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When we introduce assignments, projects, or tasks to students we often lay out the logistics of the task. We describe the product that that will be created and how students will know when they are done. We might also supply grading criteria (in the form of a rubric or as success criteria) that let’s students know what we are looking for in their completed project.
However, this approach risks focusing on the work to be done rather than the learning we hope will happen. To focus on the learning, we must also share with students what kinds of thinking they will be asked to do (see Understanding Map). If we can’t identify the thinking, or help students to identify it, we might have a task that is limited in its learning potential. |
When learners feeling a sense of purpose in what they are doing, learning goes way up. However, establishing purpose is much more than stating a learning intention or objective.
Helping learners feel a sense of purpose is an ongoing endeavor in which we situate work in a larger context that has meaning and where students feel like their accomplishing something that has worth in their own eyes, not just the teacher’s eyes. |
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