6.4 Disposable v. Renewable Assignments

First, let’s talk about how we set the stage for the improv with your students. Open pedagogy can start by modifying one assignment or assessment to make it renewable. Through your renewable assignment you can establish the parameters for your students to bravely share and build upon their work and improve your OER with their authentically diverse voices and experiences.

What are disposable and renewable assignments?

But what exactly is a renewable assignment? Disposable and renewable assignments are likely types of assessments that you have experienced to varying degrees throughout your academic career. The OG of OP, David Wiley, distinguished the two assignment types as a means to explain how teaching with OER can alter our pedagogical approaches.

Definitions

Disposable assignments are ones which students complete as an assignment. Instructors grade and return the work to students who may read over their instructor’s comments before throwing their work in the trash.

Renewable assignments also task students with completing an assignment to be graded. Unlike with disposable assignments, though, “student’s work won’t be discarded at the end of the process, but will instead add value to the world in some way” when they openly license and share their work, Wiley explained.

There are degrees of separation between disposable and renewable assignments, according to Wiley and John Levi Hilton, III. For instance, they clarify, authentic assessments can have a deeper meaning than simply supporting student learning. It may be relevant to students’ lived experiences, for instance. Additionally, constructionist assessments can be authentic and shared publicly. For Wiley and Hilton, a renewable assessment does it all but with the key difference of enabling students to improve upon each other’s learning through the application of an open license.

How to start?

Begin with the End

We recommend you follow backward design and begin designing your first open pedagogy assignment with what you want students to know or be able to do after completing it. Your desired learning objectives may be in your team’s OER content map or, if drawing from an existing assignment, you may have already have them on hand. If started from scratch, consider revisiting our chapter on writing DEIA-infused learning objectives.

Brainstorm a Format

Once you have identified your learning objectives, you will determine either how your students will demonstrate their knowledge or how you will create your digital object. There are plenty of sources of inspiration to help you brainstorm what form your assignment or digital object may take.

• Bali, M., Cronin, C. and Jhangiani, R.S., 2020. Framing Open Educational Practices from a Social Justice Perspective. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2020(1).

• Jhangiani, R. and DeRosa, R. Open Pedagogy Notebook.
• McAdams, J. and Hoover, J. Open Pedagogy Learning Outcomes Project.  CC BY 4.0
• Open Education Network. Open Pedagogy Portal.

Digital Tools

Sometimes the format is dictated by the tools we use. Unless there is a professional or disciplinary reason to learn a particular tool, you may consider the ease of use or aesthetic of a tool. You could look at a learning objective in a chapter of your OER, for instance, and create an H5P interactive for some formative assessment. There are plenty of additional tools to help you create or co-create with your students:

• H5P.org
• Knightlab Tools: Storyline JS
• Knightlab Tools: Storymap JS
• Scalar
• More
  • A tech tool list by activity type and pricing from Abbey Elder
  • Technology Tools for Teaching in Higher Education

Scaffold Your Path with Care

After you have identified the learning objectives you would like to assess and have a format in mind, it is then good to map out your process for implementing your assignment with your students.

Amanda Larson, an affordable learning instructional consultant, has traced this process in a scaffolding road map. You do not need to have your assignment fully fleshed out to plot your path. Consider some of the following while personalizing the roadmap:

• It may be helpful to start at the end of the road and work your way backwards.
• Plan each stop in terms of how you can holistically support your students in their learning and increase their buy-in through transparent teaching practices.
• Add additional care-focused pitstops to check in with students or provide feedback. You can consult the following for a framework to structure these check ins:
  • Rajiv Jhangiani’s 5 Rs for Open Pedagogy
  • Kayla Lar-Son’s 6 Rs of Indigenous OER.

Reflect

Recap

If you have the time or preference, watch this “Getting Started with Open Pedagogy” webinar with a faculty member, librarian, and librarian-lawyer. The webinar covers a basic definition, sample assignments, and tips for getting started with your assignment design and assessments.