This self-paced tutorial offers questions and activities to guide your process of assignment prompt-writing so that students understand what you’re asking, meet your expectations, and learn from doing so.
Contact the Writing Center2. Common Features of Effective Prompts 3. Multilingual Students and Inclusive Prompts |
Creating Writing Assignments (MIT Creative Media Studies/Writing)
How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments? (Allison Boye, Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center, Texas Tech Univ.)
Understanding Assignments (UNC Writing Center)
What Makes a Good Writing Assignment? (An Introduction to Writing Across the Curriculum / WAC Clearinghouse)
Designing Effective Writing Assignments (Center for Writing, U of Minnesota)
Bean, John. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. Wiley, 2011. "Formal Writing Assignments,” pp. 89-119.
Gottschalk, Katherine and Keith Hjortshoj. The Elements of Teaching Writing. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. “Defining Writing Assignments and Assignment Sequences.” pp. 29-46.
Harris, Muriel. “Assignments from Hell.” What Is “College-Level” Writing? Vol. 2. Ed. Patrick Sullivan, Howard Tinberg, and Sheridan Blau. NCTE, 2010. pp. 183-206, esp. Appendix 10B, “Guidelines for Developing Effective Assignments."
Schedule a consultation with associates at the Writing Center to discuss prompt-writing for your course. Write to us at writing@amherst.edu or contact a writing associate directly. This guide was compiled from the work of Kristen Brookes (lead author), Emily Merriman, and Jessica Kem. It was last updated June 2020.
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