assignment text design

Free Cover Page templates

Create impressive cover pages for your assignments and projects online in just a click. choose from hundreds of free templates and customize them with edit.org..

Create impressive cover pages in a few minutes with Edit.org, and give your projects and assignments a professional and unique touch. A well-designed title page or project front page can positively impact your professor's opinion of your homework, which can improve your final grade!

Create a personalized report cover page

After writing the whole report, dissertation, or paper, which is the hardest part, you should now create a cover page that suits the rest of the project. Part of the grade for your work depends on the first impression of the teacher who corrects it.

We know not everyone is a professional designer, and that's why Edit.org wants to help you. Having a professional title page can give the impression you've put a great deal of time and effort into your assignment, as well as the impression you take the subject very seriously. Thanks to Edit.org, everyone can become a professional designer. This way, you'll only have to worry about doing a great job on your assignment.

On the editor, you will also find free resume templates  and other educational and professional designs.

Customize an essay cover page with Edit.org

• Go to formats on the home page and choose Cover pages.
• Choose the template that best suits the project.
• You can add your images or change the template background color.
• Add your report information and change the font type and colors if needed.
• Save and download it. The cover page is ready to make your work shine!

Free editable templates for title pages

As you can see, it's simple to create cover pages for schoolwork and it won’t take much time. We recommend using the same colors on the cover as the ones you used for your essay titles to create a cohesive design. It’s also crucial to add the name and logo of the institution for which you are doing the essay. A visually attractive project is likely to be graded very well, so taking care of the small details will make your work look professional.

On Edit.org, you can also reuse all your designs and adapt them to different projects. Thanks to the users' internal memory, you can access and edit old templates anytime and anywhere.

Take a look at other options we propose on the site. Edit.org helps design flyers, business cards, and other designs useful in the workplace. The platform was created so you don't need to have previous design knowledge to achieve a spectacular cover page! Start your cover page design now.

Create online Cover Pages for printing

You can enter our free graphic editor from your phone, tablet or computer. The process is 100% online, fun and intuitive. Just click on what you want to modify. Customize your cover page quickly and easily. You don't need any design skills. No Photoshop skills. Just choose a template from this article or from the final waterfall and customize it to your liking. Writing first and last names, numbers, additional information or texts will be as easy as writing in a Word document.

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Generative AI & Writing Assignment Design

Guides & tips.

The availability of generative AI requires writing instructors to be more deliberate about assignment design. Yet many principles we have always valued remain the same: Prompts should provide opportunities for students to use writing as a means to practice critical thinking and reflection; to engage deeply with texts, using sources to help them generate interesting questions and develop compelling arguments; and to recognize the ethical and social dimensions of writing.

We can encourage students to embrace these opportunities through tapping their intrinsic motivation—striving, as John Bradley puts it, to craft assignments that are “transformational” rather than “transactional.”   We begin with some general recommendations that draw on Mary-Ann Winkelmes’s research-based guidelines for transparent assignment design and are oriented toward this goal.

Writing assignments should include the following, ideally in about one page:

Purpose:  Begin by briefly describing the purpose of the assignment, how doing the assignment helps students reach a particular learning goal of the course. You may want to connect this goal to a future application in or beyond your course.

Tasks:  Craft a concise, specific prompt that is meaningful and relevant to students’ lives. This might mean asking students to draw on personal experiences, but it might also mean asking them to write for an authentic audience (not just you), in a genre relevant to their future professional or civic lives, or in connection to an urgent local or global challenge.

Be sure to i ncorporate a series of process steps and deadlines. This might include brainstorming activities, proposals, drafts (for peer review, in-class workshops, or conferences), and reflective writing.

Criteria:  Show students what success looks like. Offer models of effective compositions, and invite students to analyze those models to develop a critical understanding of how they work. Consider using models published in Deerfield , the Writing Program journal of outstanding undergraduate writing, or other BU student publications . 

Tell students what you will focus on in your feedback and assessment. Consider deemphasizing criteria that AI-generated prose can easily meet and emphasizing criteria like intellectual risk-taking, originality, nuance, etc. ( Note the useful distinction Kevin Gannon makes between “logistical rigor” and “cognitive rigor” —and don’t mistake the former for the latter.)

See also Anatomy of an Assignment Sheet . 

Crafting Assignments That Discourage AI Use

• Be specific about quotation and citation expectations. Ask students to write or talk about these quotes or sources in class as part of the writing process. 
• Have students record their reading and research process. Consider assigning a research log or using a social annotation tool like Perusall . Formal or informal stepping-stone (scaffolded) assignments can help to ensure that students are engaging in authentic research and reading deeply.
• When assigning canonical texts that are likely already part of AI’s database, consider pairing them with less canonical texts — such as a particular response to the canonical text or a source located by the student that is available only through library subscription access — that AI might not be able to reference or discuss as easily. (Note that AI tools like Claude can “process” PDFs, and similar capacities are likely to become more common across platforms.) You might have students present orally on the source as part of the writing process.
• Offer opportunities for students to write about their own lives and experiences, as appropriate to the assignment genre and course topics. 
• Value creativity and difference. Invite students to explore nonstandard language and question genre conventions in a way that is relevant to your topic.

Crafting Assignments that Incorporate Generative AI

• Be explicit about the kind of AI use you are authorizing for the assignment, and model effective prompting for this use. 
• Consider an assignment that showcases what AI can do well and where it falls short–for example, a two-part assignment that asks students to use AI to draft, then write a critical analysis of what AI does well and poorly before they go on to revise or discard the draft.
• Engage AI in the revision process after students have drafted an essay. Let students experiment with the ways that AI can help them reformulate, rephrase, or reorganize their ideas. Include opportunities for reflection regarding their experience working with AI as a collaborator.
• Remember that servers which run AI, such as ChatGPT, are not always accessible during times of high demand, and plan ahead if you intend to use AI live in the classroom. For instance, if you are planning a live demonstration of AI, have it generate one or two responses to be used as backup in the event that the AI tool is not accessible during your class meeting.
• Be explicit about how you want students to cite AI sources. For example, refer to the MLA guide on Citing Generative AI in MLA Style .

More ideas that can be incorporated into the scaffolding for a writing assignment are available here .

Responding to Unauthorized Uses of AI for Writing

“Use caution about responses that emphasize surveillance or restrictions on the writing process that make the conditions of writing for class radically different from writing conditions students will encounter in other classes, work environments, and their personal lives.”

— MLA-CCCC Joint Task Force on Writing and AI Unauthorized use of generative AI tools for academic work may fall within the Academic Conduct Code ’s definition of cheating: “Any attempt by students to alter their performance on an examination or assignment in violation of the stated or commonly understood ground rules.” However, documenting evidence of this kind of misconduct is not easy. The results of detectors like GPTZero and Turnitin are not very reliable, with evidence of “ an alarming bias against non-native English speakers .” (Concern about this bias is the basis for the Writing Program’s authorization of AI use for grammar, usage, and vocabulary in all WR courses; refer to our current guidelines in Section 2 of the syllabus templates .)

Therefore, if you are concerned that a student has used AI to do their work in a way that violates academic integrity, it’s best not to accuse a student based on detector results. Instead, invite the student to have a conversation with you about their process and their ideas. Be honest about your concerns and allow the student an opportunity to respond.  

Learn More: Writing Instruction in the Age of Generative AI

Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Writing Assignments 101: Formatting and Typography Essentials

Writing assignments is a necessary practice for everyone pursuing any academic endeavor. You must understand how to format your academic paper. You must also follow the typography guidelines for each type of assignment. Adhering to both ensures your paper meets the presentation standards applicable and is presentable, readable, and easy to follow.

Unfortunately, getting the formatting right does not always come easy for all students. Some academic papers may be easy to format, while others require a deeper understanding of typography and formatting rules.

Many students need help with this part of the essay. As Ken, an economics major in college, puts it, “Getting assistance with my assignments was the natural next step for me. I needed all the professional help I could get to maintain top university grades. And an assignment writing helper service did it for me.” Ken found guidance from experts who offer online academic guidance for students who need support in their essay preparation.

Formatting Styles

Most academic programs require students to follow one of two formatting styles:

• American Psychological Association (APA);
• Modern Language Association (MLA).

Different academic papers call for different formatting styles, with APA and MLA being the most widely used formats for student writing across schools and colleges. However, your professors may ask you to use the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) formatting. So, always confirm the style to use with your professor before you start working on an essay.

APA Style Formatting

APA style mostly applies in social sciences, health sciences, and education courses. Under APA, you’ll organize your paper into four sections:

• Title Page;
• References.

The Title Page includes the following items, in this order:

• The title of your paper;
• The author(s);
• The institutional affiliation;
• Course name and number;
• Instructor’s name;
• Assignment due date;
• Header with page number.

