types of assignments in high school

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11 Types of Assignments You’ll Write In College This Year

by  Antony W

June 9, 2024

This is the complete list of the types of assignments that you will come across in high school, college, and university this year and beyond.

Types of Assignments: The Complete List for High School and College Students

The following is the complete list of the types of assignments that you will do in school. Whether you’re in high school, college, or university, this list is worth checking.

1. Essay Assignments

Essay assignments give students a chance to express and back up their thought with explanations, statements, facts, and analysis.

Although an essay can have as many paragraphs to express various ideas, the basic format is the 5-paragraph structure, which already includes the introduction, body, and conclusion. 

Other than the structure, it’s also important to know about the types of essays . These include argumentative, persuasive, analytic, and expository essays.

An analytic essay will disintegrate issues into solutions. An expository essay provides explanations to things. Then an argumentative essay attests topics to give proof.

2. Memo Assignments

Memos are assignments that require students to provide short reports such as a monthly sales report. Memorandum assignments are good because they help cultivate conciseness in students.

That’s so because a memo should be short and precise providing only what is important to the reader.

In addition, memos can either request or share important information, and is therefore important to keep it clear.

3. Presentation Skills Assignments

Your instructor may ask you, as an individual or in a group, to go in front of the class and present certain ideas. They do this to see how well students can be at representing ideas to a crowd.

Adequate preparation is the key when it comes to creating presentations. At the end of the day, the last thing you ever want to do is to get nervous in front of other students.

More importantly, presenting ideas as a group is good because it helps you to cultivate collaborative skills.

4. Flowchart Assignments

Flowcharts represent processes or workflow of events using boxes connected together with arrow. Students will use flowcharts to show step-by-step procedures to solve given tasks.

For example, they can use flowcharts to represent service or administrative processes, manufacturing processes, or project plans.

5. Project Report Assignments

Project report assignments are to be written in future tense if the goals intended are yet to be met and in past tense where the intended goal has been achieved.

This assignment provides stakeholders with a brief preview of the projects at hand and clues whether a given project will be a success or will need improvement to meet the set goal. Students should also draft their reports with factual details.

A report should have the following arrangement:

• Acknowledgements
• Table of content
• Introduction

The body should not feature any subtitles. The conclusion, on the other hand, should feature recommendations, references, and appendices.

The aim of having project reports is to ensure students are capable of organizing both their works and goals.

6. Reflective Journal Assignments

A reflective journal is one of the types of assignments that require students to write what they understand according to what they think.

Most students who find reflective assignments hard to do can always request academic writing help from the experts in their areas of study.

7. Research Paper Assignments

With research paper assignments, students are supposed to choose topics they can explore as they come up with explanations to support their investigation.

In this assignment, students are to survey their research to understand the study that they carry out. A good research paper will feature findings that check and marge with the hypothesis .

A good example of a research paper assignment that your teacher may ask you to write is a theology paper .

8. Case study Assignments

The goal of the case study assignment is to find out whether or not students can investigate situations.

The assignment will suggest scenarios to students for a given study and provide secondary or subordinate questions. It is the work of the student to treat the scenario as real. That way, they can get the right answers for the given case study within the shortest time possible.

A case study response should be authentic, reasonable, and based on facts. In a case study assignment, students are at liberty of having politicians, the public, and professionals as their audiences.

When it comes to writing, you have to avoid the use of a massive block of words instead but make the findings should be precise and direct to the point.

8. Wiki Assignments

Wiki assignments involve putting together information modified to about any imaginary audience. Wikis let students share their ideas and provide supportive pieces of evidence to illustrate amalgamation of understanding.

Wiki is another way of telling students the importance of collaborating with fellow students, as it allows them to come up with their own posts on given studies.

Students are at liberty of creating a list, writing research questions, or starting discussions. They are also able to comment and edit any document shared. Or they can collaborate and come up with a single well-researched and detailed post.

This is one of the simplest assignments you will ever come across in school. You can get wiki free and inexpensive wikis on websites like Wikispaces, PBwiki and Wetpaint.

Lastly, a wiki is among the tools used in colleges to help students get to an immense diversification of instructional targets.

9. Literature Review Assignments

A literature review assignment is an important pedagogical tool for students in college. Depending on the given scenario or topic, students have to validate answers by studying given literatures.

Students are supposed to use the official language and maintain high levels of literature as they prepare literature reviews.

