Examples of Sequenced Assignments

An on-going instructional goal is to connect activities and assignments to the course objectives throughout the semester. By explicitly linking what we do to our common objectives, we help students understand how these varied projects all work in support of the English 110 Objectives. It’s easier to make these connections explicit when we have intentionally designed our assignments to support one or more of the objectives. By sequencing assignments, we have an opportunity to extend these connections by scaffolding student development towards meeting multiple objectives. Please see the examples below for an illustration of this correspondence.

Annotated Bibliography –> Field Research Report –> Proposal

Connection to Obj. 1: This sequence prompts careful examination of the writing process by isolating planning/drafting activities associated with research. It also demonstrates the recursive nature of the writing process since students continue to return to previous steps (library and field research) to support later stages and must reexamine and repurpose their original work for a new composing context.

Connection to Obj. 2: This sequence introduces students to three purposes for writing (summarizing existing research/scholarship, reporting on field research, and synthesizing research to support a proposed plan of action) and at least two audiences (peers or other readers with a shared interest in the research topic and stakeholders who could enact change).

Connection to Obj. 3: By writing a proposal, students examine the potential impact their writing can have on the world around them. The extent that the sequence supports this objective can be modified by altering the nature and amount of interaction with the stakeholders in the proposal.

Annotated Bibliography –> Synthesis Paper –> Academic Argument –> Proposal

Connection to Obj. 1: This sequence prompts careful examination of the writing process by isolating planning/drafting activities associated with research and synthesizing sources. As in example one, it also demonstrates the recursive nature of the writing process since students continue to return to previous steps to support later stages and must reexamine and repurpose their original work for a new composing context.

Connection to Obj. 2: This sequence introduces students to four purposes for writing (creating a working bibliography, synthesizing existing research, presenting information to a disciplinary community, and proposing a course of action) and at least three audiences (self, readers with a shared interest in the research topic, an academic discourse community, and stakeholders who could enact change).

Connection to Obj. 3: By investing time to create a selective working bibliography, students positively impact their future writing tasks. By writing a proposal, students examine the potential impact their writing can have on the world around them. The extent that the sequence supports this objective can be modified by altering the nature and amount of interaction with the stakeholders in the proposal.

Profile –> Rhetorical Analysis –> Proposal

Connection to Obj. 1: Profiling the stakeholder and analyzing the stakeholder’s discourse conventions forefronts invention activities and teaches students strategies for conducting inquiry to learn about their audience.

Connection to Obj. 2: By profiling a potential stakeholder in a proposal topic, students learn about their readers for the later assignment. The rhetorical analysis of the stakeholder’s discourse helps students understand their future readers’ expectations and help them understand how conventions vary. The proposal assignment then gives them an opportunity to write for a specific audience – one who might vary for each proposal drafted by class members.

Tags: assignment