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Advantages and Disadvantages of Assignments For Students

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Study shows students in ‘active learning’ classrooms learn more than they think

For decades, there has been evidence that classroom techniques designed to get students to participate in the learning process produces better educational outcomes at virtually all levels.

And a new Harvard study suggests it may be important to let students know it.

The study , published Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that, though students felt as if they learned more through traditional lectures, they actually learned more when taking part in classrooms that employed so-called active-learning strategies.

Lead author Louis Deslauriers , the director of science teaching and learning and senior physics preceptor, knew that students would learn more from active learning. He published a key study in Science in 2011 that showed just that. But many students and faculty remained hesitant to switch to it.

“Often, students seemed genuinely to prefer smooth-as-silk traditional lectures,” Deslauriers said. “We wanted to take them at their word. Perhaps they actually felt like they learned more from lectures than they did from active learning.”

In addition to Deslauriers, the study is authored by director of sciences education and physics lecturer Logan McCarty , senior preceptor in applied physics Kelly Miller, preceptor in physics Greg Kestin , and Kristina Callaghan, now a physics lecturer at the University of California, Merced.

The question of whether students’ perceptions of their learning matches with how well they’re actually learning is particularly important, Deslauriers said, because while students eventually see the value of active learning, initially it can feel frustrating.

“Deep learning is hard work. The effort involved in active learning can be misinterpreted as a sign of poor learning,” he said. “On the other hand, a superstar lecturer can explain things in such a way as to make students feel like they are learning more than they actually are.”

To understand that dichotomy, Deslauriers and his co-authors designed an experiment that would expose students in an introductory physics class to both traditional lectures and active learning.

For the first 11 weeks of the 15-week class, students were taught using standard methods by an experienced instructor. In the 12th week, half the class was randomly assigned to a classroom that used active learning, while the other half attended highly polished lectures. In a subsequent class, the two groups were reversed. Notably, both groups used identical class content and only active engagement with the material was toggled on and off.

Following each class, students were surveyed on how much they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “I feel like I learned a lot from this lecture” and “I wish all my physics courses were taught this way.” Students were also tested on how much they learned in the class with 12 multiple-choice questions.

When the results were tallied, the authors found that students felt as if they learned more from the lectures, but in fact scored higher on tests following the active learning sessions. “Actual learning and feeling of learning were strongly anticorrelated,” Deslauriers said, “as shown through the robust statistical analysis by co-author Kelly Miller, who is an expert in educational statistics and active learning.”

Those results, the study authors are quick to point out, shouldn’t be interpreted as suggesting students dislike active learning. In fact, many studies have shown students quickly warm to the idea, once they begin to see the results. “In all the courses at Harvard that we’ve transformed to active learning,” Deslauriers said, “the overall course evaluations went up.”

Co-author Kestin, who in addition to being a physicist is a video producer with PBS’ NOVA, said, “It can be tempting to engage the class simply by folding lectures into a compelling ‘story,’ especially when that’s what students seem to like. I show my students the data from this study on the first day of class to help them appreciate the importance of their own involvement in active learning.”

McCarty, who oversees curricular efforts across the sciences, hopes this study will encourage more of his colleagues to embrace active learning.

“We want to make sure that other instructors are thinking hard about the way they’re teaching,” he said. “In our classes, we start each topic by asking students to gather in small groups to solve some problems. While they work, we walk around the room to observe them and answer questions. Then we come together and give a short lecture targeted specifically at the misconceptions and struggles we saw during the problem-solving activity. So far we’ve transformed over a dozen classes to use this kind of active-learning approach. It’s extremely efficient — we can cover just as much material as we would using lectures.”

A pioneer in work on active learning, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Eric Mazur hailed the study as debunking long-held beliefs about how students learn.

“This work unambiguously debunks the illusion of learning from lectures,” he said. “It also explains why instructors and students cling to the belief that listening to lectures constitutes learning. I recommend every lecturer reads this article.”

Dean of Science Christopher Stubbs , Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, was an early convert. “When I first switched to teaching using active learning, some students resisted that change. This research confirms that faculty should persist and encourage active learning. Active engagement in every classroom, led by our incredible science faculty, should be the hallmark of residential undergraduate education at Harvard.”

Ultimately, Deslauriers said, the study shows that it’s important to ensure that neither instructors nor students are fooled into thinking that lectures are the best learning option. “Students might give fabulous evaluations to an amazing lecturer based on this feeling of learning, even though their actual learning isn’t optimal,” he said. “This could help to explain why study after study shows that student evaluations seem to be completely uncorrelated with actual learning.”

This research was supported with funding from the Harvard FAS Division of Science.

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Unlocking Academic Success: The Top 12 Benefits of Assignments

Rebekah Marshall

June 5, 2024

Read Time: 8 min

Is it possible that you would reach the end of your degree but didn’t attempt any assignment in your academic career? Not really. Well, the importance of assignments is not hidden from us. We all are aware of its significance. Completing assignments is a daunting task, but do you have any idea about their benefits? If not, then keep reading this article. We’ll explain the benefits of assignments in detail and how to finish them fast. Before moving forward, let’s have a brief overview of what an assignment is and its purpose.

What is an assignment? 

Assignments play an important part in the learning process of students. It is a well known assessment method for teachers as well. Additionally, it is not only for students but also for professors. With the help of assignments, professors can evaluate the skills, expertise, and knowledge of students. It also helps teachers assess whether or not pupils have met the learning objectives. Moreover, it allows them to gauge how much students have learned from their lessons. 

In education, an “assignment” means a piece of schoolwork that teachers give to students. It provides a range of opportunities to practice, learn, and show what you’ve learned. When teachers assign assignments, they provide their students with a summary of the knowledge they have learned. Additionally, they assess whether students have understood the acquired knowledge. If not, what concerns do they may have?  

Purpose of Giving Assignments to Students

Teachers give homework to help students in their learning. Doing homework shows they are good at it, responsible, and can manage their time wisely. College professors also give homework to check how well students understand what they learned. Clarity is required when planning an assignment on a number of issues. As a result, the following factors are taken into account by your teacher when creating the structure for your assignment.

• Will it be an individual or group assignment?
• How can it be made more effective for students?
• Should I combine two approaches for this project?
• Do I need to observe how students are working on the assignment? Or should I check it once they’ve finished it?
• What standards must I follow when evaluating this assignment?

What are the aspects of assignment evaluation?

Instructors usually follow these three aspects when evaluating an assignment.

Aspects of Assignment Evaluation

The assignment and the method used to evaluate the results are in line with the learning objectives.

Reliability

Teachers draw distinctions and assign grades based on the outcomes. The score is consistently calculated based on the predefined parameters. It guarantees that the grades are evaluated in a meaningful way.

Objectivity

An assignment’s goal should be obvious. The primary goal of this assignment is to teach students what they will learn. Also, how to finish that assignment. Teachers need to specify what they expect from the assignment and how they are going to evaluate it. 

Types of Writing Assignments

There are different types of writings that teachers assign to students at the college or university level. Some of writing assignment types are:

Types of Assignment Writing

It presents the author’s viewpoint on a subject with supporting data and may also argue its case. The essay structure consists of three main components: introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Essays are of different types, such as analytical essays, compare and contrast essays, and persuasive essays. You can also  buy essays  from an online writing service. 

A report offers information about an issue in a clear and organized manner. You may have learned this information through reading, research, experiments, and measurements in the field or lab. You might also have gained it from your personal experiences. Additionally, reports have different structures depending on the subject or discipline. The basic  structure of the report  consists of an abstract, introduction, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion, and appendices. 

Literature reviews

A literature review may be assigned as a standalone assignment. In the literature review, the goal is to summarize the key research relating to your topic. Alternatively, it might be a section of a lengthy project, like a research report or thesis. The goal would be to justify the need for more research on the topic you have selected.

Annotated bibliographies

A literature review or essay synthesizes various sources and incorporates them into a single discussion about a topic. In contrast, an annotated bibliography evaluates and summarizes each reading independently. Each reading is typically presented alphabetically based on the first letter of the lead author’s surname. It is difficult to generate an annotated bibliography. But you can get expert help by hiring an online  annotated bibliography writing service . 

Case studies

In general, a case study requires the integration of theory and practice. This helps you connect theoretical ideas to real professional or practical situations. A case may be a person, any event, idea, etc. You are analyzing the case by mapping it against a theoretical explanation to understand and see the big picture – What has happened? It may take the form of a report or an essay. Consult your lecturer or tutor and review the assignment question.

Research paper

The research paper starts with a topic and your research question. Add data from trustworthy sites and properly cite those sources. Moreover, add a claim or argument as your thesis statement. If you don’t know  how to write a research paper , you can check our latest guide.

Response paper

In the response paper, discuss what you’ve read or learned about a particular problem or subject. Evaluate concepts about other readings, talks, or debates. Write in a combination of formal and informal styles. (make sure to consult your professor’s guidelines)

Top 12 Benefits of Assignments

For hard working students, assignments can offer many benefits once they get used to them. They help you get the grades you want and show what you have learned in your classes. You’ll see the benefits of assignments more clearly when you learn about their different types and what your teacher expects. Assignments are an absolute way to do well in your classes.

We have already talked about what an assignment is and its purpose. Let’s explore the impact of homework assignment on students’ learning.

1. Enhance the student’s knowledge

Teachers assign assignments on a variety of subjects and topics. This will help the students to gain knowledge when they work on different kinds of topics. It is one of the best benefits that students receive from assignments. They are also introduced to significant ideas and insightful information.

Suppose your assignment topic is too complex. You have to spend extra time and effort to conduct detailed research to understand the topic. This way, you will not only be able to complete your assignment. But also gain a lot of new information.

There can be a lot of pressure to memorize information exactly. This pressure may lead to simply repeating it when studying for an exam. Students find it challenging to truly grasp the concepts covered in their courses. This results in a lack of deep understanding. On the other hand, when you undertake a challenging assignment, you’ll be applying knowledge to real world issues. These issues often have multiple possible solutions. You’ll find that developing this kind of thinking and improving your assignment writing skills will help you throughout the course and the rest of your academic career.

2. Improve student’s problem solving skills

Another benefit of assignments is when students work on complex projects; their analytical and critical thinking skills are also enhanced. This is an extremely useful skill for students to possess. Since it will help them in their academic and professional journey. We continue to learn from this process regardless of our age.

A great technique to master your course material is to challenge yourself. Give yourself a complex problem to solve and strive to find a solution. Similar to the  benefits of homework , you can only improve at something by putting it into practice and giving it a lot of thought. We are always working on these analytical and problem solving skills, and going back to school will force you to develop them even more. 

3. Boost your writing caliber

We frequently find ourselves with a lot on our minds but unable to properly and clearly explain it in front of the audience. Assignments help us in improving our writing skills. When you have a habit of writing, then you can communicate easily. Your writing skills will improve because your academic task requires you to write. Another benefit of assignments is that they assist you in writing concisely and clearly.

4. Help to think under pressure

Sometimes, you might be assigned a very difficult assignment that requires a lot of knowledge, and you are not familiar with it. Handling these complex tasks assists you in persevering when you don’t have enough information. It also helps you to grow confidence in your skills to find the right solution.

Additionally, all students and professionals need to learn how to think under pressure. The assignment gives you the opportunity to do so. Since you probably only have a few days to finish the assignment. You’ll need to not only manage your busy schedule to finish it. But also squeeze in a lot of learning and application of what you’ve learned. Possessing this ability will be beneficial because it will enable you to think clearly under pressure, which will help you succeed in school and in your career.

5. Help in boosting grades

There is more pressure to perform well on exams when a course has few exams that make up for an important part of your final grade. Smaller assignments that account for a smaller portion of your final grade mean that even if you don’t perform well on one of them, you will still have more chances to improve your grade.

You can feel more at ease knowing that your grades are divided in this manner. This provides you with multiple chances to work towards a higher grade. Many students prefer smaller assessments. These relieve them of worrying about a single test significantly impacting their final grade.

6. Build time management skills

A  study  conducted among students revealed that students who completed more assignments performed better in their overall academics. They also achieved higher scores in specific subjects.

