Template for nailing assignments (+ completed example)

The way I see it, lessons and assignments are the fundamental building blocks of your online course.

Get those right and the rest of your content just slots into place. Get them wrong and your course is in serious trouble.

Fortunately, a little upfront planning goes a long way.

That’s why, a few weeks back, I shared the template I use with clients for scoping out their lessons. (You can see it here.)

As you might expect, you can do the same with your assignments.

So here’s my recommended five-part template:

1. Outcome – What’s the practical outcome of completing this assignment? What will students have achieved, created, or improved? (What does success look like?)
2. Relevance – Why is the outcome important in the context of the course as a whole? (Flipping this: what’s the implication of your students not achieving the outcome, i.e., why is this assignment essential?)
3. Steps – At a high level, what are the steps the average student must follow to successfully complete this assignment and create the desired outcome?
4. Obstacles – What mental hurdles might prevent students from achieving the outcome? For example: lack of motivation, missing information, unanswered questions, etc. (You’ll need to address these in your assignment brief.)
5. Helpers – What could you do to make this assignment quicker or easier? For example: what handy resources could you give them? Could you show them what a successfully completed assignment looks like?

For a one-page example of this template in use, click the link below. (There no extra sign-up required, it’s just a public doc.)

​Click here to see the example template.​

If you’re working on a course right now, you should find it valuable.

And even if you’re not, you might find it interesting. 💡🤔

See you soon,

Glen.