assignments for graduate students

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating assignments.

Here are some general suggestions and questions to consider when creating assignments. There are also many other resources in print and on the web that provide examples of interesting, discipline-specific assignment ideas.

Consider your learning objectives.

What do you want students to learn in your course? What could they do that would show you that they have learned it? To determine assignments that truly serve your course objectives, it is useful to write out your objectives in this form: I want my students to be able to ____. Use active, measurable verbs as you complete that sentence (e.g., compare theories, discuss ramifications, recommend strategies), and your learning objectives will point you towards suitable assignments.

Design assignments that are interesting and challenging.

This is the fun side of assignment design. Consider how to focus students’ thinking in ways that are creative, challenging, and motivating. Think beyond the conventional assignment type! For example, one American historian requires students to write diary entries for a hypothetical Nebraska farmwoman in the 1890s. By specifying that students’ diary entries must demonstrate the breadth of their historical knowledge (e.g., gender, economics, technology, diet, family structure), the instructor gets students to exercise their imaginations while also accomplishing the learning objectives of the course (Walvoord & Anderson, 1989, p. 25).

Double-check alignment.

After creating your assignments, go back to your learning objectives and make sure there is still a good match between what you want students to learn and what you are asking them to do. If you find a mismatch, you will need to adjust either the assignments or the learning objectives. For instance, if your goal is for students to be able to analyze and evaluate texts, but your assignments only ask them to summarize texts, you would need to add an analytical and evaluative dimension to some assignments or rethink your learning objectives.

Name assignments accurately.

Students can be misled by assignments that are named inappropriately. For example, if you want students to analyze a product’s strengths and weaknesses but you call the assignment a “product description,” students may focus all their energies on the descriptive, not the critical, elements of the task. Thus, it is important to ensure that the titles of your assignments communicate their intention accurately to students.

Consider sequencing.

Think about how to order your assignments so that they build skills in a logical sequence. Ideally, assignments that require the most synthesis of skills and knowledge should come later in the semester, preceded by smaller assignments that build these skills incrementally. For example, if an instructor’s final assignment is a research project that requires students to evaluate a technological solution to an environmental problem, earlier assignments should reinforce component skills, including the ability to identify and discuss key environmental issues, apply evaluative criteria, and find appropriate research sources.

Think about scheduling.

Consider your intended assignments in relation to the academic calendar and decide how they can be reasonably spaced throughout the semester, taking into account holidays and key campus events. Consider how long it will take students to complete all parts of the assignment (e.g., planning, library research, reading, coordinating groups, writing, integrating the contributions of team members, developing a presentation), and be sure to allow sufficient time between assignments.

Check feasibility.

Is the workload you have in mind reasonable for your students? Is the grading burden manageable for you? Sometimes there are ways to reduce workload (whether for you or for students) without compromising learning objectives. For example, if a primary objective in assigning a project is for students to identify an interesting engineering problem and do some preliminary research on it, it might be reasonable to require students to submit a project proposal and annotated bibliography rather than a fully developed report. If your learning objectives are clear, you will see where corners can be cut without sacrificing educational quality.

Articulate the task description clearly.

If an assignment is vague, students may interpret it any number of ways – and not necessarily how you intended. Thus, it is critical to clearly and unambiguously identify the task students are to do (e.g., design a website to help high school students locate environmental resources, create an annotated bibliography of readings on apartheid). It can be helpful to differentiate the central task (what students are supposed to produce) from other advice and information you provide in your assignment description.

Establish clear performance criteria.

Different instructors apply different criteria when grading student work, so it’s important that you clearly articulate to students what your criteria are. To do so, think about the best student work you have seen on similar tasks and try to identify the specific characteristics that made it excellent, such as clarity of thought, originality, logical organization, or use of a wide range of sources. Then identify the characteristics of the worst student work you have seen, such as shaky evidence, weak organizational structure, or lack of focus. Identifying these characteristics can help you consciously articulate the criteria you already apply. It is important to communicate these criteria to students, whether in your assignment description or as a separate rubric or scoring guide . Clearly articulated performance criteria can prevent unnecessary confusion about your expectations while also setting a high standard for students to meet.

Specify the intended audience.

Students make assumptions about the audience they are addressing in papers and presentations, which influences how they pitch their message. For example, students may assume that, since the instructor is their primary audience, they do not need to define discipline-specific terms or concepts. These assumptions may not match the instructor’s expectations. Thus, it is important on assignments to specify the intended audience http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm (e.g., undergraduates with no biology background, a potential funder who does not know engineering).

Specify the purpose of the assignment.

If students are unclear about the goals or purpose of the assignment, they may make unnecessary mistakes. For example, if students believe an assignment is focused on summarizing research as opposed to evaluating it, they may seriously miscalculate the task and put their energies in the wrong place. The same is true they think the goal of an economics problem set is to find the correct answer, rather than demonstrate a clear chain of economic reasoning. Consequently, it is important to make your objectives for the assignment clear to students.

Specify the parameters.

If you have specific parameters in mind for the assignment (e.g., length, size, formatting, citation conventions) you should be sure to specify them in your assignment description. Otherwise, students may misapply conventions and formats they learned in other courses that are not appropriate for yours.

A Checklist for Designing Assignments

Here is a set of questions you can ask yourself when creating an assignment.

• Provided a written description of the assignment (in the syllabus or in a separate document)?
• Specified the purpose of the assignment?
• Indicated the intended audience?
• Articulated the instructions in precise and unambiguous language?
• Provided information about the appropriate format and presentation (e.g., page length, typed, cover sheet, bibliography)?  
• Indicated special instructions, such as a particular citation style or headings?  
• Specified the due date and the consequences for missing it?
• Articulated performance criteria clearly?
• Indicated the assignment’s point value or percentage of the course grade?
• Provided students (where appropriate) with models or samples?

Adapted from the WAC Clearinghouse at http://wac.colostate.edu/intro/pop10e.cfm .

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APA Writing Guide: Formatting for Graduate Students

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• Formatting for Graduate Students
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Writing Center

The Liberty University Writing Center is available to provide writing coaching to students. Residential students should contact the  On-Campus Writing Center  for assistance. Online students should contact the  Online Writing Center  for assistance.

General Rules

Liberty University has determined that graduate students will use APA 7’s formatting guidelines for professional papers. To assist you, Liberty University's Writing Center provides a template paper and a  sample paper .

For professional papers, the following four sections are required: 

• Title Page with Running Head
• Abstract with Keywords
• Reference List

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you format your paper:

• Fonts  - LU recommends that papers be typed in 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri fonts.  
• Use only one space at the end of each sentence in the body of your paper.
• In general, APA papers should be double spaced throughout. A list of exceptions can be found here.
• To make sure that your paper is double spaced throughout,  select the text ,  right click , select ' Paragraph ,' and look under the section ' Line Spacing ' as shown below:

• Margins/Alignment  - Your paper should use 1-inch margins on standard-sized paper (8.5' X 11'). Make sure that you use  Align Left  (CTRL + L) on the paper, except for the title page.  
•   Indentation – The first sentence in each new paragraph in the body of the paper should be indented a half inch. The abstract, however, should not be indented. References use hanging indentation .  
• Headings:   Please note that all headings are in title case. Level 1 headings should be centered (and in bold), and Level 2 and 3 headings should be left-aligned (and in bold or bold italic, respectively). Level 4 and 5 headings are indented like regular paragraphs. An example of formatting headings in a paper is available here

Title Page: When setting up the professional title page, please note the following elements should be present on the page:

• There is no limit to the number of words in the title.
• Add an extra blank double-spaced line between the title and author’s name.
• Name of each author (centered)
• Name of department and institution/affiliation (centered)
• Place the author note in the bottom half of the title page. Center and bold the label “Author Note.” Align the paragraphs of the author note to the left. For an example, see the LU Writing Center template for graduate students here .
• Page number in top right corner of the header, starting with page 1 on the title page
• The running head is an abbreviated version of the title of your paper (or the full title if the title is already short).
• Type the running head in all-capital letters.
• Ensure the running head is no more than 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
• The running head appears in the same format on every page, including the first page.
• Do not use the label “Running head:” before the running head.
• Align the running head to the left margin of the page header, across from the right-aligned page number.

Abstract Page: The abstract page includes the abstract and related keywords.

The abstract is a brief but comprehensive summary of your paper. Here are guidelines for formatting the abstract:

• It should be the second page of a professional (graduate level) paper.
• The first line should say “Abstract” centered and in bold.
• The abstract should start one line below the section label.
• It should be a single paragraph and should not be indented.
• It should not exceed 250 words.

Keywords are used for indexing in databases and as search terms. Your keywords should capture the most important aspects of your paper in three to five words, phrases, or acronyms. Here are formatting guidelines:

• Label “ Keywords ” one line below the abstract, indented and in italics (not bolded).
• The keywords should be written on the same line as and one space after the label “ Keywords ”.
• The keywords should be lowercase (but capitalize proper nouns) and not italic or bold.
• Each keyword should be separated by a comma and a space and followed by a colon.
• There should be no ending punctuation.
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Gen ed writes, writing across the disciplines at harvard college.

• Types of Assignments

Gen Ed courses transcend disciplinary boundaries in a variety of ways, so the types of writing assignments that they include also often venture outside the traditional discipline-specific essays. You may encounter a wide variety of assignment types in Gen Ed, but most can be categorized into four general types: 

• Traditional academic assignments include the short essays or research papers most commonly associated with college-level assignments. Generally speaking, these kinds of assignments are "expository" in nature, i.e., they ask you to engage with ideas through evidence-base argument, written in formal prose. The majority of essays in Expos courses fall into this category of writing assignment types.  
• Less traditional academic assignments include elements of engagement in academia not normally encountered by undergraduates. 
• Traditional non-academic assignments include types of written communication that students are likely to encounter in real world situations. 
• Less traditional non-academic assignments are those that push the boundaries of typical ‘writing’ assignments and are likely to include some kind of creative or artistic component.

Examples and Resources

Traditional academic.

For most of us, these are the most familiar types of college-level writing assignments. While they are perhaps less common in Gen Ed than in departmental courses, there are still numerous examples we could examine.

Two illustrations of common types include: 

Example 1: Short Essay  Professor Michael Sandel asks the students in his Gen Ed course on Tech Ethics to write several short essays over the course of the semester in which they make an argument in response to the course readings. Because many students will never have written a philosophy-style paper, Professor Sandel offers students a number of resources—from a guide on writing in philosophy, to sample graded essays, to a list of logical fallacies—to keep in mind. 

Example 2: Research Paper In Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Cares?, a Gen Ed course co-taught by multiple global health faculty members, students write a 12–15 page research paper on a biosocial analysis of a global health topic of their choosing for the final assignment. The assignment is broken up into two parts: (1) a proposal with annotated bibliography and (2) the final paper itself. The prompt clearly outlines the key qualities and features of a successful paper, which is especially useful for students who have not yet written a research paper in the sciences. 

Less Traditional Academic

In Gen Ed, sometimes assignments ask students to engage in academic work that, while familiar to faculty, is beyond the scope of the typical undergraduate experience. 

Here are a couple of examples from Gen Ed courses: 

Example 1: Design a conference  For the final project in her Gen Ed course, Global Feminisms, Professor Durba Mitra asks her students to imagine a dream conference  in the style of the feminist conferences they studied in class. Students are asked to imagine conference panels and events, potential speakers or exhibitions, and advertising materials. While conferences are a normal occurrence for graduate students and professors, undergraduates are much less likely to be familiar with this part of academic life, and this kind of assignment might require more specific background and instructions as part of the prompt. 

Example 2: Curate a museum exhibit In his Gen Ed class, Pyramid Schemes, Professor Peter Der Manuelian's final project offers students the option of designing a virtual museum exhibit . While exhibit curation can be a part of the academic life of an anthropologist or archaeologist, it's not often found in introductory undergraduate courses. In addition to selecting objects and creating a virtual exhibit layout, students also wrote an annotated bibliography as well as an exhibit introduction for potential visitors. 

Traditional Non-academic

One of the goals of Gen Ed is to encourage students to engage with the world around them. Sometimes writing assignments in Gen Ed directly mirror types of writing that students are likely to encounter in real-world, non-academic settings after they graduate.

The following are several examples of such assignments: 

Example 1: Policy memo In Power and Identity in the Middle East, Professor Melani Cammett assigns students a group policy memo evaluating "a major initiative aimed at promoting democracy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)." The assignment prompt is actually structured as a memo, providing context for students who likely lack experience with the format. It also outlines the key characteristics of a good memo, and it provides extensive advice on the process—especially important when students are working in groups. 

Example 2: Letter In Loss, Professor Kathleen Coleman asks students to write a letter of condolence . The letter has an unusual audience: a mother elephant who lost her calf. Since students may not have encountered this type of writing before, Professor Coleman also provides students with advice on process, pointing to some course readings that might be a good place to start. She also suggests a list of outside resources to help students get into the mindframe of addressing an elephant. 

Example 3: Podcast  Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular in Gen Ed classes, as they are in the real world. Though they're ultimately audio file outputs, they usually require writing and preparing a script ahead of time. For example, in Music from Earth, Professor Alex Rehding asks students to create a podcast in which they make an argument about a song studied in class. He usefully breaks up the assignments into two parts: (1) researching the song and preparing a script and (2) recording and making sonic choices about the presentation, offering students the opportunity to get feedback on the first part before moving onto the second. 

Less Traditional Non-academic

These are the types of assignments that perhaps are less obviously "writing" assignments. They usually involve an artistic or otherwise creative component, but they also often include some kind of written introduction or artist statement related to the work.

The following are several examples from recently offered Gen Ed courses: 

Example 1: Movie Professor Peter Der Manuelian offers students in his class, Pyramid Schemes, several options for the final project, one of which entails creating a 5–8 minute  iMovie making an argument about one of the themes of the course. Because relatively few students have prior experience making films, the teaching staff provide students with a written guide to making an iMovie as well as ample opportunities for tech support. In addition to preparing a script as part of the production, students also submit both an annotated bibliography and an artist’s statement. 

Example 2: Calligram In his course, Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies, Professor Ali Asani asks students to browse through a provided list of resources about calligrams, which are an important traditional Islamic art form. Then they are required to "choose a concept or symbol associated with God in the Islamic tradition and attempt to represent it through a calligraphic design using the word Allah," in any medium they wish. Students also write a short explanation to accompany the design itself. 

Example 3: Soundscape In Music from Earth, Professor Alex Rehding has students create a soundscape . The soundscape is an audio file which involves layering sounds from different sources to create a single piece responding to an assigned question (e.g. "What sounds are characteristic of your current geographical region?"). Early on, as part of the development of the soundscape, students submit an artist's statement that explains the plan for the soundscape, the significance of the sounds, and the intention of the work. 

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Assignment Decoder

Preparing for Graduate School: Advice for New Student Success

The idea of going back to graduate school as a working adult presents both opportunities and challenges. Here are a few tips for setting yourself up for success in graduate school and beyond.

Maxine Giza

When you’re considering going back to school, choosing the right graduate program is a challenging first step. But perhaps even more daunting is the next step: preparing for success in graduate school.

The thought of juggling classwork with your job and family commitments can be overwhelming. After all, you have made a major commitment in both time and money. But don’t worry. Countless professionals have successfully completed their degree while continuing to work full time. And you will, too!

Life as a graduate student is different from what you remember from your undergraduate days. Professors expect you to be more proactive and self-sufficient. You also likely have many other priorities in your life — from professional responsibilities to family obligations — competing for your time. 

If you have been out of school for a few years, you may also notice differences in teaching tools and techniques. 

“University instruction has changed dramatically over the past few years, especially with the increase of online courses,” says Kelly Ross, predegree and admissions advisor at Harvard Extension School. 

Properly preparing for graduate school before you start your first class can help you start your semester off right and overcome unforeseen challenges that may arise.

Here are four questions to ask yourself as you begin the process of preparing for graduate school .

1. How will you approach work/life/school balance?

Achieving a healthy and appropriate work/life balance can be a struggle for anyone. Toss graduate school into the mix and you have a recipe for stress. While you won’t be able to completely eliminate stress, there are things you can do to minimize it. 

Figuring out how to restructure your time is key. 

You need to be honest with your friends and family about how graduate school is going to make your schedule less flexible than what they may be accustomed to. 

Many people find that establishing a schedule works well. 

Consider carving out specific times in the week for projects, studying, friends, family, and activities like going to the gym. There will certainly be times you’ll have to say no to social functions. But planning ahead carefully will help you avoid schedule conflicts and the scramble to get assignments completed on time.  

It’s also important to seek out flexibility in your schedule wherever possible. 

Consider talking to your employer about flex time and working from home. Depending on your academic program, consider online courses to save you time on commuting. At Harvard Extension School, for example, most degree and certificate programs are online. 

Also, be honest with yourself about what you can handle. Avoid the temptation to take on too much. 

“Remember to be as realistic as possible when deciding how many courses to take per term,” says Ross. 

Remember that a graduate course may only meet for two hours per week. But it will require a significant amount of time outside of the classroom to complete the readings and assignments.

Learn how these Harvard Extension School alumni juggled their work/life balance .

Explore Graduate Degrees and Certificates at Harvard Extension School.

2. Who can you recruit to be your support network?

Your friends and family may initially struggle to accept that graduate school is going to take up time that you used to spend with them. 

Make it clear why you are continuing your education. If they understand why graduate school is important to you, they can find ways to support you. 

If you have children or are caring for elderly relatives, you’ll need to figure out who can step in to lend a hand. If you are a parent with young children, for example, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate child care in place before your first class even starts.  