Due to these tasks, students gain more time management skills, which further empowers them. They learn the ability to allocate their time between assigned tasks and prioritized activities. They are aware of what needs to be done first. How to solve problems faster, and how to turn in their work ahead of schedule. Furthermore, this practice teaches them to use their time wisely.   

7. Enhance organizing and planning skills

Completing an assignment requires thoughtful planning. Students’ organizational skills are improved through the information search, sorting, and use of relevant data. Following that, students will be able to plan out when and how to complete their assigned work. Attempting assignments allows them to effectively handle their learning habits. They also help them to apply their knowledge wisely to improve their academic performance.  

8. Understand how to apply in real life scenarios

Applying theoretical concepts to real world situations also gets easier when one learns how to write theoretical assignments. This enables them to be prepared to deal with any problems that arise in the future.

9. Boosts your knowledge of technical subjects and ideas

When a subject is taught in a classroom environment, it’s normal for students to not understand it. They are forced to spend more time comprehending and finishing their work when they are assigned assignments on those subjects, though.

This enables them to respond to those questions with ease and proficiency. Regardless of a concept’s technicality, you’ll gain a strong command over it. This happens when you write multiple articles on the same topic or idea.

10. Improve research skills

Doing homework and assignments also helps students get better at researching. When a professor assigns any assignment, students perform thorough research on different topics. This allows them to learn the ability to find useful information and sort it accordingly. Their professional life is positively impacted, and their academic performance is improved by this habit.

11. Learn the art of tasks prioritizing

When handling a lot of assignments, you will learn to prioritize the task based on its importance. It is a crucial skill that is needed in professional life. Prioritizing your work will help you to complete all your tasks on time. You will be able to meet the deadlines.

12. Making a personal study space

You can get help from your colleagues and online resources. But the task of implementing that knowledge is your own. This is exactly what you need to understand concepts.

As you work on your assignments, you can create a relaxing study space that increases productivity. You’ll be able to create a unique working style by doing this. In addition, you can focus on creativity, productivity, learning, and pursuing interests.

Of course, everything has a negative aspect, even though there are definite advantages. Sometimes, students may question the true value of assignments. They wonder if there are any restrictions on this particular grading scheme. Students usually wonder this when they are having difficulty with their coursework or with specific concepts. These carry significant burdens. They can be stressful for students struggling with course material.

However, this belief has a reason. Even experts can’t agree on the best way to evaluate a student’s performance in a course. This sparks a lot of discussion.

How to finish assignments fast?

Firstly, make a plan of what steps you will cover in your assignment. It includes how much time is required to complete the assignment. Then, list out all the tasks that you will do in your assignment. Identify what you need to complete this assignment, like a calculator, books, paper, and pen. Find a relaxing and quiet place to work without any distractions. Switch off your phone. Have some light snacks and water. Take quick breaks between assignment tasks. When you’re done with the assignment, reward yourself.

Concluding Remarks

Now, you have a clear understanding of what the assignment means and its importance. And how it is beneficial for the student’s academic career. Would you like additional information? Or do you simply not have the time to complete it? Stop worrying! You can find the solution at Nerdpapers, all under one roof. Our professionals have years of experience. So, if a student gets stuck on a project or assignment, they can take a variety of actions to help them finish it on time. Not only can our native experts produce high quality assignments. But they can also help you achieve good grades at reasonable costs. Therefore, hire subject related experts for appropriate guidance and assistance rather than compromising your grades. Whether you are a college, university, or high school student, there are several benefits of assignment writing.

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Student reassignments achieve diversity without academic adversity

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, thurston domina , thurston domina professor, department of education - university of north carolina-chapel hill deven carlson , deven carlson associate professor of political science - university of oklahoma, associate director for education - the national institute of risk and resilience james carter iii , james carter iii ph.d. student, school of education - university of north carolina-chapel hill, research analyst - wake county public school system matthew lenard , matthew lenard ph.d. candidate - harvard graduate school of education andrew mceachin , and andrew mceachin director, collaborative for student growth - nwea, co-editor - educational researcher rachel m. perera rachel m. perera fellow - governance studies , brown center on education policy.

September 1, 2021

School desegregation works. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that federal efforts to enforce Brown v. Board of Education and dismantle separate and unequal systems of public education improved Black children’s life trajectories —driving gains in educational achievement and attainment , increasing employment , and reducing arrests and crime victimization . This body of research finds little evidence of offsetting effects for white children.

Nonetheless, school desegregation efforts have consistently faced intense political resistance. Images of this resistance are seared in the nation’s memory: crowds of angry white protestors spitting and jeering at the Little Rock Nine as they integrated Central High School; U.S. marshals escorting nine-year-old Ruby Bridges into her New Orleans elementary school; battles between desegregation advocates and their opponents in the streets of 1970s Boston.

We might like to think that opposition to desegregation efforts is a relic of the past. This backlash, however, continues to the present day, as illustrated by recent dispatches from San Francisco , New York City , Maryland’s Montgomery County , and North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg County . Opponents frequently argue that school reassignments for diversity purposes—often referred to as “mandatory busing”—exact academic, social, and emotional costs from reassigned students.

As districts around the U.S. grapple with high levels of racial and socioeconomic segregation, and the Biden administration prepares to make a $100 million bet on a new generation of school desegregation efforts , we wanted to know whether historical and contemporary concerns were justified.

To find out, we took a close look at North Carolina’s Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and the socioeconomic school desegregation plan the district implemented between 2000 and 2010.

WCPSS set a goal that no school’s enrollment would exceed 40% socioeconomically disadvantaged students or 25% below grade-level students. It sought to accomplish this with a “controlled choice” approach that gave parents opportunities to choose their children’s schools but allowed the district to manage the assignment process in ways that served its desegregation goals. It divided the district into geographic nodes containing roughly 150 students each and assigned each node to a “base” elementary, middle, and high school. While families had a menu of school choices, their node’s “base” school was their default school of attendance. To maintain socioeconomic and achievement balance, WCPSS annually reassigned several nodes—and the students residing in them—to different base schools, generally reassigning relatively high-poverty residential nodes to lower-poverty base schools and vice versa.

More than 20% of students enrolled in WCPSS experienced one or more reassignments under the policy during the decade in which it was in place. In Figure 1, we map WCPSS’s residential nodes, shading reassigned nodes according to their concentration of students of color. As the map illustrates, reassignments affected students across the district, including Black, white, and Hispanic students.

Figure 1: Percent of students in WCPSS residential nodes identified for reassignment between 2000-2010 who are Black or Hispanic

Our analyses , which have just been published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , yield three main conclusions.

First, although WCPSS’s policy allowed families to opt out of their newly reassigned schools, most reassigned students attended their reassigned schools. This finding is important because it suggests that districts can create more diverse and inclusive school assignment boundaries even with policies that allow a considerable degree of school choice.

Second, despite widespread concerns about the potential harms of “busing” to achieve diversity goals, we find no evidence of negative consequences of reassignment for reassigned students. Indeed, as the findings reported in Figure 2 illustrate, our analyses indicate that reassignment had modest positive effects on reassigned students’ math achievement, in the range of 0.02-0.04 standard deviations.

Figure 2: Effects of reassignment on reassigned students’ mathematics and reading achievement, suspension, and chronic absenteeism

We further find that reassigned students’ rates of suspension drop by about 1 percentage point in the year of reassignment and the subsequent year, a decline of 20% off the base suspension rate. These findings indicate that, in this case at least, concerns about the academic and social costs of school reassignment are unfounded. Carefully designed and implemented school assignment policies like the one WCPSS implemented in the early 2000s can improve school diversity without imposing academic or disciplinary costs on reassigned students. Additional analyses indicate that the benefits associated with reassignment were relatively widespread and we found no evidence to suggest that academic outcomes declined white students or students initially enrolled in low-poverty schools after reassignment.

Third, we find that students who do and do not attend their base school have similar outcome trajectories post-reassignment. We are reluctant to draw firm causal conclusions based on this finding. Nonetheless, it suggests that students benefit from reassignment whether they attend their new base schools or transfer to a choice school.

Looking Ahead—In Wake County and Beyond

As trends toward socioeconomic segregation across public schools intensify across the U.S., and the COVID-19 pandemic sheds light on deep and persistent inequalities in our public schools, we believe now is the time for educational policymakers to undertake brave and ambitious new approaches to school desegregation. WCPSS’s 2000-2010 socioeconomic reassignment policy should be a touchstone in this policy conversation. This policy–which has attracted considerable academic attention over the years–was neither perfect nor uncontroversial. In fact, voter backlash to the policy led to the election of an anti-desegregation slate of school board candidates in 2010.

Today, as the district confronts rising levels of racial and socioeconomic school segregation, it is contemplating new approaches to use school assignments to boost diversity. We believe the story of Wake County’s socioeconomic reassignments should embolden equity-oriented policymakers in Wake County and across America. By building on the WCPSS model, policymakers can realize the profound benefits of educational diversity, even in an era when courts subject racially sensitive desegregation efforts to sharp scrutiny and school-choice plans provide new opportunities for students to avoid socioeconomically diverse schools. And—contrary to widespread worries about the costs of desegregation—our analysis suggests that educational policymakers can realize these benefits while simultaneously enriching the educational experiences of reassigned students.

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The Use of Assignments in Education

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How Differentiated Instruction Supports All Students

Today’s classrooms are becoming more diverse. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported that the percentage of U.S. public school students who were white was 45 percent in 2021, compared with 52 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of Hispanic students, for example, increased to 28 percent, compared with 25 percent previously.

However, students’ race is not the only apparent difference in classrooms. A more diverse student population brings a broad variety of experiences, interests, and aptitudes to education. Students differ in characteristics ranging from their cultural norms to the style of learning that fits them best.

Differentiated instruction works to ensure that all these students can excel, regardless of their distinct backgrounds, abilities, and interests. Education degree programs often focus on this teaching approach as a way to promote equity in learning for today’s diverse student population.

Effective Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) programs, for example, include differentiated instruction in the discussion of high-impact teaching practices.

What Is Differentiated Instruction? 

Before exploring why it is an important component of teacher training, it is necessary to understand what differentiated instruction is. Put simply, differentiated instruction requires teachers to design lessons that respond to all students’ needs. 

Differentiated instruction recognizes a diverse student population; various learning styles and unique experiences influence how individual students respond to teaching. It provides an inclusive environment by using various teaching styles, allowing students to learn in the way that works best for them.

Teachers using this style of instruction work with students in small groups or individually to accommodate characteristics such as:

• Readiness to learn
• How they learn
• Prior knowledge
• Languages they speak
• Personal interests

Students may have learning disabilities that affect their ability to learn in a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction, for example. They may also have a preferred method of communication that makes one type of assignment—such as making a poster instead of writing an essay—more effective. Differentiated instruction is what allows educators to focus on these specific needs, with learner-centered curriculum development that acknowledges students’ unique abilities and interests.

Taking student differences into account, teachers can adjust their approaches to:

• Lesson content —the material that students learn and the resources that assist them
• Student activities —the types of work that teachers assign to reinforce their lessons
• Required assessments —the ways that teachers measure student learning
• Classroom environment —the room setup and the way students work together

Components of Differentiated Instruction

A five-step process informs educators about the types of teaching strategies that they should employ to ensure equitable learning opportunities. Differentiated instruction begins with determining what students actually need to optimize their learning, instead of simply assuming what will work best. The process is as follows:

• Identify students’ needs through analysis of test results, observation of class activities, and assessments of classwork.
• Establish educational goals for individual students according to their needs.
• Adapt how and at what pace to provide instruction , with plans tailored to each student.
• Assign different types of work to students according to their characteristics, with students’ needs informing the difficulty and amount of work.
• Evaluate students’ progress toward achieving the lesson goals to determine the effectiveness of the instruction.

Benefits of Differentiated Instruction  

Differentiated instruction supports all students in various ways, from encouraging their participation to celebrating their uniqueness. Below are some critical benefits of differentiated instruction.

Gives Students an Active Role

With differentiated instruction, students have more responsibility in their education. In many cases, they can select the approach to learning—and show what they have learned—instead of receiving the material in a way that may not fit best with their background and learning style.