While writing this assignment, you are encouraged to have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction grabs the attention of the reader, the body explains the main idea and the conclusion tells the reader the overall summary of your study. 

Apart from providing similarities and differences after evaluating more than one source, you are still supposed to give their conclusive judgments.

10. Personal Narrative Assignments

Most lecturers allocate 5% to 10% of their overall grade to personal narrative assignments.

Personal narrative essays are two pages long, which means students should always provide brief answers to the topic.

Most lecturers use this assignment to get to know their students as the semester kicks off.

11. Annotated Bibliography Assignments

Annotated Bibliography is a type of college assignment that requires students to gather related findings relevant to the topic under investigation arranged alphabetically.

Annotated bibliography assignment also requires students to use the official language and be as objective as possible.

A good annotated bibliography should have a summary of the assignment in the first section. The assignment checks whether students are collect and recognize literature relating to given topics.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Types of Assignment: Creative and Different Academic

Assignments in the academic world come in various forms and serve different purposes. They can be broadly categorized into different types of assignments written assignments, practical or experimental assignments, presentations, and group projects. Each type of assignment has its unique requirements and aims to evaluate specific skills and knowledge of students.

Academic assignments are an integral part of education and play a crucial role in assessing a student’s understanding, knowledge, and skills in various subjects. Assignments are designed to challenge students , enhance their critical thinking abilities, and encourage creativity. In this article, we will delve into the different types of assignments, and their definitions, and focus on creative writing assignments and reflective journal or diary entry assignments. Additionally, we will explore how group projects differ from individual assignments and shed light on the diverse landscape of academic assignments. 

What is Assignment?

An assignment refers to a specific task or project given to individuals or groups with designated objectives and a set timeframe for completion. These tasks are a fundamental component of academic, professional, and personal development , serving distinct purposes in each context. In academics, assignments assess students’ comprehension and application of course materials through various forms such as essays, research papers, exams, or group projects. On the professional front, assignments align with job roles, contributing to organizational objectives. These tasks may range from individual projects to collaborative endeavors, often involving reports, proposals, or presentations. 

Assignments serve several key purposes. Grades or performance evaluations often stem from these assessments. The structure of an assignment typically encompasses an introduction that clearly outlines the objectives, a body that presents the main content or analysis, a conclusion summarizing key points, and a reference section listing sources used, following a specified citation style. To excel in assignments, adhering to best practices is essential. This includes understanding the assignment requirements thoroughly, planning and organizing tasks effectively, conducting comprehensive research, drafting and revising iteratively, seeking feedback for improvement, and rigorously reviewing and editing before final submission. 

What is a Creative Writing Assignment?

A creative writing assignment is a task that prompts individuals to engage in expressive and imaginative writing, often with the aim of fostering creativity, exploring personal thoughts, and honing literary skills. These assignments are prevalent in educational settings, particularly in courses focused on creative writing or literature. They can also be given in workshops, writing groups, or as personal projects. The essence of a creative writing assignment lies in the freedom and flexibility it offers to the writer, encouraging the use of their unique voice, perspective, and creativity.

These assignments can take various forms, such as short stories, poetry, essays, plays, or even experimental prose. The topic or theme is usually broad, allowing for interpretation and creative exploration. The instructions may involve specific elements like character development, setting, dialogue, or the incorporation of certain literary techniques . 

In crafting a creative writing assignment, instructors or supervisors often consider the objectives they aim to achieve. They design prompts that stimulate creativity, challenge the writer’s skills, or align with a specific theme or literary genre. The assessment of creative writing assignments typically focuses on the writer’s ability to develop a captivating narrative, use language effectively, portray emotions, and adhere to the guidelines while embracing creativity.

Types of Assignment

• Essays: Essays are a common form of academic assignment, requiring students to articulate their ideas, arguments, and insights on a specific topic. Essays can range from persuasive, descriptive, narrative, or expository, and often follow a structured format with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Reports: Reports are detailed documents that present information, findings, or analyses related to a particular subject or research. They typically include an introduction, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion sections.
• Case Studies: Case studies involve in-depth analysis of a particular case, situation, or individual. They aim to demonstrate a student’s ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios.
• Experiments and Practical Assignments: These assignments require students to perform experiments or practical tasks related to a subject, record observations, analyze results, and draw conclusions.
• Literature Reviews: Literature reviews involve summarizing and analyzing existing research and literature on a specific topic. It helps in understanding the current state of knowledge in a particular field.