The title :

• Should be centered in the top half of the page;
• Should be 12 words or less;
• Should not contain abbreviations;
• Should be in title case;
• Should be bold ;
• Use one or two lines for the title.
• List all authors by their full names. Use first name, middle initial(s), and then last name;
• If there are two authors, separate author names with “and”;
• If there are three or more authors, use a comma to separate each author, then use “and” before the last author;
• For author names with suffixes, use a space to separate the suffix from the remaining part of the name, e.g., Rob S. Smith Jr.

Institutional affiliation

Affiliation refers to the college or university you attend. Start with the department, add a comma, then the university.

The abstract is a summary of your paper, written on its own page. It should be 10% of your word count, written in one paragraph. Ensure that the abstract includes all the key points covered in the paper.

• The paper title goes to the top of the first page;
• Use title case for the title and bold it;
• Do not leave any space between the title and the beginning text;
• Add in-text citations;
• Enclose citation details in parenthesis;
• Position parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence where you’ve used the referenced material;
• Put the closing punctuation after the parenthetical citation;
• Include the author’s last name, year of publication, and paragraph or page number.

APA Typography Rules

• Font—APA recommends specific serif and sans-serif fonts:
• Acceptable serif fonts: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern;
• Acceptable sans-serif fonts: 11-point Arial, 11-point Calibri, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode;

Use the same font throughout the paper, except:

• Within figure images, where you should use an 8- to 14-point sans-serif font;
• For footnotes, use the default font settings under the footnotes feature of your word processor;
• Computer code, where you should use a monospace font, e.g., 10-point Courier New.
• Double-space your text;
• Unless your professor states otherwise, use a margin of 1 inch on each side of the paper.

The references page is a list of all the sources cited in your paper. You should have a reference for every in-text citation in your paper. Follow these tips to format your references:

• Title the page “References,” bold it, and center it at the top of the page;
• Apply a hanging indent to each citation. To create a hanging indent:
• Ensure the first line of your reference aligns with the left margin;
• For each line that follows, create a half-inch indention from the left margin.

Most word processors have hanging indent settings, usually under Paragraphs and Spacing. Choose the hanging option and set the spacing to half an inch.

• Capitalize the first word of each citation;
• Do not leave additional spaces between citations.

MLA Style Formatting

MLA style is mostly used in humanities and some health courses. Unlike APA style, MLA style does not require a title page, except where several students write the paper. In this case, you’ll create a title page and list the full name of each contribution author. Use double spacing on each line.

Below the author names, list your professor’s name, course name, and date. Add the title of your paper one line below the date and center it. Each entry should go into a separate line.

If you’re the only author of the paper, the author’s name, instructor, date, title, and the beginning of the text body all go on the first page. Remember to add a double space between the title and the first line of your text.

MLA headers show the author’s last name and page number, separated by a space. Some professors require students to omit the header on the first page. If your instructor sets this rule, use the header, starting from the second page.

The header should be in the top right-hand corner of the paper. Position the header half an inch from the top and align it with the right margin.

MLA style recommends the use of headings and subheadings for longer papers. Format your headings in descending order of prominence, with the Level 1 heading having a larger, bold typeface. Subsequent subheadings should have a smaller, non-bold typeface.

You can cite the source in narrative form as part of your text or in parenthesis after mentioning the reference.

• To cite an author in your text, use the author’s last name and the page number of the work you’re citing;
• If quoting multiple works, separate each work with a semicolon;
• If citing two authors, use “and” to separate their names;
• If citing three or more authors, use only the first name shown in the source. Follow it with “et al.”

MLA Typography Rules

MLA formatting does not require you to use a specific font. The only requirements are:

• Your chosen font should be legible and in a standard font size, preferably 12-point;
• The font’s regular and italic types should be recognizable, with enough contrast to make the two styles easy to differentiate;
• Double-space the text;
• Leave a 1-inch margin on each side of the paper;
• For the first line of each paragraph, create a half-inch indent from the left margin;
• Include a line space above and below each heading.

Proper formatting improves the structure of academic papers and makes them more readable. Most student assignments require APA or MLA formatting. To improve your chances of scoring a good grade, adhere to all the formatting requirements of your academic paper.

How do I style headings and subheadings in a research paper? (2018, December 13). MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/styling-headings-and-subheadings/ Mandernach, B. J., Zafonte, M., & Taylor, C. (n.d.). Instructional Strategies to Improve College Students’ APA Style Writing. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1093747.pdf MLA Quick Citation Guide. (n.d.). PennState University Libraries. https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/mlacitation/intext Paper format. (n.d.). APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format The Main Body Formatting the Main Body. (n.d.). Keuka College. https://libguides.keuka.edu/apa/mainbody

How to Write a Perfect Assignment: Step-By-Step Guide

Table of contents

• 1 How to Structure an Assignment?
• 2.1 The research part
• 2.2 Planning your text
• 2.3 Writing major parts
• 3 Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment
• 4 Will I succeed with my assignments?
• 5 Conclusion

How to Structure an Assignment?

To cope with assignments, you should familiarize yourself with the tips on formatting and presenting assignments or any written paper, which are given below. It is worth paying attention to the content of the paper, making it structured and understandable so that ideas are not lost and thoughts do not refute each other.

If the topic is free or you can choose from the given list — be sure to choose the one you understand best. Especially if that could affect your semester score or scholarship. It is important to select an  engaging title that is contextualized within your topic. A topic that should captivate you or at least give you a general sense of what is needed there. It’s easier to dwell upon what interests you, so the process goes faster.

To construct an assignment structure, use outlines. These are pieces of text that relate to your topic. It can be ideas, quotes, all your thoughts, or disparate arguments. Type in everything that you think about. Separate thoughts scattered across the sheets of Word will help in the next step.

Then it is time to form the text. At this stage, you have to form a coherent story from separate pieces, where each new thought reinforces the previous one, and one idea smoothly flows into another.

Main Steps of Assignment Writing

These are steps to take to get a worthy paper. If you complete these step-by-step, your text will be among the most exemplary ones.

The research part

If the topic is unique and no one has written about it yet, look at materials close to this topic to gain thoughts about it. You should feel that you are ready to express your thoughts. Also, while reading, get acquainted with the format of the articles, study the details, collect material for your thoughts, and accumulate different points of view for your article. Be careful at this stage, as the process can help you develop your ideas. If you are already struggling here, pay for assignment to be done , and it will be processed in a split second via special services. These services are especially helpful when the deadline is near as they guarantee fast delivery of high-quality papers on any subject.

If you use Google to search for material for your assignment, you will, of course, find a lot of information very quickly. Still, the databases available on your library’s website will give you the clearest and most reliable facts that satisfy your teacher or professor. Be sure you copy the addresses of all the web pages you will use when composing your paper, so you don’t lose them. You can use them later in your bibliography if you add a bit of description! Select resources and extract quotes from them that you can use while working. At this stage, you may also create a  request for late assignment if you realize the paper requires a lot of effort and is time-consuming. This way, you’ll have a backup plan if something goes wrong.

Planning your text

Assemble a layout. It may be appropriate to use the structure of the paper of some outstanding scientists in your field and argue it in one of the parts. As the planning progresses, you can add suggestions that come to mind. If you use citations that require footnotes, and if you use single spacing throughout the paper and double spacing at the end, it will take you a very long time to make sure that all the citations are on the exact pages you specified! Add a reference list or bibliography. If you haven’t already done so, don’t put off writing an essay until the last day. It will be more difficult to do later as you will be stressed out because of time pressure.

Writing major parts

It happens that there is simply no mood or strength to get started and zero thoughts. In that case, postpone this process for 2-3 hours, and, perhaps, soon, you will be able to start with renewed vigor. Writing essays is a great (albeit controversial) way to improve your skills. This experience will not be forgotten. It will certainly come in handy and bring many benefits in the future. Do your best here because asking for an extension is not always possible, so you probably won’t have time to redo it later. And the quality of this part defines the success of the whole paper.

Writing the major part does not mean the matter is finished. To review the text, make sure that the ideas of the introduction and conclusion coincide because such a discrepancy is the first thing that will catch the reader’s eye and can spoil the impression. Add or remove anything from your intro to edit it to fit the entire paper. Also, check your spelling and grammar to ensure there are no typos or draft comments. Check the sources of your quotes so that your it is honest and does not violate any rules. And do not forget the formatting rules.

with the right tips and guidance, it can be easier than it looks. To make the process even more straightforward, students can also use an assignment service to get the job done. This way they can get professional assistance and make sure that their assignments are up to the mark. At PapersOwl, we provide a professional writing service where students can order custom-made assignments that meet their exact requirements.

Expert Tips for your Writing Assignment

Want to write like a pro? Here’s what you should consider:

• Save the document! Send the finished document by email to yourself so you have a backup copy in case your computer crashes.
• Don’t wait until the last minute to complete a list of citations or a bibliography after the paper is finished. It will be much longer and more difficult, so add to them as you go.
• If you find a lot of information on the topic of your search, then arrange it in a separate paragraph.
• If possible, choose a topic that you know and are interested in.
• Believe in yourself! If you set yourself up well and use your limited time wisely, you will be able to deliver the paper on time.
• Do not copy information directly from the Internet without citing them.