Accommodates All Learners

By offering multiple learning paths, educators can ensure that they are catering to the entire class. Differentiated instruction accommodates everyone from students who are ready for more advanced instruction to students with learning disabilities who have specialized plans for addressing those issues. 

Encourages Student Engagement

Differentiated instruction aims to reach students in a way that fits them best. Because it appeals to their own interests and background, the approach often builds greater student interest in the subject matter. 

Honors Individual Differences

A hallmark of differentiated instruction is its focus on students’ differences—and its celebration of those differences. This type of instruction openly acknowledges that many factors can affect how students learn, and curriculum planning adjusts to make the most of each person’s experiences and abilities.

Supports Student Equity

Another benefit of differentiated instruction is that it facilitates student equity. It recognizes that the playing field is not level for all students as they approach learning, because of differences in their background and aptitude. Differentiated instruction works to close equity gaps and facilitate each student’s success, promoting social and racial justice .

Differentiated Instruction Strategies  

Some basic strategies for curriculum planning and classroom management can make differentiated instruction more impactful. Below are some key differentiated instruction strategies.

Conduct Ongoing Assessments

Effective differentiated instruction requires regular assessments of student learning. The results should help educators determine which educational approaches are working—and which require adjustments to best reach students.

Assign Fulfilling Tasks

Instead of assigning some groups of students more engaging activities than others, educators should work to ensure that all groups of students receive assignments that are fulfilling, according to the styles of learning that are most likely to connect with them.

Vary Student Groups

Another differentiated instruction strategy likely to yield positive results is varying the groups with which students work. To encourage students to interact with various classmates, on some days, teachers can assign students to work with those who are similar to them in learning readiness; on other days, teachers can assign them to work with those with the same preferred learning style.

Build Classroom Rapport

Mixing up the groups in which students participate is one way to build rapport among those in the classroom. Another strategy for developing relationships—and encouraging honest conversations that can inform differentiated instruction practices—is for educators to communicate openly with students about their interests and past experiences. 

Differentiated Instruction Examples

What are some ways that teachers can enact differentiated instruction in their classrooms? Below are examples of differentiated instruction.

Scaffolded Activities

With scaffolded activities, teachers assign different types of tasks to different groups of students according to their own characteristics. Reading materials related to the lesson are at appropriate levels for each group, for example. Alternatively, some groups engage in visual lessons while others’ lessons cater to their preference for auditory learning.

Student-Selected Assessments

With student-selected assessments, educators allow students to select the way to show what they have learned, based on their own interests and talents. For an end-of-unit assessment, students might choose to create a poster, write an essay, or provide an outline of what they have learned.

Technology-Enabled Instruction

With technology-enabled instruction, students choose between synchronous or asynchronous learning using technological tools such as tablets. Another differentiated instruction example is to accommodate the ways that students communicate, using interactive whiteboards for those with speech limitations.

Maximize Each Student’s Learning Potential 

Differentiated instruction provides equitable learning opportunities for today’s diverse learners. If you are ready to strengthen your ability to connect with students in ways that accommodate—and celebrate—their differences, explore the online MAT degree program from American University’s School of Education.

By addressing institutional and systemic racism, emphasizing essential practices for effective teaching, and relying on scientifically proven learning principles, the program can prepare you to excel in educating all elementary school students. The online program includes fieldwork in classrooms in your local area.

Discover how AU’s online MAT degree can help you reach your goals as an educator.

How to Create a Classroom Management Plan

The Importance of Teacher Collaboration

Universal Design for Learning: Definition and Benefits

Adobe, “Strategies for Teaching Diverse Learners”

Learning for Justice, Supporting All Learners Through Differentiation

National Center for Education Statistics, Racial/Ethnic Enrollment in Public Schools

Prodigy, Culturally Responsive Teaching: Examples, Strategies, & Activities for Success

Reading Rockets, “What Is Differentiated Instruction?”

Reading Rockets, “What Makes Differentiated Instruction Successful?”

Teaching and Teacher Education, Leadership and Professional Development , “How Teachers Develop Skills for Implementing Differentiated Instruction: Helpful and Hindering Factors”

Understood, “What Is Differentiated Instruction?”

Verywell Family, “Pros and Cons of Differentiated Teaching”

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Many students have had little experience working in groups in an academic setting. While there are many excellent books and articles describing group processes, this guide is intended to be short and simply written for students who are working in groups, but who may not be very interested in too much detail. It also provides teachers (and students) with tips on assigning group projects, ways to organize groups, and what to do when the process goes awry.

Some reasons to ask students to work in groups

Asking students to work in small groups allows students to learn interactively. Small groups are good for:

• generating a broad array of possible alternative points of view or solutions to a problem
• giving students a chance to work on a project that is too large or complex for an individual
• allowing students with different backgrounds to bring their special knowledge, experience, or skills to a project, and to explain their orientation to others
• giving students a chance to teach each other
• giving students a structured experience so they can practice skills applicable to professional situations

Some benefits of working in groups (even for short periods of time in class)

• Students who have difficulty talking in class may speak in a small group.
• More students, overall, have a chance to participate in class.
• Talking in groups can help overcome the anonymity and passivity of a large class or a class meeting in a poorly designed room.
• Students who expect to participate actively prepare better for class.

Caveat: If you ask students to work in groups, be clear about your purpose, and communicate it to them. Students who fear that group work is a potential waste of valuable time may benefit from considering the reasons and benefits above.

Large projects over a period of time

Faculty asking students to work in groups over a long period of time can do a few things to make it easy for the students to work:

• The biggest student complaint about group work is that it takes a lot of time and planning. Let students know about the project at the beginning of the term, so they can plan their time.
• At the outset, provide group guidelines and your expectations.
• Monitor the groups periodically to make sure they are functioning effectively.
• If the project is to be completed outside of class, it can be difficult to find common times to meet and to find a room. Some faculty members provide in-class time for groups to meet. Others help students find rooms to meet in.

Forming the group

• Forming the group. Should students form their own groups or should they be assigned? Most people prefer to choose whom they work with. However, many students say they welcome both kinds of group experiences, appreciating the value of hearing the perspective of another discipline, or another background.
• Size. Appropriate group size depends on the nature of the project.  If the group is small and one person drops out, can the remaining people do the work? If the group is large, will more time be spent on organizing themselves and trying to make decisions than on productive work?
• Resources for students. Provide a complete class list, with current email addresses. (Students like having this anyway so they can work together even if group projects are not assigned.)
• Students that don't fit. You might anticipate your response to the one or two exceptions of a person who really has difficulty in the group. After trying various remedies, is there an out—can this person join another group? work on an independent project?

Organizing the work

Unless part of the goal is to give people experience in the process of goal-setting, assigning tasks, and so forth, the group will be able to work more efficiently if they are provided with some of the following:

• Clear goals. Why are they working together? What are they expected to accomplish?
• Ways to break down the task into smaller units
• Ways to allocate responsibility for different aspects of the work
• Ways to allocate organizational responsibility
• A sample time line with suggested check points for stages of work to be completed

Caveat: Setting up effective small group assignments can take a lot of faculty time and organization.

Getting Started

• Groups work best if people know each others' names and a bit of their background and experience, especially those parts that are related to the task at hand. Take time to introduce yourselves.
• Be sure to include everyone when considering ideas about how to proceed as a group. Some may never have participated in a small group in an academic setting. Others may have ideas about what works well. Allow time for people to express their inexperience and hesitations as well as their experience with group projects.
• Most groups select a leader early on, especially if the work is a long-term project. Other options for leadership in long-term projects include taking turns for different works or different phases of the work.
• Everyone needs to discuss and clarify the goals of the group's work. Go around the group and hear everyone's ideas (before discussing them) or encourage divergent thinking by brainstorming. If you miss this step, trouble may develop part way through the project. Even though time is scarce and you may have a big project ahead of you, groups may take some time to settle in to work. If you anticipate this, you may not be too impatient with the time it takes to get started.

Organizing the Work

• Break up big jobs into smaller pieces. Allocate responsibility for different parts of the group project to different individuals or teams. Do not forget to account for assembling pieces into final form.
• Develop a timeline, including who will do what, in what format, by when. Include time at the end for assembling pieces into final form. (This may take longer than you anticipate.) At the end of each meeting, individuals should review what work they expect to complete by the following session.

Understanding and Managing Group Processes

• Groups work best if everyone has a chance to make strong contributions to the discussion at meetings and to the work of the group project.
• At the beginning of each meeting, decide what you expect to have accomplished by the end of the meeting.
• Someone (probably not the leader) should write all ideas, as they are suggested, on the board, a collaborative document, or on large sheets of paper. Designate a recorder of the group's decisions. Allocate responsibility for group process (especially if you do not have a fixed leader) such as a time manager for meetings and someone who periodically says that it is time to see how things are going (see below).
• What leadership structure does the group want? One designated leader? rotating leaders? separately assigned roles?
• Are any more ground rules needed, such as starting meetings on time, kinds of interruptions allowed, and so forth?
• Is everyone contributing to discussions? Can discussions be managed differently so all can participate? Are people listening to each other and allowing for different kinds of contributions?
• Are all members accomplishing the work expected of them? Is there anything group members can do to help those experiencing difficulty?
• Are there disagreements or difficulties within the group that need to be addressed? (Is someone dominating? Is someone left out?)
• Is outside help needed to solve any problems?
• Is everyone enjoying the work?

Including Everyone and Their Ideas

Groups work best if everyone is included and everyone has a chance to contribute ideas. The group's task may seem overwhelming to some people, and they may have no idea how to go about accomplishing it. To others, the direction the project should take may seem obvious. The job of the group is to break down the work into chunks, and to allow everyone to contribute. The direction that seems obvious to some may turn out not to be so obvious after all. In any event, it will surely be improved as a result of some creative modification.

Encouraging Ideas

The goal is to produce as many ideas as possible in a short time without evaluating them. All ideas are carefully listened to but not commented on and are usually written on the board or large sheets of paper so everyone can see them, and so they don't get forgotten or lost. Take turns by going around the group—hear from everyone, one by one.

One specific method is to generate ideas through brainstorming. People mention ideas in any order (without others' commenting, disagreeing or asking too many questions). The advantage of brainstorming is that ideas do not become closely associated with the individuals who suggested them. This process encourages creative thinking, if it is not rushed and if all ideas are written down (and therefore, for the time-being, accepted). A disadvantage: when ideas are suggested quickly, it is more difficult for shy participants or for those who are not speaking their native language. One approach is to begin by brainstorming and then go around the group in a more structured way asking each person to add to the list.

Examples of what to say:

• Why don't we take a minute or two for each of us to present our views?
• Let's get all our ideas out before evaluating them. We'll clarify them before we organize or evaluate them.
• We'll discuss all these ideas after we hear what everyone thinks.
• You don't have to agree with her, but let her finish.
• Let's spend a few more minutes to see if there are any possibilities we haven't thought of, no matter how unlikely they seem.

Group Leadership

• The leader is responsible for seeing that the work is organized so that it will get done. The leader is also responsible for understanding and managing group interactions so that the atmosphere is positive.
• The leader must encourage everyone's contributions with an eye to accomplishing the work. To do this, the leader must observe how the group's process is working. (Is the group moving too quickly, leaving some people behind? Is it time to shift the focus to another aspect of the task?)
• The leader must encourage group interactions and maintain a positive atmosphere. To do this the leader must observe the way people are participating as well as be aware of feelings communicated non-verbally. (Are individuals' contributions listened to and appreciated by others? Are people arguing with other people, rather than disagreeing with their ideas? Are some people withdrawn or annoyed?)
• The leader must anticipate what information, materials or other resources the group needs as it works.
• The leader is responsible for beginning and ending on time. The leader must also organize practical support, such as the room, chalk, markers, food, breaks.

(Note: In addition to all this, the leader must take part in thc discussion and participate otherwise as a group member. At these times, the leader must be careful to step aside from the role of leader and signal participation as an equal, not a dominant voice.)

Concerns of Individuals That May Affect Their Participation

• How do I fit in? Will others listen to me? Am I the only one who doesn't know everyone else? How can I work with people with such different backgrounds and expericnce?
• Who will make the decisions? How much influence can I have?
• What do I have to offer to the group? Does everyone know more than I do? Does anyone know anything, or will I have to do most of the work myself?