What are the Different Academic Types of Assignments?

Academic assignments vary based on the subject, level of study, and specific course requirements. Some common types of academic assignments include:

• Research Papers: Research papers involve a deep investigation and analysis of a topic, supported by scholarly sources and evidence. They demonstrate a student’s ability to conduct comprehensive research and present their findings coherently.
• Thesis and Dissertations: Theses and dissertations are extensive research projects completed at the undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral levels. They require original research and contribute new knowledge to the academic field.
• Book Reviews: Book reviews assess a student’s understanding and critical evaluation of a particular book. They typically involve summarizing the book’s content, analyzing its themes, and providing an informed opinion.
• Homework Assignments: These are short tasks assigned regularly to reinforce learning and understanding of class material. Homework assignments are usually completed outside of regular class hours.

How do Group Projects Differ from Individual Assignments?

Group projects and individual assignments differ in several aspects, including the nature of work, collaboration, and individual responsibility.

– Nature of Work: In group projects, the work is distributed among team members, leveraging each member’s strengths. In contrast, individual assignments require a single student to complete the entire task independently.

– Collaboration: Group projects encourage collaboration and teamwork, where members contribute their ideas and skills to achieve a common goal. Individual assignments, on the other hand, rely solely on the efforts and capabilities of a single student.

– Decision Making: Group projects involve collective decision-making and consensus building, considering the input from all team members. Individual assignments allow for personal decision-making without the need for external input.

– Accountability: In group projects, team members are collectively accountable for the project’s success or failure. In individual assignments, the student is solely responsible for the outcome.

What is a Reflective Journal or Diary Entry Assignment?

A reflective journal or diary entry assignment is a structured or unstructured task that prompts individuals to record their thoughts, experiences, and reflections on a specific topic, event, or period of time in a personal journal-like format. This assignment encourages introspection, critical thinking, and the exploration of personal growth, emotions, and learning through written expression. Reflective journal entries can vary in terms of length, frequency, and format based on the assignment’s guidelines or the individual’s preferences.

The primary purpose of a reflective journal or diary entry assignment is to encourage self-awareness and deeper understanding. It provides a platform to articulate and organize thoughts and emotions, helping individuals make sense of their experiences and connect them to broader concepts or theories. This reflective process often leads to personal insights, enhanced learning , and an improved ability to deal with future situations.

The structure of a reflective journal entry typically involves recording the experience or event, followed by a thoughtful reflection on how the experience made the individual feel, what was learned from it, and how it relates to past experiences or future actions. The reflection may include self-assessment, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and considerations of alternative perspectives or approaches.

In educational contexts, instructors may assign reflective journal entries to students in various disciplines such as psychology, education, nursing, or business. The topics for reflection can range from practical experiences in a field or clinical setting to responses to readings, lectures, or specific assignments. The assessment of reflective journal entries often focuses on the depth of reflection, the ability to connect experiences to relevant concepts or theories, and the clarity and coherence of the writing.

Conclusion: Types of Assignment

Assignments serve a dual purpose: assessing academic knowledge and fostering a spectrum of critical skills crucial for a well-rounded education. Beyond being tools of evaluation, they are platforms for the development of critical thinking, research abilities, effective communication, and creativity. Each type of assignment offers a unique avenue for students to demonstrate their understanding and enhance specific skills. Understanding the diverse types of academic assignments is fundamental for students embarking on their educational journey.

Creative writing assignments stand as the epitome of fostering creativity and self-expression. These tasks invite students to venture into the realms of imagination, shaping characters, plots, and narratives. Through these assignments, students not only get to showcase their literary prowess but also refine their ability to craft engaging stories that captivate readers. Moreover, they encourage originality and innovation, nurturing an environment where unique voices and styles can flourish.

Approaching each assignment with diligence is paramount. Students should carefully analyze the requirements, align their efforts with the objectives, and adopt effective planning and organizational strategies. Assignments should not be viewed merely as tasks to be completed but as opportunities for learning and personal development. By dedicating time and effort to each assignment, students can extract maximum educational benefits, ultimately enriching their academic journey.

In essence, academic assignments, in their varied forms, are essential components of the educational process. They are not only gateways to academic success but also catalysts for the development of critical life skills. Encouraging students to embrace these assignments with enthusiasm, creativity, and introspection can significantly enhance their overall learning experience and equip them for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in their academic and professional pursuits.