Don’t forget your classmates can serve as a support network as well. 

It’s likely you’ll have classmates who are also balancing work and family commitments. You can gain insight from their experiences . Nothing compares to learning from people who are coping with the same struggles as you are.

3. What do you need to feel prepared for your first class? 

Are you feeling anxious about returning to the rigors of academic life? One way to prepare for graduate school coursework is to review your syllabus before the class starts so you know when all major assignments are due. This will help you allocate your time around family and work commitments. 

Knowing what your instructors will expect will also motivate you to develop a strategy to avoid procrastination , schedule conflicts, and last-minute scrambling.

If you went to college years ago, you may have memories of lugging heavy textbooks around. Today, however, many resources are accessible online. 

You’ll want to make sure you have all the necessary technology at your fingertips before your program starts. For example, will you need programs like Microsoft Excel or Word? Do you need a stronger Internet connection for online classes? 

You may even need to invest in a dedicated computer. While a family can share one computer for casual use, you may need your own device — especially if taking online courses. 

4. How will you face unexpected challenges?

Even the most prepared graduate student will face unexpected challenges during their time as a graduate student. As the old saying goes, “expect the unexpected.” 

Being flexible with your time is key to handling life when things don’t go according to plan.

And remember: some of the toughest challenges you’ll face may be psychological. 

“A major challenge that many (students) don’t necessarily expect but begin experiencing is imposter syndrome,” says Ross. 

Imposter syndrome —feelings of inadequacy and doubt in your abilities, and that you will soon be seen as a fraud—is common for many graduate students, especially at the beginning of graduate school. 

“Imposter syndrome can be really difficult to overcome,” says Ross. “But students should just take it one day at a time, one assignment at a time, one class at a time. It’s likely that many of your classmates are experiencing it too but no one is talking about it.” 

Remind yourself that yes, you DO belong in the program you’re in!  

Preparation for graduate school is key to your success. Keep your end goal in sight and the payoff will make all the temporary sacrifices worth it.

Ready to get started? Find the program that’s right for you.

Browse Degree and Certificate Programs at Harvard Extension School.

About the Author

Maxine Giza is a Digital Content Producer. She is a graduate of Endicott College and Emerson College. When she isn’t thinking of creative ways to tell stories, Maxine can be found playing hockey, training for a road race or attempting to swing a golf club.

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10 Types of Assignments in Online Degree Programs

Students may respond to recorded video lectures, participate in discussion boards and write traditional research papers.

(Getty Images) |

Learn What to Expect

Experts say online degree programs are just as rigorous as those offered on campus. Prospective online students should expect various types of coursework suited for a virtual environment, such as discussion boards or wikis, or more traditional research papers and group projects .

Here are 10 types of assignments you may encounter in online courses.

Read or Watch, Then Respond

An instructor provides a recorded lecture, article or book chapter and requires students to answer questions. Students generally complete the assignment at their own pace, so long as they meet the ultimate deadline, Bradley Fuster, associate vice president of institutional effectiveness at SUNY Buffalo State , wrote in a recent U.S. News blog post .

(Jessica Peterson | Getty Images)

Discussion Boards

The discussion forum is a major part of many online classes, experts say, and often supplements weekly coursework. Generally, the professor poses a question, and students respond to the prompt as well as each other. Sometimes, students must submit their own post before seeing classmates' answers.

"Good response posts are response posts that do not only agree or disagree," Noam Ebner, who then led the online graduate program in negotiation and conflict resolution at Creighton University 's law school, told U.S. News in 2015. "When you read another student's post, you have the ability to expand the conversation."

(Ariel Skelley | Getty Images)

Group Projects

Just because online students may live around the world doesn't mean they won't complete group work. Students may use Google Docs to edit assignments, email to brainstorm ideas and software such as Zoom to videoconference. Katy Katz, who earned an online MBA in 2013 at Benedictine University in Illinois, used both Skype and a chat feature in her online classroom to communicate with classmates.

"That was a good way for our instructor to see that everyone was participating," she told U.S. News in 2015. "Any planning we did – if there were going to be changes to meeting times – we would communicate in that chat area."

(Dave and Les Jacobs | Getty Images)

Virtual Presentations

Students may also give either live or recorded presentations to their classmates. At Colorado State University—Global Campus , for example, students use various video technologies and microphones for oral presentations, or software such as Prezi for more visual assignments, says Karen Ferguson, the online school's vice provost.

Oftentimes, Ferguson says, "They're using the technology that they will use in their field."

(Westend61 | Getty Images)

Like on-campus courses, online courses may have exams , depending on the discipline. These may be proctored at a local testing center, or an actual human may monitor online students through their webcam. Companies such as ProctorU make this possible.

In other cases, students may take online exams while being monitored by a computer. Automated services including ProctorTrack can keep track of what's happening on an online student's screen in case there are behaviors that may indicate cheating.

(Dr T J Martin | Getty Images)

Research Papers

Formal research papers, wrote Buffalo State's Fuster, remain common in online courses, as this type of writing is important in many disciplines, especially at the graduate level .

While there are few differences between these assignments for online and on-ground courses, online students should ensure their program offers remote access to a university's library and its resources, which may include live chats with staff, experts say.

(golibo | Getty Images)

Case Studies and Real-World Scenarios

When it comes to case studies, a reading or video may provide detailed information about a specific situation related to the online course material, Fuster wrote. Students analyze the presented issues and develop solutions.

Real-world learning can also take other forms, says Brian Worden, manager of curriculum and course development for several schools at the for-profit Capella University . In online psychology degree programs, students may hold mock therapy sessions through videoconferencing. In the K-12 education online master's program , they create lesson plans and administer them to classmates.

(Tetra Images | Getty Images)

These are particularly useful in online courses where students reflect on personal experiences, internships or clinical requirements , Fuster wrote. Generally, these are a running dialogue of a student's thoughts or ideas about a topic. They may update their blogs throughout the course, and in some cases, their classmates can respond.

(vertmedia | Getty Images)

These allow students to comment on and edit a shared document to write task lists, answer research questions, discuss personal experiences or launch discussions with classmates. They are particularly beneficial when it comes to group work, Fuster wrote.

"A blog, a wiki, even building out portfolios – we see a lot of those in communications, marketing and some of our business programs ," says Ferguson, of CSU—Global. "You may not see as much of that in accounting," for example, where students focus more on specific financial principles.

(Nalinratana Phiyanalinmat | EyeEm

A journal assignment allows an online student to communicate with his or her professor directly. While topics are sometimes assigned, journals often enable students to express ideas, concerns, opinions or questions about course material, Fuster wrote.

(Yuri_Arcurs | Getty Images)

More About Online Education

Learn more about selecting an online degree program by checking out the U.S. News 2017 Best Online Programs rankings and exploring the Online Learning Lessons blog.

For more advice, follow U.S. News Education on Twitter and Facebook .

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Understanding Assignments

What this handout is about.

The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects. See our short video for more tips.

Basic beginnings

Regardless of the assignment, department, or instructor, adopting these two habits will serve you well :

• Read the assignment carefully as soon as you receive it. Do not put this task off—reading the assignment at the beginning will save you time, stress, and problems later. An assignment can look pretty straightforward at first, particularly if the instructor has provided lots of information. That does not mean it will not take time and effort to complete; you may even have to learn a new skill to complete the assignment.
• Ask the instructor about anything you do not understand. Do not hesitate to approach your instructor. Instructors would prefer to set you straight before you hand the paper in. That’s also when you will find their feedback most useful.

Assignment formats

Many assignments follow a basic format. Assignments often begin with an overview of the topic, include a central verb or verbs that describe the task, and offer some additional suggestions, questions, or prompts to get you started.

An Overview of Some Kind

The instructor might set the stage with some general discussion of the subject of the assignment, introduce the topic, or remind you of something pertinent that you have discussed in class. For example:

“Throughout history, gerbils have played a key role in politics,” or “In the last few weeks of class, we have focused on the evening wear of the housefly …”

The Task of the Assignment

Pay attention; this part tells you what to do when you write the paper. Look for the key verb or verbs in the sentence. Words like analyze, summarize, or compare direct you to think about your topic in a certain way. Also pay attention to words such as how, what, when, where, and why; these words guide your attention toward specific information. (See the section in this handout titled “Key Terms” for more information.)

“Analyze the effect that gerbils had on the Russian Revolution”, or “Suggest an interpretation of housefly undergarments that differs from Darwin’s.”

Additional Material to Think about

Here you will find some questions to use as springboards as you begin to think about the topic. Instructors usually include these questions as suggestions rather than requirements. Do not feel compelled to answer every question unless the instructor asks you to do so. Pay attention to the order of the questions. Sometimes they suggest the thinking process your instructor imagines you will need to follow to begin thinking about the topic.

“You may wish to consider the differing views held by Communist gerbils vs. Monarchist gerbils, or Can there be such a thing as ‘the housefly garment industry’ or is it just a home-based craft?”

These are the instructor’s comments about writing expectations:

“Be concise”, “Write effectively”, or “Argue furiously.”

Technical Details

These instructions usually indicate format rules or guidelines.

“Your paper must be typed in Palatino font on gray paper and must not exceed 600 pages. It is due on the anniversary of Mao Tse-tung’s death.”

The assignment’s parts may not appear in exactly this order, and each part may be very long or really short. Nonetheless, being aware of this standard pattern can help you understand what your instructor wants you to do.

Interpreting the assignment

Ask yourself a few basic questions as you read and jot down the answers on the assignment sheet:

Why did your instructor ask you to do this particular task?

Who is your audience.

• What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas?

What kind of writing style is acceptable?

• What are the absolute rules of the paper?

Try to look at the question from the point of view of the instructor. Recognize that your instructor has a reason for giving you this assignment and for giving it to you at a particular point in the semester. In every assignment, the instructor has a challenge for you. This challenge could be anything from demonstrating an ability to think clearly to demonstrating an ability to use the library. See the assignment not as a vague suggestion of what to do but as an opportunity to show that you can handle the course material as directed. Paper assignments give you more than a topic to discuss—they ask you to do something with the topic. Keep reminding yourself of that. Be careful to avoid the other extreme as well: do not read more into the assignment than what is there.

Of course, your instructor has given you an assignment so that they will be able to assess your understanding of the course material and give you an appropriate grade. But there is more to it than that. Your instructor has tried to design a learning experience of some kind. Your instructor wants you to think about something in a particular way for a particular reason. If you read the course description at the beginning of your syllabus, review the assigned readings, and consider the assignment itself, you may begin to see the plan, purpose, or approach to the subject matter that your instructor has created for you. If you still aren’t sure of the assignment’s goals, try asking the instructor. For help with this, see our handout on getting feedback .

Given your instructor’s efforts, it helps to answer the question: What is my purpose in completing this assignment? Is it to gather research from a variety of outside sources and present a coherent picture? Is it to take material I have been learning in class and apply it to a new situation? Is it to prove a point one way or another? Key words from the assignment can help you figure this out. Look for key terms in the form of active verbs that tell you what to do.

Key Terms: Finding Those Active Verbs

Here are some common key words and definitions to help you think about assignment terms:

Information words Ask you to demonstrate what you know about the subject, such as who, what, when, where, how, and why.

• define —give the subject’s meaning (according to someone or something). Sometimes you have to give more than one view on the subject’s meaning
• describe —provide details about the subject by answering question words (such as who, what, when, where, how, and why); you might also give details related to the five senses (what you see, hear, feel, taste, and smell)
• explain —give reasons why or examples of how something happened
• illustrate —give descriptive examples of the subject and show how each is connected with the subject
• summarize —briefly list the important ideas you learned about the subject
• trace —outline how something has changed or developed from an earlier time to its current form
• research —gather material from outside sources about the subject, often with the implication or requirement that you will analyze what you have found

Relation words Ask you to demonstrate how things are connected.

• compare —show how two or more things are similar (and, sometimes, different)
• contrast —show how two or more things are dissimilar
• apply—use details that you’ve been given to demonstrate how an idea, theory, or concept works in a particular situation
• cause —show how one event or series of events made something else happen
• relate —show or describe the connections between things

Interpretation words Ask you to defend ideas of your own about the subject. Do not see these words as requesting opinion alone (unless the assignment specifically says so), but as requiring opinion that is supported by concrete evidence. Remember examples, principles, definitions, or concepts from class or research and use them in your interpretation.

• assess —summarize your opinion of the subject and measure it against something
• prove, justify —give reasons or examples to demonstrate how or why something is the truth
• evaluate, respond —state your opinion of the subject as good, bad, or some combination of the two, with examples and reasons
• support —give reasons or evidence for something you believe (be sure to state clearly what it is that you believe)
• synthesize —put two or more things together that have not been put together in class or in your readings before; do not just summarize one and then the other and say that they are similar or different—you must provide a reason for putting them together that runs all the way through the paper
• analyze —determine how individual parts create or relate to the whole, figure out how something works, what it might mean, or why it is important
• argue —take a side and defend it with evidence against the other side

More Clues to Your Purpose As you read the assignment, think about what the teacher does in class:

• What kinds of textbooks or coursepack did your instructor choose for the course—ones that provide background information, explain theories or perspectives, or argue a point of view?
• In lecture, does your instructor ask your opinion, try to prove their point of view, or use keywords that show up again in the assignment?
• What kinds of assignments are typical in this discipline? Social science classes often expect more research. Humanities classes thrive on interpretation and analysis.
• How do the assignments, readings, and lectures work together in the course? Instructors spend time designing courses, sometimes even arguing with their peers about the most effective course materials. Figuring out the overall design to the course will help you understand what each assignment is meant to achieve.

Now, what about your reader? Most undergraduates think of their audience as the instructor. True, your instructor is a good person to keep in mind as you write. But for the purposes of a good paper, think of your audience as someone like your roommate: smart enough to understand a clear, logical argument, but not someone who already knows exactly what is going on in your particular paper. Remember, even if the instructor knows everything there is to know about your paper topic, they still have to read your paper and assess your understanding. In other words, teach the material to your reader.

Aiming a paper at your audience happens in two ways: you make decisions about the tone and the level of information you want to convey.

• Tone means the “voice” of your paper. Should you be chatty, formal, or objective? Usually you will find some happy medium—you do not want to alienate your reader by sounding condescending or superior, but you do not want to, um, like, totally wig on the man, you know? Eschew ostentatious erudition: some students think the way to sound academic is to use big words. Be careful—you can sound ridiculous, especially if you use the wrong big words.
• The level of information you use depends on who you think your audience is. If you imagine your audience as your instructor and they already know everything you have to say, you may find yourself leaving out key information that can cause your argument to be unconvincing and illogical. But you do not have to explain every single word or issue. If you are telling your roommate what happened on your favorite science fiction TV show last night, you do not say, “First a dark-haired white man of average height, wearing a suit and carrying a flashlight, walked into the room. Then a purple alien with fifteen arms and at least three eyes turned around. Then the man smiled slightly. In the background, you could hear a clock ticking. The room was fairly dark and had at least two windows that I saw.” You also do not say, “This guy found some aliens. The end.” Find some balance of useful details that support your main point.

You’ll find a much more detailed discussion of these concepts in our handout on audience .

The Grim Truth

With a few exceptions (including some lab and ethnography reports), you are probably being asked to make an argument. You must convince your audience. It is easy to forget this aim when you are researching and writing; as you become involved in your subject matter, you may become enmeshed in the details and focus on learning or simply telling the information you have found. You need to do more than just repeat what you have read. Your writing should have a point, and you should be able to say it in a sentence. Sometimes instructors call this sentence a “thesis” or a “claim.”

So, if your instructor tells you to write about some aspect of oral hygiene, you do not want to just list: “First, you brush your teeth with a soft brush and some peanut butter. Then, you floss with unwaxed, bologna-flavored string. Finally, gargle with bourbon.” Instead, you could say, “Of all the oral cleaning methods, sandblasting removes the most plaque. Therefore it should be recommended by the American Dental Association.” Or, “From an aesthetic perspective, moldy teeth can be quite charming. However, their joys are short-lived.”

Convincing the reader of your argument is the goal of academic writing. It doesn’t have to say “argument” anywhere in the assignment for you to need one. Look at the assignment and think about what kind of argument you could make about it instead of just seeing it as a checklist of information you have to present. For help with understanding the role of argument in academic writing, see our handout on argument .

What kind of evidence do you need?

There are many kinds of evidence, and what type of evidence will work for your assignment can depend on several factors–the discipline, the parameters of the assignment, and your instructor’s preference. Should you use statistics? Historical examples? Do you need to conduct your own experiment? Can you rely on personal experience? See our handout on evidence for suggestions on how to use evidence appropriately.

Make sure you are clear about this part of the assignment, because your use of evidence will be crucial in writing a successful paper. You are not just learning how to argue; you are learning how to argue with specific types of materials and ideas. Ask your instructor what counts as acceptable evidence. You can also ask a librarian for help. No matter what kind of evidence you use, be sure to cite it correctly—see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial .

You cannot always tell from the assignment just what sort of writing style your instructor expects. The instructor may be really laid back in class but still expect you to sound formal in writing. Or the instructor may be fairly formal in class and ask you to write a reflection paper where you need to use “I” and speak from your own experience.

Try to avoid false associations of a particular field with a style (“art historians like wacky creativity,” or “political scientists are boring and just give facts”) and look instead to the types of readings you have been given in class. No one expects you to write like Plato—just use the readings as a guide for what is standard or preferable to your instructor. When in doubt, ask your instructor about the level of formality they expect.

