Exercises and assignments

In addition to the formative assessment in a course, you may plan some summative exercises or assignments to give students an opportunity to retrieve and apply knowledge they have gained in the course. The exercises should always be planned with the learning objectives in mind and support that students reach these objectives. Further, they can be designed to prepare students for the final exam in your course.

Calculation exercises

If you are teaching a quantitive course, you may include calculation exercises to give students some hands-on experience with the subject area. Ready-to-use exercises and solutions are sometimes provided as part of text books or via online platforms hosted by publishing agencies. Alternatively, you can create your own calculation exercises. With help from generative AI you can design or modify the exercises so they vary from semester to semester or from student to student.

Written assignments

Depending on the subject area, written assignments can have different formats and styles, e.g. essays or reports, and they can be used to promote students’ reflections over a given topic related to the course. If your course ends with a written exam, it is a good idea to let students practise their writing through written assignments during the course.

Written assignments may be concluded with an online peer review activity where students provide feedback to each other (see below).

Be aware that written assignments are easily solved by generative AI. It is therefore crucial to consider how the assignments you create will support student learning in a reality where generative AI is available to your students. Read more about this on our AI Hub.

Video assignments

A video assignment is a short video produced and uploaded by students in your course. The video can be recorded with a smart phone and the content is what matters – not the technical aspects of the recording. Short videos can be used to:

  • Document students’ reflections over a given topic related to the course
  • Demonstrate real-life applications of the course topic
  • Document interviews around the course topic

Video assignments may be concluded with an online peer review activity where students provide feedback to each other (see below).

Online peer review

Online peer review activities can be used to provide feedback to written or video assignments. Students will learn from solving the assignment and also from the formulation of feedback to other students. The design of peer review activities is described in details on the page Examples of feedback.