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1-College Writing

Common Types of Writing Assignments

While much of the writing you did in high school may have been for an English or literature class, in college, writing is a common form of expression and scholarship in many fields and thus in many courses.

You may have to write essays, reflections, discussion board posts, or research papers in your history, biology, psychology, art history, or computer science classes.

Writing assignments in college vary in length, purpose, and the relationship between the writer (you) and the topic.  Sometimes you may be asked to gather information and write a report on your findings .  Sometimes you may be asked to compare opinions expressed by experts.  You might be asked to answer a question or state your position and defend it with evidence .  Some assignments require a mixture of several of these tasks.

When a writing assignment is mentioned in the syllabus of a course, make sure you understand the assignment long before you begin to do it.   The university’s Writing Center recommends that you note the vocabulary used in assignment descriptions and make sure you understand what actions certain words suggest or require.  You should also talk to peers in your class to compare understandings and expectations.

The university’s Writing Center consultants will help you with questions about an assignment and how to ask your instructor for more information if necessary. They will help you strengthen your writing, give you feedback on your ideas, and offer suggestions for organizing your content.  They can tell you if you are appropriately using sources.

The Writing Center is not only for students who have questions or are puzzled about assignments.  It offers support to experienced writers, too.  Faculty and graduate students routinely schedule sessions with Writing Center consultants.

Strong, experienced writers enjoy conversation about their writing decisions and find it helpful to have an outside reader for their work. 

Conferences with a writing consultant can be face-to-face or online.

If you are uneasy about talking with your instructor, make an appointment at the Writing Center:  https://cstw.osu.edu/writing-center

Common characteristics of writing in college: 

• Based on evidence
• Is written for a very or moderately knowledgeable audience rather than general public
• Style is formal, objective, often technical
• Uses conventional formatting
• Documents evidence using a professional citation style

                                                                                                                                                        (From:  Lunsford & Ruszkiewicz, p. 367)

An Introduction to Choosing & Using Sources Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Types of Assignments

Cristy Bartlett and Kate Derrington

Introduction

As discussed in the previous chapter, assignments are a common method of assessment at university. You may encounter many assignments over your years of study, yet some will look quite different from others. By recognising different types of assignments and understanding the purpose of the task, you can direct your writing skills effectively to meet task requirements. This chapter draws on the skills from the previous chapter, and extends the discussion, showing you where to aim with different types of assignments.

The chapter begins by exploring the popular essay assignment, with its two common categories, analytical and argumentative essays. It then examines assignments requiring case study responses , as often encountered in fields such as health or business. This is followed by a discussion of assignments seeking a report (such as a scientific report) and reflective writing assignments, common in nursing, education and human services. The chapter concludes with an examination of annotated bibliographies and literature reviews. The chapter also has a selection of templates and examples throughout to enhance your understanding and improve the efficacy of  your assignment writing skills.

Different Types of Written Assignments

At university, an essay is a common form of assessment. In the previous chapter Writing Assignments we discussed what was meant by showing academic writing in your assignments. It is important that you consider these aspects of structure, tone and language when writing an essay.

Components of an essay

Essays should use formal but reader friendly language and have a clear and logical structure. They must include research from credible academic sources such as peer reviewed journal articles and textbooks. This research should be referenced throughout your essay to support your ideas (See the chapter Working with Information ).

If you have never written an essay before, you may feel unsure about how to start.  Breaking your essay into sections and allocating words accordingly will make this process more manageable and will make planning the overall essay structure much easier.

• An essay requires an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• Generally, an introduction and conclusion are approximately 10% each of the total word count.
• The remaining words can then be divided into sections and a paragraph allowed for each area of content you need to cover.
• Use your task and criteria sheet to decide what content needs to be in your plan

An effective essay introduction needs to inform your reader by doing four basic things:

Table 20.1 An effective essay

An effective essay body paragraph needs to:

An effective essay conclusion needs to:

Common types of essays

You may be required to write different types of essays, depending on your study area and topic. Two of the most commonly used essays are analytical and argumentative .  The task analysis process discussed in the previous chapter Writing Assignments will help you determine the type of essay required. For example, if your assignment question uses task words such as analyse, examine, discuss, determine or explore, you would be writing an analytical essay . If your assignment question has task words such as argue, evaluate, justify or assess, you would be writing an argumentative essay . Despite the type of essay, your ability to analyse and think critically is important and common across genres.  

