session, etc.
• Students follow a piece of legislation through Congress. This exercise is designed primarily to help them understand the process of government. However it could also be used in something like a 'critical issues' course to follow the politics of a particular issue. (What groups are lobbying for or against a piece of legislation? How does campaign financing affect the final decision? etc.).
• Similar to the above, have students follow a particular foreign policy situation as it develops. Who are the organizations involved? What is the history of the issue? What are the ideological conflicts?
• Nominate someone or a group for the Nobel Peace Prize. Learn about the prize, the jury, etc. Justify the nominations.
• Write an exam on one area; answer some or all of the questions (depending on professor's preference). Turn in an annotated bibliography of source material, and rationale for questions.

Career-Based Research

• Assemble background information on a company or organization in preparation for a hypothetical interview. For those continuing in academia, research prospective colleagues' and professors' backgrounds, publications, current research, etc.
• Ask each student to describe a career they envision themselves in and then research the career choice. What are the leading companies in that area? Why? (If they choose something generic like secretarial or sales, what is the best company in their county of residence to work for? Why?) Choose a company and find out what its employment policies are-flex time, family leave, stock options. If the company is traded publicly, what is its net worth? What is the outlook for this occupation? Expected starting salary? How do the outlook and salaries vary by geography?

Personal Research

• Locate primary sources from the date of your birth. You may use one type type of material only once, i.e., one newspaper headline of a major event, one quotation, one biography, one census figure, one top musical number, one campus event, etc. Use a minimum of six different sources. Write a short annotation of each source and include the complete bibliographic citation.

Historical Research (for any subject)

• Select a scholar/researcher in a field of study and explore that person's career and ideas. Besides locating biographical information, students prepare a bibliography of writings and analyze the reaction of the scholarly community to the researcher's work.
• Pick a topic and research it in literature from the 60s and 70s. Then research the same topic in the literature of the 80s and 90s. Compare and contrast the topic in a bibliographic essay.
• Write a biographical sketch of a famous person. Use biographical dictionaries, popular press and scholarly sources, and books to find information about the person.
• Everyone becomes an historical figure for a day. Students research the person, time-period, culture, etc. They give an oral presentation in class and answer questions.
• Similar to the above, students adopt a persona and write letters or journal entries that person might have written. The level of research required to complete the assignment can range from minimal to a depth appropriate for advanced classes.
• News conferences offer good opportunities to add depth to research and thus might work particularly well with advanced students. A verbatim transcript of an analytical description of a news conference can serve as a format for simulated interviews with well known people of any period. What questions would contemporaries have asked? What questions would we now, with hindsight, want to ask? How would contemporary answers have differed from those that might be given today? Here students have an opportunity to take a rigorous, analytical approach, both in terms of the questions to be asked and the information contained in the answers.

Biographical Research

(annotated) bibliography variations.

• Prepare an annotated bibliography of books, journal articles, and other sources on a topic. Include evaluative annotations.
• Create a Web page on a narrow topic relevant to the course. Include meta sites, e-journals, discussion lists, and organizations.
• Update an existing bibliography or review of the literature.
• Compile an anthology of readings by one person or on one topic. Include an introduction with biographical information about the authors, and the rationale for including the works [justify with reviews or critical materials].
• Choose a topic of interest and search it on the Internet. Cross reference all search engines and find all websites which discuss the topic. Like a research paper, students will have to narrow and broaden accordingly. The student will then produce an annotated bibliography on the topic, based solely on internet references.
• Create an anthology. The model for this format is the annotated book of readings with which most students are familiar. In this case, however, rather than being given the anthology, they are asked to compile it themselves. The assignment can limit the acceptable content to scholarly articles written within the last ten years, or it can be broadened to include chapters or excerpts from monographs and significant older materials. Students should be asked to write an introduction to the anthology that would display an overall understanding of the subject. In addition, each item should be described, and an explanation given as to why it is included. The assignment could also require a bibliography of items considered for inclusion as well as copies of the items selected. In any subject course in which students would benefit from finding and reading a variety of scholarly, such an assignment would guarantee that they use their library skills to locate the articles, their critical reading skills to make the selections, and a variety of writing skills to produce the introduction, the summaries, and the explanations.

Literature Review Variations

• Each student in the class is given responsibility for dealing with a part of the subject of the course. He or she is then asked to 1) find out what the major reference sources on the subject are; 2) find out "who's doing what where" in the field; 3) list three major unresolved questions about the subject; 4) prepare a 15 minute oral presentation to introduce this aspect of the subject to the class.
• Conduct the research for a paper except for writing the final draft. At various times students are required to turn in 1) their choice of topic; 2) an annotated bibliography; 3) an outline; 4) a thesis statement; 5) an introduction and a conclusion.
• Write a grant proposal addressed to a specific funding agency; include supporting literature review, budget, etc. Have class peer groups review. (Best proposal could be submitted for funding of summer research).

Collins Memorial Library.  “Ideas for Library-Related Assignments.”  Pugetsound.edu, University of Puget Sound. Accessed 1 Jan. 2021.

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