I often wonder what students think about the assignments we create. In my experience, they frequently see assignments as having a limited and somewhat task-oriented relationship with their course work. Their concern about what counts for a grade is frequently one-dimensional and often usurps the lasting values and capacities I hope to develop. This frustrates me, and I imagine it frustrates other teachers as well.
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Very useful. I think this is related to the issues of transparency, metacognition, and resistance. Faculty think a lot about course design & pedagogy, but this is opaque to students. I created an Objectives Map that lists course objectives, aligns assignments to which course objective they support, and describes their relevance that students review as an early assignment. It works well.