No matter what field you are writing for or what facts you are including, if you do not write so that your reader can understand your main idea, you have wasted your time. So make clarity your main goal. For specific help with style, see our handout on style .

Technical details about the assignment

The technical information you are given in an assignment always seems like the easy part. This section can actually give you lots of little hints about approaching the task. Find out if elements such as page length and citation format (see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial ) are negotiable. Some professors do not have strong preferences as long as you are consistent and fully answer the assignment. Some professors are very specific and will deduct big points for deviations.

Usually, the page length tells you something important: The instructor thinks the size of the paper is appropriate to the assignment’s parameters. In plain English, your instructor is telling you how many pages it should take for you to answer the question as fully as you are expected to. So if an assignment is two pages long, you cannot pad your paper with examples or reword your main idea several times. Hit your one point early, defend it with the clearest example, and finish quickly. If an assignment is ten pages long, you can be more complex in your main points and examples—and if you can only produce five pages for that assignment, you need to see someone for help—as soon as possible.

Tricks that don’t work

Your instructors are not fooled when you:

• spend more time on the cover page than the essay —graphics, cool binders, and cute titles are no replacement for a well-written paper.
• use huge fonts, wide margins, or extra spacing to pad the page length —these tricks are immediately obvious to the eye. Most instructors use the same word processor you do. They know what’s possible. Such tactics are especially damning when the instructor has a stack of 60 papers to grade and yours is the only one that low-flying airplane pilots could read.
• use a paper from another class that covered “sort of similar” material . Again, the instructor has a particular task for you to fulfill in the assignment that usually relates to course material and lectures. Your other paper may not cover this material, and turning in the same paper for more than one course may constitute an Honor Code violation . Ask the instructor—it can’t hurt.
• get all wacky and “creative” before you answer the question . Showing that you are able to think beyond the boundaries of a simple assignment can be good, but you must do what the assignment calls for first. Again, check with your instructor. A humorous tone can be refreshing for someone grading a stack of papers, but it will not get you a good grade if you have not fulfilled the task.

Critical reading of assignments leads to skills in other types of reading and writing. If you get good at figuring out what the real goals of assignments are, you are going to be better at understanding the goals of all of your classes and fields of study.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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99 Free Online Resources for Graduate Students

Reviewed by David Krug David Krug is a seasoned expert with 20 years in educational technology (EdTech). His career spans the pivotal years of technology integration in education, where he has played a key role in advancing student-centric learning solutions. David's expertise lies in marrying technological innovation with pedagogical effectiveness, making him a valuable asset in transforming educational experiences. As an advisor for enrollment startups, David provides strategic guidance, helping these companies navigate the complexities of the education sector. His insights are crucial in developing impactful and sustainable enrollment strategies.

Updated: February 26, 2024 , Reading time: 40 minutes

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Grad school is an even tougher hurdle to conquer than college; any grad student can attest to this. But with loads of free resources on the web these days, navigating higher ed has become more efficient and manageable.

Take Advantage of Online Learning

As the world shifts from traditional learning setups to remote or distance learning, or blended learning in some cases, these online resources are now essential tools for grad students. 

These resources come in many forms, like online databases, search engines, niche sites, OCWs, OERs, MOOCs, online tools, and pages that write about grad school topics and everything in between that can help students thrive and survive grad school.

Free Online Resources

Check out this extensive list of free online resources for grad students. The resources are listed in random order and category. Browse away!

MIT OpenCourseWare

A self-guided tool initiated in 2001, the MIT OpenCourseWare (MIT OCW) was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a free repository of all the school’s materials for both undergraduate and graduate students. There is no need to register to freely access, download, and even share the courses, and these can be taken anytime.

MIT OCW contains close to 2500 materials from its various graduate course offerings – from business topics to the liberal arts to STEM courses. Graduate-level courses in sustainable energies, medicine, and education are also available. Video lectures and podcasts are also available on the MIT OCW YouTube channel .

UC Berkeley Digital Learning Services (DLS)

The Digital Learning Services (DLS) of UC Berkeley is a portal for both UC grad students and faculty who are gearing up for the transition to remote instruction and learning. Its Learning Management System, bCourses (also known as Canvas), is an online tool available to Berkeley students.

By using their CalCentral or bCourses account credentials, they can access learning materials uploaded by their instructors. The portal also allows for interactive learning, collaboration, and discussions with the faculty and fellow grad students. Course grades are also uploaded here so students can track their progress.

OpenStax is an initiative of Rice University that creates and publishes textbooks online for free, while hard copies can be bought for a low price. Its textbook collection is regularly peer-reviewed by educator-authors for accuracy, relevance, and standardization of outline, ensuring that the materials can be easily incorporated into any level of tertiary and or graduate learning.

OpenStax also supports mobility across devices and platforms, as it is also available on Google Play , the App Store , and YouTube .

UMass Boston OCW

The Umass Boston OpenCour s eWare is an open repository of educational materials in the form of lecture notes, audio lectures, and laboratory coursework (if any). No account registration is required, and the site can be freely accessed by anyone, anywhere.

Though none of the courses featured offer credits or certificates, the course listing is well-varied, which includes STEM courses like biology and computer science, psychology, creatives like performing arts, public policy and politics, natural sciences, history, and early and special education.

MITx on edX

Hosted on the MOOC platform edX, MITx is MIT’s most comprehensive MOOC offering. Its collection is similar to that of MITOCW’s, but it also has graded course works, live discussions with MIT faculty, and peer discussion boards. Many courses are free, while some, especially those that offer completion certificates and micro master’s degrees , include a modest fee.

The micro master’s track can also be credited as a full semester, thus allowing graduate students to continue with the corresponding full master’s program on campus. The following are MITx’s micro master’s offerings: 1) Supply Chain Management, 2) Data, Economics, and Development, 3) Principles of Manufacturing, 4) Statistics and Data Science, and 5) Finance.

Those who are on MITx are strongly suggested to explore and utilize the MIT OCW for a more complementary learning experience.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab or OWL is a free-for-use resource for aspiring – and even experienced – writers. The portal was created as a complement to Purdue University’s in-house and in-person writing tutorial service – The Writing Lab . Various writing instructional resources are available to those who are on a creative writing track.

Specific resources on the citation for research work , with provisioned guides for the following writing styles: APA 6 th and 7 th edition, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, AMA, and ASA, and job search writing should be highly useful to grad students. Video podcasts are also available, as well as materials in Spanish .

Created through the joint effort of Harvard University and MIT, edX is a vast MOOC storehouse of resources provided by over 140 partner universities from all over the world. For graduate students looking to augment their learning, edX has more than 2500 courses and programs on almost all types of subjects you can think of – from liberal arts to humanities to the sciences, to even law and medicine.

Assignments and quizzes are also available to track one’s progress and learning. Many of the courses are free, while some grant certificates and even micro master’s degrees.

EBSCO Open Dissertation Database

The EBSCO Open Dissertation Database is an excellent aid for graduate students looking for research trends in their respective fields and significant and verifiable references for their theses or dissertations.

The database is home to almost 200,000 academic papers from universities across the country and more than a million papers from around the world, with publishing dates spanning the early 1900s to the present.  Searches can be filtered by university and publishing date, and full texts of the theses and dissertations can be freely accessed.

MIT Open Learning Library

The MIT Open Learning Library is a select collection that combines the best of MIT OCW and MITx. An account is required to access a variety of free resources, which include video and audio lectures, podcasts, lecture notes, problem sets, and answers. Materials marked as OCW content can be freely downloaded and shared.

While no live feedback or discussion is provided, as well as certifications – similar to MIT OCW – auto-graded problem sets and other coursework will help graduate students monitor their progress. Course offerings include aeronautics and STEM topics, particularly engineering, management, history, linguistics, media writing, and urban planning .

Google Scholar

Google Scholar houses a massive collection of academic literature, both old and current. Grad students can use this to search for papers from hundreds of renowned journal publications from both ends of the scholastic spectrum. The portal also has information about the author(s), related literature, and citations.

To enhance the search results with reliable, valid, and substantial sources, Google ranks the materials based on their content, the place and date of publication, the author, and the frequency by which other authors cited it.

Another popular MOOC site, Coursera has partnerships with more than 200 schools and companies worldwide. It houses a whole library of free courses, which, aside from lectures, also include assignments and discussion boards.

For grad students who would want to earn specializations and professional and Master Track certificates (a one-semester course that can be carried over to a full master’s program), they can obtain these for a modest fee.

Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)

A project of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the Department of Education, ERIC , or the Education Resources Information Center is another great resource.

Through its partnerships with various organizations and publications worldwide, ERIC can store more than 1.5 million journal and non-journal materials that can be accessed by anyone and anytime, free of charge. Books, reports, policy documents, and other relevant scholastic work can also be found here.

Harvard Extension School

Harvard Extension School is home to Harvard’s open learning portal. It offers a good number of free courses, which include Abstract Algebra, Greek History, American Poetry, Introduction to Computer Science, World Literature, Culinary Science, Probability Models, US Education Policy, and more.

The site also offers about 800 online courses where credits can be earned for modest fees. Application and registration are not required for both the free and paid courses.

Duke Options

A tool specially designed for Ph.D. students with their professional development in mind, Duke Options allows doctoral candidates to create a roadmap on how to better craft their grad school journey on their way to building a professional career. Students can choose their target competency and stage or current academic level and customize the planned activities from here.

The portal has link suggestions matching the activities on the roadmap, which are also based on the student’s profile and career objectives. While anyone can access Duke Options, only those with NetID credentials can save their roadmaps and plans.

RefSeek is a search engine dedicated to academic materials, literature, and references, such as the website’s name. It has been around since 2008 and works pretty much like a Google search page.

The difference is that the results are more streamlined to show only academic and educational materials instead of manually weeding through the generic list that a standard search engine would have shown, thus saving one’s time. An option also exists for users to choose between all relevant results or to show only documents, which are usually in PDF format.

Carnegie Mellon University Open Learning Initiative (OLI)

Created in partnership with online curriculum site Lumen Learning, the Open Learning Initiative of Carnegie Mellon University offers both free and paid courses in various learning paths, from STEM tracks, which also includes specialized courses like electric car technology and other sustainable energy courses, to linguistics, to public policy, and many more.

There are separate offerings for independent learners or self-learners and those with the OLI Course Key (usually acquired from CMU instructors).

Online resources for Ph.D. students are not just about open courseware; job portals like LinkedIn offer excellent career advice for grad students on how to market their academic achievements and competencies to land that life-changing career.

It also houses – what else – job openings for all career levels, whether you have a bachelor’s or a doctorate, which is usually the next step after attending higher education.

Glassdoor is a comprehensive job market portal that not only posts job openings but also offers insight into the top companies to work for as a master’s or doctorate holder. You might need to sign up for a free account or sign in using your social media accounts to explore and read the resources available here thoroughly.

US Census Bureau

Grad school is all about factual research, and it is better to look than on the US Census Bureau website! Whether you’re looking for past or current figures or statistical trends in health, public policies, population, or the economy, the US census has all these. The bureau conducts more than 130 surveys yearly, all of which are uploaded on the website.

While Udemy is more known to offer paid but affordable online courses that can be taken anytime, anywhere, the site also offers a good number of free resources via video tutorials to complement or augment one’s grad school coursework. Aside from the usual subjects like programming, coding, and languages, Udemy also offers short and free courses.

The list includes personal development and productivity, social influence, emotional intelligence, and other soft skills, which could all be useful to master’s or doctoral candidates gearing up for life (back) in the professional world.

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is not precisely a free online learning portal. Still, it does offer a free one-month trial that allows full access to its 15,000-and-counting course catalog and even earns certificates upon completion. 

The course offerings include learning paths in Project Management, as well as Design Thinking and Leadership. These courses are seldom offered by other platforms but are among the top in-demand skills companies are looking for today.

Are you an MBA or grad student looking to enhance your resume with in-demand IT skills or gain some familiarity with topics like Data Science, Big Data, Machine Learning, AI, or Blockchain? Udacity offers free courses on these topics!

The site also has free resources on business topics and its confluence with IT concepts, particularly with data science, such as business and marketing analytics, digital marketing, UX design, and many more.

Course Hero

Course Hero offers free courses in the form of lecture notes, study guides, and documents on different course topics like business and economics, STEM, social sciences, and humanities. Each sub-topic is presented boot camp-style with explanations, short videos, infographics, and links to related resources that can also be found within the site.

It also encourages users – educators and grad students – to contribute to the site through material sharing or tutoring for a modest stipend. Course Hero also offers scholarships to deserving students.

Academic Earth

Academic Earth aims to put distance learning at the forefront of higher education through its well-curated collection of learning materials, both created and from renowned universities such as CalTech, MIT, Yale, Stanford, and many more. 

The site also features investigative journalism-like short, original elective videos , which could be good references for grad students working on essays or research papers. The videos touch on topics like mathematics, IT, literature, health policy, history, economics, politics, and even modern psychology, with the list being updated regularly.

Khan Academy

Khan Academy is one of the more popular online resources offering free learning materials for all levels of education. Materials include lecture videos, practice assignments, and even test prep materials for grad school exams like the LSAT, GMAT, MCAT, and others.

Each account is provided with a personalized dashboard to personalize one’s learning track by choosing the topics or courses, taking these anywhere at their own time, and tracking their progress. Khan Academy also runs its own YouTube Channel for its video lectures and infographics.

If you’re thinking of going into grad school for your master’s but can’t decide which program is right for you, your degree, and your career objectives, Study.com has an extensive glossary of all the master’s degree programs offered in the country.

It itemizes the programs, the units, and courses required, as well as the job market outlook and prospects. The website also offers a free one-month trial of its online courses and grad school test preps like the GMAT, GRE, etc.

ThoughtCo has been in the online education industry for more than two decades. The site’s content is more article- and insight-based and written by published authors, doctoral fellows, and members of academia.

Go to this site if you’re looking for expert advice on applying to grad school, how to ace that interview, or other tips on how to survive and make the most of your higher education experience.

Online Ph.D. Degrees

As the outbreak forces many students, like doctoral candidates, to switch to online learning, Online Ph.D. Degrees is an excellent resource for grad students looking to see which schools offer the best distance-learning programs.

It has ranked different Ph.D. programs based on online accessibility, cost-effectivity, completion timeframe, and others. It also offers valuable insight into the value – both professional and monetary (cost and ROI) – of earning a master’s and a doctorate, as well as other frequently asked questions about Ph.D. degrees.

CreativeLive

Community-based, innovative, and fresh – this is what CreativeLive is to many of its site visitors, students, and live audiences. Yes, live. Many of the workshops are free and streamed live , with a weekly schedule posted on the site. Lecturers are real experts in their fields, whether in the various facets of the creative arts or business and entrepreneurship.

Classes are curated non-traditionally, meaning there’s no curriculum or learning path. It’s all self-guided – you learn what you want to learn and use it as an adjunct to your current grad coursework.

The Balance Careers

Before you earn your master’s or doctoral degree, it is good practice to see what opportunities lay ahead and what the job market outlook is. The Balance Careers offers insights into these topics and other relevant topics to grad students who will soon join (or will return) to the workforce armed with a graduate degree.

Its content is authored by career experts from various industries and fields who share advice on matters like getting into grad school and the program of your choice or leveraging your new degree to field competitive job offers to lead to a growing career.

Open Yale Courses

Open Yale Courses (OYC) is Yale University’s free online repository of select courses whose lectures were recorded directly from the classroom. Aside from video formats, the lectures are also available in audio and written (transcript) formats as well.

Courses include introductory lectures to a wide array of subjects like American Studies, Biomedical Engineering, Economics, Linguistics, Philosophy, Political Science, and many more – a good refresher for newly enrolled grad students.

Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha is a free online resource for all your computational needs, whether it’s for differential calculus, computational sciences like algorithms, or demographic statistics. Grad students pursuing MBAs or master’s and doctorates in STEM courses will find this useful. It even has an expanded calculator with all the mathematical symbols and constants for the calculations.

Saylor Academy

Saylor Academy advocates open and accessible education for everyone. Its comprehensive list of free resources at the tertiary and grad school level encompasses various courses from STEM to the humanities, business administration and analytics, and professional development, which includes industry-specific skills and soft skills.

Saylor’s direct partnership with almost 30 universities and its membership with the ACE and the NCCRS allows Saylor students or users to gain college credit, which they can use upon transferring and the eventual completion of their degrees at a lower cost.

Created by Barnes & Noble, SparkNotes makes learning and reading your good old textbook enjoyable. Think of it as an online reviewer. SparkNotes dissects various reading materials of any subject – with literature as its forte, mainly Shakespeare – and lays it out where all the essential details are cohesively presented and not just bombarded or outlined.

It’s like having flashcards or study guides made out for you – it’s not too summarized but not too lengthy, either. You can also cite them as sources since site content is authored by doctoral graduates, book editors, and academics.

Technology, Entertainment, and Design – this is what TED stands for, the non-profit idea-sharing platform that has become very popular for its TED Talks , but it is much more than that. Among its several other initiatives include TED Books, TED-ed, podcasts, TED Institute and Partnerships, and many more.

The TED Institute , in particular, is an excellent resource for grad students as it features a collection of TED Talks in partnership with global companies. They tackle socioeconomic challenges, like pollution , and proffer solutions like sustainability programs .

Such workshops, which bridge the gap between higher learning and the real world, could be useful for theses, dissertations, essays, and other grad school coursework.

If you’re looking for an online resource that will challenge common beliefs and perhaps even your hypothesis – kind of like an antithesis, just to make sure all your bases are covered – Big Think is an excellent resource for these purposes.