Writing assignments is a tedious and time-consuming process. It requires a lot of research and hard work to produce a quality paper. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty understanding the concept, you may want to consider getting accounting homework help online . Professional experts can assist you in understanding how to complete your assignment effectively. PapersOwl.com offers expert help from highly qualified and experienced writers who can provide you with the homework help you need.

Will I succeed with my assignments?

Anyone can learn how to be good at writing: follow simple rules of creating the structure and be creative where it is appropriate. At one moment, you will need some additional study tools, study support, or solid study tips. And you can easily get help in writing assignments or any other work. This is especially useful since the strategy of learning how to write an assignment can take more time than a student has.

Therefore all students are happy that there is an option to  order your paper at a professional service to pass all the courses perfectly and sleep still at night. You can also find the sample of the assignment there to check if you are on the same page and if not — focus on your papers more diligently.

So, in the times of studies online, the desire and skill to research and write may be lost. Planning your assignment carefully and presenting arguments step-by-step is necessary to succeed with your homework. When going through your references, note the questions that appear and answer them, building your text. Create a cover page, proofread the whole text, and take care of formatting. Feel free to use these rules for passing your next assignments.

When it comes to writing an assignment, it can be overwhelming and stressful, but Papersowl is here to make it easier for you. With a range of helpful resources available, Papersowl can assist you in creating high-quality written work, regardless of whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing draft. From conducting research to creating an outline, and from proofreading to formatting, the team at Papersowl has the expertise to guide you through the entire writing process and ensure that your assignment meets all the necessary requirements.

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Assignment Design Checklist

Use this very simple checklist to assess your assignment design. 

• What is the assignment asking students to do?
• Does what the assignment asks match the author’s purposes (given the nature of the class, etc.)?
• Is there a discernible central question or task?
• Is the assignment clear? 
• Are there words or phrases that might be confusing or unclear to the intended audience?
• Is the assignment itself separate from thought questions or process suggestions?

Format and Organization:

• Look at the layout on the page. Is there a long narrative of unbroken text?
• A long series of questions?
• How is it organized?
• Do the layout and order help the audience understand the assignment?
• Can it be broken into steps or paragraphs?
• Are suggestions separated from the assignment itself?
• If the assignment is a major essay, are there any steps or process work assigned along the way to the final draft?

Adapted from Gail Offen-Brown, College Writing 300, UC Berkeley, Fall 2005

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Alignment in Design – Making Text and Visuals More Appealing

Alignment in design is the strategic arrangement of elements relative to one another or a common baseline, creating order, harmony, and visual appeal. Designers can apply different types of alignment to various design aspects, such as typography, grid systems, and graphic elements.

This alignment is crucial for guiding the user’s eye through content, enhancing readability, and reinforcing the overall design hierarchy. Mastering alignment helps designers craft user experiences that are visually pleasing, functionally efficient, and easy to navigate.

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What is Alignment in Design?

Alignment in design refers to the arrangement of elements relative to one another or a common baseline, creating a sense of order, harmony, and visual appeal. 

It involves intentionally positioning text, images, and other elements within a layout to achieve a structured, cohesive, and easily navigable interface. Effective alignment is crucial in guiding the user’s eye through content, enhancing readability, and reinforcing the overall design hierarchy.

The importance of alignment for user experience

Mastering alignment is essential in crafting user experiences that are visually pleasing and functionally efficient. When elements are well-aligned, it helps users quickly understand the interface’s structure, reducing cognitive load and enabling them to complete tasks efficiently.

Consistent alignment across different pages or screens fosters a sense of familiarity and predictability, contributing to improved user satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Alignment is a vital design principle that UX professionals should prioritize to create intuitive and accessible digital products.

Different Types of Alignment

Effective alignment is crucial for creating cohesive and user-friendly interfaces. UX professionals can apply various types of alignment to improve an interface’s visual hierarchy and clarity.

Horizontal Alignment

Horizontal alignment refers to the arrangement of elements along the horizontal axis (left/right). It helps to create a sense of balance and order within a layout.

• Left alignment: Elements are aligned along the left edge, creating a consistent starting point for the user’s eye.

• Center alignment: Elements are centered along the horizontal axis, often used for symmetrical layouts or emphasizing a particular element.

• Right alignment: Elements are aligned along the right side, often used for secondary content or in right-to-left languages .

Vertical Alignment

Vertical alignment deals with the positioning of elements along §§§§§§§§§§§§§§the vertical axis (top/bottom). It enhances the layout’s structure and guides the user’s eye vertically through the content.

• Top alignment: Elements are aligned along the top of the page, creating a unified starting point for the user’s gaze.

• Middle alignment: Elements are centered along the vertical axis, often used for equal emphasis or in grid-based layouts.

• Bottom alignment: Elements are aligned along the bottom edge, typically used for secondary content or footer elements.

Edge alignment

Edge alignment refers to aligning design elements along a common horizontal or vertical edge. This technique establishes a clear visual hierarchy, enhances consistency, and improves the overall layout aesthetics.

Edge alignment can be applied to text and design elements, providing a sense of order and balance within the interface.

Alignment in Typography

The above refers to design or canvas alignment, but we also have typography or text alignment for content. Typography plays a significant role in creating visually appealing and legible user interfaces. Proper alignment in typography enhances readability and reinforces the overall design hierarchy.

Aligning Headings and Body Text

Aligning headings and body text helps establish a clear relationship and guides the user’s eye through the content .

• Left-aligned text: Most commonly used for headings and body text, providing a clean, consistent starting point.

• Center-aligned text: Often reserved for headers or short lines of text, creating emphasis and symmetry.

• Right-aligned text: Less common but can be used for secondary content or in right-to-left languages.

• Justified alignment: Aligns the text’s left and right edges, creating a uniform block but can result in uneven word spacing.

Consistent text alignment

Consistent text alignment is essential for creating a visually harmonious and easily navigable interface. Consistent alignment reduces cognitive load, enhances scannability, and reinforces the overall design structure.

Alignment for different languages and scripts

Designers must consider unique alignment requirements for different languages and cultures. 

For example, right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew require right-aligned text, while vertical scripts like traditional Chinese and Japanese may necessitate top-to-bottom alignment.

Alignment in Grid Systems and Layouts

Understanding grid systems.

Grid systems provide a structured framework for organizing design elements consistently and logically. They help maintain alignment, balance , and proportion across an interface, contributing to a well-organized and visually appealing layout. These grids are particularly helpful for maintaining consistency across teams.

UX professionals should have a solid understanding of grid systems, including fluid grids, modular grids, and hierarchical grids, to create efficient and user-friendly designs that align elements effectively.

Creating balanced layouts using grid alignment

Proper alignment within grid systems is crucial for achieving balanced and harmonious layouts. By aligning elements along columns, rows, or other gridlines, designers can create a sense of order and cohesion that guides users through the interface.

This alignment minimizes visual clutter and cognitive load , enabling users to complete tasks efficiently and intuitively. Additionally, well-aligned grids contribute to the overall aesthetic appeal of an interface, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.

Responsiveness and grid alignment

Responsive web design ensures that interfaces adapt to different screen sizes and devices, providing users with an optimal viewing and interaction experience. Alignment is vital in maintaining a consistent and usable interface across various screen sizes.

UX professionals must understand how elements reposition, resize or reflow according to breakpoints to maintain proper alignment and hierarchy as the screen size changes.

Aligning Visual Elements

Aligning images and graphics.

Aligning images and graphics enhances the visual hierarchy, creating a cohesive and easily navigable interface. Designers can achieve a well-structured layout by positioning images relative to other elements or within grid systems. For example, aligning images with related text creates a clear relationship between the content and visuals, improving user understanding.

Using alignment in UI components and design patterns

Applying alignment principles to UI components and design patterns is essential for crafting consistent, intuitive interfaces.

For example, aligning buttons or form fields vertically in a form ensures users can efficiently input information without visual distractions. Aligning navigation menus horizontally across the top or vertically along the side of the page helps users quickly locate the desired option.

Consistency in alignment across different design elements

Maintaining consistent alignment across various design elements promotes a sense of familiarity and predictability, improving user satisfaction and engagement.

For example, aligning all headings, body text, and images along a common baseline or grid structure reinforces the overall design hierarchy, making it easier for users to understand the interface’s structure and navigate content across multiple interfaces.

Common Alignment Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mismatched alignments.

Mismatched alignments occur when designers align elements in a way that conflicts with the overall design structure, causing visual clutter and confusion. To avoid this, ensure that related elements share a common horizontal or vertical alignment. For example, mixing left-aligned headings with centered body text disrupts the visual flow, making it harder for users to scan content.

Inconsistent alignment across design elements

Inconsistent alignment across design elements creates a confusing user experience. To maintain a harmonious and cohesive layout, apply a consistent alignment strategy to all design aspects. For example, if headings are left-aligned, ensure that body text and images follow the same alignment pattern to reinforce the design hierarchy and improve scannability.

