Reasons for Alternatives | Alternative Assignments & Activities | Tips for Successful Alternatives
Reasons for Alternatives to Term Papers
Alternatives can . . .
- lighten the grading load
- be used to develop abilities on the way to writing complex papers
- provide ways of using other strengths our students might have
- accustom students to different voices and modes of communication
- allow students to create work for a larger audience, and go beyond work that is only seen by the student and the professor
- create opportunities for making a contribution beyond the class to the college or to communities beyond Lawrence
Alternative Assignments & Activities
- Edit a text after having seen good and bad examples of writing
- Judge and "fund" a research proposal
- In class discussion, generate paper topics based on a specific article
- Write a review of a book, reference work, website, performance
- Write an encyclopedia article complete with bibliography
- Write program notes for a recital, concert, or recording
- Annotate an article for a novice reader
- Write or create a piece of music, art, or creative writing in a particular style or genre
- Prepare an annotated bibliography of books, journal articles, websites and other sources on a topic and write descriptive or evaluative annotations
- All-but-the-paper term paper: have students do every step in the research paper process and then write the introductory and concluding pages, a detailed outline of the body, and an annotated bibliography.
- Have students keep a detailed research log of the research process addressing methodology, sources consulted, keywords or headings searched, their frustrations, etc.
- Write a research proposal including description of the research topic, the problem associated with it, the proposed answer or research to solve the problem, including a bibliography of primary and secondary sources
- Taking Sides: have students research an aspect of a topic and present in a debate setting. As an alternative to a debate consider role playing.
- Two-minute oral reports to flesh out the context of the assigned readings for a class session
- Put on a conference complete with poster sessions, panels, papers, etc.
- Research the reception history of a work
- Summarize the literature on a topic and present the findings
- Create an anthology of readings complete with an introduction and reading summaries
- Create a pathfinder or website of different types of information sources on a topic
- Compare and contrast primary and secondary sources: Have the students find a study in a popular magazine and then have them find the actual study or have the student investigate a media topic back to the source or have the student choose an autobiography and then locate secondary sources.
Tips for Successful Alternative Assignments & Activities
You might need or want to . . .
- be clear about your reasons for creating the assignment in the first place. What problems, skills, or knowledge are you working to address?
- make sure they understand the scope of the assignment or activity. If helpful and appropriate, give a limited range of choices.
- make your evaluation criteria clear from the outset
- work with a librarian or an information technology expert to design the assignment
- avoid the assumption that your students have the knowledge they need to complete their assignment
- assign or devote class time to tasks that will help students develop the skills necessary to complete the assignment
- call on the technical experts
- have a librarian test-drive the assignment
- give the students a series of specific questions to help them structure their work
- set very clear expectations for the work; make these kinds of things explicit:
- presentation time allowed
- elements of a good handout
- amount of preparation time
- kinds of research materials that will be acceptable
- conventions of different or unfamiliar kinds of writing, like annotations
- set intermediate deadlines for different parts of the alternatives
- require students to analyze connections and disagreements among and between expert opinions