It houses videos that are presented in an investigative format and authored by the most impactful industry disruptors and subject matter experts – from social issues and psychology to AI and the dark web and everything in between.

Whether you’re pursuing visual arts or the art and science of business, SkillShare is perfect! Users gain knowledge and hands-on experience in a wide array of specialized skills like creative writing, using Shopify and Adobe to build a website without coding, building your brand, design thinking, Google Analytics, Microsoft BI, writing for children, publishing, and many more.

An account is required to access the video collection, which is mostly free. SkillShare is also available on Google Play and the App Store.

Inside Higher Ed

As a grad student, it’s equally important to know about the latest news and issues affecting the education sector, particularly the tertiary and post-tertiary levels. Inside Higher Ed is an excellent site for all the hard-hitting news circling higher ed.

It also features editorials, podcasts, blogs, data compilations, job postings, and special reports that pose thought-provoking questions and shed light on current educational paradigms.

Microsoft Academic

Perhaps the most intuitive of all the literary search engines on the web now, Microsoft Academic (MA), brings the use of AI and machine learning to the forefront of online education. By using semantic inference, MA’s search results are more contextual and substantial, as the engine is not keyword-based.

It attempts to understand the search inputs; thus, aside from generating the usual hit, MA will also generate searches that it deems relevant to the query. As of writing, it houses more than 240 million publications encompassing more than 700,000 topics. MA houses one of the largest – if not the largest – collections of educational references pertinent to all levels of learning, especially grad school.

Not entirely a beacon of accuracy and reliance, but Wikipedia is a free resource that is a good starting point for any coursework, primarily written coursework. Since the site allows anyone to create and edit Wiki entries, users should take its content with a grain of salt.

But the site is suitable for two things: one, as mentioned, it’s a good starting point or just to get a feel of the topic, and two, the citations used may contain some valuable links to other more credible and reliable resources.

Writing papers, theses, and dissertations can be a daunting task, especially at the grad school level, where after all those years of studying, one’s academic skills are expected to be impeccable. Grammarly is a free multi-platform tool that can be added as a browser extension or as a keyboard add-on to mobile devices and even office apps.

It checks for soundness of grammar, plagiarism, and even tone of speech (no need to recite those phrases out loud to check for tone). The site isn’t only useful for academics and students; it’s also an excellent tool for professionals as well.

Semantic Scholar

Semantic Scholar is a free resource full of scientific papers and publications for grad students in STEM programs. It uses artificial intelligence to help students sort through the hundreds to thousands of scientific papers being published every day. It houses materials like abstracts, clinical research, GitHub projects, papers, essays, citations, and many more.

Through AI, Semantic Scholar can show users the relevance, substance, and impact of each search result through related statistics and citations.

BASE , or Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, is an extensive academic repository that is based out of Bielefeld University in Germany. The majority of its collection comes from universities and publications in the US, though, with five times more available materials than in Germany.

About 60% of its content is available for full-text (open) access. Searches can also be done multilingually, which should be helpful to foreign grad students. Also, search results automatically include bibliographic information for citation and cross-referencing purposes.

Science.gov

For grad students pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees in STEM courses, Science.gov is a free and reliable source of scientific information from more than 2000 websites.

It provides users with free full access to journal literature, peer-reviewed materials, federally funded research and clinical reports, federal agency policies, and other documentation, as well as government training materials and opportunities in the field. The site also accepts and reviews research papers for federal funding.

Academic Info

Academic Info has information on the essentials of applying to grad school, like program requirements for each subject area or discipline, admission tests and how to prepare for these, how to finance it, and how to thrive and survive higher ed.

It also provides a list of study guides and relevant links – like specialized training – on hundreds of topics that any grad student may be assigned to write or read about. So, whether you’re seriously pondering about grad school or just browsing, this site is worth visiting.

Virtual LRC

Virtual LRC (VLRC) has been around the web since before the new millennium. Its interface is nostalgic, as it still has that old school-Google feel to it.

It is a metasearch engine, meaning it searches multiple websites or webpages, directing them to articles, e-papers, or any educational material relevant to the search query. It also encompasses every known subject, from history to arts to STEM to law. It’s efficient and fast since it leverages Google’s custom search engine and has excellent reviews from other users.

Digital Library of the Commons Repository

The Digital Library of the Commons Repository (DLC) is precisely what the name says – a digital repository of shared materials or “commons,” materials, or resources where the licenses are shared or public domain.

Housed online by the Indiana University website, the DLC includes open written documents on any topic in any format – thesis, dissertations, journal publications, public policies, editorials, and the like. But best of all, DLC also has an image database. Type any keyword, and all related photos will be listed for your perusal.

The OAIster

The OAIster is a metadata search site that indexes digital academic literature from millions of published records from open-access indices all over the world. It uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), which allows the site to index and derive search results from other open-access repositories.

OAIster houses multi-source educational information in various formats like electronic books, journal publications, manuscripts, academic papers, videos, audio files, images, etc.

Internet Public Library

The Internet Public Library (IPL) is as straightforward as an online resource can be. The resources are categorized per subject, and they span every relevant field being taught in schools of all levels, especially in grad school.

While it doesn’t have a search function, it has an index of essays and case studies on various subjects. It also houses extensive information on various programs that are offered online, as well as the multi-level degrees (associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate) available to each program.

Dogpile is a metasearch engine that combines the search results of the likes of Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others instead of searching through each site individually, thus saving one’s time.

But more than listing all the search hits, Dogpile screens the search results to eliminate redundancies and only to publish distinct results that are relevant to the query. Images and videos can be searched as well.

Library of Congress

You can search for everything at the Library of Congress (LOC) website – the word “everything” can be seen on the homepage as a search filter. 

Whether you’re looking for books (since it’s a library), manuscripts, public policies, videos, audio references, websites, software, and even 3D objects (DCM files for 3D printers), you can find it here.

National Archives

For graduate students taking history and biography classes, the National Archives is the go-to site for this kind of information. It houses millions of significant historical documents and records, which include the Constitution, census data, photos, and videos from World Wars I and II.

These are perfect references if you’re making a documentary or a video essay featuring the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and many more.

Metacrawler

Another metadata site, but the first one in the metagame, Metacrawler also does searches or “crawls” the web and various search engines to produce results that are both extensive while not being repetitive.

You can search web pages or links, news or images, and Metacrawler will combine these results from other search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, saving you time from hitting one search engine to another.

From Cornell University comes arVix , a free access site filled with almost 2 million literary resources about STEM and finance topics. Contributors include faculty advisers, authors, and third-party contributors/collaborators.

Word of caution, though: materials uploaded on arXiv are not peer-reviewed by the site or Cornell University, so multiple cross-checks for integrity and accuracy must be done. However, it’s still an excellent place to start for references.

Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS)

When in need of references, the Smithsonian is always a go-to for many students, undergrads, and professionals alike. What’s great is the famous chain of museums and libraries has a rich online repository of written and photographic resources from all its museums and libraries.

It’s not just about art, humanities, and history, though. The Smithsonian also has a vast collection of resources on science and technology.

Cornell University Library

A free resource exclusive for Cornell University students, the Cornell University Library is an extensive repository of multimedia resources – books, articles, videos, journal publications, and links to relevant websites.

A CU login credential is required to access the materials. Most of the materials are free, except for some books that can be purchased at the CU library.

Project Gutenberg

With over 60,000 eBooks freely available for reading or downloading, Project Gutenberg is a commonly frequented site by bookworms, especially those who are into the classics, i.e., ancient, first-edition classics.

The site freely uploads e-copies of old books that were published during the early 20 th century and older whose US copyrights are inactive or expired. This is also a good site for literature, humanities, or art grad students who are in search of these kinds of pristine literary works, free from any revisions.

Internet Archive

The Internet Archive houses one of the largest informational repositories on the web today, and it is still growing. Included in its multimedia collection are a 400-billion index of websites and 26 million written-format references! It also has an index of software programs for various platforms.

Surely, grad students in any program could get a kick out of this portal; just the website or collection of links alone is a researcher’s heaven.

Cosmo Learning

This Website is currently not available.

Whether you’re an undergrad in grad school or a professional looking to specialize or learn a programming language, Cosmo Learning is a great interactive site for these. It has materials categorized per subject with a particular category dedicated to professions, so if you want to have a crash course in, say, architecture or entrepreneurship, CL’s got you covered.

As of writing, it has close to 35,000 video lectures, over 1300 courses, and thousands of videos, documentaries, and images in its collection.

The Futures Channel

Though it may seem like an education portal for kids, The Futures Channel has courses and other resources – both free and subscription-based – for all learning levels. Tagged as “the largest STEM video library of its kind,” this site promotes the real-world applications of STEM learning, like the real-world applications of mathematical concepts such as algebra.

The Futures Channel helps bridge the gap between theory and application, which could be especially useful for grad students.

Edvisors (formerly Gradloans.com) is a site for everything related to student loans. It has resources on how to apply for student loans and scholarships, how to repay student loans, what the FAFSA is, etc. It also allows site users to compare different lenders and compare private student loans versus federal student loans.

The Free Library

From the creators of The Free Dictionary comes The Free Library, with over 26 million free books and other written references in business, communications, social science, law, science and health, humanities, general information, and pop culture.

You can even create and customize your homepage via this site by selecting only the topics or links that you need or would like to read. You can also add RSS feeds, as well as the weather forecast on the homepage.

  Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP)

If you need federal documents or publications for your grad school assignments, check out the Catalog of US Government Publications or the CGP. It provides descriptions and or full-text copies of documents from various federal agencies.

Among its available resources include bibliographies, congressional documents, serials, historical documents, electronic titles, and books. Its metadata search engine, Metalib , generates search results by searching other federal databases.

Are you still contemplating where to go for grad school? Do you have a shortlist of schools that outweigh the pros and cons? Go to Niche to learn more about your options! Its rankings and reviews of schools based on several categories that are usually consideration factors should be an excellent resource for aspiring grad students who are still deciding on where to go and what to study.

College Confidential

Whereas Niche prepares you for grad school, College Confidential then prepares you for life after grad school – the life of a professional.

Through blog entries, forums, and articles from career experts, members of the academe, mentors, advisers, fellow students, and alumni, this site will guide you through the crossroads of post-school and pre-career. It also has resources on schools if you’re still in the decision phase.

If you want to explore global library collections in one click, head on to WorldCat . It is a metadata engine that searches libraries and directs users to the library source of the material. Its index is home to multimedia sources like videos, literature, audio references, and many more, which can be downloaded for free (if a full digitized version of the material is available).

Student Life Network

The Student Life Network (SLN) is the ultimate student hub. It truly doesn’t matter what level of schooling you’re in; you’ll surely find something worth reading here. It’s got tips on how to survive school or how to do well in school. There’s expert advice as well on how to repay your student loans smartly or how to let your school degrees and achievements work for you to land your dream job.

SLN also offers free online seminars and discount deals to student-relevant sites like Microsoft or Evernote. A free account is required, or you can sign up using your social media account.

Scholarpedia

Scholarpedia is a free resource that combines an encyclopedia approach to digital information while ensuring that the entries are current and accurate.  All articles are peer-reviewed and vetted, even the revisions, before these are uploaded.

The subject scope is limited to high-order scientific and mathematical topics like fluid dynamics, nuclear physics, applied mathematics, etc. Each entry has a Wikipedia-like feel, but with Scholarpedia’s close collaboration with subject matter experts, credibility and information substance are guaranteed.

NASA STEM Engagement

Graduate students in the STEM program who are interested in collaboration, space exploration, project design and proposal, innovation, and research with the world’s leading scientific experts should check out the NASA STEM Engagement page .

Aside from the free downloadable resources like podcasts and books, information on fellowships and internships is also available.

Dartmouth Academic Skills Center (ASC)

We’ve written so much about online resources that offer courses, workshops, and even information on how to cope with grad school and how to finance it. Still, Dartmouth ASC has resources on how to embark and adapt to remote learning in the first place.

The ASC has extensive information on how to gear up for it and what effective strategies to maximize the benefits of remote or online learning. It has both video and written format resources on this topic. This is an excellent launchpad for students trying to adapt to the new normal in education.

Online Books Page

Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania digital library page, the Online Books Page is a free online library. It strictly observes the fundamentals of library science in indexing its vast collection of electronic books. Users can search by title, author, or topic, with a separate index for archived materials.

Zintellect, hosted by the Oak Ridge Institute, is an extensive “catalog of opportunities,” and yes, that’s what it says on its homepage. This is an excellent resource for grad students looking to make the most out of their school experience without breaking the bank.

It lists about 800 opportunities for experiential learning, such as internships, research projects, or paid work. It also has resources on scholarships and fellowships.

Graduate students in the life, natural, or biological sciences tracks should explore Vadlo . It is a metadata search engine that generates results from various life sciences websites.

Included in its indices are research papers, journal articles, presentations, protocols, documented techniques and methods, a list of molecular reagents, gene databases, and other relevant references in the life sciences.

Simple, direct, intuitive, uncluttered, and free – these are the things that continually make RefDesk a go-to online resource for grad students. This online “fact-checker” divides its database into three informational categories: quick references or snapshots of studied references and in-depth materials. 

Its index of search results is sourced from external websites and databases, thus simplifying the search for users.

  BigFutures’ Student Loan Calculator

Student loans are every student’s worry. The Student Loan Calculator feature on the BigFutures page is an excellent tool for all grad students who would like to prepare for life after school. After all, post-school isn’t all about having a great career.

For many, it’s also about paying off student loans. By inputting the borrowed amount and your expected salary after completing grad school, the calculator computes whether the loan is payable or not based on the expected salary. So, if it turns out that it’s not, at least you can plan your finances ahead of time.

Think of Scribd as an online publishing house. It houses every known literary format from books to magazines, other publications like articles and documents, and even audiobooks!

This is a monster collection that covers popular interests like personal wealth, career and development, politics, health, pop culture, and many more. Free access is available for a trial period of 30 days.

Encyclopedia.com

Encyclopedia.com is the web’s leading free encyclopedia resource. It houses about 300,000 encyclopedia entries, the references of which can be freely cited in your works.  As for searches, it indexes resources published by the Oxford University Press and Columbia University Press so that you can be sure of the materials’ credence and veracity.

The Open Library

The Open Library is the Wikipedia of books. It is an open resource book index, like an open library, where site users can add new or edited information about the books. The Internet Archive indexes the collection. E-books can be read online with a free OL account.

It also shows the current number of editions each book has and other library sites where the books can be found.

  Profellow

Profellow is a free resource that houses a fellowship and funding database for grad students. It lists more than 500 fully-funded master’s and doctoral programs globally. It lists application open calls for fellowship, grant, and funding opportunities with eligibility requirements and application deadlines.

The site was created and managed by Dr. Vicki Johnson, Ph.D., a multi-time fellow herself and a scholar. Johnson, a four-time fellow, holds an online mentorship class, Fully Funded , where she shares insights and tips on how to successfully apply to and be granted full funding for grad school.

Hosted online by renowned publisher Elsevier, Mendeley is the all-around free resource for grad students, especially those who are in research-intensive programs such as STEM. It has an online multi-platform library accessible via various devices. It also has a citation generator that creates bibliography entries in various styles.

You can also compose, save, and access your research work via the site. It also allows for collaboration and networking with fellow grad students and other professionals. It also has information on grants, funding, and even job opportunities.

Jurn is a search engine dedicated to free academic literature, be it theses, dissertations, chapters, and other written references in various subjects – from the liberal arts to the sciences. It also has a link to its metasearch engine, GRAFT, or the Global Repository Access Full-Text, which pulls results from close to 5000 global repositories.

For grad students in liberal arts programs like arts and humanities, Jurn also has an index of 3000 journals for your perusal.

References.net

References.net is a diverse multimedia index of sources from written works, audio formats, trivia, almanacs, and institutional learning adjuncts like libraries and museums.  You can browse its vast collection by topic or type of reference, alphabetically or by simply typing a keyword/s. 

Materials from this site can also be used for bibliography purposes.

Zotero is a free and open-source program, which is an excellent research and writing tool for grad students. It is a powerful and intuitive program that anticipates and understands users’ searches and pulls results, including DOI or ISBN citation data, from all relevant databases and websites.

Making citations has been made easier as well with its integration with various word processing programs. Post-installation support is also available. Zotero can be downloaded for desktop use or as a browser extension.

Grubba allows you to create your database for free, whether to organize your references or to create and grow your index. It offers tutorials on how to create and maintain your database using the templates available on the site.

You can also create all sorts of lists like to-do lists, inventories, address books, directories, multimedia collections, etc. The resulting content is searchable, shareable, accessible, and automatically backed up.

Pathways to Science

Pathways to Science is a free resource on fellowship and funding opportunities for grad students in STEM programs. Its database indexes available funding or internship opportunities across STEM programs and schools in the US.

It also has webinars on the topic. It also has resources on how to embark on your grad school journey – from choosing a school and program to applying, writing that essay, and maximizing your strengths to build a robust candidate profile.

US News was created back in the 80s with the purpose of ranking schools, but today, it has expanded as a valuable resource for everything about education.

Aside from the rankings, come to this site for in-depth reports and insights about grad school topics like application regulations for both local and international students, how your application sends either the right or wrong signals about you or what grad schools currently look for in applicants these days.

Academic papers, especially those from liberal arts programs, have more gravitas when quotes from critical historical people are included as snippets or even as focal points. Quotes.net , a sister website of References.net, has all these quotes in spades. You can search for quotations by keywords or by subjects.