Overemphasis on alignment

While alignment is crucial, overemphasizing it at the expense of other design principles can result in a rigid, unappealing interface. Strive for balance by considering other design principles such as contrast, proximity, and white space. For example, ensure designs maintain adequate white space between aligned elements to prevent interfaces from feeling cluttered or overwhelming.

Best Practices and Examples of Alignment

• Consistent alignment across interfaces: Maintain a consistent alignment strategy across different pages or screens within an interface to create a sense of familiarity and predictability–for example, align all headings, body text, and images to the left throughout an entire website or app.
• Aligning elements based on their purpose: Use alignment to reinforce the hierarchy and relationships between different design elements–for example, use left-align headings and body text to create a clear visual hierarchy and center-align call-to-action buttons for emphasis.
• Utilizing grids to maintain alignment: Employ grid systems to ensure consistent alignment and spacing throughout your design, which promotes a cohesive and organized layout–for example, use a modular grid to align images, text, and UI components in a visually pleasing and structured manner.
• Balancing alignment with other design principles: While maintaining proper alignment, don’t forget to consider other vital design principles such as white space, contrast, and proximity–for example, ensure adequate white space between aligned elements and use contrast to differentiate between primary and secondary content.
• Adapting alignment for different devices and screen sizes: Ensure alignment strategies are responsive and adapt to various screen sizes and devices to maintain a consistent and usable interface–for example: on mobile devices, stack elements vertically and align them centrally to create a clear and uncluttered layout, while maintaining left alignment for larger screens.

Simplify Alignment With UXPin

UXPin’s intuitive interface makes it easy for designers to align and distribute items and text using Positions and Dimensions in Properties Panel or keyboard shortcuts.

Auto Layout simplifies alignment and distribution, allowing designers to achieve perfect layouts and organize user interfaces effortlessly. Auto Layout uses flexbox properties, allowing designers to achieve realistic UI alignment while creating a shared language and understanding between design and development teams.

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by UXPin on 24th May, 2023

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Designing Assignments and Activities with ChatGPT and Generative AI in Mind

Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, can be a powerful tool to engage students in learning and creativity. Essentially, generative AI tools are those that create content on their own without human intervention. It can be useful for writing text, generating ideas, creating images, writing and editing code, and more. By designing assignments that incorporate generative AI technology, instructors can provide students with opportunities to explore, create, and problem-solve. However, as an instructor, you may also want to create assignments that challenge students to demonstrate their own knowledge and skills without relying heavily on AI-generated content. In this article, we will review different assignment ideas and strategies to create prompts and assignment ideas in different disciplines.

Table of Contents

Syllabus statements and student input, is ai use cheating.

• AI Detection
• Design Assignments to Limit AI Use
• Design Assignments to Work with AI
• Registration
• Recording from August, 2023
• Workshop Slides

Intelligent.com conducted a poll of more than 1,000 current college students in May 2023 regarding their use of ChatGPT for coursework. 30% of students used ChatGPT for coursework during the 2022/2023 academic year, and of that group, 46% utilized it frequently. Users of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools like Bing Chat and Google Bard continue to grow with some flattening of the upward trend in summer 2023. Generative AI is rapidly advancing and becoming more prevalent in education, work, and our daily lives. As an educator, it’s a good idea to help students be aware of the ethical considerations surrounding the use of generative AI.

• Consider adding an acceptable use statement in your syllabus. Here are some guidelines and examples.
• How do you think generative AI can be applied to the course assignments in this class?
• Can you share any specific examples of generative AI being used in educational settings?
• How can we ensure that AI tools are used in a way that promotes skill development in our course?
• After reviewing the assignment directions and grading information, what would be some helpful uses of AI tools that will still allow you to learn the content and demonstrate your learning?
• Based on various surveys and instructor experiences, not all students believe it is ethical to use AI on assignments. Be sure to include a discussion/policy about how AI can or cannot be used in group work.

There is no standard for determining if AI use by students qualifies as plagiarism or cheating . There is also no consistent standard for citing or crediting work using an AI tool. It may be useful to check with your professional organizations and journals and share any of their policies with students. Currently, AI is part of retail and other business careers, education in personalized learning, systems that make recommendations, human resources decisions, healthcare, agriculture, gaming, marketing, finance, and more .

Organization and publication examples:

• RTDNA Journalism Association
• NIH Grants Peer Review Policy
• IEEE Journal Submission Policy

Citation Style Guidance:

• APA: How to Cite ChatGPT
• MLA: How Do I Cite Generative AI in MLA Style?
• Chicago Style Manual

It may be useful to reflect on how you define plagiarism and cheating and then help guide students to think about it. Review this image from Matt Miller @DitchThatTextbook to help guide your thinking.

No True Detection of AI is Possible

There is no “fool-proof” way to detect AI use in student projects, and there have been many stories published about false positives and negatives using various AI detectors.

At NC State University, we provide access to Turnitin, which has an AI detector if you would like to get some input on if students have used AI to craft their writing. That said, do not use Turnitin as sole evidence that a student has cheated or plagiarized. Please review the academic integrity guidance and policies from the Office of Student Conduct. Note that the Division of Academic and Student Affairs also encourages faculty to notify students if they plan on using Turnitin.

• Turnitin at NC State
• Turnitin AI Detection
• Article on AI detection issues with Turnitin

AI detection and AI detector workaround programs are regularly being created and released. Here are some common tools and videos guiding students and content creators on how to get around AI detection.

• AI Text Classifier by OpenAI
• AI Content Detector: Writer  
• AI Writing CheckWriter’s AI Content Detector
• Video: How to Not Get Caught Using ChatGPT at School
• Video: New Way to Bypass AI Detection

There are also some red flags you can look for in reviewing student work. It’s helpful (albeit difficult in large classes) if you know your students writing and can determine if an assignment does not fit their typical way or level of writing. What to look for:

• A factual error or made-up citation
• Missing required assignment data sources or article text
• “Too perfect” in terms of grammar and usage
• Overly formal, detached, or impersonal style/tone
• Predictable formations – -like a five-paragraph essay from middle school language arts
• The writing too directly and repetitively parallels the assignment directions

Note: Students who are good at prompt writing and provide context, follow-up questions, a voice for the AI, etc., may not produce writing that exhibits these flaws. You may also want to consider having a conversation with a student about their work and topic if you have concerns. ChatGPT-4 (a paid option) is significantly better at avoiding these style issues, and Bing Chat is powered by GPT-4 (free).

Designing Assignments to Limit AI Usage

There are ways to design assignments that can make generative AI use more difficult for students. However, as tools become more sophisticated, assignment revisions may not be enough to truly prevent students from using AI; however, these strategies are a good start.

Ask ChatGPT

Ask ChatGPT to provide assignment examples in your field that would be difficult for it to complete. Include context, specific learning outcomes, and more to get a more specific list of suggestions. Prompt Example:

• You are a professor for an introductory course in {subject area} at the college level. You are trying to design assignments that would be tricky for students to use AI to complete. What are some assignment ideas and topics within the field that would be difficult for Bard to complete successfully?
• You are a professor for a college statistics course. Students are expected to recognize and be able to explain the central role of variability in the field of statistics. They also must be able to find variability when interpreting data. What are some course assignments that students can complete to show they have met these objectives and that are difficult for ChatGPT to complete? Explain how the assignment will help students demonstrate their understanding and what makes it complicated for a generative AI tool like ChatGPT. See the results here!

Require Specific Data Sources to be Used in the Assignment

ChatGPT is not connected to the web. It’s a “pretrained” tool that has not been trained on information post-2021. So, incorporating specific texts into assignments can make things more difficult for ChatGPT. You can ask students to write and cite sources/text from specific articles or videos. You can also provide data sets that students must use in their work.

Google Version History

Require that students submit written work using Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc., and use version history to validate that the writing and input occurred over time vs. in large chunks suggesting that students may have copied and pasted from another source like ChatGPT. Students have also used time stamps in Google Docs version history to exonerate themselves from false positives picked up by AI detectors.

Incorporate Student Discussion and Collaboration

In-person student discussions that reference past class activities, readings done outside of class, previous lectures, and so on can be integrated into your course. Examples:

• Ask students in a chemistry course to compare and contrast two models that they read about for homework or that were shared in a recorded lecture. Ask students to come up with examples in class (or on a discussion board) with a partner based on the reading assignment.
• Use Perusall and set the auto-grading (ai-assisted) feature to highly weight active engagement time and getting responses. Manually grade and let students know that credit comes from their in-text conversations with each other.

Reflective Assignments

AI tools are not truly reflective and aren’t likely (even fictionally) to make good connections between course content and personal experience or learnings. Examples:

• Write a reflection on a time when you struggled with a {subject area} concept. What was the concept? How did you eventually understand it? What advice would you give to other students who are struggling with the same concept?
• Compare and contrast two different ways of solving a problem {in your content area}. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? When would you use one method over the other?

