Moving the Needle - Chunking/Scaffolding Your Project

Purpose:

The purpose of this assignment is to align with our module objective of "Re-organize a major assessment to identify strategies to break it into smaller tasks." Utilizing the strategies and tools we've discovered through this module, let's put into practice a proven technique to assist our learners. 

Task:

Identify an assessment in your course that you want to break down into smaller steps (essay, project, presentation, test, etc). Describe how the assignment is currently set up, common issues students have with the assignment, how you will break your assessment into smaller steps, and what improvements you hope to see.

Try to identify at least three scaffolded steps or tasks that your students could complete along the path to completing the larger assessment. Also, propose a timeline within the class schedule for when you would like students to complete each step, providing enough time for you to give formative feedback along the way, and for students to act on that feedback.

Criteria:

Here's an example from Flower Darby's article from the Chronicle of Higher Education Links to an external site..

Let’s say you want students to record a video presentation of their research topics. It’s hard enough to give a good presentation without the video-recording element. So help your online students gain practice with the technology before they have to use it for a high-stakes project. For example, in the first week or two of class, give them a low-stakes, low-stress assignment: Ask them to record and post a two-minute video introducing themselves to the class.