Grad school entails a lot of writing, and plagiarism is a pitfall that many students try to avoid and yet commit. BibMe is a free automatic citation aid that helps students create bibliography entries following either the APA 6 th edition, MLA, or Chicago styles.

Aside from the citation guide, it also has a plagiarism checker function. BibMe also checks for grammar, structure, and style of the work. Simply paste your paper or upload it to check for plagiarism and errors. You’ll need to sign in to see the results.

With remote online learning as the new norm at all levels of education, Zoom has become a household name. This free video conferencing app is now an essential tool for lectures, webinars, group discussions, and other educational collaborations. It even surpassed other video conferencing programs in terms of usage, performance, and popularity.

Signing up is free, and the app can be used on various platforms and operating systems. A web client or browser-based version is also available.

Huffington Post College

When you think you need a break from all the researching and writing but don’t want to lose your academic momentum, hover over to the HuffPost College site for all the latest news and issues adding color to higher education.

It also has interesting and insightful blogs on topics like student debts, being a first-generation student or an immigrant student, students’ reactions to current social issues, students’ mental health or coping mechanisms, and many more.

Art Institute Chicago

With museums closed due to the outbreak, the Art Institute Chicago site provides an alternative resource for information on the visual arts or fine arts. This free resource is an excellent aid for graduate students who need to write papers on Monet, Warhol, Dali, and other artists from different periods and their works.

You can view various artworks categorized by period or art movement. The blog entries posted, as well as the publications and interactive features, are also suitable materials or references for your papers.

SEC EDGAR Search

Whether you’re taking corporate law, finance, or other related courses in grad school, you’ll probably need either current or historical data from publicly traded companies for a case study or research. The SEC’s EDGAR Search and Access site has information on all the publicly traded companies in its database.

Search its database for all pertinent data like company profile, financial status, stocks and shares, earnings and dividends, and many more data that can beef up the statistics in your paper.

PubMed has been on the web for a long time, and it has been an excellent aid for grad students in biotech, life sciences, or medicine programs. As a federal agency resource, access to its 30 million scientific literature database is free, and its reliability and substance are unquestionable.

It pulls its searches from its sister website Medline, and related journals and books.

 Wridea

A free idea and brainstorming tool, Wridea is a web tool that allows students to note their ideas before they forget about them. Leveraging this technique, students can gradually build their ideas up by organizing them and sharing them online with their co-collaborators.

  College Info Geek

College Info Geek (CIG) understands the pressures, perks, and perils of the college and grad school experience. With multimedia content curated by subject matter experts, fellow students, and the site owner Thomas Frank, CIG offers in-depth information on a wide array of relevant topics.

It’s your go-to page for college or grad school application, “adulting,” balancing social life and schoolwork, career opportunities, and specialized skills learning opportunities. It even suggests music playlists that boost your productivity!

  Law School Admission Council (LSAC)

The Law School Admission Council website is an excellent resource for aspiring law students. It has all the information you’ll need as you prepare for the LSAT and law school. It has information on the different types of law programs, and you can even take a quiz to see which program best fits you.

It also guides aspirants in their journey from admission test preps to acing the application process, getting on board with law school, surviving the stresses and passing the bar, and finally, embarking on a rewarding law career.

ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a scientific community that fosters the continued development of science through the exchange of ideas and research works. Graduate students can freely peruse the 135 million indexed pages in ResearchGate’s database.

Meanwhile, those taking the rigorous research path can submit their works for peer review and even future citations. It’s a great site to collaborate, make connections, and have an impact on the scientific community.

  Quora

Quora is not a reference or citation website, nor does it attempt to be. It is a platform to start a conversation and pick the brains of other interested users.

If you’re stuck on a problem set, a hypothesis, or a topic, or if you have writer’s block, just browse through Quora for something that interests you, or you can post your question and get the conversation ball rolling. This will help re-stimulate your brain and clear your mind of the cobwebs.

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We’re certain of one thing—your search for more information on picking the best graduate degree or school landed you here. Let our experts help guide your through the decision making process with thoughtful content written by experts.

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Sample written assignments

Look at sample assignments to help you develop and enhance your academic writing skills. 

How to use this page

This page features authentic sample assignments that you can view or download to help you develop and enhance your academic writing skills. 

PLEASE NOTE: Comments included in these sample written assignments  are intended as an educational guide only.  Always check with academic staff which referencing convention you should follow. All sample assignments have been submitted using Turnitin® (anti-plagiarism software). Under no circumstances should you copy from these or any other texts.

Annotated bibliography

Annotated Bibliography: Traditional Chinese Medicine  (PDF, 103KB)

Essay: Business - "Culture is a Tool Used by Management"  (PDF, 496KB)

Essay: Business - "Integrating Business Perspectives - Wicked Problem"  (PDF, 660KB)

Essay: Business - "Overconsumption and Sustainability"  (PDF, 762KB)

Essay: Business - "Post bureaucracy vs Bureaucracy"  (PDF, 609KB)

Essay: Design, Architecture & Building - "Ideas in History - Postmodernism"  (PDF, 545KB)

Essay: Design, Architecture & Building - "The Context of Visual Communication Design Research Project"  (PDF, 798KB)

Essay: Design, Architecture & Building - "Ideas in History - The Nurses Walk and Postmodernism"  (PDF, 558KB)

Essay: Health (Childhood Obesity )  (PDF, 159KB)

Essay: Health  (Improving Quality and Safety in Healthcare)  (PDF, 277KB)

Essay: Health (Organisational Management in Healthcare)   (PDF, 229KB)

UTS HELPS annotated Law essay

 (PDF, 250KB)

Essay: Science (Traditional Chinese Medicine)  (PDF, 153KB)

Literature review

Literature Review: Education (Critical Pedagogy)   (PDF, 165KB)

Reflective writing

Reflective Essay: Business (Simulation Project)  (PDF, 119KB)

Reflective Essay: Nursing (Professionalism in Context)  (PDF, 134KB)

Report: Business (Management Decisions and Control)   (PDF, 244KB)

Report: Education (Digital Storytelling)  (PDF, 145KB)

Report: Education (Scholarly Practice)   (PDF, 261KB)

Report: Engineering Communication (Flood Mitigation & Water Storage)  (PDF, 1MB)

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Typical Assignments

The descriptions and examples below illustrate some of the most common writing assignments that students receive at HGSE. However, we want to stress that the most important sources of information regarding any written assignment in your classes are your course syllabus and your teaching team. You are encouraged to always carefully read your syllabus or writing assignment prompts to make sure that you fully understand what is expected. You are also encouraged to ask questions and seek clarification from your teaching team before beginning to write. 

For more information on assignment genres, see Learning Materials under the Resources page. 

Academic Papers

Many midterm or final assignments can be considered “academic papers.” These assignmentsask students to integrate the learning from the course as they answer a critical question. The papers require students to put the readings from the course (and sometimes additional research literature) in conversation in the service of a well-argued thesis. Students may be asked to answer a broad question about the themes of the course, analyze conflicting ideas in important research. As academic papers, these papers are expected to be properly formatted, using APA. They are also expected to adhere to conventional academic paper structure: 

An introduction that begins by setting the broad context and narrows to a clear thesis, and (if applicable), a road map for how the paper will proceed. 

Body paragraphs that provide the elaboration of the thesis that is grounded in readings from the course. 

A conclusion that directs the reader towards broader implications of the paper’s argument or directions for future consideration. 

Case Analyses

Cases provide students with “stories from real life contexts” where usually a case protagonist (a person or an organization) encounters a problem or challenge of practice. The case lays out the many details and issues that surround the problem. Most case analyses assignments ask students to do four things: 

Diagnose the key problem(s) or challenge(s) in the case. 

Consider multiple possible solutions. 

Offer what you think is the best solutions to the problem, and offer your rationale for that choice.

Support your arguments (both about what the problem is, and how to solve it) with evidence from the case and from the course readings.  

Journals, Memos and Reflective Papers 

To help students synthesize the readings in the course in a gradual, consistent manner, manyfaculty ask students to complete written assignments that reflect on them, or on aspects of the course. These may be called journals, memos or reflections, and typically: 

Provide students the opportunity to “make sense” of what they are reading and learning. 

Do not require a formal academic format. 

Should still be well-argued, well-organized and well written (and properly cited) essays. 

Literature Reviews

A literature review is a survey of scholarly work on a specific topic. It should provide an overview of current knowledge, including relevant theories and methods. It should also identify gaps in the existing literature. A literature review should be more than a summary of existing research; it should include an explicit thesis and argument. The steps of a literature review are as follows:  

Research what has been written on a given topic (requires citations) 

Evaluate the sources 

Synthesize the research (not just annotated bibliography) 

Critique the literature 

Identify areas for future research 

Policy Memos

In these assignments, students are required to identify a policy problem and argue for a specific policy response. They should offer their rationale for that choice and contrast with other potential options. Policy memos are often characterized by the following features:  

Short, clear, and to the point, 1-5 pages 

Summarize and analyze ideas 

Make recommendations 

Role play position 

May allow use of bullet points to group ideas 

Little outside research 

Research Projects

These assignments will typically be semester long and serve as a final project. Students may be expected to design and conduct a small study and then report on their findings. Faculty may scaffold the elements of the final assignment by requiring students to submit portions (i.e. literature review, methods, etc.) throughout the semester. Elements of a research paper include:    

Introduction with research questions 

Review of the literature 

Hypotheses and methods 

Presentation of findings 

Discuss implications of the findings (e.g. areas for future research, policy implications) 

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Getting Started with Creative Assignments

Creative teaching and learning can be cultivated in any course context to increase student engagement and motivation, and promote thinking skills that are critical to problem-solving and innovation. This resource features examples of Columbia faculty who teach creatively and have reimagined their course assessments to allow students to demonstrate their learning in creative ways. Drawing on these examples, this resource provides suggestions for creating a classroom environment that supports student engagement in creative activities and assignments.  

On this page:

• The What and Why of Creative Assignments

Examples of Creative Teaching and Learning at Columbia

• How To Get Started

Cite this resource: Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (2022). Getting Started with Creative Assignments. Columbia University. Retrieved [today’s date] from https://ctl.columbia.edu/resources-and-technology/resources/creative-assignments/

The What and Why of Creative Assignments  

Creative assignments encourage students to think in innovative ways as they demonstrate their learning. Thinking creatively involves combining or synthesizing information or course materials in new ways and is characterized by “a high degree of innovation, divergent thinking, and risk-taking” (AAC&U). It is associated with imagination and originality, and additional characteristics include: being open to new ideas and perspectives, believing alternatives exist, withholding judgment, generating multiple approaches to problems, and trying new ways to generate ideas  (DiYanni, 2015: 41). Creative thinking is considered an important skill alongside critical thinking in tackling contemporary problems. Critical thinking allows students to evaluate the information presented to them while creative thinking is a process that allows students to generate new ideas and innovate.

Creative assignments can be integrated into any course regardless of discipline. Examples include the use of infographic assignments in Nursing (Chicca and Chunta, 2020) and Chemistry (Kothari, Castañeda, and McNeil, 2019); podcasting assignments in Social Work (Hitchcock, Sage & Sage, 2021); digital storytelling assignments in Psychology (Sheafer, 2017) and Sociology (Vaughn and Leon, 2021); and incorporating creative writing in the economics classroom (Davis, 2019) or reflective writing into Calculus assignment ( Gerstle, 2017) just to name a few. In a 2014 study, organic chemistry students who elected to begin their lab reports with a creative narrative were more excited to learn and earned better grades (Henry, Owens, and Tawney, 2015). In a public policy course, students who engaged in additional creative problem-solving exercises that included imaginative scenarios and alternative solution-finding showed greater interest in government reform and attentiveness to civic issues (Wukich and Siciliano, 2014).

The benefits of creative assignments include increased student engagement, motivation, and satisfaction (Snyder et al., 2013: 165); and furthered student learning of course content (Reynolds, Stevens, and West, 2013). These types of assignments promote innovation, academic integrity, student self-awareness/ metacognition (e.g., when students engage in reflection through journal assignments), and can be made authentic as students develop and apply skills to real-world situations.  

When instructors give students open-ended assignments, they provide opportunities for students to think creatively as they work on a deliverable. They “unlock potential” (Ranjan & Gabora and Beghetto in Gregerson et al., 2013) for students to synthesize their knowledge and propose novel solutions. This promotes higher-level thinking as outlined in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy’s “create” cognitive process category: “putting elements together to form a novel coherent whole or make an original product,” this involves generating ideas, planning, and producing something new. 

The examples that follow highlight creative assignments in the Columbia University classroom. The featured Columbia faculty taught creatively – they tried new strategies, purposefully varied classroom activities and assessment modalities, and encouraged their students to take control of what and how they were learning (James & Brookfield, 2014: 66).

Dr. Cruz changed her course assessment by “moving away from high stakes assessments like a final paper or a final exam, to more open-ended and creative models of assessments.”  Students were given the opportunity to synthesize their course learning, with options on topic and format of how to demonstrate their learning and to do so individually or in groups. They explored topics that were meaningful to them and related to the course material. Dr. Cruz noted that “This emphasis on playfulness and creativity led to fantastic final projects including a graphic novel interpretation, a video essay that applied critical theory to multiple texts, and an interactive virtual museum.” Students “took the opportunity to use their creative skills, or the skills they were interested in exploring because some of them had to develop new skills to produce these projects.” (Dr. Cruz; Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning , Season 3, Episode 6). Along with their projects, students submitted an artist’s statement, where they had to explain and justify their choices. 

Dr. Cruz noted that grading creative assignments require advanced planning. In her case, she worked closely with her TAs to develop a rubric that was shared with students in advance for full transparency and emphasized the importance of students connecting ideas to analytical arguments discussed in the class. 

Watch Dr. Cruz’s 2021 Symposium presentation. Listen to Dr. Cruz talk about The Power of Blended Classrooms in Season 3, Episode 6 of the Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning podcast. Get a glimpse into Dr. Cruz’s online classroom and her creative teaching and the design of learning experiences that enhanced critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, and community by viewing her Voices of Hybrid and Online Teaching and Learning submission.

As part of his standard practice, Dr. Yesilevskiy scaffolds assignments – from less complex to more complex – to ensure students integrate the concepts they learn in the class into their projects or new experiments. For example, in Laboratory 1, Dr. Yesilevskiy slowly increases the amount of independence in each experiment over the semester: students are given a full procedure in the first experiment and by course end, students are submitting new experiment proposals to Dr. Yesilevskiy for approval. This is creative thinking in action. Students not only learned how to “replicate existing experiments, but also to formulate and conduct new ones.”

Watch Dr. Yesilevskiy’s 2021 Symposium presentation. 

How Do I Get Started?: Strategies to Support Creative Assignments

The previous section showcases examples of creative assignments in action at Columbia. To help you support such creative assignments in your classroom, this section details three strategies to support creative assignments and creative thinking. Firstly, re-consider the design of your assignments to optimize students’ creative output. Secondly, scaffold creative assignments using low-stakes classroom activities that build creative capacity. Finally, cultivate a classroom environment that supports creative thinking.     

Design Considerations for Creative Assignments 

Thoughtfully designed open-ended assignments and evaluation plans encourage students to demonstrate their learning in authentic ways. When designing creative assignments, consider the following suggestions for structuring and communicating to your students about the assignment. 

Set clear expectations . Students may feel lost in the ambiguity and complexity of an open-ended assignment that requires them to create something new. Communicate the creative outcomes and learning objectives for the assignments (Ranjan & Gabora, 2013), and how students will be expected to draw on their learning in the course. Articulare how much flexibility and choice students have in determining what they work on and how they work on it. Share the criteria or a rubric that will be used to evaluate student deliverables. See the CTL’s resource Incorporating Rubrics Into Your Feedback and Grading Practices . If planning to evaluate creative thinking, consider adapting the American Association of Colleges and Universities’ creative thinking VALUE rubric . 

Structure the project to sustain engagement and promote integrity. Consider how the project might be broken into smaller assignments that build upon each other and culminate in a synthesis project. The example presented above from Dr. Yesilevskiy’s teaching highlights how he scaffolded lab complexity, progressing from structured to student-driven. See the section below “Activities to Prepare Students for Creative Assignments” for sample activities to scaffold this work. 

Create opportunities for ongoing feedback . Provide feedback at all phases of the assignment from idea inception through milestones to completion. Leverage office hours for individual or group conversations and feedback on project proposals, progress, and issues. See the CTL’s resource on Feedback for Learning . Consider creating opportunities for structured peer review for students to give each other feedback on their work. Students benefit from learning about their peers’ projects, and seeing different perspectives and approaches to accomplishing the open-ended assignment. See the CTL’s resource Peer Review: Intentional Design for Any Course Context . 

Share resources to support students in their work. Ensure all students have access to the resources they will need to be successful on the assigned project. Connect students with campus resources that can help them accomplish the project’s objectives. For instance, if students are working on a research project – connect them to the Library instruction modules “ From Books to Bytes: Navigating the Research Ecosystem ,” encourage them to schedule a consultation with a specialist for research support through Columbia Libraries , or seek out writing support. If students will need equipment to complete their project, remind them of campus resources such as makerspaces (e.g., The Makerspace @ Columbia in Room 254 Engineering Terrace/Mudd; Design Center at Barnard College); borrowing equipment (e.g., Instructional Media and Technology Services (IMATS) at Barnard; Gabe M. Wiener Music & Arts Library ). 

