Experiments in Learning

Experiments in Assignment Design: Exploring Diverse Ways to Capture Student Learning

How do we design assignments that engage students, provide hands-on experiences, and support different types of learners?

In Stanford's Notation in Science Communication, we do this by providing students with the opportunity to work in many different modes and genres of communication, from producing podcasts to designing museum exhibitions, that are used by professional science communicators. We also offer students the opportunity to “choose their own adventure” by working in a mode and genre that they find interesting and would like to learn.

Join us to consider how you might implement similar types of assignments in your own course (communication-focused or not), and how to support students working on different types of projects within one course. We’ll also discuss how to approach assignment design when students have easy access to generative AI tools.

Presented by Jennifer Stonaker, PWR advanced lecturer, Writing and Rhetoric Studies