Design one assignment with clear specifications
A practical worksheet for learning objectives, observable criteria, feedback and revisions. Includes an adaptable leadership-reflection example.
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Start with one assignment you already teach. Use this worksheet to connect the work students produce, the evidence you need to see, and the feedback they can act on. A whole-course grading change is not required to begin.
1. Decide what the work needs to show
Assignment: ___________________________________________________
Learning objective: What should a student be able to do after completing it?
Evidence: What part of the submitted work would let you judge that objective?
2. Write specifications a student can use
For each criterion, name something observable in the work. Separate submission requirements from the quality of the thinking. Avoid leaving students to guess what words such as “excellent” or “deep” mean in your context.
| Required evidence | Where it will appear | How you will judge whether it is met |
|---|---|---|
| ____________________ | ____________________ | ____________________ |
| ____________________ | ____________________ | ____________________ |
| ____________________ | ____________________ | ____________________ |
| ____________________ | ____________________ | ____________________ |
An adaptable example: a leadership reflection
A leadership reflection can ask students to connect personal experience, values, beliefs and course ideas. These four example criteria show one way to make that task explicit. They are a starting point to adapt, rather than a complete rubric.
- State a leadership commitment in your own words and explain the value or belief behind it.
- Describe a specific experience and explain how it supports, complicates or challenges that commitment.
- Use a relevant course concept to interpret the experience, explaining the connection rather than only naming the concept.
- Describe an action you would take in a future leadership situation and explain how it follows from your reflection.
An instructor must still set the scope, required course sources, submission format and judgement standard. These example criteria do not establish a validated rubric or determine a grade.
3. Make the decision and revision process explicit
Before students begin, answer these questions in the assignment instructions:
- Must every listed criterion be met? What happens if one remains unmet?
- How will you identify the unmet criterion and explain what needs to change?
- How many revision opportunities will students have, and by when?
- Are late submission, absence and revision separate allowances, or do they draw on the same allowance?
- How will students request an accommodation or discuss a disputed assessment?
- If this assignment is in a grade bundle, which bundle requires it and what other work is needed?
Draft feedback sentence:
“The evidence for ____________________ is not yet clear. In ____________________, I can see ____________________. For a revision, address ____________________.”
4. Test the instructions before using them
Ask a colleague or student reader to explain the requirements back to you. Walk through an incomplete submission and a successful revision. Check that the assignment instructions, bundle summary and revision policy give the same answer.
After use, record where the wording caused confusion, what students revised and the marking time involved. Treat perceptions, workload observations and evidence of learning as different kinds of information.
One change to test next time:
Adaptation notes
Use this worksheet to make criteria, revision and student choice explicit. The evidence table, example criteria and testing prompts offer design suggestions to adapt. Set policies for your course and institution; this worksheet supplies no universal token count, grade threshold or grade calculation.
Use locally in a Markdown editor or print the website page. No account, external tool or student data is needed.