Ask students to submit a self-reflection with their project. Encourage students to reflect on their process and the decisions they made in order to complete the project. Provide guiding questions that have students reflect on their learning, make meaning, and engage their metacognitive thinking skills (see the CTL’s resource of Metacognition ). Students can be asked to apply the rubric to their work or to submit a creative statement along with their work that describes their intent and ownership of the project.

Collect feedback from students and iterate. Invite students to give feedback on the assigned creative project, as well as the classroom environment and creative activities used. Tell students how you will use their suggestions to make improvements to activities and assignments, and make adjustments to the classroom environment. See the CTL’s resource on Early and Mid-Semester Student Feedback . 

Low-Stakes Activities to Prepare Students for Creative Assignments

The activities described below are meant to be scaffolded opportunities leading to a larger creative project. They are low-stakes, non-graded activities that make time in the classroom for students to think, brainstorm, and create (Desrochers and Zell, 2012) and prepare them to do the creative thinking needed to complete course assignments. The activities can be adapted for any course context, with or without the use of technology, and can be done individually or collaboratively (see the CTL’s resource on Collaborative Learning to explore digital tools that are available for group work). 

Brainstorming 

Brainstorming is a process that students can engage in to generate as many ideas as possible related to a topic of study or an assignment topic (Sweet et al., 2013: 87). As they engage in this messy and jugement-free work, students explore a range of possibilities. Brainstorming reveals students’ prior knowledge (Ambrose et al., 2010: 29). Brainstorm activities are useful early on to help create a classroom culture rooted in creativity while also serving as a potential icebreaker activity that helps instructors learn more about what prior knowledge and experiences students are bringing to the course or unit of study. This activity can be done individually or in groups, and in class or asynchronously. Components may include:

• Prompt students to list off (individually or collaboratively) their ideas on a whiteboard, free write in a Google Doc or some other digital space. 
• Provide formative feedback to assist students to further develop their ideas.
• Invite students to reflect on the brainstorm process, look over their ideas and determine which idea to explore further.

Mind mapping

A mind map, also known as a cognitive or concept map, allows students to visually display their thinking and knowledge organization, through lines connecting concepts, arrows showing relationships, and other visual cues (Sweet et al., 2013: 89; Ambrose et al. 2010: 63). This challenges students to synthesize and be creative as they display words, ideas, tasks or principles (Barkley, 2010: 219-225). A mind mapping activity can be done individually or in groups, and in class or asynchronously. This activity can be an extension of a brainstorming session, whereby students take an idea from their brainstormed list and further develop it. 

Components of a mind mapping activity may include:

• Prompt students to create a map of their thinking on a topic, concept, or question. This can be done on paper, on a whiteboard, or with digital mind mapping or whiteboard tools such as Google Drawing.
• Provide formative feedback on the mind maps.
• Invite students to reflect on their mind map, and determine where to go next.

Digital storytelling

Digital storytelling involves integrating multimedia (images, text, video, audio, etc.) and narrative to produce immersive stories that connect with course content. Student-produced stories can promote engagement and learning in a way that is both personal and universal (McLellan, 2007). Digital storytelling contributes to learning through student voice and creativity in constructing meaning (Rossiter and Garcia, 2010). 

Tools such as the CTL-developed Mediathread as well as EdDiscussion support collaborative annotation of media objects. These annotations can be used in writing and discussions, which can involve creating a story. For freeform formats, digital whiteboards allow students to drop in different text and media and make connections between these elements. Such storytelling can be done collaboratively or simply shared during class. Finally, EdBlogs can be used for a blog format, or Google Slides if a presentation format is better suited for the learning objective.

Asking questions to explore new possibilities

Tap into student imagination, stimulate curiosity, and create memorable learning experiences by asking students to pose “What if?” “why” and “how” questions – how might things be done differently; what will a situation look like if it is viewed from a new perspective?; or what could a new approach to solving a problem look like? (James & Brookfield, 2014: 163). Powerful questions are open-ended ones where the answer is not immediately apparent; such questions encourage students to think about a topic in new ways, and they promote learning as students work to answer them (James & Brookfield, 2014: 163). Setting aside time for students to ask lots of questions in the classroom and bringing in questions posed on CourseWorks Discussions or EdDiscussion sends the message to students that their questions matter and play a role in learning. 

Cultivate Creative Thinking in the Classroom Environment

Create a classroom environment that encourages experimentation and thinking from new and diverse perspectives. This type of environment encourages students to share their ideas without inhibition and personalize the meaning-making process. “Creative environments facilitate intentional acts of divergent (idea generation, collaboration, and design thinking) and convergent (analysis of ideas, products, and content created) thinking processes.” (Sweet et al., 2013: 20)

Encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes . Taking risks in the classroom can be anxiety inducing so students will benefit from reassurance that their creativity and all ideas are welcome. When students bring up unexpected ideas, rather than redirecting or dismissing, seize it as an opportunity for a conversation in which students can share, challenge, and affirm ideas (Beghetto, 2013). Let students know that they can make mistakes, “think outside of the box” without penalty (Desrochers and Zell, 2012), and embrace failure seeing it as a learning opportunity.

Model creative thinking . Model curiosity and how to ask powerful questions, and encourage students to be curious about everything (Synder et al., 2013, DiYanni, 2015). Give students a glimpse into your own creative thinking process – how you would approach an open-ended question, problem, or assignment? Turn your own mistakes into teachable moments. By modeling creative thinking, you are giving students permission to engage in this type of thinking.

Build a community that supports the creative classroom environment. Have students get to know and interact with each other so that they become comfortable asking questions and taking risks in front of and with their peers. See the CTL’s resource on Community Building in the Classroom . This is especially important if you are planning to have students collaborate on creative activities and assignments and/or engage in peer review of each other’s work. 

Plan for play. Play is integral to learning (Cavanagh, 2021; Eyler, 2018; Tatter, 2019). Play cultivates a low stress, high trust, inclusive environment, as students build relationships with each. This allows students to feel more comfortable in the classroom and motivates them to tackle more difficult content (Forbes, 2021). Set aside time for play (Ranjan & Gabora, 2013; Sinfield, Burns, & Abegglen, 2018). Design for play with purpose grounded in learning goals. Create a structured play session during which students experiment with a new topic, idea, or tool and connect it to curricular content or their learning experience. Play can be facilitated through educational games such as puzzles, video games, trivia competitions, scavenger hunts or role-playing activities in which students actively apply knowledge and skills as they act out their role (Eyler, 2018; Barkley, 2010). For an example of role-playing games explore Reacting to the Past , an active learning pedagogy of role-playing games developed by Mark Carnes at Barnard College. 

The CTL is here to help!

CTL consultants are happy to support instructors as they design activities and assignments that promote creative thinking. Email [email protected] to schedule a consultation.

Ambrose et al. (2010). How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass.

Barkley, E. F., Major, C. H., and Cross, K. P. (2014). Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty . 

Barkley, E. F. (2010) Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty.

Beghetto, R. (2013). Expect the Unexpected: Teaching for Creativity in the Micromoments. In M.B. Gregerson, H.T. Snyder, and J.C. Kaufman (Eds.). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Cavanagh, S. R. (2021). How to Play in the College Classroom in a Pandemic, and Why You Should . The Chronicle of Higher Education. February 9, 2021.

Chicca, J. and Chunta, K, (2020). Engaging Students with Visual Stories: Using Infographics in Nursing Education . Teaching and Learning in Nursing. 15(1), 32-36.

Davis, M. E. (2019). Poetry and economics: Creativity, engagement and learning in the economics classroom. International Review of Economics Education. Volume 30. 

Desrochers, C. G. and Zell, D. (2012). Gave projects, tests, or assignments that required original or creative thinking! POD-IDEA Center Notes on Instruction. 

DiYanni, R. (2015). Critical and creative thinking : A brief guide for teachers . John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. 

Eyler, J. R. (2018). How Humans Learn. The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching. West Virginia University Press. 

Forbes, L. K. (2021). The Process of Play in Learning in Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study. Journal of Teaching and Learning. Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 57-73. 

Gerstle, K. (2017). Incorporating Meaningful Reflection into Calculus Assignments. PRIMUS. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies. 29(1), 71-81.

Gregerson, M. B., Snyder, H. T., and Kaufman, J. C. (2013). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Henry, M., Owens, E. A., and Tawney, J. G. (2015). Creative Report Writing in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory Inspires Non Majors. Journal of Chemical Education , 92, 90-95.

Hitchcock, L. I., Sage, T., Lynch, M. and Sage, M. (2021). Podcasting as a Pedagogical Tool for Experiential Learning in Social Work Education. Journal of Teaching in Social Work . 41(2). 172-191.

James, A., & Brookfield, S. D. (2014). Engaging imagination : Helping students become creative and reflective thinkers . John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Jackson, N. (2008). Tackling the Wicked Problem of Creativity in Higher Education.

Jackson, N. (2006). Creativity in higher education. SCEPTrE Scholarly Paper , 3 , 1-25.

Kleiman, P. (2008). Towards transformation: conceptions of creativity in higher education.

Kothari, D., Hall, A. O., Castañeda, C. A., and McNeil, A. J. (2019). Connecting Organic Chemistry Concepts with Real-World Context by Creating Infographics. Journal of Chemistry Education. 96(11), 2524-2527. 

McLellan, H. (2007). Digital Storytelling in Higher Education. Journal of Computing in Higher Education. 19, 65-79. 

Ranjan, A., & Gabora, L. (2013). Creative Ideas for Actualizing Student Potential. In M.B. Gregerson, H.T. Snyder, and J.C. Kaufman (Eds.). Teaching Creatively and Teaching Creativity . Springer. 

Rossiter, M. and Garcia, P. A. (2010). Digital Storytelling: A New Player on the Narrative Field. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. No. 126, Summer 2010. 

Sheafer, V. (2017). Using digital storytelling to teach psychology: A preliminary investigation. Psychology Learning & Teaching. 16(1), 133-143. 

Sinfield, S., Burns, B., & Abegglen, S. (2018). Exploration: Becoming Playful – The Power of a Ludic Module. In A. James and C. Nerantzi (Eds.). The Power of Play in Higher Education . Palgrave Macmillan.

Reynolds, C., Stevens, D. D., and West, E. (2013). “I’m in a Professional School! Why Are You Making Me Do This?” A Cross-Disciplinary Study of the Use of Creative Classroom Projects on Student Learning. College Teaching. 61: 51-59.

Sweet, C., Carpenter, R., Blythe, H., and Apostel, S. (2013). Teaching Applied Creative Thinking: A New Pedagogy  for the 21st Century. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press Inc. 

Tatter, G. (2019). Playing to Learn: How a pedagogy of play can enliven the classroom, for students of all ages . Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

Vaughn, M. P. and Leon, D. (2021). The Personal Is Political Art: Using Digital Storytelling to Teaching Sociology of Sexualities. Teaching Sociology. 49(3), 245-255. 

Wukich, C. and Siciliano, M. D. (2014). Problem Solving and Creativity in Public Policy Courses: Promoting Interest and Civic Engagement. Journal of Political Science Education . 10, 352-368.

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How Do I Create Meaningful and Effective Assignments?

Prepared by allison boye, ph.d. teaching, learning, and professional development center.

Assessment is a necessary part of the teaching and learning process, helping us measure whether our students have really learned what we want them to learn. While exams and quizzes are certainly favorite and useful methods of assessment, out of class assignments (written or otherwise) can offer similar insights into our students' learning.  And just as creating a reliable test takes thoughtfulness and skill, so does creating meaningful and effective assignments. Undoubtedly, many instructors have been on the receiving end of disappointing student work, left wondering what went wrong… and often, those problems can be remedied in the future by some simple fine-tuning of the original assignment.  This paper will take a look at some important elements to consider when developing assignments, and offer some easy approaches to creating a valuable assessment experience for all involved.

First Things First…

Before assigning any major tasks to students, it is imperative that you first define a few things for yourself as the instructor:

• Your goals for the assignment . Why are you assigning this project, and what do you hope your students will gain from completing it? What knowledge, skills, and abilities do you aim to measure with this assignment?  Creating assignments is a major part of overall course design, and every project you assign should clearly align with your goals for the course in general.  For instance, if you want your students to demonstrate critical thinking, perhaps asking them to simply summarize an article is not the best match for that goal; a more appropriate option might be to ask for an analysis of a controversial issue in the discipline. Ultimately, the connection between the assignment and its purpose should be clear to both you and your students to ensure that it is fulfilling the desired goals and doesn't seem like “busy work.” For some ideas about what kinds of assignments match certain learning goals, take a look at this page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons.
• Have they experienced “socialization” in the culture of your discipline (Flaxman, 2005)? Are they familiar with any conventions you might want them to know? In other words, do they know the “language” of your discipline, generally accepted style guidelines, or research protocols?
• Do they know how to conduct research?  Do they know the proper style format, documentation style, acceptable resources, etc.? Do they know how to use the library (Fitzpatrick, 1989) or evaluate resources?
• What kinds of writing or work have they previously engaged in?  For instance, have they completed long, formal writing assignments or research projects before? Have they ever engaged in analysis, reflection, or argumentation? Have they completed group assignments before?  Do they know how to write a literature review or scientific report?

In his book Engaging Ideas (1996), John Bean provides a great list of questions to help instructors focus on their main teaching goals when creating an assignment (p.78):

1. What are the main units/modules in my course?

2. What are my main learning objectives for each module and for the course?

3. What thinking skills am I trying to develop within each unit and throughout the course?

4. What are the most difficult aspects of my course for students?

5. If I could change my students' study habits, what would I most like to change?

6. What difference do I want my course to make in my students' lives?

What your students need to know

Once you have determined your own goals for the assignment and the levels of your students, you can begin creating your assignment.  However, when introducing your assignment to your students, there are several things you will need to clearly outline for them in order to ensure the most successful assignments possible.

• First, you will need to articulate the purpose of the assignment . Even though you know why the assignment is important and what it is meant to accomplish, you cannot assume that your students will intuit that purpose. Your students will appreciate an understanding of how the assignment fits into the larger goals of the course and what they will learn from the process (Hass & Osborn, 2007). Being transparent with your students and explaining why you are asking them to complete a given assignment can ultimately help motivate them to complete the assignment more thoughtfully.
• If you are asking your students to complete a writing assignment, you should define for them the “rhetorical or cognitive mode/s” you want them to employ in their writing (Flaxman, 2005). In other words, use precise verbs that communicate whether you are asking them to analyze, argue, describe, inform, etc.  (Verbs like “explore” or “comment on” can be too vague and cause confusion.) Provide them with a specific task to complete, such as a problem to solve, a question to answer, or an argument to support.  For those who want assignments to lead to top-down, thesis-driven writing, John Bean (1996) suggests presenting a proposition that students must defend or refute, or a problem that demands a thesis answer.
• It is also a good idea to define the audience you want your students to address with their assignment, if possible – especially with writing assignments.  Otherwise, students will address only the instructor, often assuming little requires explanation or development (Hedengren, 2004; MIT, 1999). Further, asking students to address the instructor, who typically knows more about the topic than the student, places the student in an unnatural rhetorical position.  Instead, you might consider asking your students to prepare their assignments for alternative audiences such as other students who missed last week's classes, a group that opposes their position, or people reading a popular magazine or newspaper.  In fact, a study by Bean (1996) indicated the students often appreciate and enjoy assignments that vary elements such as audience or rhetorical context, so don't be afraid to get creative!
• Obviously, you will also need to articulate clearly the logistics or “business aspects” of the assignment . In other words, be explicit with your students about required elements such as the format, length, documentation style, writing style (formal or informal?), and deadlines.  One caveat, however: do not allow the logistics of the paper take precedence over the content in your assignment description; if you spend all of your time describing these things, students might suspect that is all you care about in their execution of the assignment.
• Finally, you should clarify your evaluation criteria for the assignment. What elements of content are most important? Will you grade holistically or weight features separately? How much weight will be given to individual elements, etc?  Another precaution to take when defining requirements for your students is to take care that your instructions and rubric also do not overshadow the content; prescribing too rigidly each element of an assignment can limit students' freedom to explore and discover. According to Beth Finch Hedengren, “A good assignment provides the purpose and guidelines… without dictating exactly what to say” (2004, p. 27).  If you decide to utilize a grading rubric, be sure to provide that to the students along with the assignment description, prior to their completion of the assignment.

A great way to get students engaged with an assignment and build buy-in is to encourage their collaboration on its design and/or on the grading criteria (Hudd, 2003). In his article “Conducting Writing Assignments,” Richard Leahy (2002) offers a few ideas for building in said collaboration:

• Ask the students to develop the grading scale themselves from scratch, starting with choosing the categories.

• Set the grading categories yourself, but ask the students to help write the descriptions.

• Draft the complete grading scale yourself, then give it to your students for review and suggestions.