Characteristics of a Group that is Performing Effectively

• All members have a chance to express themselves and to influence the group's decisions. All contributions are listened to carefully, and strong points acknowledged. Everyone realizes that the job could not be done without the cooperation and contribution of everyone else.
• Differences are dealt with directly with the person or people involved. The group identifies all disagreements, hears everyone's views and tries to come to an agreement that makes sense to everyone. Even when a group decision is not liked by someone, that person will follow through on it with the group.
• The group encourages everyone to take responsibility, and hard work is recognized. When things are not going well, everyone makes an effort to help each other. There is a shared sense of pride and accomplishment.

Focusing on a Direction

After a large number of ideas have been generated and listed (e.g. on the board), the group can categorize and examine them. Then the group should agree on a process for choosing from among the ideas. Advantages and disadvantages of different plans can be listed and then voted on. Some possibilities can be eliminated through a straw vote (each group member could have 2 or 3 votes). Or all group members could vote for their first, second, and third choices. Alternatively, criteria for a successful plan can be listed, and different alternatives can be voted on based on the criteria, one by one.

Categorizing and evaluating ideas

• We have about 20 ideas here. Can we sort them into a few general categories?
• When we evaluate each others' ideas, can we mention some positive aspects before expressing concerns?
• Could you give us an example of what you mean?
• Who has dealt with this kind of problem before?
• What are the pluses of that approach? The minuses?
• We have two basic choices. Let's brainstorm. First let's look at the advantages of the first choice, then the disadvantages.
• Let's try ranking these ideas in priority order. The group should try to come to an agreement that makes sense to everyone.

Making a decision

After everyone's views are heard and all points of agreement and disagreement are identified, the group should try to arrive at an agreement that makes sense to everyone.

• There seems to be some agreement here. Is there anyone who couldn't live with solution #2?
• Are there any objections to going that way?
• You still seem to have worries about this solution. Is there anything that could be added or taken away to make it more acceptable? We're doing fine. We've agreed on a great deal. Let's stay with this and see if we can work this last issue through.
• It looks as if there are still some major points of disagreement. Can we go back and define what those issues are and work on them rather than forcing a decision now.

How People Function in Groups

If a group is functioning well, work is getting done and constructive group processes are creating a positive atmosphere. In good groups the individuals may contribute differently at different times. They cooperate and human relationships are respected. This may happen automatically or individuals, at different times, can make it their job to maintain the atmospbere and human aspects of the group.

Roles That Contribute to the Work

Initiating —taking the initiative, at any time; for example, convening the group, suggesting procedures, changing direction, providing new energy and ideas. (How about if we.... What would happen if... ?)

Seeking information or opinions —requesting facts, preferences, suggestions and ideas. (Could you say a little more about... Would you say this is a more workable idea than that?)

Giving information or opinions —providing facts, data, information from research or experience. (ln my experience I have seen... May I tell you what I found out about...? )

Questioning —stepping back from what is happening and challenging the group or asking other specific questions about the task. (Are we assuming that... ? Would the consequence of this be... ?)

Clarifying —interpreting ideas or suggestions, clearing up confusions, defining terms or asking others to clarify. This role can relate different contributions from different people, and link up ideas that seem unconnected. (lt seems that you are saying... Doesn't this relate to what [name] was saying earlier?)

Summarizing —putting contributions into a pattern, while adding no new information. This role is important if a group gets stuck. Some groups officially appoint a summarizer for this potentially powerful and influential role. (If we take all these pieces and put them together... Here's what I think we have agreed upon so far... Here are our areas of disagreement...)

Roles That Contribute to the Atmosphere

Supporting —remembering others' remarks, being encouraging and responsive to others. Creating a warm, encouraging atmosphere, and making people feel they belong helps the group handle stresses and strains. People can gesture, smile, and make eye-contact without saying a word. Some silence can be supportive for people who are not native speakers of English by allowing them a chance to get into discussion. (I understand what you are getting at...As [name] was just saying...)

Observing —noticing the dynamics of the group and commenting. Asking if others agree or if they see things differently can be an effective way to identify problems as they arise. (We seem to be stuck... Maybe we are done for now, we are all worn out... As I see it, what happened just a minute ago.. Do you agree?)

Mediating —recognizing disagreements and figuring out what is behind the differences. When people focus on real differences, that may lead to striking a balance or devising ways to accommodate different values, views, and approaches. (I think the two of you are coming at this from completely different points of view... Wait a minute. This is how [name/ sees the problem. Can you see why she may see it differently?)

Reconciling —reconciling disagreements. Emphasizing shared views among members can reduce tension. (The goal of these two strategies is the same, only the means are different… Is there anything that these positions have in common?)

Compromising —yielding a position or modifying opinions. This can help move the group forward. (Everyone else seems to agree on this, so I'll go along with... I think if I give in on this, we could reach a decision.)

Making a personal comment —occasional personal comments, especially as they relate to the work. Statements about one's life are often discouraged in professional settings; this may be a mistake since personal comments can strengthen a group by making people feel human with a lot in common.

Humor —funny remarks or good-natured comments. Humor, if it is genuinely good-natured and not cutting, can be very effective in relieving tension or dealing with participants who dominate or put down others. Humor can be used constructively to make the work more acceptable by providing a welcome break from concentration. It may also bring people closer together, and make the work more fun.

All the positive roles turn the group into an energetic, productive enterprise. People who have not reflected on these roles may misunderstand the motives and actions of people working in a group. If someone other than the leader initiates ideas, some may view it as an attempt to take power from the leader. Asking questions may similarly be seen as defying authority or slowing down the work of the group. Personal anecdotes may be thought of as trivializing the discussion. Leaders who understand the importance of these many roles can allow and encourage them as positive contributions to group dynamics. Roles that contribute to the work give the group a sense of direction and achievement. Roles contributing to the human atmosphere give the group a sense of cooperation and goodwill.

Some Common Problems (and Some Solutions)

Floundering —While people are still figuring out the work and their role in the group, the group may experience false starts and circular discussions, and decisions may be postponed.

• Here's my understanding of what we are trying to accomplish... Do we all agree?
• What would help us move forward: data? resources?
• Let's take a few minutes to hear everyone's suggestions about how this process might work better and what we should do next.

Dominating or reluctant participants —Some people might take more than their share of the discussion by talking too often, asserting superiority, telling lengthy stories, or not letting others finish. Sometimes humor can be used to discourage people from dominating. Others may rarely speak because they have difficulty getting in the conversation. Sometimes looking at people who don't speak can be a non-verbal way to include them. Asking quiet participants for their thoughts outside the group may lead to their participation within the group.

• How would we state the general problem? Could we leave out the details for a moment? Could we structure this part of the discussion by taking turns and hearing what everyone has to say?
• Let's check in with each other about how the process is working: Is everyone contributing to discussions? Can discussions be managed differently so we can all participate? Are we all listening to each other?

Digressions and tangents —Too many interesting side stories can be obstacles to group progress. It may be time to take another look at the agenda and assign time estimates to items. Try to summarize where the discussion was before the digression. Or, consider whether there is something making the topic easy to avoid.

• Can we go back to where we were a few minutes ago and see what we were trying to do ?
• Is there something about the topic itself that makes it difficult to stick to?

Getting Stuck —Too little progress can get a group down. It may be time for a short break or a change in focus. However, occasionally when a group feels that it is not making progress, a solution emerges if people simply stay with the issue.

• What are the things that are helping us solve this problem? What's preventing us from solving this problem?
• I understand that some of you doubt whether anything new will happen if we work on this problem. Are we willing to give it a try for the next fifteen minutes?

Rush to work —Usually one person in the group is less patient and more action-oriented than the others. This person may reach a decision more quickly than the others and then pressure the group to move on before others are ready.

• Are we all ready-to make a decision on this?
• What needs to be done before we can move ahead?
• Let's go around and see where everyone stands on this.

Feuds —Occasionally a conflict (having nothing to do with the subject of the group) carries over into the group and impedes its work. It may be that feuding parties will not be able to focus until the viewpoint of each is heard. Then they must be encouraged to lay the issue aside.

• So, what you are saying is... And what you are saying is... How is that related to the work here?
• If we continue too long on this, we won't be able to get our work done. Can we agree on a time limit and then go on?

For more information...

James Lang, " Why Students Hate Group Projects (and How to Change That) ," The Chronicle of Higher Education (17 June 2022).

Hodges, Linda C. " Contemporary Issues in Group Learning in Undergraduate Science Classrooms: A Perspective from Student Engagement ,"  CBE—Life Sciences Education  17.2 (2018): es3.

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Why Choice Matters to Student Learning

Please try again

Excerpted from " Just Ask Us: Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement " by Heather Wolpert-Gawron. The following is from the chapter "Give Us Choices." 

By Heather Wolpert-Gawron

In 1971, Starbucks opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. Since then, according to recent math, Starbucks now offers up to 87,000 options for your sipping pleasure (“Starbucks Stay Mum on Drink Math,” 2008).

OK, perhaps I’m creating a correlation here, but hear me out. It is a suspicious coincidence that during the first decade of Starbucks’ life, there was also the birth of a large study in humanistic education by David N. Aspy and Flora N. Roebuck. This study spanned the 1970s and focused on student-centered learning, an element of which is student choice.

Now, I’m not equating the import of weighing your options in caffeinated beverage with one’s choice in how to display knowledge of your content area, but it seems to me that at some point, there was a shift in expectation in our culture outside of school that soon became reflected within school as well.

According to the student engagement survey, student choice is listed as one of the most engaging strategies a teacher can allow in the classroom. Want to know how to engage students, enthuse them, and bring out their best effort? Want ways to differentiate organically? Give them a voice in their decisions. In a society that barely listens to each other, listen to our students. In a system that can be a flood of top down, let your classroom be one that allows voices to trickle up. We have, in our very classrooms, the brains that will solve the problems of tomorrow, but to give them training means we have to give their neurons a chance to solve the problems of today.

Student choice builds ownership in the learning.

Student choice allows students to display their learning in the way that they feel best represents their knowledge.

Student choice enforces true differentiation.

The A c ademi c Benefits of St udent Choice

Jim Bentley (2016) of the Buck Institute of Education (BIE) is an expert in student choice since it is a deeply rooted element in project-based learning, the strategy at the heart of the Buck Institute. He believes that student choice also redefines the position of teacher from knowledge authority to learning guide. He says that

[e]ngagement is a fire that can quickly die out when things get challenging. That’s where it’s important to build in student voice and choice as well as the concepts of sustained inquiry and critique and revision. With student voice and choice, teachers are managing the work of students not controlling it. If a student or team wants to take a certain angle on a task they can—given it aligns with the purpose of the project. . . . Students generally respond well, liking the freedom.

In fact, student choice is so important to BIE that it has included it in the rubric it uses to assess units of study to ensure that student choice is encouraged and utilized. The rubric itself promotes the belief that

Choice + Agency = Learning

It asks teachers to evaluate whether “Students have opportunities to express voice and choice on important matters (questions asked, texts and resources used, people to work with, products to be created, use of time, organization of tasks)” (Davis, 2016).

This ambiguity of student choice can intimidate any teacher, but is a surmountable fear and a fear that must be challenged. In terms of creating evidence of knowledge, the intense structure of “do this, like this” is not as effective as “what way would best work for you?”

And research backs up what the students have long known. Results from a 2010 study show that when

students received a choice of homework they reported higher intrinsic motivation to do homework, felt more competent regarding the homework, and performed better on the unit test compared with when they did not have a choice. In addition, a trend suggested that having choices enhanced homework completion rates compared with when no choices were given. (Patall, Cooper, & Wynn, 2010)

The theory of consuming information in a single, teacher-prescribed way, also may not play into the strengths of each and every student. The good news is that there is guidance out there to help teachers select the most appropriate elements of their teaching in which to offer choice.

1. Tasks to perform 2. Ways to report 3. Establishing their own learning goals

This seems to promote more ownership in their learning and outcomes. Marzano further recommends the following:

To provide a choice of task to students, a teacher can provide multiple task options on an assessment and ask students to respond to the one that interests them most. Similarly, a teacher can provide students with the option to choose their own reporting format. The two most common reporting formats are written and oral reports. . . . However, students may also choose to present information through debates, video reports, demonstrations, or dramatic presentations. To give students a particularly powerful choice, a teacher can ask students to create their own learning goals. When giving students the option to design their own learning goals, a teacher should hold students accountable for both their self-identified learning goal as well as teacher-identified learning goals for that unit.

