8:30 – 9:00 am | MSC 2W16-B, SRC Conference Room
Increasing Student Engagement and Agency with Flexible Assignments
Christy Zempter
Assistant Professor
English & Humanities Department, Shawnee State University
Abstract:
Student engagement and diversity of learning style/expression of learning are among the common challenges instructors must address across disciplines and modalities. This teaching clinic will explain how increasing student agency in the development of artifacts that provide evidence of learning can mitigate concerns in both areas. Drawing on the format of a specific intercultural communication class, the facilitator will explain how to develop multiple assignment options that address required learning outcomes while providing students with a range of ways to show their progress toward achieving those learning outcomes. For each major assignment in the class, students choose from at least two general assignment options that address class concepts in different ways. Students also may respond to each assignment prompt in a variety of ways – via written essay, narrated slideshow, podcast-style audio file, or video.
Session type: Teaching Clinic, Hybrid (virtual live stream and face-to-face)
Key words: Critical pedagogy, student-centered learning, flexible assessment