A Few Do's and Don'ts…

Determining your goals for the assignment and its essential logistics is a good start to creating an effective assignment. However, there are a few more simple factors to consider in your final design. First, here are a few things you should do :

• Do provide detail in your assignment description . Research has shown that students frequently prefer some guiding constraints when completing assignments (Bean, 1996), and that more detail (within reason) can lead to more successful student responses.  One idea is to provide students with physical assignment handouts , in addition to or instead of a simple description in a syllabus.  This can meet the needs of concrete learners and give them something tangible to refer to.  Likewise, it is often beneficial to make explicit for students the process or steps necessary to complete an assignment, given that students – especially younger ones – might need guidance in planning and time management (MIT, 1999).
• Do use open-ended questions.  The most effective and challenging assignments focus on questions that lead students to thinking and explaining, rather than simple yes or no answers, whether explicitly part of the assignment description or in the  brainstorming heuristics (Gardner, 2005).
• Do direct students to appropriate available resources . Giving students pointers about other venues for assistance can help them get started on the right track independently. These kinds of suggestions might include information about campus resources such as the University Writing Center or discipline-specific librarians, suggesting specific journals or books, or even sections of their textbook, or providing them with lists of research ideas or links to acceptable websites.
• Do consider providing models – both successful and unsuccessful models (Miller, 2007). These models could be provided by past students, or models you have created yourself.  You could even ask students to evaluate the models themselves using the determined evaluation criteria, helping them to visualize the final product, think critically about how to complete the assignment, and ideally, recognize success in their own work.
• Do consider including a way for students to make the assignment their own. In their study, Hass and Osborn (2007) confirmed the importance of personal engagement for students when completing an assignment.  Indeed, students will be more engaged in an assignment if it is personally meaningful, practical, or purposeful beyond the classroom.  You might think of ways to encourage students to tap into their own experiences or curiosities, to solve or explore a real problem, or connect to the larger community.  Offering variety in assignment selection can also help students feel more individualized, creative, and in control.
• If your assignment is substantial or long, do consider sequencing it. Far too often, assignments are given as one-shot final products that receive grades at the end of the semester, eternally abandoned by the student.  By sequencing a large assignment, or essentially breaking it down into a systematic approach consisting of interconnected smaller elements (such as a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, or a rough draft, or a series of mini-assignments related to the longer assignment), you can encourage thoughtfulness, complexity, and thoroughness in your students, as well as emphasize process over final product.

Next are a few elements to avoid in your assignments:

• Do not ask too many questions in your assignment.  In an effort to challenge students, instructors often err in the other direction, asking more questions than students can reasonably address in a single assignment without losing focus. Offering an overly specific “checklist” prompt often leads to externally organized papers, in which inexperienced students “slavishly follow the checklist instead of integrating their ideas into more organically-discovered structure” (Flaxman, 2005).
• Do not expect or suggest that there is an “ideal” response to the assignment. A common error for instructors is to dictate content of an assignment too rigidly, or to imply that there is a single correct response or a specific conclusion to reach, either explicitly or implicitly (Flaxman, 2005). Undoubtedly, students do not appreciate feeling as if they must read an instructor's mind to complete an assignment successfully, or that their own ideas have nowhere to go, and can lose motivation as a result. Similarly, avoid assignments that simply ask for regurgitation (Miller, 2007). Again, the best assignments invite students to engage in critical thinking, not just reproduce lectures or readings.
• Do not provide vague or confusing commands . Do students know what you mean when they are asked to “examine” or “discuss” a topic? Return to what you determined about your students' experiences and levels to help you decide what directions will make the most sense to them and what will require more explanation or guidance, and avoid verbiage that might confound them.
• Do not impose impossible time restraints or require the use of insufficient resources for completion of the assignment.  For instance, if you are asking all of your students to use the same resource, ensure that there are enough copies available for all students to access – or at least put one copy on reserve in the library. Likewise, make sure that you are providing your students with ample time to locate resources and effectively complete the assignment (Fitzpatrick, 1989).

The assignments we give to students don't simply have to be research papers or reports. There are many options for effective yet creative ways to assess your students' learning! Here are just a few:

Journals, Posters, Portfolios, Letters, Brochures, Management plans, Editorials, Instruction Manuals, Imitations of a text, Case studies, Debates, News release, Dialogues, Videos, Collages, Plays, Power Point presentations

Ultimately, the success of student responses to an assignment often rests on the instructor's deliberate design of the assignment. By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students. If you would like further help in constructing or revising an assignment, the Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center is glad to offer individual consultations. In addition, look into some of the resources provided below.

Online Resources

“Creating Effective Assignments” http://www.unh.edu/teaching-excellence/resources/Assignments.htm This site, from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning,  provides a brief overview of effective assignment design, with a focus on determining and communicating goals and expectations.

Gardner, T.  (2005, June 12). Ten Tips for Designing Writing Assignments. Traci's Lists of Ten. http://www.tengrrl.com/tens/034.shtml This is a brief yet useful list of tips for assignment design, prepared by a writing teacher and curriculum developer for the National Council of Teachers of English .  The website will also link you to several other lists of “ten tips” related to literacy pedagogy.

“How to Create Effective Assignments for College Students.”  http:// tilt.colostate.edu/retreat/2011/zimmerman.pdf     This PDF is a simplified bulleted list, prepared by Dr. Toni Zimmerman from Colorado State University, offering some helpful ideas for coming up with creative assignments.

“Learner-Centered Assessment” http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/learner_centered_assessment.html From the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo, this is a short list of suggestions for the process of designing an assessment with your students' interests in mind. “Matching Learning Goals to Assignment Types.” http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/How_to/design_assignments/assignments_learning_goals.html This is a great page from DePaul University's Teaching Commons, providing a chart that helps instructors match assignments with learning goals.

Additional References Bean, J.C. (1996). Engaging ideas: The professor's guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Fitzpatrick, R. (1989). Research and writing assignments that reduce fear lead to better papers and more confident students. Writing Across the Curriculum , 3.2, pp. 15 – 24.

Flaxman, R. (2005). Creating meaningful writing assignments. The Teaching Exchange .  Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008 from http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2005/01_flaxman.pdf

Hass, M. & Osborn, J. (2007, August 13). An emic view of student writing and the writing process. Across the Disciplines, 4. 

Hedengren, B.F. (2004). A TA's guide to teaching writing in all disciplines . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.

Hudd, S. S. (2003, April). Syllabus under construction: Involving students in the creation of class assignments.  Teaching Sociology , 31, pp. 195 – 202.

Leahy, R. (2002). Conducting writing assignments. College Teaching , 50.2, pp. 50 – 54.

Miller, H. (2007). Designing effective writing assignments.  Teaching with writing .  University of Minnesota Center for Writing. Retrieved Jan. 9, 2008, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/assignments/designing.html

MIT Online Writing and Communication Center (1999). Creating Writing Assignments. Retrieved January 9, 2008 from http://web.mit.edu/writing/Faculty/createeffective.html .

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Assignment Guarantee and Priorities

Assignment priorities.

Topics on this page:

• Guaranteed First-year Housing for New Students
• Coterminal Students

After the First Year

Housing assignment priority levels.

• Housing Assignment Priority Levels legend
• Additional information about Priorities
• Autumn Assignment Priority for Students Living in Housing
• Academic Year Residence Priorities for Law Students
• Academic Year Residence Priorities for GSB Students

Academic Year Assignment Priorities - Graduate Students

Regardless of your priority level, we are strongly encouraging all matriculated graduate students who need housing to apply for the Lottery. 

Guaranteed First-year Housing for Graduate Students

If you are enrolled in a Stanford graduate degree program for the first time, you are guaranteed housing for your first year of study if:

• you apply by the Lottery deadline and
• you select “Assign me to any residence for which I am eligible” as your final application choice.
• Students will not be automatically assigned to Munger , the GSB Residences , off-campus subsidized housing (except Oak Creek Apartments ), EVGR two-bedroom, triple occupancy apartments (for single students) or premium studios (for single students), unless they specifically list those options on their application.
• Students may be assigned to any other on-campus residence or Oak Creek Apartments .​
• This assignment priority is effective only during the first academic year of graduate study.
• If you have previously received a graduate degree from Stanford, and are beginning a new graduate degree program, you are considered a continuing graduate student.
• It cannot be used in later years even if you are admitted to an additional degree program.
• First-year students who apply after the deadline or have restricted housing choices will lose the first-year guarantee, but will still have high priority and will be considered for housing before continuing students and students without priority.
• Knight-Hennessy Scholars will have an additional assignment priority their first year in the program. It cannot be used in later years if you choose not to apply for housing in your first year.

BACK TO TOP

Coterminal Students

• Stanford undergraduates who are admitted into a co-terminal graduate program are considered continuing students and will have two years of low assignment priority in the Lottery.
• Coterminal Stanford undergraduates who have completed their senior year may apply for housing in the Graduate Housing Lottery.
• We anticipate that we will be able to accommodate coterm students seeking graduate housing as long as they are willing to accept any assignment within graduate housing, including off-campus subsidized housing.
• Coterm students who have not completed their senior year should participate in the undergraduate assignment process.
• Coterms who have completed their senior year may choose to apply for undergraduate housing.

Students will receive the following housing priority years based on the degree program in the Lottery. Students living on-campus may renew after the first year dependent upon their degree program. Students must have a medium assignment priority level to renew. Students living in subsidized off-campus housing are not able to renew their housing contracts.

• Continuing  Doctoral degree candidates (PhD, JSD, DMA)  have six years of housing priority. After their first guaranteed year, they can renew in place or participate in the Lottery with medium priority for five additional years.
• Continuing  MD candidates  have five years of housing priority. After their first guaranteed year, they can renew in place or participate in the Lottery with medium priority for four additional years.
• Continuing  JD candidates  have three years of housing priority. After their first guaranteed year, they can renew in place or participate in the Lottery with medium priority for two additional years.
• Continuing  Master’s candidates in Single Graduate and Couples without Children Housing  are only guaranteed housing for the first year of the program. After the first year, they are not able to renew and may enter the Lottery but will have low priority for assignment.
• Continuing  Master’s candidates in Students with Children Housing  have two years of housing priority. After the first year, they can renew in place or participate in the Lottery with medium priority.

Additional Information about Priorities

• There is no distinction between years within the limited housing priority. For example, PhD students in their second year have the same housing assignment priority as students in their third, fourth, fifth and sixth years.
• Students who have medium priority years remaining may renew their apartment by the Lottery deadline each year if they remain in continuous occupancy and meet eligibility requirements.
• Students who have medium priority years remaining and who are living in subsidized off-campus housing will have a special off-campus priority in the 2024 Lottery and will be assigned before first-year students.
• Students entering the Lottery with a medium priority will be assigned after first-year students.
• Students entering the Lottery with a low priority will be assigned after students with a medium priority.
• Students whose studies extend beyond the priority years allocated for their degree program can apply for housing but will be assigned after all students with assignment priority.
• Housing years are based on the academic calendar (autumn through the following summer).
• Your housing years include those spent as a single graduate student, couples and/or students with children.
• Student spouses and partners in couple and family housing use a priority year even while the contract is in under their partner’s name.
• Housing years include those lived in on-campus housing, University-assigned off-campus housing and Housing Stipend Awards.
• Only housing contracts kept during autumn and winter quarters are counted toward the total number of years in housing. Canceled assignments and occupancy beginning in spring or summer don’t count.
• If you are enrolled in a joint degree program, your housing years will reflect the highest degree. For example, if you are a JD/MBA, you would be considered a JD student with a total of three years of housing priority.
• The number of assignment priority years given does not increase cumulatively per degree. If you were a Master’s student with one year of assignment priority and are beginning a doctoral program, you are given five additional years of housing priority, for a total of six assignment priority years. If you were previously a Master’s student and lived in housing for at least one year and are beginning a new Master’s degree program, you will have no additional priority years provided.
• It is your responsibility to verify that your priority level is correct on your application and to contact Housing Assignments before the Lottery if there is a problem.
• The housing priorities are reviewed as needed and may change during your time at Stanford.

Autumn Assignment Priority for Students Living in Housing 

During the Lottery, if a student has a lottery number and priority level strong enough to be assigned in the first round, we assign that student back to their original housing assignment (if desired) before making any other assignments. This is done to reduce the number of student moves within university assigned housing over the summer months. If we don't do that, a large number of current students would be forced to change residences within university housing. As we process subsequent autumn quarter assignment rounds, we continue to allow students to remain in place if their lottery number is strong enough to be assigned in that round. For students who are not in housing or are changing assignments, assignment order is driven by both a students’ Lottery number and their overall priority level, while the location a student is assigned to is driven by their individual housing choices and what spaces are available for assignment. We will continue to do our very best to assign students within this rubric to meet their housing needs.

Academic Year Residence Priorities - Law Students

Law students have priority to half of each type of the apartments in munger graduate residence in this order:.

• New first-year JD law students
• New transfer JD law students
• All other first-year law students (LLM, JSM, JSD, PhD, etc.)
• Continuing law students currently living in Munger (for their specific apartment type)
• Continuing law students not living in Munger

What you should know about the Law student priority to Munger:

• The Munger Graduate Residence priority is only activated for each type of Munger housing option when you specifically list it as a choice on your application.
• Since the law students receive priority to 50% of each type of housing, you should list all the different types of housing choices to maximize your chance of being assigned to Munger.
• There are a very limited number of one-bedroom couples housing options in Munger. Law student couples who want to live in Munger should also list the premium studios. To increase your chances of living in university-assigned Couples without Children Housing, consider listing apartments in Escondido Village and EVGR.
• There are also a very limited number of two-bedroom apartments for single students in Munger. Single students interested in Munger should also list the four-bedroom or studio options.
• If you apply for housing as a group, and if you have a law student priority but others in your group do not, you may be split from your group as your priority does not transfer to group members. You can use the group retention feature to void your Munger priority. If you would like to maximize your chances of getting assigned to Munger, do NOT use the group retention feature.
• The law student priority is active all year through all rounds of housing assignments.

Academic Year Residence Priorities - GSB Students

Gsb students have priority to the gsb residences in this order:.

• New MBA admits
• New MSx admits
• New PhD admits
• Continuing MBA students
• Continuing MSx students
• Continuing PhD students

What you should know about the GSB student priority to the GSB Residences:

• The priority for the GSB Residences is only activated when you specifically list it as a choice on your application.
• There are a limited number of couples housing options in the GSB Residences. If you want to live in university-assigned Couples without Children Housing, consider listing apartments in Escondido Village, EVGR and Munger.
• If you apply for housing as a group, and if you have a GSB student priority but others in your group do not, you may be split from your group as your priority does not transfer to group members. You can use the group retention feature to void your GSB priority. If you would like to maximize your chances of getting assigned to the GSB Residences, do NOT use the group retention feature.
• The GSB student priority is active all year through all rounds of housing assignments.

Excellence in Research and Teaching

Four scholars honored with top graduate student award.

Every year, Georgia Southern graduate students are called upon to teach, grade assignments, run laboratories, conduct research, and write and publish complex papers. But too often their academic achievements are overlooked. Meet the four graduate students who won this year’s Averitt Award, which is the highest honor presented to students within the Georgia Southern University Jack N. Averitt College of Graduate Studies. The award recognizes excellence in two separate categories — research and instruction.

Excellence in Graduate Instruction

Spencer erick riner master of science graduate student college of behavioral and social sciences.

Hometown: Guyton, Georgia Major: Criminology

What did you teach? Criminal Law, investigations and criminal procedure What did you enjoy about teaching? My career in law enforcement spans 27 years and has provided me with extensive practical knowledge and experience to pass along to students. As such, I am passionate about student success and providing them with real-world instruction. I use techniques and lessons from cases I have investigated to enhance classroom instruction.

What did you appreciate most about the program in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences? I truly appreciate the people who work within the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. The faculty and staff within the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology are dedicated to the success of the students. Everyone within the department has a passion for research and instruction. They have supported and encouraged me throughout my time in the master’s program.

What are your career plans? I am currently the director of emergency management for Georgia Southern and I plan to continue working in that capacity. My next academic goal is to be accepted into a Ph.D. program. It would be an honor to become an associate professor within the criminal justice and criminology department in the future. I would like to continue to research criminological issues and teach those who will be working within the criminal justice system.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? It was extremely special to receive a nomination. I was surprised and honored to receive the award because I was one of many deserving candidates.

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? I enjoy running. I completed my first marathon in 2019.

IVY COLLINS Master of Science Graduate College of Science and Mathematics

Hometown: Guyton, Georgia Major: Mathematics

What did you enjoy about teaching? I most enjoyed watching students grow and thrive in my class. I taught many students; several were not math majors or STEM majors, so math was hard for them. I saw many students struggle with hard topics, but they lit up when they finally understood the topic or applied it to a problem. It is one of the best things to witness.

Please describe your Georgia Southern experience. When I started at Georgia Southern in the fall of 2021, I was worried about the experiences I would receive during my graduate degree. I went to a small private college as an undergrad, so Georgia Southern was intimidating. I quickly realized that just because Georgia Southern is a bigger university, the math department was very small. In no time, I was forming close relationships with my professors, the staff, the undergrads and other graduate students in the department. Georgia Southern truly made me feel at home.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? I am honored and humbled to have this honor bestowed upon me. Through my years here at Georgia Southern, I have met and worked with many other graduate students who are just as deserving of this award. I truly feel that I was just a model of all the professors I have had throughout my academic career, and I just wanted to provide my students with the educational experiences I had received.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? I will miss all of the mentorships I received throughout my time here. I will also miss all of the relationships I created with the faculty and other graduate students.

What are your career plans? My ultimate career goal is to be a professor. That is why I will be continuing my education to pursue my Ph.D. to help prepare me.

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? I am a beekeeper. In high school, I developed an interest in protecting the honeybee population and I started my own hives. I am also a volunteer at the Georgia Aquarium.

Excellence in Research Scholars

Katherine fallon doctor of psychology graduate student college of behavioral and social sciences.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Major: Clinical Psychology

What is the focus of your research? My primary research agenda focuses on a transdisciplinary approach to better understand problems of practice around youth advocacy, resiliency and equity.