Allowing students some choice in their learning is clearly proving successful. In 2008, a meta-analysis was conducted by Patall, Cooper, and Robinson (n.d.) that examined 41 studies on the topic. “Results indicated that providing choice enhanced intrinsic motivation, effort, task performance, and perceived competence, among other outcomes,” according to its authors.

But our goals for our students are not all academic. We need students to learn how to make decisions, how to weigh options, and how to advocate for their opinions. Therefore, if we are to help develop students into citizens, we need to include choice as a vital strategy toward that goal.

Alfie Kohn (2010) believes that

[t]he psychological benefits of control are, if anything, even more pronounced. All else being equal, emotional adjustment is better over time for people who experience a sense of self-determination; by contrast, few things lead more reliably to depression and other forms of psychological distress than a feeling of helplessness. . . . The truth is that, if we want children to take responsibility for their own behavior, we must first give them responsibility, and plenty of it. The way a child learns how to make decisions is by making decisions, not by following directions.

School is a place to help train students to handle the choices that life throws at them; if anything, we should be encouraging as many opportunities as possible for students to work that muscle in the gym that is school.

To find ideas for how to offer choice in your classroom, check out Heather's companion article, " What Giving Students Choice Looks Like in the Classroom ."

Center for Teaching Innovation

Resource library.

• Examples of Collaborative Learning or Group Work Activities
• Getting Started with Designing Group Work Assignments
• Getting Started with Evaluating Group Work
• Team-Based Learning Collaborative

Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems. Similar to the idea that two or three heads are better than one, educational researchers have found that through peer instruction, students teach each other by addressing misunderstandings and clarifying misconceptions.

Why use collaborative learning?

Research shows that educational experiences that are active, social, contextual, engaging, and student-owned lead to deeper learning. The benefits of collaborative learning include:

• Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.
• Promotion of student-faculty interaction.
• Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.
• Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.
• Preparation for real life social and employment situations.

Considerations for using collaborative learning

• Introduce group or peer work early in the semester to set clear student expectations.
• Establish ground rules   for participation and contributions.
• Plan for each stage of group work.
• Carefully explain to your students how groups or peer discussion will operate and how students will be graded.
• Help students develop the skills they need to succeed, such as using team-building exercises or introducing self-reflection techniques.
• Consider using written contracts.
• Incorporate   self -assessment  and   peer  assessment  for group members to evaluate their own and others' contributions.

Getting started with collaborative learning

Shorter in-class collaborative learning activities generally involve a three-step process. This process can be as short as five minutes, but can be longer, depending on the task at hand.

• Introduce the task. This can be as simple as instructing students to turn to their neighbor to discuss or debate a topic.
• Provide students with enough time to engage with the task. Walk around and address any questions as needed.
• Debrief. Call on a few students to share a summary of their conclusions. Address any misconceptions or clarify any confusing points. Open the floor for questions.

For larger group work projects, here are some strategies to help ensure productive group dynamics:

• Provide opportunities for students to develop rapport and group cohesion through   icebreakers , team-building, and reflection exercises.
• Give students time to create a group work plan allowing them to plan for deadlines and divide up their responsibilities.
• Have students   establish ground rules . Students can create a contract for each member to sign. This contract can include agreed-upon penalties for those who fail to fulfill obligations.
• Assign roles to members of each group and change the roles periodically. For example, one student can be the coordinator, another the note-taker, another the summarizer, and another the planner of next steps.
• Allow students to rate each other’s quality and quantity of contributions. Use these evaluations when giving individual grades, but do not let it weigh heavily on a student's final grade. Communicate clearly how peer assessment will influence grades.
• Check in with groups intermittently but encourage students to handle their own issues before coming to you for assistance.

Family engagement and student success: What the research says

By Trynia Kaufman, MS

Expert reviewed by Bob Cunningham, EdM

Of all the factors that determine student outcomes, family engagement is at the top of the list. Partnerships between schools and families can improve students’ grades, attendance, persistence, and motivation. Research shows that this is true regardless of a family’s race or income .

Although some families proactively engage in their child’s education, research shows that teachers can initiate and encourage engagement from all families with positive results.

Involving families of students who learn and think differently is especially important. Schools are required by federal law to seek input from a parent or guardian in the development of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP). Schools must also provide families with updates on their child’s progress toward their IEP goals.

In addition to these mandates, it has been shown that meaningful interactions between teachers and families of students who learn and think differently can build trust, inform instruction, and improve student outcomes.

Who do your students call family?

Before we talk about families, let’s consider who makes up a child’s family. No two families are the same: Some have more than one primary caregiver. Some don't. In two-adult households, sometimes the adults are married and sometimes they’re not. Other factors also influence home life, like multigenerational households and those that provide foster care.

In our resources, we use the term caregiver to refer to the primary adult or adults who are responsible for raising a child, such as parents, grandparents, and foster parents. When we talk about families, we mean the larger support system around a child, including siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or anyone with a consistent presence in a child’s life.

The benefits of partnering with families

There are plenty of benefits to establishing relationships with a student’s family. Research and classroom experience support these five benefits, especially for students who learn and think differently:

Benefit 1: You can connect your lessons to a student’s background knowledge, interests, and culture.

You’ve seen it happen in your classroom before: When you tie a lesson to students’ experiences, their interest skyrockets and they connect more deeply with the material.

There’s plenty of brain research to explain why this happens. When students think about something they already know, neurons in their brain become active. These neurons make it easier for other neurons to fire and form new neural pathways. The pathways literally connect new information with old in the brain. In other words, “neurons that fire together, wire together.” By linking new learning with old learning, it’s easier for students to learn and retain the new information.

Families are valuable sources of information about what can make these neurons fire for children. Research indicates that some students who learn and think differently may have gaps in crucial background knowledge , which can make it harder for them to understand new content. In talking with families, you might learn about their child’s strengths and what piques that child’s interest — and you might also learn about gaps in that child’s background knowledge.

Benefit 2: You’ll be able to identify appropriate accommodations or supports.

Connecting with students’ families can help you identify the best ways to differentiate or personalize instruction for students who learn and think differently. Families can provide insight about supports that have worked well at home and in prior years at school — and those that have not. Conversations about these effective supports can help build consistency between home and school.

One easy way to get information about where a student needs support is to talk with families about how their child does during homework time. Based on their response, you can decide if you need to make changes to a student’s instruction or modify homework assignments.

Benefit 3: You can empower families to support academic goals at home.

Most families believe that school is important and want their child to do well. But they might not know how to effectively support their child’s education. Regular communication can help bridge that gap.

Some of the most effective communication you can share is advice about how families can reinforce skills at home. Whether by emails, phone calls, newsletters, or a class website, share with families the math skill you taught this week. Then provide just one or two ways they can practice that skill at home.

Students with IEPs have annual goals and may need to practice certain skills more than their peers do. Research also shows that students who learn and think differently typically have a much harder time completing homework .

Talk with those students’ families about how they can reinforce IEP goals over time, but keep in mind that many families find homework time very stressful. It’s unclear whether it is beneficial for families to help with homework , as the research is inconclusive. The benefits depend not only on the age and skill level of the student, but on the family dynamic.

For example, it’s been shown that if families are frustrated or unsure how to help , then their involvement during homework time can be ineffective or even counterproductive. Additionally, some family members might work in the evenings or might have learning and thinking differences themselves. Remember that every family, just like every student, has different strengths and needs.

So what can teachers do when it comes to homework?

Establish open lines of communication so that families can talk with you about any homework concerns.

Provide general homework tips in a class newsletter or website. For instance, you can provide information like this step-by-step guide for breaking down projects into manageable chunks.

Communicate with families about homework to help their children keep track of assignments and due dates. This is key for students with ADHD or challenges with executive function, who typically take longer to develop skills such as organization and time management.

Remind families that even if they are unable to help with homework, they are already doing the most important thing by loving and encouraging their child.

Benefit 4: You can develop effective and consistent methods for addressing behavior.

When it comes to behavior, a strong connection between school and home is crucial. Longitudinal data indicate that as schools offer more family partnership activities , fewer discipline problems arise. Open lines of communication will allow you to know if something is happening at home that might affect a student’s behavior in school. When you know the cause of a behavior, you’re more likely to find the best way to help.

Equally as important, families can share ideas for behavior strategies that work at home for you to try at school. Consensus and consistency between home and school can help the student know what to expect and to practice more positive behaviors.

Benefit 5: You can set the stage for high expectations.

This is perhaps the most important thing for you to emphasize in conversations with families. Helping families set high expectations for their child is hugely important. One large research study found that parental expectations had the greatest impact on students . In other words, of all the ways families can be involved in their child’s education, nothing matters more than how much they believe in their child’s ability to succeed.

Highlighting the importance of expectations can be especially powerful for families who aren’t sure how to help with academic goals. Reassure them that they can make a big impact by talking with their child about the importance of school and by providing encouragement.

The research is clear: Partnering with families can help you and your students find success. Use the resources below to help build an effective relationship with students' families.

Getting started in your classroom

Follow these eight tips to build positive relationships with your students’ families.

Send home questionnaires to learn more about your students and their families.

Ask your students to fill out a 3×3 card to help you learn more about their strengths, challenges, and effective strategies.

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Does offering students a choice in assignments lead to greater engagement?

Michael Nagler is the Superintendent of the Mineola School District , a suburb of NYC. Mike began his career as a social studies teacher in NYC.  While teaching he earned his doctorate from Columbia University and accepted an administrative position with Mineola in 1999. He believes strongly in the district’s mission to inspire students to become lifelong learners that exhibit strength of character and contribute positively to a global society. During his eighteen years with the district, he has been a big proponent of using technology to engage students in rigorous content.  Mike has also been instrumental in creating a platform to assess student learning using electronic portfolios and digital badges.  He even coded his own digital portfolio . All five schools in Mineola have been recognized as Apple distinguished schools.  Mineola is also a member of the League of Innovative Schools.

Choice can lead to greater engagement. To maximize the benefits, teachers should offer students a limited number of options.

By Carly Robinson

The short answer: Offering students choice is good. But you know what they say about too much of a good thing…

The not-too-much-longer answer: There’s a reason why the idea of offering students choices in their educational activities has become popular. Decades of psychological research concludes that providing students with choices leads to increases in autonomy and, in turn, motivation and learning. Students, like adults, tend to be more motivated to complete a task – and perform better on it – when they choose to engage in the task themselves, rather than having the task chosen for them. When students choose their topic or select how to present their work, they are more likely to take ownership over their work and/or feel confident demonstrating their knowledge. (Side perk: Giving students choice on assignments can also make grading more interesting for the teacher!)

So, yes, providing students with choice in assignments can lead to greater engagement. But when it comes to giving choices, like with ice cream and movie sequels, more is not always better. And, in fact, too much choice can actually lead to decreased motivation and satisfaction. While choice is a key feature of cultivating student autonomy, it also can lead to choice overload. Faced with too many choices, students can become overwhelmed, and they instead prioritize ending the choice-making process, rather than making the choice they think is best. This results in students selecting the first satisfactory option they find, rather than their optimal option, which can leave students feeling dissatisfied with their selection and less motivated to do well.

To maximize the benefits of providing students with a choice, teachers should offer students a limited number of choices. Research suggests three to five options may produce the most satisfaction and motivation. Teachers can also help structure the choice-making process to make it less overwhelming. For example, One World Education, a program where students choose to research and write about a social justice issue that is important to them, helps students navigate the choice-making process so their topic selection becomes deliberate and further enhances their engagement.

