Do you have or wish you had assignments that foster collaboration among your students? Interested in increasing engagement and deeper learning through collaboration? The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) lists Collaborative Assignments as one of eleven High-Impact Practices. High-Impact Practices are teaching and learning practices that have been proven to facilitate engagement and retention for students from many backgrounds (NESSE, 2007; Kuh, 2008). 

High-Impact Practices foster the following qualities of teaching and learning:

  1. Significant effort over time
  2. Meaningful interactions with peers and faculty
  3. Real world application
  4. Iterative feedback 

When considering the context of your course and the collaborative nature of your assignments, which of these components comes naturally? Which need a little more development? To further apply these features to your course context, complete the following.

  • Review these practical tips for high-impact collaborative assignments.
  • Select an assignment to revise, or create a new assignment.
  • If you already have an assignment: Use the information that you have learned throughout this web page to revise your assignment to incorporate the qualities listed above.
    • What changes did you make?
    • How do these changes ensure that the assignment is now a high-impact collaborative assignment? Specifically, how will this change the way students interact with the course material, their peers, and their instructor?
    • What resources did you use to inform your revision?
    • What other steps do you need to take to incorporate the assignment into your course?
  • If you are creating a new assignment:
    • How do you envision this assignment changing the way students interact with the course material, their peers, and their instructor?
    • What resources did you use to inform your assignment?
    • What still needs to be developed, changed, or created?

resources on elements of collaborative assignments

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