Enhancements to Instructional Practices

Create Desirable Difficulty

Optimizing desirable difficulty enhances students’ learning (Bjork & Bjork, 2011). Research indicates that presenting challenging academic opportunities for students alongside adequate support and resources to meet those challenges promotes both intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Covington, von Hoene, & Voge, 2017; Deci & Ryan, 1985). Focusing on providing this desirable difficulty for students can reduce unnecessary stress while maintaining rigor.

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Example practices

The strategies below are organized along the timeline of a course: from development and syllabus planning, to early weeks of the semester, to ongoing.

Course Development and Planning

  • Design assignments and exam problems or questions that challenge students’ mastery and creativity with material that has been taught, but that does not require knowledge outside the course, unless clearly signaled.
  • Set and share out clear course goals and ensure that assignments and expectations are transparent from the start. Make grading rubrics or criteria known in advance.
  • Consider the timing of exams and assignments to alleviate undue stress (e.g., not having assignments due during a scheduled break or the first day back from a break). Be sure to adhere to campus policies and recommendations that come from the Office of the Dean of the College and/or the Dean of the Graduate School, as they are designed with students’ well-being in mind.
  • Avoid very heavily weighted course components, such as an exam worth 50% of the final grade
  • In onboarding new lab members, cohort members, or advisees, create opportunities for students to connect with others. The goal here is to make sure everyone has someone they can ask questions of and leave no one flailing.

Early (First Two Weeks)

  • Alert students to particularly challenging (whether because of degree of difficulty and/or emotional valence) topics, units, assignments, etc. and provide advice or guidance on how to tackle them.
  • Contextualize texts written for a scholarly (not student) audience and provide students in advance with background knowledge presumed by the author so they can engage productively.
  • Carefully consider the amount of time assignments will require novices (i.e. students) to the field and indicate this to students. Poll students to find out how long tasks actually took them.
  • Set and share out clear course goals, and ensure that assignments and expectations are transparent from the start. Make grading rubrics or criteria known in advance.
  • In considering course workload (as well as the amount of grading you want to be doing), consider that more low-stakes assignments can support students’ school-life balance, where they are able to devote time to co-curricular learning, activities, and social engagement with peers.
  • In onboarding new lab members, cohort members, or advisees, create opportunities for students to connect with others. The goal here is to make sure everyone has someone they can ask questions of and leave no one flailing.

Ongoing

  • Alert students to particularly challenging topics, units, assignments, etc. and provide advice or guidance on how to tackle them.
  • Some students have familiarity with reading scholarly articles, texts, etc.; many do not. What are the comprehension basics that you want everyone to follow?
  • For courses that do not have prerequisites, design assignments and exam problems or questions that challenge students’ mastery and creativity with material that has been taught, but that does not require knowledge outside the course.
  • Carefully consider the amount of time assignments will require novices (i.e., students) to the field and indicate this to students. Poll students to find out how long tasks actually took them.
  • Consider how you or preceptors that may be working with you can feasibly provide feedback on each stage of assignments and help students progress to the next stage of larger projects.
  • In considering course workload (as well as the amount of grading you want to be doing), consider that more low-stakes assignments can support students’ school-life balance, where they are able to devote time to co-curricular learning, activities, and social engagement with peers.