Here are a few other ideas for teachers who want to effectively offer students choice in assignments:

• Assign students to complete five out of ten potential homework problems
• Create a short list of project topics and let students select which one they want to pursue
• Provide a handful of different options for students to present their work (e.g., essay, presentation, blog post, etc.)
• Offer a few book options for students to select and create book groups
• Provide some choice in the questions students answer on assessments (e.g., answer 15 out of 20 items, choose between different question types)
• Present the choice-making process as part of the assignment — dedicate time for students to research potential topic options, and help students make connections between topics and their own values

References:

• Student choice leads to more motivation and learning (Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Wynn, S. R. (2010). The effectiveness and relative importance of choice in the classroom . Journal of Educational Psychology , 102 (4), 896. )
• Too much choice can lead to decreased motivation & satisfaction (Iyengar, S. S., & Lepper, M. R. (2000). When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing? . Journal of personality and social psychology , 79 (6), 995. )
• 3-5 options is the sweet spot (Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: a meta-analysis of research findings . Psychological bulletin , 134 (2), 270.)

Carly Robinson is a Ph.D. Candidate in Education at Harvard University in the Human Development, Learning, and Teaching concentration. Her interests lie at the intersection of social psychology, education, and youth development. Her current research focuses on developing and testing interventions that mobilize social support for students to improve student outcomes. See full bio .

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Types of Assignments

Cristy Bartlett and Kate Derrington

Introduction

As discussed in the previous chapter, assignments are a common method of assessment at university. You may encounter many assignments over your years of study, yet some will look quite different from others. By recognising different types of assignments and understanding the purpose of the task, you can direct your writing skills effectively to meet task requirements. This chapter draws on the skills from the previous chapter, and extends the discussion, showing you where to aim with different types of assignments.

The chapter begins by exploring the popular essay assignment, with its two common categories, analytical and argumentative essays. It then examines assignments requiring case study responses , as often encountered in fields such as health or business. This is followed by a discussion of assignments seeking a report (such as a scientific report) and reflective writing assignments, common in nursing, education and human services. The chapter concludes with an examination of annotated bibliographies and literature reviews. The chapter also has a selection of templates and examples throughout to enhance your understanding and improve the efficacy of  your assignment writing skills.

Different Types of Written Assignments

At university, an essay is a common form of assessment. In the previous chapter Writing Assignments we discussed what was meant by showing academic writing in your assignments. It is important that you consider these aspects of structure, tone and language when writing an essay.

Components of an essay

Essays should use formal but reader friendly language and have a clear and logical structure. They must include research from credible academic sources such as peer reviewed journal articles and textbooks. This research should be referenced throughout your essay to support your ideas (See the chapter Working with Information ).

If you have never written an essay before, you may feel unsure about how to start.  Breaking your essay into sections and allocating words accordingly will make this process more manageable and will make planning the overall essay structure much easier.

• An essay requires an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• Generally, an introduction and conclusion are approximately 10% each of the total word count.
• The remaining words can then be divided into sections and a paragraph allowed for each area of content you need to cover.
• Use your task and criteria sheet to decide what content needs to be in your plan

An effective essay introduction needs to inform your reader by doing four basic things:

Table 20.1 An effective essay

An effective essay body paragraph needs to:

An effective essay conclusion needs to:

Common types of essays

You may be required to write different types of essays, depending on your study area and topic. Two of the most commonly used essays are analytical and argumentative .  The task analysis process discussed in the previous chapter Writing Assignments will help you determine the type of essay required. For example, if your assignment question uses task words such as analyse, examine, discuss, determine or explore, you would be writing an analytical essay . If your assignment question has task words such as argue, evaluate, justify or assess, you would be writing an argumentative essay . Despite the type of essay, your ability to analyse and think critically is important and common across genres.  

Analytical essays

These essays usually provide some background description of the relevant theory, situation, problem, case, image, etcetera that is your topic. Being analytical requires you to look carefully at various components or sections of your topic in a methodical and logical way to create understanding.

The purpose of the analytical essay is to demonstrate your ability to examine the topic thoroughly. This requires you to go deeper than description by considering different sides of the situation, comparing and contrasting a variety of theories and the positives and negatives of the topic. Although in an analytical essay your position on the topic may be clear, it is not necessarily a requirement that you explicitly identify this with a thesis statement, as is the case with an argumentative essay. If you are unsure whether you are required to take a position, and provide a thesis statement, it is best to check with your tutor.

Argumentative essays

These essays require you to take a position on the assignment topic. This is expressed through your thesis statement in your introduction. You must then present and develop your arguments throughout the body of your assignment using logically structured paragraphs. Each of these paragraphs needs a topic sentence that relates to the thesis statement. In an argumentative essay, you must reach a conclusion based on the evidence you have presented.

Case Study Responses

Case studies are a common form of assignment in many study areas and students can underperform in this genre for a number of key reasons.

Students typically lose marks for not:

• Relating their answer sufficiently to the case details
• Applying critical thinking
• Writing with clear structure
• Using appropriate or sufficient sources
• Using accurate referencing

When structuring your response to a case study, remember to refer to the case. Structure your paragraphs similarly to an essay paragraph structure but include examples and data from the case as additional evidence to support your points (see Figure 20.5 ). The colours in the sample paragraph below show the function of each component.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Code of Conduct and Nursing Standards (2018) play a crucial role in determining the scope of practice for nurses and midwives. A key component discussed in the code is the provision of person-centred care and the formation of therapeutic relationships between nurses and patients (NMBA, 2018). This ensures patient safety and promotes health and wellbeing (NMBA, 2018). The standards also discuss the importance of partnership and shared decision-making in the delivery of care (NMBA, 2018, 4). Boyd and Dare (2014) argue that good communication skills are vital for building therapeutic relationships and trust between patients and care givers. This will help ensure the patient is treated with dignity and respect and improve their overall hospital experience. In the case, the therapeutic relationship with the client has been compromised in several ways. Firstly, the nurse did not conform adequately to the guidelines for seeking informed consent before performing the examination as outlined in principle 2.3 (NMBA, 2018). Although she explained the procedure, she failed to give the patient appropriate choices regarding her health care. 

Topic sentence | Explanations using paraphrased evidence including in-text references | Critical thinking (asks the so what? question to demonstrate your student voice). | Relating the theory back to the specifics of the case. The case becomes a source of examples as extra evidence to support the points you are making.

Reports are a common form of assessment at university and are also used widely in many professions. It is a common form of writing in business, government, scientific, and technical occupations.

Reports can take many different structures. A report is normally written to present information in a structured manner, which may include explaining laboratory experiments, technical information, or a business case.  Reports may be written for different audiences including clients, your manager, technical staff, or senior leadership within an organisation. The structure of reports can vary, and it is important to consider what format is required. The choice of structure will depend upon professional requirements and the ultimate aims of the report. Consider some of the options in the table below (see Table 20.2 ).

Table 20.2 Explanations of different types of reports

Reflective writing

Reflective writing is a popular method of assessment at university. It is used to help you explore feelings, experiences, opinions, events or new information to gain a clearer and deeper understanding of your learning. A reflective writing task requires more than a description or summary.  It requires you to analyse a situation, problem or experience, consider what you may have learnt and evaluate how this may impact your thinking and actions in the future. This requires critical thinking, analysis, and usually the application of good quality research, to demonstrate your understanding or learning from a situation. Essentially, reflective practice is the process of looking back on past experiences and engaging with them in a thoughtful way and drawing conclusions to inform future experiences. The reflection skills you develop at university will be vital in the workplace to assist you to use feedback for growth and continuous improvement. There are numerous models of reflective writing and you should refer to your subject guidelines for your expected format. If there is no specific framework, a simple model to help frame your thinking is What? So what? Now what?   (Rolfe et al., 2001).

Table 20.3 What? So What? Now What? Explained.

The Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

The Gibbs’ Cycle of reflection encourages you to consider your feelings as part of the reflective process. There are six specific steps to work through. Following this model carefully and being clear of the requirements of each stage, will help you focus your thinking and reflect more deeply. This model is popular in Health.

The 4 R’s of reflective thinking

This model (Ryan and Ryan, 2013) was designed specifically for university students engaged in experiential learning.  Experiential learning includes any ‘real-world’ activities including practice led activities, placements and internships.  Experiential learning, and the use of reflective practice to heighten this learning, is common in Creative Arts, Health and Education.

Annotated Bibliography

What is it.

An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of appropriate sources (books, journals or websites) on a topic, accompanied by a brief summary, evaluation and sometimes an explanation or reflection on their usefulness or relevance to your topic. Its purpose is to teach you to research carefully, evaluate sources and systematically organise your notes. An annotated bibliography may be one part of a larger assessment item or a stand-alone assessment piece. Check your task guidelines for the number of sources you are required to annotate and the word limit for each entry.

How do I know what to include?

When choosing sources for your annotated bibliography it is important to determine:

• The topic you are investigating and if there is a specific question to answer
• The type of sources on which you need to focus
• Whether they are reputable and of high quality

What do I say?

Important considerations include:

• Is the work current?
• Is the work relevant to your topic?
• Is the author credible/reliable?
• Is there any author bias?
• The strength and limitations (this may include an evaluation of research methodology).

Literature Reviews

It is easy to get confused by the terminology used for literature reviews. Some tasks may be described as a systematic literature review when actually the requirement is simpler; to review the literature on the topic but do it in a systematic way. There is a distinct difference (see Table 20.4 ). As a commencing undergraduate student, it is unlikely you would be expected to complete a systematic literature review as this is a complex and more advanced research task. It is important to check with your lecturer or tutor if you are unsure of the requirements.

Table 20.4 Comparison of Literature Reviews

Generally, you are required to establish the main ideas that have been written on your chosen topic. You may also be expected to identify gaps in the research. A literature review does not summarise and evaluate each resource you find (this is what you would do in an annotated bibliography). You are expected to analyse and synthesise or organise common ideas from multiple texts into key themes which are relevant to your topic (see Figure 20.10 ). Use a table or a spreadsheet, if you know how, to organise the information you find. Record the full reference details of the sources as this will save you time later when compiling your reference list (see Table 20.5 ).

Overall, this chapter has provided an introduction to the types of assignments you can expect to complete at university, as well as outlined some tips and strategies with examples and templates for completing them. First, the chapter investigated essay assignments, including analytical and argumentative essays. It then examined case study assignments, followed by a discussion of the report format. Reflective writing , popular in nursing, education and human services, was also considered. Finally, the chapter briefly addressed annotated bibliographies and literature reviews. The chapter also has a selection of templates and examples throughout to enhance your understanding and improve the efficacy of your assignment writing skills.

• Not all assignments at university are the same. Understanding the requirements of different types of assignments will assist in meeting the criteria more effectively.
• There are many different types of assignments. Most will require an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• An essay should have a clear and logical structure and use formal but reader friendly language.
• Breaking your assignment into manageable chunks makes it easier to approach.
• Effective body paragraphs contain a topic sentence.
• A case study structure is similar to an essay, but you must remember to provide examples from the case or scenario to demonstrate your points.
• The type of report you may be required to write will depend on its purpose and audience. A report requires structured writing and uses headings.
• Reflective writing is popular in many disciplines and is used to explore feelings, experiences, opinions or events to discover what learning or understanding has occurred. Reflective writing requires more than description. You need to be analytical, consider what has been learnt and evaluate the impact of this on future actions.
• Annotated bibliographies teach you to research and evaluate sources and systematically organise your notes. They may be part of a larger assignment.
• Literature reviews require you to look across the literature and analyse and synthesise the information you find into themes.

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ryan, M. & Ryan, M. (2013). Theorising a model for teaching and assessing reflective learning in higher education.  Higher Education Research & Development , 32(2), 244-257. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2012.661704

Academic Success Copyright © 2021 by Cristy Bartlett and Kate Derrington is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Tiered Assignments

What are tiered assignments.

According to Tomlinson (1995), tiered assignments are used by teachers within a heterogeneous classroom in order to meet the diverse needs of the students within the class. Teachers implement varied levels of activities to ensure that students explore ideas at a level that builds on their prior knowledge and prompts continued growth. Student groups use varied approaches to explore essential ideas.

Williams (2002) offers the following definition on her website: Tiered assignments are parallel tasks at varied levels of complexity, depth and abstractness with various degrees of scaffolding, support, or direction. Students work on different levels of activities, all with the same essential understanding or goal in mind. Tiered assignments accommodate mainly for differences in student readiness and performance levels and allow students to work toward a goal or objective at a level that builds on their prior knowledge and encourages continued growth. 

How can tiered assignments help your students?

