For my TE 348, we were told to chose a book, and make an application project that provides in depth thought. That was it. I sat there thinking, what do you mean? Talk about the themes, plot, characters? Critically analyze it? Going to my teacher wit a ton of questions, I was hoping to get more of an answer of guidelines. For example: include characters, talk about their changes, 2-3 pages. No, instead I got a repetition of what was already confusing me. Frustrated, I left the classroom completely stressed out. How was I suppose to complete an assignment, when I don't even know what it is. It's going to be a long end of the semester...
This idea got me thinking about open ended assignments. I HATE THEM. I am the type that needs a rubric, and needs exactly guidelines. I want to be able to check things off one by one, and get it completely finished. How are you supposed to completely finish an open ended assignment? You don't even know what the finished product should look like! I tried to look online about the pros and cons of this type of assignment, but I couldn't really find anything interesting. So I thought I would think through the idea, and what past teachers have said to create a blog.
First off, I want to talk about the pros of an open-ended assignment. The biggest one I can think of is it encourages creativity. Students are able to think of what topic or type of project they want to do. These assignments allow the opportunity for students to put their personality into school work. For example, if a very crafty student gets an open ended assignment, then instead of the usual paper, they may make a visually appealing poster with the same information that a paper may hold. This sense of creativity can show the teacher who the student really is. They will most likely put things they enjoy into the assignment, revealing their inner self. Along with this idea, the open ended assignment will allow for different viewpoints. Students may do different topics which allow for a variety of discussion. If the assignment is all done on one topic, and the construction is open ended, then the way students assemble their work may provide different viewpoints. One may make a video with images and music, whereas one may make a poster with solely text. Seeing the variety of ways to construct one topic, can allow for better learning of the topic since their is different types of information presented. Another pro is that these type of assignments promote student responsibility. Students are responsible for making sure to make a decent finished project. They are responsible for thinking of a topic and/or constructing the piece. It is up to them to make sure they understand somewhat of what it should be about and creating something to the best of their ability. On that note, these assignments show exactly what the student is capable of. The students can not just complete the bare minimum of a rubric based project. Maybe those students that do the bare minimum will shine in these projects since they are encouraged to make something to the best of their ability that will satisfy the topic. So overall, the open ended assignments allow for creativity, different points of view on information, encourage responsibility, and even show what the students are capable of.
As for the cons, one would be that these assignments can confuse and frustrate a student (me!). If some are not given exact guidelines, it will just confuse them and frustrate them more making the assignment a struggle. The students will be so focused on what exactly they should do, that they may not learn the information along the way. This would make for a pointless assignment, since the whole point is that they should learn the information as they do the project. Another con would be that students may not complete the project to the best of their ability, and then put the blame on the teacher. A student may construct something that shows not a lot of effort compared to others. Yet, the student may say "well you said what ever we wanted to do." Obviously, the teacher would mean there has to be some sort of effort put into it. Therefore, with an open ended assignment, the teacher needs to clarify general guidelines. It needs to be said that the showing of effort must be obvious. It is obvious that there aren't as many cons (that I can think of at this point). The overall cons would be that it stresses students out enough that they miss the point of the project and students will slack.
Obviously this post as a lot of generalizations about students. I am in no way saying that these problems or successes will come about with all students. I presented these pros and cons based on my own experience. With looking at what I wrote (although I hate these type of assignments), I think it is important that open ended projects be incorporated in the classroom. There are obviously a lot of pros to the idea, even though some students may not enjoy them. A lot of other students may love the idea of these assignments since they are creative. It is not fair to them if a teacher does not allow these type of assignments. No matter if an assignment has a rubric or not, there are going to be students that dislike one or the other. So the use of both will satisfy all students at one point or another. Not only that, students need to be encouraged to be more responsible and be creative. This is the perfect way to do just that.
Enough of my thoughts, what does everyone else think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I also do not like open ended assignments. Yes it allows for creativity and you can put your actual thoughts into them. The teacher can look at the assignment and know a lot about you because the assignment was created completely by you. But I hate doing them because I need direction. I need a rubric telling me what to do otherwise I am afraid I'm forgetting to do something. Therefore, I spend so much time trying to incorporate more things into the assignment because I'm not sure if I'm doing it right or not. You also wonder where to start. I have trouble thinking of ideas and spend too much time trying to figure out what I'm doing than on the actual assignment.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Stress is put in places it shouldn't be. When assignments are assigned the work should be put towards the information and learning. Open ended assignments make the work (in most cases) in the actual thinking of how to do the actual assignment. It seems silly that this sort of assignment would be assigned due to that idea, but of course, there are a lot of pros that I mentioned. Also, you and I may need a rubric, but other students may enjoy the freedom to be creative. It's only fair to allow all learning types an assignment that they love, and it makes sense to challenge students to think outside the box.
ReplyDeleteHi! I HAD to reply to this topic. I am the exact same as you. If I don't have structure in a class, for an assignment, or anything, I get VERY stressed out! Rubrics are calming. hahaha...BUT I do think that open ended assignments can be made to enhance the learning of ALL students if created a specific way. For instance, if you were to assign a specific novel for your students to read and you wanted to allow them the freedom to choose their assessment, I would do this: Tell the students what you are looking for EXPLICITLY, explain what key words, terms, or ideas you are looking for, and then give them the freedom to explore those ideas in any way they want! I think thats the best way to approach and "open-ended" assignment, just an idea :)
ReplyDelete-Rachel F.
Hi Rachel! I agree that these assignments can enhance students learning, I just know from my own experience that sometimes I focus too much on how to do it rather than learning the information. Although,I think your idea is a good way to make an open ended assignment less stressful. The students know what's needed, but there are no guidelines on how to go about it. Thanks for the input, I will for sure keep that in mind!
ReplyDelete