Real-World & Localized Connections in Assignments

Some AI tools are not connected to the internet and will not have an understanding of local references or the most recent sources. Others may not be able to draw connections that make sense to humans who understand those “smaller” contexts. For example, we asked Bard to write a short story set in a modern-day context in Raleigh, North Carolina on the NC State Campus and gave it some specific guidelines. In addition to writing a formulaic story , Bard regularly referenced “The Old Well” which is part of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Prompt example:

• Analyze the impact of a recent policy change {content-specific} or ask students to choose a policy change that has been implemented in the last year. Research the policy change and its implications for the economy. Write a report that includes the expected impact, strengths and weaknesses of the change, and recommendations for how the policy change could be improved.

Take Assignments through a Process

Asking students to complete an assignment with a process including steps like brainstorming, mapping, drafting, peer review, an interview, and a final product can make it difficult for them to find successful ways to use AI. It may be able to help students with sections of the assignment but not the entire product or process. You can also ask students process-oriented questions along the way. You can also include ambiguous questions or those that require positions on controversial topics. Examples:

• Compare your answers to your team’s answers. Discuss any differences.
• Explain the process you followed to arrive at your conclusion.
• Analyze the ethical implications of each step in the process and propose alternatives if necessary.
• Explain the long-term consequences of implementing this process and how they might evolve over time.
• Discuss the role of creativity and innovation in…
• Identify potential biases, assumptions, and problems that could arise and suggest methods to mitigate them.

Retrieval Practice Activities

Retrieval practice activities allow students to practice recalling information from class activities, lectures, readings, and so on. If specific to course content, AI would not be helpful in these activities (particularly if completed in person). More on retrieval practice .

Multi-Step with a Creative Component

Create projects in which students demonstrate their learning. Essentially find ways to ask them to take what they’ve learned, organize it, and make something with it. Examples:

• Short story writing in which students must use content information, specific vocabulary, and maybe even primary sources to craft a story.
• Ask students to create a comic strip based on a concept, vocabulary, a reading, etc.
• Students creating a public service announcement video to demonstrate learning

Blended Instruction or Flipping

You may also want to consider using blended or flipping formats for your course in order to limit AI use. In this model, students would learn content outside of class time and then use class time for the application of what they learned.

Designing Assignments to Work with AI

AI tools are likely to be used by students in future careers and likely in their coursework, so one approach is to incorporate the tools directly and intentionally into assignments and activities.

“Am I going to teach students to write or to write with AI tools like ChatGPT? Derek Bruff

Consider these assignment reflection questions from Derek Bruff’s article “Assignment Makeovers in the AI Age.”

• Why does this assignment make sense for this course?
• What are the specific learning objectives for this assignment?
• How might students use AI tools while working on this assignment?
• How might AI undercut the goals of this assignment? How could you mitigate this?
• How might AI enhance the assignment? Where would students need help figuring that out?
• Focus on the process. How could you make the assignment more meaningful for students or support them more in the work?

Consider these ideas for assignments that can work with AI tools:

• Use AI to generate multiple explanations for a concept and ask students to critique the AI-generated explanations. Ask them to cite/use specific course readings, notes from lectures, etc., in their critiques.
• Save time in reviewing student writing by asking them or requiring them first to get an AI review of their work, then reflect on the review, make edits, and then submit their final work.
• Include an AI tool in a “Think-Pair-Share” activity in class. Students pair with another person in class and then with an AI tool.
• Ask students to predict what responses they will get from AI to specific course content questions, problem sets, etc.
• Provide several responses from AI and ask students to make a better or different product using those drafts/responses. They might make a mind map from a narrative created by AI and then find three additional sources to support or expand on different sections of the mind map.
• Assign a peer teaching project in which students will teach a concept or review a concept for their peers. Encourage students to get help from AI with the content and in designing a short activity that can be done as part of the peer teaching. Make students responsible for answering questions from peers and instructors. Use any gaps to adjust your own teaching.
• Ask students to debate an AI tool — students on one side and ChatGPT on the other.
• Ask students to find evidence for an AI-created “main points” of an article. First, copy and paste an article into ChatGPT (or a link to an article into Bing or Bard) and ask the tool to summarize the key points of the article. Then provide that to students and ask them to find quotes or details that expand on each point.

NC State Office of Faculty Excellence: Navigating the Landscape of Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Writing Instructors –> Tim Laquintano, Carly Schnitzler, and Annette Vee — TextGenEd: An Introduction to Teaching With Text Generation Technologies (Assignment examples for AI Literacy, Creative Explorations, Ethical Considerations, and more – access at the bottom of the article)

Writing Instructors –> Anna Mills (Curator). AI Text Generators and Teaching Writing: Starting Points For Inquiry

AI Writing Detection: Red Flags

Ethan & Lilach Mollick — Using AI to Implement Effective Teaching Strategies in Classrooms: Five Strategies, Including Prompts

Ethan Mollick — Assigning AI: Seven Ways of Using AI in Class and The Homework Apocalypse  

Jeffrey Young — EdSurge Instructors Rush to Do ‘Assignment Makeovers’ to Respond to ChatGPT” 

Derek Bruff

• Assignment Makeovers in the AI Age: Essay Edition
• Assignment Makeovers in the AI Age: Reading Response Edition

Tyler Cowen & Alexander Tabarook How to Learn & Teach Economics with Large Language Models, Including GPT

Sam Lau & Philip Guo Teaching Programming in the Age of ChatGPT – O’Reilly  

AI Prompts for Teaching  

Impact Research: K-12 Teachers & Students ChatGPT Use

Torrey Trust — Essential Considerations for Addressing the Possibility of AI-Driven Cheating, Part 1 | Faculty Focus  

Ideas to Limit AI Use in Assignments from Google Bard  

Educause Review: Artificial Intelligence

An introduction to prompting generative AI like ChatGPT for teaching and learning  

ChatGPT, Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence in Education – Ditch That Textbook

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning (PDF)  

Rethinking your Problem Sets in the World of Generative AI – MIT

Hybrid Teaching: Best Practices

Blended Learning | Columbia CTL  

How We Use AI to Enhance Your Writing | Grammarly 

30 AI tools for the classroom – Ditch That Textbook  

College of Education ChatGPT Resources

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AI Teaching Strategies: Transparent Assignment Design

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Jasper Chat raises many questions about the ways we teach and the ways students learn. While some of these questions concern how we can use AI to accomplish learning goals and whether or not that is advisable, others relate to how we can facilitate critical analysis of AI itself. 

The wide variety of questions about AI and the rapidly changing landscape of available tools can make it hard for educators to know where to start when designing an assignment. When confronted with new technologies—and the new teaching challenges they present—we can often turn to existing evidence-based practices for the guidance we seek.

This guide will apply the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework to "un-complicate" planning an assignment that uses AI, providing guiding questions for you to consider along the way. 

The result should be an assignment that supports you and your students to approach the use of AI in a more thoughtful, productive, and ethical manner.    

Plan your assignment.

The TILT framework offers a straightforward approach to assignment design that has been shown to improve academic confidence and success, sense of belonging, and metacognitive awareness by making the learning process clear to students (Winkelmes et al., 2016). The TILT process centers around deciding—and then communicating—three key components of your assignment: 1) purpose, 2) tasks, and 3) criteria for success. 

Step 1: Define your purpose.

To make effective use of any new technology, it is important to reflect on our reasons for incorporating it into our courses. In the first step of TILT, we think about what we want students to gain from an assignment and how we will communicate that purpose to students.

The  SAMR model , a useful tool for thinking about educational technology use in our courses, lays out four tiers of technology integration. The tiers, roughly in order of their sophistication and transformative power, are S ubstitution, A ugmentation, M odification, and R edefinition. Each tier may suggest different approaches to consider when integrating AI into teaching and learning activities. 

Questions to consider:

• Do you intend to use AI as a substitution, augmentation, modification, or redefinition of an existing teaching practice or educational technology?
• What are your learning goals and expected learning outcomes?
• Do you want students to understand the limitations of AI or to experience its applications in the field? 
• Do you want students to reflect on the ethical implications of AI use?  

Bloom’s Taxonomy is another useful tool for defining your assignment’s purpose and your learning goals and outcomes. 

This downloadable Bloom’s Taxonomy Revisited resource , created by Oregon State University, highlights the differences between AI capabilities and distinctive human skills at each Bloom's level, indicating the types of assignments you should review or change in light of AI. Bloom's Taxonomy Revisited is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).  

Access a transcript of the graphic .

Step 2: Define the tasks involved.

In the next step of TILT, you list the steps students will take when completing the assignment. In what order should they do specific tasks, what do they need to be aware of to perform each task well, and what mistakes should they avoid? Outlining each step is especially important if you’re asking students to use generative AI in a limited manner. For example, if you want them to begin with generative AI but then revise, refine, or expand upon its output, make clear which steps should involve their own thinking and work as opposed to AI’s thinking and work.

