Barbara Gross Davis, "Helping Students Write Better in All Courses," "Designing Effective Writing Assignments," "Quizzes, Tests, and Exams," "Allaying Students' Anxieties About Tests," and "Short Answer and Essay Tests," in Tools for Teaching, 205-21, 239-61, 272-81.

Davis provides comprehensive advice about how to assist students with their writing, which she feels is the responsibility of the teacher (205). She encourages specificity and clarity when designing writing assignments and test / exam questions (214 and 274) as well as provides samples of "vague" and "better" ways to configure questions. Davis offers several valuable recommendations such as requiring several smaller writing assignments, making writing assignments and exams cumulative, matching tests to teaching content, and having yourself or someone from the teaching team complete the assignment. If you are looking for alternative assignments to research papers or alternative testing modes, Davis provides a list of both (217-219 and 245). However, some of these assignments might be better geared towards certain disciplines or subjects.

Peter S. Fernald, "The Monte Carlo Quiz: Encouraging Punctual Completion and Deep Processing of Assigned Readings," College Teaching, Summer 2004 v52 i3 p 95 (5).

Ferland proposes using what he refers to as "The Monte Carlo Quiz" or "MCQ" to ensure that students not only complete assigned readings but also retain particular details about each of the readings. The MCQ is a daily quiz with its parameters determined by rolling a die. Depending on the number that is rolled, the quiz is administered or not administered, and the type of question that the students will answer is determined. I can just imagine that some student would be opposed to the idea of gambling in schools and then the teacher would have to deal with the ensuing fiasco. Ferland, however, seemed quite pleased with his results, reporting that his test subjects reacted well to the task. In my opinion, the whole MCQ process seems too haphazard, and doesn't allow for students to be responsible for their schedules.

Alan Brinkley, et al., "Student Writing and Research," in The Chicago Handbook for Teachers: A Practical Guide to the College Classroom (1999), 65-84.

Brinkley's article reflects many of the same views regarding written assignments as the Davis selections. He states that research or essay assignments are often the assignments that have the most long-lasting effect on students because they put so much of their time and effort in to design and completion of such projects. He offers advice to the instructor about how to meticulously guide the student through the writing and research process. Some valuable suggestions are to assign a smaller writing assignment in the term to help determine what topic the student might be interested in researching, ensure that your institution has appropriate resources, and be specific about format. Brinkley also has several recommendations for alternative assignments, how to deal with plagiarism, and how to develop a grading rubric.

Selections from CIDR Teaching and Learning Bulletin, http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/Bulletin/index.html.

Seeing the bulletin about "Helping Students Read Well" reassured me that it is important to spend a little time at the beginning of the quarter and discuss with your students strategies to being an effective reader within that specific discipline. The author of "Planning Research Assignments" explains that it is important to consider the strengths and abilities of your students when designing research projects, which would be valuable for both the instructor and the students. Finally, John Webster points out once again in "Teaching Writing Integrated Courses" that writing is important to all disciplines, but each discipline might have different expectations, style, grammar, terminology, and critical thinking skills. He offers strategies in both how to structure writing assignments and also how to offer feedback.