Using tiered assignments allows for the following:

• Blends assessment and instruction,
• Allows students to begin learning where they are,
• Allows students to work with appropriately challenging tasks,
• Allows for reinforcement or extension of concepts and principles based on student readiness,
• Allows modification of working conditions based on learning style,
• Avoids work that is anxiety-producing (too hard) or boredom-producing (too easy), and
• Promotes success and is therefore motivating. (Tomlinson, 1995)

How can you implement tiered assignments in order to effectively meet the diverse learning needs of students?

One of the main benefits of tiered assignments is that they allow students to work on tasks that are neither too easy nor too difficult. They are highly motivating because they allow students to be successful at their level of readiness. Tiered assignments also allow students to work in their specific learning styles or preferences (Williams, 2002).

What are the guidelines for implementing tiered assignments?

Tomlinson (1995) offers the following guidelines for implementing tiered assignments:

• Be sure the task is focused on a key concept.
• Use a variety of resource materials at differing levels of complexity and associated with different learning modes.
• Adjust the task by complexity, abstractness, number of steps, concreteness, and independence to ensure appropriate challenge.
• Be certain there are clear criteria for quality and success.

Where can you find more information about tiered assignments?

Cherokee County Schools This homepage by Eulouise Williams has additional information on tiered assignments including examples of tiered assignments created by teachers in their district.

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, what are the benefits of group work.

“More hands make for lighter work.” “Two heads are better than one.” “The more the merrier.”

These adages speak to the potential groups have to be more productive, creative, and motivated than individuals on their own.

Benefits for students

Group projects can help students develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in the professional world (Caruso & Woolley, 2008; Mannix & Neale, 2005). Positive group experiences, moreover, have been shown to contribute to student learning, retention and overall college success (Astin, 1997; Tinto, 1998; National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006).

Properly structured, group projects can reinforce skills that are relevant to both group and individual work, including the ability to: 

• Break complex tasks into parts and steps
• Plan and manage time
• Refine understanding through discussion and explanation
• Give and receive feedback on performance
• Challenge assumptions
• Develop stronger communication skills.

Group projects can also help students develop skills specific to collaborative efforts, allowing students to...

• Tackle more complex problems than they could on their own.
• Delegate roles and responsibilities.
• Share diverse perspectives.
• Pool knowledge and skills.
• Hold one another (and be held) accountable.
• Receive social support and encouragement to take risks.
• Develop new approaches to resolving differences. 
• Establish a shared identity with other group members.
• Find effective peers to emulate.
• Develop their own voice and perspectives in relation to peers.

While the potential learning benefits of group work are significant, simply assigning group work is no guarantee that these goals will be achieved. In fact, group projects can – and often do – backfire badly when they are not designed , supervised , and assessed in a way that promotes meaningful teamwork and deep collaboration.

Benefits for instructors

Faculty can often assign more complex, authentic problems to groups of students than they could to individuals. Group work also introduces more unpredictability in teaching, since groups may approach tasks and solve problems in novel, interesting ways. This can be refreshing for instructors. Additionally, group assignments can be useful when there are a limited number of viable project topics to distribute among students. And they can reduce the number of final products instructors have to grade.

Whatever the benefits in terms of teaching, instructors should take care only to assign as group work tasks that truly fulfill the learning objectives of the course and lend themselves to collaboration. Instructors should also be aware that group projects can add work for faculty at different points in the semester and introduce its own grading complexities .

Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college? Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Caruso, H.M., & Wooley, A.W. (2008). Harnessing the power of emergent interdependence to promote diverse team collaboration. Diversity and Groups. 11, 245-266.

Mannix, E., & Neale, M.A. (2005). What differences make a difference? The promise and reality of diverse teams in organizations. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 6(2), 31-55.

National Survey of Student Engagement Report. (2006). http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2006_Annual_Report/docs/NSSE_2006_Annual_Report.pdf .

Tinto, V. (1987). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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Volume 57 | ISSUE 2: September 6, 2024

Projects selected for db-serc course transformation awards.

The Discipline-Based Science Education Research Center (dB-SERC) has awarded 12 Course Transformation Awards to faculty in natural sciences.

Since 2014, dB-SERC has supported natural sciences faculty members in developing projects to transform the way classes are taught by adopting evidence-based teaching practice to improve student learning outcomes.

Award recipients receive funds for equipment, student support or summer salary for faculty. Two mentor-mentee awards also were given out to support classroom innovation projects conducted by students and faculty working together.

Course Transformation Awards

Young Ahn, Department of Biological Sciences: Designing a high-structure course combining frequent low-stakes assessments with inclusive teaching for a large-enrollment introductory biology class

This proposal aims to test the “heads and hearts” hypothesis which suggests that both students’ cognitive (heads) and affective (hearts) learning experiences must be purposefully constructed in classroom environments. This project will investigate whether a course structure that combines frequent low-stakes assessments (heads) and inclusive teaching (hearts) can improve student performance and reduce achievement gaps in a large-enrollment introductory biology course thereby promoting retention in STEM.

Anusha Balangoda, Department of Geology and Environmental Science : Use of a Collaborative Online Reading Platform for Pre-class Reading Assignments in a Large Enrollment First-Year Undergraduate Class

The proposed work seeks funding to implement pre-class reading assignments through a social annotation platform allowing active reading on assigned course materials outside the class. A free social platform, Perusall, provides an interactive experience for students to engage with peers asynchronously and facilitates a space to teach and learn from peers. This collaborative social platform allows students to work on assignments outside the classroom to promote productive discussions and produce high-quality peer interactions.

Seth Childers, Department of Chemistry: Development of Interdisciplinary Courses for a New Chemical Biology Major

In the Department of Chemistry, the PI is proposing a chemical biology major, including two new lecture courses and one laboratory course, proposed to launch in Fall 2025 or 2026. This timeline allows them to craft a curriculum while deploying evidence-based learning practices to enhance job readiness. Based on student surveys, the program aims to accommodate approximately 48 majors annually and engage non-majors as a desirable scientific elective campus wide.

Russell Clark and Aidan Payton, Department of Physics & Astronomy: Gender Equity in Introductory Physics Lab Group Roles

This is a continuation of a dB-SERC award from 2020 (Development of Teacher Guides and Rubrics for Introductory Physics Labs). The original plan for that award was to develop better rubrics and other materials to help the TA graders provide more valuable feedback to the students. However, the University was forced into quarantine midway through the first semester of the project, and so the character of it changed.  They know from a previous study that student groups tend to have gender bias in which men tend to work with the experimental apparatus and women are relegated to secretarial roles (recording data, writing the report, etc.). They attempted to mitigate this by asking the students to cycle through the roles week to week so that each student would get to participate in each role multiple times.

Erika Fanselow, Department of Neuroscience: Incorporating digital and physical 3D brain models into interactive online and in-class activities to enhance student engagement and mastery in neuroanatomy courses

The goal of this course transformation is to develop interactive, online and in-class exercises that incorporate digital and printed 3D models of nervous system structures. These 3D model-based exercises and in-class activities are intended to enhance students’ visualization and conceptualization of neuroanatomical structures. The rationale for this course transformation proposal is based on the fact that neuroanatomy students are commonly overwhelmed by the complexity of the nervous system, resulting in a condition Jozefowicz (1994) referred to as “neurophobia,” which he concluded actually keeps students from choosing fields such as neurology.

Sean Garrett-Roe, Department of Chemistry: Activity redesign and mindset intervention based on growth-oriented testing in Chem-0110 General Chemistry I

“Grading for Growth” is a movement to encourage students to embrace deeper intellectual engagement with their studies by revolutionizing the way that their learning is assessed. Student-focused active learning pedagogies, such as Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), are well-established; student-focused assessments, on the other hand, are a new frontier. The PIs have formulated, implemented and assessed a student-focused assessment system that they call “Growth-Oriented Testing.” As successful as the system has been, the assessment results have illuminated ways in which their in-class materials have not optimally supported students, and the student opinion surveys suggest ways in which they have not optimally framed the learning process. As a result, students may not get the full benefits of the learning environment. A long-range goal of their teaching is to help students embrace a life of growth and learning; they want the students to learn both Chemistry and the metacognitive and metaemotional skills they need to succeed beyond the Chemistry classroom.

Sean Gess, Department of Biological Sciences: Supporting richer class-wide discussion and promoting the use of scientific argumentation in Foundations of Biology laboratory courses

This project focuses on class-wide discussion in a guided, authentic research lab. In this course students engage in science education by performing authentic research science to address active research questions being investigated within the department. The course is designed to mimic the research process, including discussions of data to try and understand it better. These discussion-based activities often struggle to support the learning objectives due to low participation from students or students not really listening and engaging with others during the discussions. To improve these discussions, they have previously introduced an explicit framing to attempt to help students understand the norms around this activity, normalize it as a professional practice, and encourage engagement and participation. This approach to science learning has shown gains in critical thinking skills and supports epistemic learning of STEM content.

Burhan Gharaibeh, Natasha Baker and Bridget Deasy, Department of Biological Sciences: Enhancing student engagement in anatomy and physiology courses through regenerative medicine primary science literature

Students of anatomy and physiology in different majors often report difficulty in these courses due to the need for memorizing lists of structures and comprehending complex physiological processes. They have preliminary data demonstrating that adding discussions of current, clinically relevant therapies and biotechnology articles related to regenerative medicine studies were effective in enhancing the biology student’s engagement during anatomy lectures. More importantly, the addition of these discussions to the curriculum appeared to improve exam grades.

Melanie Good and Eric Swanson, Department of Physics & Astronomy: The Use of Comprehensive PACE (Pseudoscience and Conspiracy-theory Education) in Physics and Society

Phys0087: Physics and Society was a course developed by Eric Swanson to help students examine the conceptual foundations of modern science with the goal of understanding how science affects our daily lives and our impact on the environment. At the intersection of science and society lies the issue of popular belief in the claims of pseudoscience and conspiracy theories. These beliefs are fairly common and often can be difficult to dislodge with education in science alone. However, past work has shown that explicit instruction on topics related to pseudoscience and conspiracy theory beliefs may be effective in reducing endorsement of these beliefs. The PIs have seen this among their own students, based on pilot data and data from a previous dB-SERC Course Transformation Award. The success of their earlier work has captured the attention not only of our university media, but also the Lilienfeld Alliance, a group of higher education professionals across the nation that is committed to promoting critical thinking skills in the face of the claims of pseudoscience, who invited them to join their cause. With the momentum they have built, they are inspired to more comprehensively overhaul Phys0087: Physics and Society to expand upon their original transformation. Their new proposed course transformation would extend the pseudoscience module into a comprehensive PACE (Pseudoscience and Conspiracy-theory Education) curriculum in Phys0087–Physics and Society during the 2024-2025 school year.

Edison Hauptman and Jeffrey Wheeler, Department of Mathematics: Contract Grading in Calculus 2

In summer 2024, Edison Hauptman’s section of Analytic Geometry & Calculus 2 (Math 0230) was taught with a different set of assignments and grading structure. The grading structure for the class resembled a contract between the instructor and their students: the instructor provided many different assignments, and for a student to earn a desired grade, they had to score enough points on various assignments of their choice to reach that grade’s point threshold. This course structure can have many variations and is called a “grading contract.” Compared to the current (default) course structure for Calculus courses at the University of Pittsburgh, a grading contract is a more equitable way to evaluate a diverse set of students, allows the instructor to be more accommodating to students without sacrificing the course’s rigor, and encourages more student buy-in. This project develops and evaluates a set of assignments offered to students in  Hauptman’s Summer 2024 12-week section of Math 0230 and focuses on mathematical skills emphasized in each assignment.

Zuzana Swigonova, Department of Biological Sciences: Combining computer visualizations with 3D printed models to engage students in active study of molecular structure and function

All biological processes in a living system depend on proper functioning of molecules. Understanding the principles of molecular structure, the three-dimensional spatial arrangements of atoms and functional groups that allow for intra- and intermolecular interactions, is crucial for grasping the fundamentals of structure-function relationships. Despite the many benefits of physical 3D models, printing intricate biological molecules has several limitations, such as low level of atomic detail in complex structures, depiction of a single static molecular representation, and labor-intensive post-printing processing. Computer visualization allows for the development of abundant resources that complement physical models with no added material cost. They propose to develop teaching resources using computer visualization to supplement the physical 3D models.