• Are you designing this assignment as a single, one-time task or as a longitudinal task that builds over time or across curricular and co-curricular contexts?  For longitudinal tasks consider the experiential learning cycle (Kolb, 1984) . In Kolb’s cycle, learners have a concrete experience followed by reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. For example, students could record their generative AI prompts, the results, a reflection on the results, and the next prompt they used to get improved output. In subsequent tasks students could expand upon or revise the AI output into a final product. Requiring students to provide a record of their reflections, prompts, and results can create an “AI audit trail,” making the task and learning more transparent.
• What resources and tools are permitted or required for students to complete the tasks involved with the assignment? Make clear which steps should involve their own thinking (versus AI-generated output, for example), required course materials, and if references are required. Include any ancillary resources students will need to accomplish tasks, such as guidelines on how to cite AI , in APA 7.0 for example.
• How will you offer students flexibility and choice? As of this time, most generative AI tools have not been approved for use by Ohio State, meaning they have not been  vetted for security, privacy, or accessibility issues . It is known that many platforms are not compatible with screen readers, and there are outstanding questions as to what these tools do with user data. Students may have understandable apprehensions about using these tools or encounter barriers to doing so successfully. So while there may be value in giving students first-hand experience with using AI, it’s important to give them the choice to opt out. As you outline your assignment tasks, plan how to provide alternative options to complete them. Could you provide AI output you’ve generated for students to work with, demonstrate use of the tool during class, or allow use of another tool that enables students to meet the same learning outcomes.

Microsoft Copilot is currently the only generative AI tool that has been vetted and approved for use at Ohio State. As of February 2024, the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation (OTDI) has enabled it for use by students, faculty, and staff. Copilot is an AI chatbot that draws from public online data, but with additional security measures in place. For example, conversations within the tool aren’t stored. Learn more and stay tuned for further information about Copilot in the classroom.

• What are your expectations for academic integrity? This is a helpful step for clarifying your academic integrity guidelines for this assignment, around AI use specifically as well as for other resources and tools. The standard Academic Integrity Icons in the table below can help you call out what is permissible and what is prohibited. If any steps for completing the assignment require (or expressly prohibit) AI tools, be as clear as possible in highlighting which ones, as well as why and how AI use is (or is not) permitted.

Promoting academic integrity

While inappropriate use of AI may constitute academic misconduct, it can be muddy for students to parse out what is permitted or prohibited across their courses and across various use cases. Fortunately, there are existing approaches to supporting academic integrity that apply to AI as well as to any other tool. Discuss academic integrity openly with students, early in the term and before each assignment. Purposefully design your assignments to promote integrity by using real-world formats and audiences, grading the process as well as the product, incorporating personal reflection tasks, and more. 

Learn about taking a proactive, rather than punitive, approach to academic integrity in A Positive Approach to Academic Integrity.

Step 3: Define criteria for success.

An important feature of transparent assignments is that they make clear to students how their work will be evaluated. During this TILT step, you will define criteria for a successful submission—consider creating a  rubric to clarify these expectations for students and simplify your grading process. If you intend to use AI as a substitute or augmentation for another technology, you might be able to use an existing rubric with little or no change. However, if AI use is modifying or redefining the assignment tasks, a new grading rubric will likely be needed. 

• How will you grade this assignment? What key criteria will you assess? 
• What indicators will show each criterion has been met? 
• What qualities distinguish a successful submission from one that needs improvement? 
• Will you grade students on the product only or on aspects of the process as well? For example, if you have included a reflection task as part of the assignment, you might include that as a component of the final grade.

Alongside your rubric, it is helpful to prepare examples of successful (and even unsuccessful) submissions to provide more tangible guidance to students. In addition to samples of the final product, you could share examples of effective AI prompts, reflections tasks, and AI citations. Examples may be drawn from previous student work or models that you have mocked up, and they can be annotated to highlight notable elements related to assignment criteria. 

Present and discuss your assignment.

As clear as we strive to be in our assignment planning and prompts, there may be gaps or confusing elements we have overlooked. Explicitly going over your assignment instructions—including the purpose, key tasks, and criteria—will ensure students are equipped with the background and knowledge they need to perform well. These discussions also offer space for students to ask questions and air unanticipated concerns, which is particularly important given the potential hesitance some may have around using AI tools. 

• How will this assignment help students learn key course content, contribute to the development of important skills such as critical thinking, or support them to meet your learning goals and outcomes? 
• How might students apply the knowledge and skills acquired in their future coursework or careers? 
• In what ways will the assignment further students’ understanding and experience around generative AI tools, and why does that matter?
• What questions or barriers do you anticipate students might encounter when using AI for this assignment?

As noted above, many students are unaware of the accessibility, security, privacy, and copyright concerns associated with AI, or of other pitfalls they might encounter working with AI tools. Openly discussing AI’s limitations and the inaccuracies and biases it can create and replicate will support students to anticipate barriers to success on the assignment, increase their digital literacy, and make them more informed and discerning users of technology. 

Explore available resources It can feel daunting to know where to look for AI-related assignment ideas, or who to consult if you have questions. Though generative AI is still on the rise, a growing number of useful resources are being developed across the teaching and learning community. Consult our other Teaching Topics, including AI Considerations for Teaching and Learning , and explore other recommended resources such as the Learning with AI Toolkit and Exploring AI Pedagogy: A Community Collection of Teaching Reflections.

If you need further support to review or develop assignment or course plans in light of AI, visit our Help forms to request a teaching consultation .

Using the Transparent Assignment Template

Sample assignment: ai-generated lesson plan.

In many respects, the rise of generative AI has reinforced existing best practices for assignment design—craft a clear and detailed assignment prompt, articulate academic integrity expectations, increase engagement and motivation through authentic and inclusive assessments. But AI has also encouraged us to think differently about how we approach the tasks we ask students to undertake, and how we can better support them through that process. While it can feel daunting to re-envision or reformat our assignments, AI presents us with opportunities to cultivate the types of learning and growth we value, to help students see that value, and to grow their critical thinking and digital literacy skills. 

Using the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework to plan assignments that involve generative AI can help you clarify expectations for students and take a more intentional, productive, and ethical approach to AI use in your course. 

• Step 1: Define your purpose. Think about what you want students to gain from this assignment. What are your learning goals and outcomes? Do you want students to understand the limitations of AI, see its applications in your field, or reflect on its ethical implications? The SAMR model and Bloom's Taxonomy are useful references when defining your purpose for using (or not using) AI on an assignment.
• Step 2: Define the tasks involved. L ist the steps students will take to complete the assignment. What resources and tools will they need? How will students reflect upon their learning as they proceed through each task?  What are your expectations for academic integrity?
• Step 3: Define criteria for success. Make clear to students your expectations for success on the assignment. Create a  rubric to call out key criteria and simplify your grading process. Will you grade the product only, or parts of the process as well? What qualities indicate an effective submission? Consider sharing tangible models or examples of assignment submissions.

Finally, it is time to make your assignment guidelines and expectations transparent to students. Walk through the instructions explicitly—including the purpose, key tasks, and criteria—to ensure they are prepared to perform well.

• Checklist for Designing Transparent Assignments
• TILT Higher Ed Information and Resources

Winkelmes, M. (2013). Transparency in Teaching: Faculty Share Data and Improve Students’ Learning. Liberal Education 99 (2).

Wilkelmes, M. (2013). Transparent Assignment Design Template for Teachers. TiLT Higher Ed: Transparency in Learning and Teaching. https://tilthighered.com/assets/pdffiles/Transparent%20Assignment%20Templates.pdf

Winkelmes, M., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., Weavil, K. (2016). A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students’ Success. Peer Review.

Related Teaching Topics

Ai considerations for teaching and learning, ai teaching strategies: having conversations with students, designing assessments of student learning, search for resources.

Artificial Intelligence and Assignment Design

Generative ai assignments.

There are both academic and practical reasons you may choose to incorporate generative AI assignments into your course. For example, you may believe that AI will be a skill needed in the students’ future careers in your field. Perhaps you see AI as a tool to help students deepen their understanding of and engagement with your content. You may see the introduction of AI into your classroom as a way to open a conversation about its ethical and academic implications. Integrating AI ironically allows instructors to think deeply about how to design assignments that cannot be easily generated by AI alone to deter plagiarism and cheating. This guide comes from the perspective that you are open to developing AI assignments.

Note, it is critical to develop AI policies for your course along with policies for specific AI assignments.

Considerations for Developing an AI Assignment

Alignment with your course goals.

In the development of AI assignments, the primary consideration is whether the use of AI will help your students achieve the learning goals of the course. Ask yourself, does this assignment help student gain skills and knowledge central to your course and field? Furthermore, consider whether the assignment is engaging enough to warrant incorporating AI. Are you asking students to go above and beyond the AI-generated content? An impactful assignment will challenge students to transform, expand upon, correct, or critique the information and content generated by AI or learning about themselves in relationship to AI. Educational pedagogy expert Derek Bruff gives further insight into how to think about AI assignments as they relate to course design in his blog post about AI and writing assignments .

