Effective course design begins with understanding the process of thinking and learning. These processes are commonly termed "metacognition." Metacognition includes a critical awareness of one’s ...

Travis Grandy is a PhD student in Composition and Rhetoric at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Find him on Twitter @travisgrandy or at his website. I work with a lot of instructors who use ...

Constructing an assignment that elicits good writing may be as difficult for teachers as writing the essays is for students, a forthcoming study suggests. Teachers must strike a delicate balance ...

The first thing you need to do to write better online class assignments is to understand what is being asked. Once you get the hang of it, follow the instructions and the proper assignment writing ...

The students’ assignment: Write an op-ed about lead poisoning in Lewiston-Auburn. Or write a caption for a photo, or text about a campus tree. Write about how strange quantum theory is, or write a ...

Experts tend to complete writing tasks more quickly than novices by combining or skipping steps due to years of practice and mastery. Our students often come to us as novices who are still learning ...

Writing assignments can feel overwhelming for many African students. Heavy course loads, unreliable internet, part-time jobs, crowded study spaces, and strict academic expectations often make writing ...

It is good teaching practice to be clear and transparent about the purpose, task, and criteria for assignments and learning activities. This includes communicating with students about what is and is ...