Margaret Vines, Department of Chemistry: Learning to learn chemistry

The purpose of this project is to help students learn. Most students come to college with the desire to learn. They want to be successful and learn the material presented to them in their classes. Unfortunately, many of them engage in activities that do not help with their learning. The PI’s goal is to help students begin to learn how to learn. They will do this as part of their regular lecture and recitation in general Chemistry. They will educate them about learning techniques and explain why they will aid in their learning. They will then demonstrate these techniques in class, and the students will be given opportunities to use these techniques inside and outside the lecture and recitation. Finally, they will encourage their students to develop those techniques for use in their other classes.

Mentor/Mentee Award

Mentor: Anusha Balangoda / Mentee: Beth Ann Eberle. Department of Geology and Environmental Science: Use of Cooperative Learning Approach in Recitations to Untangle Pressing Environmental Issues in Introductory Environmental Science Class

Cooperative learning is a student-centered active learning strategy in which a small group of students is responsible for their own success and that of their team by holding themselves accountable for the process and outcomes of the activities. In this project, they propose to use a cooperative learning strategy in the GEOL 0840 Introductory Environmental Science course, which is a large enrollment three-credit class, and both lectures and recitations are required.

Mentor: Ben Rottman / Mentee: Rebecca McGregor. Department of Psychology; Learning Research and Development Center: Using a Consulting Model and Project-Based Learning to Teach Psychology Research Methods

In the field of psychology, research methods form the foundation of students’ knowledge during the remainder of their undergraduate degree and beyond. Students in PSY 0036: Research Methods Lecture at the University of Pittsburgh have three course objectives: learn how to read, interpret and discuss research design and conclusions, learn how to critique research, and learn how to design valid research. There are currently few opportunities for students to apply this knowledge to real-world experiences, as this is an introductory course in which students have not yet developed the skills to analyze and interpret their own data. Thus, this course design through the dB-SERC would provide a semester-long collaborative assignment in which students would develop a project proposal to investigate a real-world research problem for a fictional client.

• Our Mission

Why Social and Emotional Learning Is Essential for Students

Learn more about the critical role that social and emotional learning plays in promoting student success.

Editor's note: This piece is co-authored by Roger Weissberg, Joseph A. Durlak, Celene E. Domitrovich, and Thomas P. Gullotta, and adapted from Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Practice , now available from Guilford Press.

Today's schools are increasingly multicultural and multilingual with students from diverse social and economic backgrounds. Educators and community agencies serve students with different motivation for engaging in learning, behaving positively, and performing academically. Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides a foundation for safe and positive learning, and enhances students' ability to succeed in school, careers, and life.

5 Keys to Successful SEL

Research shows that SEL not only improves achievement by an average of 11 percentile points, but it also increases prosocial behaviors (such as kindness, sharing, and empathy), improves student attitudes toward school, and reduces depression and stress among students (Durlak et al., 2011). Effective social and emotional learning programming involves coordinated classroom, schoolwide, family, and community practices that help students develop the following five key skills :

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness involves understanding one's own emotions, personal goals, and values. This includes accurately assessing one's strengths and limitations, having positive mindsets, and possessing a well-grounded sense of self-efficacy and optimism. High levels of self-awareness require the ability to recognize how thoughts, feelings, and actions are interconnected.

Self-Management

Self-management requires skills and attitudes that facilitate the ability to regulate one's own emotions and behaviors. This includes the ability to delay gratification, manage stress, control impulses, and persevere through challenges in order to achieve personal and educational goals.

Social Awareness

Social awareness involves the ability to understand, empathize, and feel compassion for those with different backgrounds or cultures. It also involves understanding social norms for behavior and recognizing family, school, and community resources and supports.

Relationship Skills

Relationship skills help students establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships, and to act in accordance with social norms. These skills involve communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking help when it is needed.

Responsible Decision Making

Responsible decision making involves learning how to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse settings. It requires the ability to consider ethical standards, safety concerns, accurate behavioral norms for risky behaviors, the health and well-being of self and others, and to make realistic evaluation of various actions' consequences.

School is one of the primary places where students learn social and emotional skills. An effective SEL program should incorporate four elements represented by the acronym SAFE (Durlak et al., 2010, 2011):

• Sequenced: connected and coordinated sets of activities to foster skills development
• Active: active forms of learning to help students master new skills
• Focused: emphasis on developing personal and social skills
• Explicit: targeting specific social and emotional skills

The Short- and Long-Term Benefits of SEL

Students are more successful in school and daily life when they:

• Know and can manage themselves
• Understand the perspectives of others and relate effectively with them
• Make sound choices about personal and social decisions

These social and emotional skills are some of several short-term student outcomes that SEL pro­grams promote (Durlak et al., 2011; Farrington et al., 2012; Sklad et al., 2012). Other benefits include:

• More positive attitudes toward oneself, others, and tasks including enhanced self-efficacy, confidence, persistence, empathy, connection and commitment to school, and a sense of purpose
• More positive social behaviors and relationships with peers and adults
• Reduced conduct problems and risk-taking behavior
• Decreased emotional distress
• Improved test scores, grades, and attendance

In the long run, greater social and emotional competence can increase the likelihood of high school graduation, readiness for postsecondary education, career success, positive family and work relationships, better mental health, reduced criminal behavior, and engaged citizenship (e.g., Hawkins, Kosterman, Catalano, Hill, & Abbott, 2008; Jones, Greenberg, & Crowley, 2015).

Building SEL Skills in the Classroom

Promoting social and emotional development for all students in classrooms involves teaching and modeling social and emotional skills, providing opportunities for students to practice and hone those skills, and giving students an opportunity to apply these skills in various situations.

One of the most prevalent SEL approaches involves training teachers to deliver explicit lessons that teach social and emotional skills, then finding opportunities for students to reinforce their use throughout the day. Another curricular approach embeds SEL instruction into content areas such as English language arts, social studies, or math (Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Merrell & Gueldner, 2010; Yoder, 2013; Zins et al., 2004). There are a number of research-based SEL programs that enhance students' competence and behavior in developmentally appropriate ways from preschool through high school (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2013, 2015).

Teachers can also naturally foster skills in students through their interpersonal and student-centered instructional interactions throughout the school day. Adult-student interactions support SEL when they result in positive student-teacher relationships, enable teachers to model social-emotional competencies for students, and promote student engagement (Williford & Sanger Wolcott, 2015). Teacher practices that provide students with emotional support and create opportunities for students' voice, autonomy, and mastery experiences promote student engagement in the educational process.

How Schools Can Support SEL

At the school level, SEL strategies typically come in the form of policies, practices, or structures related to climate and student support services (Meyers et al., in press). Safe and positive school climates and cultures positively affect academic, behavioral, and mental health outcomes for students (Thapa, Cohen, Guffey, & Higgins­-D'Alessandro, 2013). School leaders play a critical role in fostering schoolwide activities and policies that promote positive school environments, such as establishing a team to address the building climate; adult modeling of social and emotional competence; and developing clear norms, values, and expectations for students and staff members.

Fair and equitable discipline policies and bullying prevention practices are more effective than purely behavioral methods that rely on reward or punishment (Bear et al., 2015). School leaders can organize activities that build positive relationships and a sense of community among students through structures such as regularly scheduled morning meetings or advisories that provide students with opportunities to connect with each other.

An important component of schoolwide SEL involves integration into multi-tiered systems of support. The services provided to students by professionals such as counselors, social workers, and psychologists should align with universal efforts in the classroom and building. Often through small-group work, student support professionals reinforce and supplement classroom-based instruction for students who need early intervention or more intensive treatment.

Building Family and Community Partnerships

Family and community partnerships can strengthen the impact of school approaches to extending learning into the home and neighborhood. Community members and organizations can support classroom and school efforts, especially by providing students with additional opportunities to refine and apply various SEL skills (Catalano et al., 2004).

After-school activities also provide opportunities for students to connect with supportive adults and peers (Gullotta, 2015). They are a great venue to help youth develop and apply new skills and personal talents. Research has shown that after-school programs focused on social and emotional development can significantly enhance student self-perceptions, school connectedness, positive social behaviors, school grades, and achievement test scores, while reducing problem behaviors (Durlak et al., 2010).

SEL can also be fostered in many settings other than school. SEL begins in early childhood, so family and early childcare settings are important (Bierman & Motamedi, 2015). Higher education settings also have the potential to promote SEL (Conley, 2015).

For more information about the latest advances in SEL research, practice and policy, visit the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning website .

• Bear, G.G., Whitcomb, S.A., Elias, M.J., & Blank, J.C. (2015). "SEL and Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports." In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning . New York: Guilford Press.
• Bierman, K.L. & Motamedi, M. (2015). "SEL Programs for Preschool Children". In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning . New York: Guilford Press.
• Catalano, R.F., Berglund, M.L., Ryan, J.A., Lonczak, H.S., & Hawkins, J.D. (2004). "Positive youth development in the United States: Research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs." The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 591 (1), pp.98-124.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2013). 2013 CASEL Guide: Effective social and emotional learning programs - Preschool and elementary school edition . Chicago, IL: Author.
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2015). 2015 CASEL Guide: Effective social and emotional learning programs - Middle and high school edition . Chicago, IL: Author.
• Conley, C.S. (2015). "SEL in Higher Education." In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning . New York: Guilford Press.
• Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., Dymnicki, A.B., Taylor, R.D., & Schellinger, K.B. (2011). "The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions." Child Development, 82 , pp.405-432.
• Durlak, J.A., Weissberg, R.P., & Pachan, M. (2010). "A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and social skills in children and adolescents." American Journal of Community Psychology, 45 , pp.294-309.
• Farrington, C.A., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T.S., Johnson, D.W., & Beechum, N.O. (2012). Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners: The Role of Noncognitive Factors in Shaping School Performance: A Critical Literature Review . Consortium on Chicago School Research.
• Gullotta, T.P. (2015). "After-School Programming and SEL." In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning . New York: Guilford Press.
• Hawkins, J.D., Kosterman, R., Catalano, R.F., Hill, K.G., & Abbott, R.D. (2008). "Effects of social development intervention in childhood 15 years later." Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 162 (12), pp.1133-1141.
• Jones, D.E., Greenberg, M., & Crowley, M. (2015). "Early social-emotional functioning and public health: The relationship between kindergarten social competence and future wellness." American Journal of Public Health, 105 (11), pp.2283-2290.
• Jones, S.M. & Bouffard, S.M. (2012). "Social and emotional learning in schools: From programs to strategies." Social Policy Report, 26 (4), pp.1-33.
• Merrell, K.W. & Gueldner, B.A. (2010). Social and emotional learning in the classroom: Promoting mental health and academic success . New York: Guilford Press.
• Meyers, D., Gil, L., Cross, R., Keister, S., Domitrovich, C.E., & Weissberg, R.P. (in press). CASEL guide for schoolwide social and emotional learning . Chicago: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
• Sklad, M., Diekstra, R., Ritter, M.D., Ben, J., & Gravesteijn, C. (2012). "Effectiveness of school-based universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs: Do they enhance students' development in the area of skill, behavior, and adjustment?" Psychology in the Schools, 49 (9), pp.892-909.
• Thapa, A., Cohen, J., Gulley, S., & Higgins-D'Alessandro, A. (2013). "A review of school climate research." Review of Educational Research, 83 (3), pp.357-385.
• Williford, A.P. & Wolcott, C.S. (2015). "SEL and Student-Teacher Relationships." In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning . New York: Guilford Press.
• Yoder, N. (2013). Teaching the whole child: Instructional practices that support social and emotional learning in three teacher evaluation frameworks . Washington, DC: American Institutes for Research Center on Great Teachers and Leaders.
• Zins, J.E., Weissberg, R.P., Wang, M.C., & Walberg, H.J. (Eds.). (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? New York: Teachers College Press.

• DOI: 10.55041/ijsrem29138
• Corpus ID: 268429998

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• Ijsrem Journal
• Published in INTERANTIONAL JOURNAL OF… 7 March 2024
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