Guidelines for Use

If you integrate AI into your assignments, be sure to discuss your expectations with your students. It is essential that they understand why you have decided to allow AI in the course and its role in their learning. Furthermore, students can be engaged in wider conversations about AI and its personal impact on their lives. The University of Calgary has developed a set of recommendations of how to start these conversations. One strategy is writing a code of conduct that emphasizes critical thinking and sets guardrails of proper use. You can provide a prewritten list of guidelines or work with the students from scratch by posing questions about AI and learning.

For example, the class may have guidelines such as:

• We will only use AI to help our intellectual development, not replace it.
• We will be transparent in our use of AI.
• We will not submit AI generated text without attribution.
• We will follow guidelines of when AI is appropriate to use.

Assignment Mechanics

Detailed instructions for an AI assignment will raise the chances for a successful learning experience. Students are not familiar with the processes of this novel type of intellectual work, and thinking through the different facets of the activity will help you to execute and evaluate the assignment confidently. Consider the following questions:

• Are you allowing ample time to complete the assignment considering it is a new tool for students?
• Is it better to do the assignment together in class or out of class?
• Have you practiced using the technology together?
• How should AI be cited? Are there specific steps for showing how the original AI text is changed?
• What kind of prompts are allowed? What functions can AI be used for?
• How will you provide feedback on their use of AI?

AI Literacy

Both you and your students should have a level playing field when it comes to understanding generative AI. You cannot count on students to understand the pitfalls and limitations of AI or even how to use the tools. There are existing resources on AI literacy developed specifically for students that can be a starting point. This library guide from the University of Arizona instructs students on AI, plus there is a companion guide for instructors as well.

Ethical Concerns

There are ethical issues to using AI beyond questions of plagiarism, copyright and academic integrity that should be considered. First, to minimize threats to the privacy of your students and yourself, personal information should not be shared. To dive deeper into privacy concerns, speak with students about the implications of AI services using our data to train their tools.

Second, students may not have equal access to the internet or sufficient funds for subscriptions to AI tools. Be sure to suggest several different AI tools and confirm that students are able to access at least one tool without paying for it. Not all students may take to generative AI equally and will not have the skills to architect effective prompts for your discipline or type of assignment. You can support them by modeling prompt generation or forming groups in class that can work together with AI.

Finally, for instructors who do allow AI for learning, there should be considerations for students who do not want to use it on ethical grounds. This could be solved by making AI assignments low-stakes or optional.

Types of Generative AI Assignments

Below are some general ideas of how to incorporate AI into your course. We encourage you to seek out examples from your discipline or related to the core skills of your course. Some resources worth exploring are ChatGPT asssignments to use in your classroom today (an open source book from the University of Central Florida) and a publication on coding and generative AI by an international group of computer science instructors. Instructors may also wish to leverage generative AI to help with routine tasks and lesson planning .

Brainstorming Ideas and Defining Concepts

Generative AI excels at summarizing content and explaining concepts. Warning to students, it is not necessarily 100% correct!

• Users can ask AI to brainstorm research questions. “What are some examples of bank failures due to fractional reserve banking ?” Or, “What are some of the major events of the Cold War?”
• Users can ask AI for clarification of concepts or terms they don’t understand.  “Explain fractional reserve banking in simple terms. ” Or, “What are the Federalist papers and why are they important?”
• Instructors can ask for resources or ideas of how to teach students content.   “Provide an explanation of fractional reserve banking that discusses the pros and cons of its use .” Or, “What are some exercises to do in the classroom to teach the lifecycle of a butterfly?”

Writing Assistance

While it is possible to use generative AI to correct an entire essay, students can be instructed to prompt AI to provide limited feedback on specific aspects of their writing. Prompts could be limited in scope. For example, students can ask AI to:

• Rate the clarity of an argument “How well did I explain X? ” Or, “Does this writing contain all of the standard sections of a case study ?”
• Suggest alternatives “Rewrite the conclusion to better summarize the content.” Or, “What is another way to explain this idea?”
• Comment on writing mechanics “Review the sentence structure in this essay.” Or, “Check this essay for passive voice.”
• Provide advice for improvement “List the common grammar mistakes in the essay and provide an explanation of the errors.” Or, “How can I make this writing more upbeat?”

Collaborative Writing

One popular assignment helps instructors show why writing for yourself is important intellectual work. Students read an AI-generated essay and grade it with a rubric. As a class the students discuss its strengths and weaknesses. As a follow-up students can submit a revised essay. In one Yale course, the instructor told students to ask ChatGPT to write its own version of a writing prompt after the students had completed an assignment so they could compare their writing against it.

Another approach to collaboration is to ask AI to write a first draft of an assignment. Students then improve it by doing independent research to double-check the AI content and refining (or rejecting) the AI arguments. Students should record both the questions they asked and the generated text. Students can also be asked to write summaries describing what they learned from the AI search and what they changed. The SPACE framework is a powerful model for organizing these types of writing assignments; the article details the cycle of prompting AI, evaluating its output, and rewriting AI generated content.

Arguably, the greatest strength of generative AI tools may be their ability to write code. Computer scientists are especially concerned about assignments in entry-level programming classes. The way coding is taught may change over time due to AI, but there are short-term strategies that incorporate AI but demand student input. 

• AI could be asked to generate small snippets of code that students integrate into a larger programming project. Students test, debug and refine the code.
• After completing a coding assignment, students prompt AI to write a different implementation of the problem and analyze which is more efficient and why.
• Instructors or students write faulty code and use ChatGPT to generate test cases and/or to fix the errors. 
• Instructors take advantage of AI to generate more coding assignments and review questions for exams.

Two researchers from UC San Diego published the findings of a study about the attitudes of computer scientists to generative AI and possible directions for teaching coding in the future.

ChatGPT and other generative AI tools do not produce expository content only. They are also able to generate content in many creative genres, often with laughable results ( “Write a pop song in the style of Shakespeare” ) The breadth of the kinds of writing generative AI can mimic might provide the chance for humans to use generative AI to spark creativity in themselves. Student might ask AI to describe the life in the Middle Ages from the perspective of a midwife as inspiration to write a modern version, or as background information for writing in another genre. Generative AI can help instructors deliver content in new ways, for example introducing games into teaching. Instructors might ask AI to develop trivia questions for exam review or a game of 20 questions as an in-class activity.

Generative AI can be a coach for learning that supports both instructors and students. Students can easily get more information about what they don’t understand. AI can be an agent for adaptive learning allowing students to “pass” certain learning objectives and get additional practice on concepts and skills they haven’t mastered. By the same token, it can assist instructors who need to provide additional assistance to students and are pressed for time to find resources. Instructors can get ideas for teaching a skill or subject with activity descriptions and lesson plans. AI can generate practice problems or review questions for exam prep, which frees up time for instructors for other class prep.

There are also positive gains in equity when generative AI is used in a tutoring setting. A neurodiverse student may find conversations with a bot to be non-judgmental and less stressful when needing help. Non-native speakers can ask for word and concept definitions to level up their understanding of course content and context. The review and tutoring capabilities of AI can help all students to practice concepts and receive feedback on their progress.

Looking Ahead

Incorporating generative AI into education is not without peril. Students’ reliance on AI content could potentially lead to losing skills in academic writing. There is the risk that students might mistakenly believe that AI is inherently better at developing ideas and expressing information; leaving students uncomfortable adding their own voice to writing. Without training on how to check the validity of AI content and conduct independent research, students may miss out on how to evaluate sources and compare ideas.

Like it or not, at this moment it lands on educators to design courses and assignments to mitigate these risks and to have hard and timely conversations with students. It may feel like AI is encroaching on teaching and learning, but we should remember that there are many aspects of teaching that are as important as delivering content. These are skills that only human instructors can perform, such as

• Providing real-time feedback on complex tasks
• Grading or producing subjective or substantive work
• Providing social or emotional support 
• Teaching complex, interconnected concepts
• Engaging in personal interactions

The future of teaching may increasingly focus on those skills that our students need to make sense of their world, engage with others productively and make connections across disciplines and concepts.

General Resources for AI Assignments

A Teacher’s Guide to Prompt ChatGPT , Andrew Herft

AI in the Classroom , UC Riverside

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Course Design

Getting started with assignment design.

Updated on March 14, 2024

When following the course development process of backwards design , you first identify the student learning goals for the course and then determine how you will measure student learning. Backwards design aims for  alignment between what you want students to learn and how you are assessing their learning. In theory, you would finalize your course-level learning goals and goals for each major assignment before moving forward with assignment design. In practice, however, many instructors find assignment design to be an iterative process of drafting assignment-level goals, creating an assignment, and then adjusting both the goals and the assignment until they are in alignment with one another and with the course-level learning goals. 

Assignment Goals & Assignment Type

Spending time on assignment-level goals can help you determine the kinds of assignments you want students to complete. For example, if you want students to determine which formula to use to solve a word problem, a well-designed multiple choice question might be a more efficient way to assess their learning than a short answer question. In addition, writing assignment-level goals can help you articulate where you want students to focus their time and energy, which can also impact the form the assessment takes. For example, when considering the learning goals for a research essay, you might decide that being able to choose a topic and develop a research question are crucial learning goals. Therefore, rather than having students draft and write an essay, they can submit a project proposal.