What did you learn through conducting your research? Specifically, my research team currently has one active research project as a continuation in evaluating educator perceptions of preparedness in responding to various crisis events (e.g., gun violence, suicide, bullying, assault, natural disaster) and evaluating current school-wide safety plans. Additionally, my dissertation work was aimed at developing a comprehensive assessment of parental perceptions of risk factors for adolescent behavioral and sexual aggression.

I believe research encompasses much more than data collection, analysis and reporting of findings. Throughout my research experience at GS, I have grown a strong appreciation for the utility of research to make public impacts. Through a better understanding of the unique or shared challenges our communities face, we can inform implications for practice (e.g., community partnerships, training) to incite change and growth in the way we lead, educate and support our community. Further, as a student in clinical psychology and current training clinician, I feel my research closely aligns with my mission as a mental health provider of improving access to resources and quality of wellbeing (i.e., physical, emotional, psychological, social, developmental) for under-resourced communities.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? Being the recipient of the Averitt Award was very exciting and unexpected. I am very honored to have been nominated and even more so to have received this award, as this is incredibly monumental for the fields in which my research and academic pursuits are held. I am very thankful to have a team of individuals who have always believed in the work I have done and continuously strive to better the community around us.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? During my time at GS, I have had many academic and research mentors whom I have been incredibly thankful for. Dr. Jeff Klibert, Dr. Thresa Yance and Dr. Dorthie Cross have guided me through my dissertation work and psychology courses, and they have consistently encouraged me to lead a

What is an intriguing or little-known fact about you? My childhood life dream was to be on American Idol.

life of advocacy and speak out on important topics. Also, through my research assistantships, Dr. Juliann McBrayer and Dr. Chad Posick, along with the many other faculty co-researchers, have guided me in understanding trials and celebrations in research activity. While I plan to continue to work alongside each of these individuals in my future endeavors, I also hope I can provide mentorship to future students or trainees in the same way they have graciously supported me.

What are your career plans? Next year, I have the opportunity to match with the University of Alabama Birmingham in the Generalist Adult Psychology track for my pre-doctoral internship. I hope to continue my career working within an integrated healthcare system focusing on trauma-informed care for youth and adults. Through this, I plan to continue to disseminate research through the publication of manuscripts, presentations and training to ignite change in under-resourced and understudied communities and promote overall well-being.

JOSEPH VONDRASEK Master of Science in Sports Medicine Graduate Waters College of Health Professions

Hometown: Owosso, Michigan Major: Health Science and Kinesiology

What is the focus of your research? My main research focus is autonomic nervous system function and cardiovascular health, looking at ways to improve the health of these systems via everyday tools that people can use.

What did you learn through conducting your research? In one research project, I evaluated the accuracy and effectiveness of a cost-free smartphone application for improving heart rate variability — an important marker of cardiovascular health — during slow-paced breathing by comparing the app to the gold-standard electrocardiogram. I gained valuable lab skills in measuring fitness, strength, autonomic nervous system status, body composition and blood markers by drawing blood from the study participants. One thing I learned is that the value of understanding the theory of how to do something pales in comparison to actually doing it. I learned this through blood draws. I felt like I didn’t know enough to do it in the beginning, but, as cliché as it sounds, I soon realized you just have to go for it.

Please describe your Georgia Southern experience. I learned how to be an adult at Georgia Southern. I had experiences like paying rent, building up my credit score, booking a flight and appealing parking tickets. I also learned the value of friendship and how fortunate it is to have amazing friends in and out of the lab. It was a challenging and rewarding journey and I especially appreciated the close-knit community and supportive faculty. I felt my time at Georgia Southern prepared me for my future studies and career in exercise physiology.

What did it mean to you to be a recipient of the Averitt Award? I am very grateful to receive such a prestigious distinction from the College of Graduate Studies. Being recognized for the research that I have done while at Georgia Southern was a great honor.

What will you miss most about Georgia Southern? I cherish my time in the Biodynamics and Human Performance Center. I was very fortunate to work closely with all three faculty members who advise students of the lab, and especially my primary advisor, Dr. Andrew Flatt. Dr. Flatt taught me a tremendous amount about the science and

latest research on autonomic nervous system health, but he also showed me what it takes to be a respected and successful researcher in this field.

What are your career plans? I plan to continue my studies by pursuing a Ph.D. in exercise physiology at Florida State University in the cardiovascular and applied physiology lab. After completing my doctoral studies, I hope to apply for a faculty position and continue conducting research and teaching.

What is an interesting or little-known fact about you? During my undergraduate studies, I wrestled for the Alma College Scots.

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UMN Council of Graduate Students reflects on 2023-24 academic year

As the academic year draws to a close, the University of Minnesota’s Council of Graduate Students (COGS) looks back on its accomplishments. 

COGS leadership cited resource accessibility, collaboration with the still-new graduate student union and work with the University’s administration as some of their primary successes. 

COGS Speaker Mary Kate Wolken said COGS “had an ambitious set of goals” for itself going into this year. 

Though it is challenging for COGS to measure its progress given the difficulty of obtaining tangible results in its line of work, Wolken said she is confident in the progress COGS made this year in support of graduate students, career services, housing and resource accessibility. 

“It’s not just enough for the University to have resources,” Wolken said. “Accessibility to those resources is essential.”

Many of the resources available to the University’s undergraduate population are not available to graduate students, according to Wolken. This year, COGS has worked to centralize resources and connect graduate students with them. 

COGS Director of Internal Relations Felix Cheuk Wun Ting said one way COGS has done this is by creating a resource packet for graduate students. The Graduate Student Resource Guide is organized categorically and guides graduate students to an array of resources, including those for academics, professional development, food, legal advice and mental health, among others.

Cheuk Wun Ting, who will replace Wolken next year as COGS speaker, said he promoted the guide to incoming graduate students at orientation this year and received positive feedback. He added that COGS hopes to continue adding to it in the future since the guide is not an exhaustive list.

Wolken said one of COGS’ internal goals for the year was to navigate differences between COGS and the Graduate Labor Union-United Electrical (GLU-UE), which unionized in April 2023 . Since GLU-UE’s formation, issues of labor and pay for graduate students are no longer under COGS’ purview. 

While GLU-UE represents all graduate student workers, COGS is the representative body for the entire graduate student population, according to Wolken.

“We have a very open relationship with GLU-UE,” Wolken said. “We’re not competing with each other, obviously. We’re working in our own lanes.”

Wolken added that the relationship has been “a synergistic situation,” allowing both groups to use different mechanisms to achieve common goals. GLU-UE’s existence allowed COGS to focus on other advocacy issues, which they have had success with this year.

Cheuk Wun Ting said despite pay now being under GLU-UE’s purview, COGS is still advocating for graduate-student-related issues, including housing, food, transportation, mental health and other campus resources, which the resource guide aims, in part, to mitigate. 

“It shouldn’t just be considered as some kind of bargaining process,” Cheuk Wun Ting said. “It’s part of students’ lives, and so COGS is still responsible for all these things.”

Wolken said COGS has not had much success in discussing issues with University administration related to international graduate students. 

Despite this setback, Cheuk Wun Ting, who also serves as director of finance for the Council of International Graduate Students (CIGS), said COGS and CIGS are working together to solve problems related to international graduate students, which they will continue to do next year.

This year has still seen a lot of effort between COGS and University administration to figure out when the administration can and should collaborate with COGS, Wolken said.

Taiwo Aremu, COGS’ representative to the Board of Regents, said COGS has advocated for the inclusion of graduate student voices in key administrative duties this year. 

Board of Regents Co-Vice Chair Mike Kenyanya and Regent Robyn Gulley both attended COGS general assembly meetings this year, according to Aremu, which COGS hopes will increase advocacy for graduate students by the Regents.

“These two folks that showed up now know what COGS is all about,” Aremu said. “They know our priorities. They know our strategic goals. They know how important we are to the University.”

COGS hopes to host more regents at its general assembly meetings next semester, Cheuk Wun Ting said. 

University administration has similarly hosted graduate students in committee meetings, interviews and other key decision-making forums over the year, according to Aremu. 

Aremu said he recently attended interviews with a potential University chief investment officer and a potential Senate director.

COGS was involved in advocacy efforts last fall to ensure student inclusion in the presidential search, which confirmed Rebecca Cunningham’s presidency in February. 

In October, COGS collaborated with other University student governance organizations to release a joint letter advocating for greater student inclusion in the search.

Interim President Jeff Ettinger also reinstated the presidential visit with COGS, Wolken said. Both Ettinger and Provost Rachel Croson attended the COGS April general assembly meeting for a special session — an invaluable face-to-face interaction between graduate students and University administrators.

“I cannot even emphasize how big of a deal this was,” Wolken said.

The upcoming year will bring great change for the University, according to Wolken, but COGS will continue to advocate for graduate students as it always has.

“I am very confident that we have shaken up a lot of conversations and forced the administration to seriously consider some systemic changes,” Wolken said.

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More than 170 people participated in the LSU Veterinary School 27th annual Hill’s Great Rover Road Run

May 02, 2024

Start of the Great Rover Road Run 5K

Carlos Zervigon and Cooper are our first place finishers

Maryella Cohn is the first female finisher

More than 170 people participated in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine 27th Annual Hill’s Great Rover Road Run on Sunday, April 21. The Great Rover Road Run consisted of a 5K Road Run followed by a one-mile fun run/walk with your dog. The 5K run began at 8 a.m., and the one mile run began at 9:15 a.m. at the LSU SVM on Skip Bertman Drive. Proceeds from the runs benefitted the LSU SVM’s Good Samaritan Fund, which helps provide medical care for animals that do not have owners. The Great Rover Road Run raised more than $5,300 for the Good Samaritan Fund! In addition, the Student American Veterinary Medicine Association (SAVMA) hosted a dog wash after the Great Rover Road Run and raised more than $1,200 for student activities.

178 people participated in the run. The overall and first male winner of the 5K was Carlos Zervigon (LSU Class of 2025) with a time of 16:53 and Maryella Cohn (LSU Class of 2025) was the first female winner with a time of 21:41. Second place went to Frank Bussott with a time of 18:00, with third place going to Rayne Coe with a time of 18:38. We wish to extend a huge thank you to Hill’s Pet Nutrition for being our premier race sponsor! An additional thank you to all our other sponsors including Torchy’s Tacos, Varsity Sports, Rotolo’s, Campus Federal, Chick-fil-A, and CC’s Coffee House.

The Student American Veterinary Medicine Association (SAVMA) hosted a dog wash after the Great Rover Road Run. Thanks to everyone’s participation, SAVMA raised $1,280! These funds go directly back to SAVMA to fund more professional development, wellness activities, and other grand opportunities for our students to grow in the veterinary career field.

The Great Rover Road Run is held each spring. More information is available online at lsu.edu/vetmed/events .

About LSU Vet Med: Bettering lives through education, public service, and discovery

The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is one of only 33 veterinary schools in the U.S. and the only one in Louisiana. LSU Vet Med is dedicated to improving and protecting the lives of animals and people through superior education, transformational research, and compassionate care. We teach. We heal. We discover. We protect.

Ginger Guttner, MMC, APR

Communications Manager LSU School of Veterinary Medicine 225-578-9922

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Montana Technological University announces Outstanding Student Awards for 2024

Montana Tech announced this week student honors for its graduating class of 2024. Valedictorian honors are awarded for academic excellence to attain the associate of applied science degree and the bachelor of science degree. The bachelor of science valedictorian award is given to the graduating senior at Montana Tech who has achieved the highest grade point average overall in his or her years of study at the university. The recipient must receive his or her first baccalaureate degree and have earned all academic credits at Montana Tech. The 2024 valedictorians are Brie Birkenbuel, Occupational Safety & Health; Tyler Steele, Biological Sciences; Dylan Yarger, Mechanical Engineering; and Sarah Wohlgenant, Nursing.

The associate of applied science valedictorian award is given to the graduate who has achieved the highest grade point average overall in his or her years of study toward a first associate of applied science degree. The recipient must have earned all academic credits at Highlands College. The 2024 associate of applied science valedictorians are Aubree Corcoran, Radiologic Technology; Kylia Kliner, Radiologic Technology; and Julianna Croston, Radiologic Technology. The university also awarded the 2024 Highest Scholastic Standing in the Arts & Sciences Award to Tyler Steele, Biological Sciences and Sarah Wohlgenant, Nursing. Montana Tech also announced the recipients of the Chester H. Steele Honor Awards. The Chester H. Steele Honor Award is given to recognize the outstanding graduating senior or seniors in engineering with the highest scholastic achievement. The 2024 awardee is Dylan Yarger, Mechanical Engineering. The second Chester H. Steele Award is presented to an outstanding graduate in mining/geology selected based on scholastic achievement. The 2024 awardee is Mackenzie Jones, Geological Engineering. The Montana Society of Engineers also announced the recipients of the 2024 Gold Medal Award. For nearly 100 years, the Montana Society of Engineers has presented an outstanding senior graduating in engineering from Montana Tech with the award. The 2024 awardee is Koby Martin, Civil Engineering.

The following students received their department’s Outstanding Student Award. Department faculty chose students based on scholastic achievement, character, and community service. These students have demonstrated exceptional achievement within their departments and Montana Tech.

Biological Sciences, Tyler Steele

Business, Connor Heggem and Clayton Heggem

Chemistry & Geochemistry, Shelby Paulson

Civil Engineering, Koby Martin

Civil Engineering Technology, Eli Costin

Computer Science, Danielle Failor

Construction Technology, Matthew Larson

Cyber Networking, Anthony Calkins

Data Science, River Sheppard

Electrical Engineering, JT Baer

Environmental Engineering, Jessika Harman

Exercise & Health Science, Naiya Beaudin and Sawyer Sibley

Geological Engineering, Tylor Olson

Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, Isabelle Ralph-Puderbaugh

Mathematics, Eduardo Pantoja

Mechanical Engineering, Emma Anderson

Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, Nathanael Rawlins

Metals Fabrication Technology, Dalton Butler

Mining Engineering, Mckoy Gebhardt

Nursing, Payton Huss

Petroleum Engineering, Nick Draper

Pre-Apprentice Line, Scott Waters

Precision Machining Technology, Jacklyn Waller

Radiologic Technology, Aubree Corcoran

Occupational Safety & Health, Brie Birkenbuel

Welding Technology, Casper Sackman

Writing, Isabelle Ralph-Puderbaugh

Amanda Badovinac Executive Director, Marketing & Communications (406) 496-4828

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2024 iSchool Student Award winners announced

The iSchool proudly congratulates seven exceptional scholars who have been named winners of this year’s iSchool Student Awards!

The winners, listed below, demonstrated rigorous scholarship, campus and community involvement, and creativity. The Outstanding Student awards are new this year, to honor and reward the exceptional work being done by students across iSchool programs.

2023-2024 iSchool Student Award winners

Each winner receives well-deserved commendation for their hard work and dedication, in addition to financial support at varying levels, depending on the award.

Outstanding Information Science Student: Camber Walvoort

Walvoort has been pleasantly surprised by how much her two majors overlap, noting “Both majors are focused on people. They’re about improving things and helping people.” She added she often uses skills from courses in the Information Science major, such as data analysis techniques, to her advantage in other courses across campus.

Outstanding MS Student: Mickey Chen

In addition, Chen worked at International Student Services on campus, aiding international students with immigration-related applications and answering their questions. During his time in the program, he also interned as a System Development Engineer at Dell Technologies and as a UX Designer at Uniring Robotics. “Applying what I’ve learned at iSchool, I strive to make a tangible impact on the world,” Chen said.

Outstanding MA Graduate Student: Mackenzie Rhode

Rhode also completed her practicum project at WHS, where she conducted a thematic analysis, in the process discovering collection gaps that helped inform future development decisions. “I gained valuable leadership experience through my work at WHS and have enjoyed training and acting as a mentor for other student workers,” Rhode said.

Fenster Research Paper Award & Jacobsen Innovations in Library Science Award: Kaitlin White

As she pursues her master’s, White is also serving as an Energy Educator for the Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP). In this role, White supports teachers in providing high quality climate science lessons to local students. The Larry Jacobsen Innovations in Library Science Award recognizes White’s work overseeing and improving VEEP’s programs. “My iSchool studies are preparing me to further support this organization and my hopes to work in academic science libraries in New England in the future,” White said.

James Krikelas Award for Innovative Use of Information Technology: John Chen

Chen’s award-winning project used data-centric, technology-enabled methods that blended theoretical research with actionable insights, including policy analysis and recommendations for reducing waste. Chen said, “This comprehensive approach helped illustrate the multifaceted nature of the food waste problem and offered a data-driven basis for improving current strategies.”

Dianne McAfee Hopkins Diversity Activities Award: Tolulope Adelabu

For her efforts to promote diversity within the information professions, Tolulope Adebalu is the recipient of this year’s Hopkins Diversity Activities Award. In her role as Special Collections Assistant for the UW-Madison International Division, Adelabu said she has the opportunity to “organize information artifacts that serve the language and cultural outreach of the African Studies program.” One of the programs Adelabu leads through her role is Children’s African Story Hour at Madison Public Library (as shown in the image, Adelabu in center), which she has found especially rewarding.

“I started my master’s degree with the aim of making a difference in the marginalized but hypervisible area of African collections,” Adelabu said. “I have accomplished this goal through strategic connections with African communities in and beyond Madison, and I plan to advance this work through research and instruction in the [UW-Madison] African Cultural Studies doctoral program.”

Students like Adebalu, and all of our award winners, show that the iSchool continues to train future leaders in the evolving information professions.

Congratulations to the 2024 iSchool Student Award winners!

To learn more about the iSchool Student Awards, visit the awards webpage.

Prospective students: explore all of our programs .