Here are some questions to help you determine learning goals and consider your assignment type:

• How do these goals align with your course-level goals?
• How do they align with the assignment type?
• Does your assignment type oblige students to focus their time and energy on what’s most important?

Depending on how you answer these questions, you may need to revise your assignment goals or assignment type. If you’re looking for some inspiration for different assignment types, the CTE is in the process of assembling some examples from BC faculty .  For more examples, see Harvard University’s types of assignments or the University of Waterloo’s type of assignments and tests .

Course Rhythm

While this resource is about assignment design, not course design, it can be helpful to take a step back and see how a particular assignment fits into the larger rhythm of a course. In the book, Effective Grading , Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Johnson Anderson suggest creating a course skeleton that just includes the course-level learning goals and the major assessments. This allows you to check alignment and ask yourself, “Is the workload I am planning for myself and my students feasible, reasonable, strategically placed, and sustainable?” (18). If the answer to any part of this question is “no,” you may need to revise or change the timing of the assignment, or make changes to other major assessments. For example, having two major assignments due in the same week may not give students enough time to successfully complete both, or give you enough time to provide feedback on the first assignment that may help them as they finalize the second one. You might also strategically plan the rhythm of the semester around your own workload and other commitments, so that you are more able to keep up with the pace of providing feedback and grades to students. This sample course outline shows the benefit of moving from a topic-drive to a goal-driven approach to mapping out a course’s rhythm.

Once you have articulated your assignment-level goals, aligned them with your course-level goals and the assignment type, and considered the rhythm of your course, you can think about how you will clarify expectations for your students.

Generative AI in the Classroom

• Developing Your AI Policy
• Effective Use of AI for Teaching and Learning

Integrating AI into Assignments

Making assignments ai resistant, openai's guide to teaching with ai, student use cases for ai, assigning ai: seven approaches for students, with prompts, 80 ways to use chatgpt in the classroom.

• How Does AI Think?
• The Scholarly Conversation
• US Government and UN Publications
• TextGenEd: An Introduction to Teaching with Text Generation Technologies : an open access collection of ready-to-implement writing assignments integrating student use of technologies like ChatGPT; all have been taught at least once (see the table of contents to quickly view all of the assignments)  
• “ What Does Learning Look Like ” according to AI?: a ready-to-implement discussion activity in which students discuss AI responses to the question, “what does learning look like?”

Handout from “Teaching & Learning in a ChatGPT World,” Nancy Chick’s presentation from rFLA Faculty meeting on March 2, 2023

Focus: thinking about the purpose of your writing assignments, capturing process (“the cutting room floor”) & not just product, alternatives to writing assignments

ChatGPT: students could use AI to cheat, but it’s a chance to rethink assessment altogether

Illingworth, Sam. “ChatGPT: Students Could Use AI to Cheat, but It’s a Chance to Rethink Assessment Altogether.” The Conversation , 19 Jan. 2023, http://theconversation.com/chatgpt-students-could-use-ai-to-cheat-but-its-a-chance-to-rethink-assessment-altogether-198019.

Focus: finding opportunities to make assignments, activities, and assessments more authentic

• Teaching with AI by OpenAI a guide for teachers using ChatGPT in their classroom—including suggested prompts, an explanation of how ChatGPT works and its limitations, the efficacy of AI detectors, and bias.

An Inspiring Minds series from Harvard Business Publishing: Education

This series addresses in depth specific ways to integrate students' use of AI into your teaching and learning. 

• Prologue: Student Guidelines for AI Use  
• Part 1: AI as Feedback Generator
• Part 2: AI as Personal Tutor
• Part 3: AI as Team Coach
• Part 4: AI as Learner

For each of these roles, [the authors] offer practical recommendations—and a detailed, shareable prompt—for how exactly you can guide students in wielding AI to achieve these ends.

Abstract [Access Full Text]

This paper examines the transformative role of Large Language Models (LLMs) in education and their potential as learning tools, despite their inherent risks and limitations. The authors propose seven approaches for utilizing AI in classrooms: AI-tutor, AI-coach, AI-mentor, AI-teammate, AI-tool, AI-simulator, and AI-student, each with distinct pedagogical benefits and risks. Prompts are included for each of these approaches. The aim is to help students learn with and about AI, with practical strategies designed to mitigate risks such as complacency about the AI’s output, errors, and biases. These strategies promote active oversight, critical assessment of AI outputs, and complementarity of AI's capabilities with the students' unique insights. By challenging students to remain the "human in the loop," the authors aim to enhance learning outcomes while ensuring that AI serves as a supportive tool rather than a replacement. The proposed framework offers a guide for educators navigating the integration of AI-assisted learning in classrooms. 

[Access Full Text]   https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4475995  

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• Last Updated: May 1, 2024 10:20 AM
• URL: https://libguides.rollins.edu/generative_ai_in_the_classroom

TextToHandwriting. com

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Text To Handwriting

Text to handwriting converter is a free artificial intelligence-based human handwriting converter that easily converts your computer text to human handwriting text.

ANNOUNCEMENT: If you make your assignment 100% unique, use the plagiarism remover tool. It will easily remove plagiarism from your article/assignment and make it 100% unique for free in just one click.

Text to Handwriting Converter

The text has always been an essential part of our lives. There was a time when we would use a pen and paper to write most of our content. The only time when you would see typewriter fonts would be in books. People would generally write letters and fill entire notebooks with content.

One of the most significant issues with the modern world is the lack of handwritten content. We have traded pens and paper for computer keyboards. It all feels very impersonal, and it seems like it is time to have a way to bring it back. That handwritten content that we all loved reading.

There are many ways to write content on the web for all kinds of purposes. Today we are going to be talking about a unique approach called text to handwriting . This is a website tool that takes your text and turns it into a document that looks handwritten.

Doing this without using this website software would require that you wrote something on a piece of paper. Then you took a camera and made sure that you took a picture that looked good while avoiding any flash or glare.

It suffices to say that this is the kind of thing that could be very time-consuming. This is a time when everyone wants to be able to avoid wasting their time. Therefore, this tool simplifies things. That is the reason why it is a recommended way to add some creativity to your web content.

How to use the Text to Handwriting tool

This is something that you can use completely free of charge by visiting the website. Once you are on the page, you can enter text for the heading and text for the content or page line. You can choose between 8 different types of handwriting. You can select the heading handwriting size and the content handwriting size as well. Last but not least, you can choose the color of the pen ink between blue, red, and black.

The choice of colors is a nice touch because it also makes it easier for you to personalize the content. This is always good to have because you won’t need to do any further altering of the content with an external editor if you want to use another pen color. Black, blue, and red are the most common you will see in most handwritten content. This is why the software has those options.

Once you have your document ready, you can download it as an image file to use as you see fit. This is something that you could decide to use for the purpose of publishing an article in a unique way on your website. You could also use it to send a note to a loved one for their birthday.

There are new fonts announced on the site, so we can expect to see unique handwriting available in the future. This is a handy tool, and the popularity it gets can bring more updates and more support from the creators.

Capturing the nostalgia of text to handwriting content

There is a negative value that is genuinely undeniable when someone uses this text to handwriting tool. The reason why this is so important is due to how it brings out this nostalgic feeling. This is something that can be extremely rewarding, and it can make people feel like they are taken back to another time.

Nostalgia can often be an excellent way for something to be used, and this is the reason why we recommend the use of this tool. It will allow you to create content that is going to look amazing. The best thing is that you could get very creative with it.

Nostalgic content has become a viral thing with all kinds of media for modern audiences. The truth is that reflective products are usually going to cater more to people who lived in the era of that particular product.

For example , video game remakes for new audiences are the kind of thing that is loved by people who played the original version back in the day. The same thing happens with handwriting. When people see something that is not computer-generated writing, and they see something that is written with a pen on a notepad paper, this is very rewarding, and it brings out many nostalgic feelings.

This alone is the reason why the use of handwritten content can be so engaging. You can use this many occasions to evoke a feeling of yearning in audiences. This has been great for marketing purposes as well as personal use. The main thing to keep in mind with this is that this is a tool that can be super fun. It has a very unique and unforgettable effect that is incomparable to others.

A thoughtful note becomes even more powerful when handwritten.

This is always the nostalgic factor that we have been mentioning in this publication. It brings a freshness that is going to be very attractive, and you can let your creativity move forward. The website loads fast, and it provides the service that it offers without any details. This is the kind of website service that saves you time and delivers something unique.

If you want any message to become something more engaging and compelling, use handwritten content. You will find that this is going to capture the attention of the reader much more.

Final thoughts

The use of this text to handwriting website tool is going to be fun to use. This is the main reason why you should check it out. It could also turn out to be a great way to create something fresh for your audience.

The website is free to use anytime you want, and you can find this to be a great way to generate content. The kind of content that your audience is going to find to be fresh and engaging.

Check it out right now and create a unique approach to your content!

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