Analytical essays

These essays usually provide some background description of the relevant theory, situation, problem, case, image, etcetera that is your topic. Being analytical requires you to look carefully at various components or sections of your topic in a methodical and logical way to create understanding.

The purpose of the analytical essay is to demonstrate your ability to examine the topic thoroughly. This requires you to go deeper than description by considering different sides of the situation, comparing and contrasting a variety of theories and the positives and negatives of the topic. Although in an analytical essay your position on the topic may be clear, it is not necessarily a requirement that you explicitly identify this with a thesis statement, as is the case with an argumentative essay. If you are unsure whether you are required to take a position, and provide a thesis statement, it is best to check with your tutor.

Argumentative essays

These essays require you to take a position on the assignment topic. This is expressed through your thesis statement in your introduction. You must then present and develop your arguments throughout the body of your assignment using logically structured paragraphs. Each of these paragraphs needs a topic sentence that relates to the thesis statement. In an argumentative essay, you must reach a conclusion based on the evidence you have presented.

Case Study Responses

Case studies are a common form of assignment in many study areas and students can underperform in this genre for a number of key reasons.

Students typically lose marks for not:

• Relating their answer sufficiently to the case details
• Applying critical thinking
• Writing with clear structure
• Using appropriate or sufficient sources
• Using accurate referencing

When structuring your response to a case study, remember to refer to the case. Structure your paragraphs similarly to an essay paragraph structure but include examples and data from the case as additional evidence to support your points (see Figure 20.5 ). The colours in the sample paragraph below show the function of each component.

The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) Code of Conduct and Nursing Standards (2018) play a crucial role in determining the scope of practice for nurses and midwives. A key component discussed in the code is the provision of person-centred care and the formation of therapeutic relationships between nurses and patients (NMBA, 2018). This ensures patient safety and promotes health and wellbeing (NMBA, 2018). The standards also discuss the importance of partnership and shared decision-making in the delivery of care (NMBA, 2018, 4). Boyd and Dare (2014) argue that good communication skills are vital for building therapeutic relationships and trust between patients and care givers. This will help ensure the patient is treated with dignity and respect and improve their overall hospital experience. In the case, the therapeutic relationship with the client has been compromised in several ways. Firstly, the nurse did not conform adequately to the guidelines for seeking informed consent before performing the examination as outlined in principle 2.3 (NMBA, 2018). Although she explained the procedure, she failed to give the patient appropriate choices regarding her health care. 

Topic sentence | Explanations using paraphrased evidence including in-text references | Critical thinking (asks the so what? question to demonstrate your student voice). | Relating the theory back to the specifics of the case. The case becomes a source of examples as extra evidence to support the points you are making.

Reports are a common form of assessment at university and are also used widely in many professions. It is a common form of writing in business, government, scientific, and technical occupations.

Reports can take many different structures. A report is normally written to present information in a structured manner, which may include explaining laboratory experiments, technical information, or a business case.  Reports may be written for different audiences including clients, your manager, technical staff, or senior leadership within an organisation. The structure of reports can vary, and it is important to consider what format is required. The choice of structure will depend upon professional requirements and the ultimate aims of the report. Consider some of the options in the table below (see Table 20.2 ).

Table 20.2 Explanations of different types of reports

Reflective writing

Reflective writing is a popular method of assessment at university. It is used to help you explore feelings, experiences, opinions, events or new information to gain a clearer and deeper understanding of your learning. A reflective writing task requires more than a description or summary.  It requires you to analyse a situation, problem or experience, consider what you may have learnt and evaluate how this may impact your thinking and actions in the future. This requires critical thinking, analysis, and usually the application of good quality research, to demonstrate your understanding or learning from a situation. Essentially, reflective practice is the process of looking back on past experiences and engaging with them in a thoughtful way and drawing conclusions to inform future experiences. The reflection skills you develop at university will be vital in the workplace to assist you to use feedback for growth and continuous improvement. There are numerous models of reflective writing and you should refer to your subject guidelines for your expected format. If there is no specific framework, a simple model to help frame your thinking is What? So what? Now what?   (Rolfe et al., 2001).

Table 20.3 What? So What? Now What? Explained.

The Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

The Gibbs’ Cycle of reflection encourages you to consider your feelings as part of the reflective process. There are six specific steps to work through. Following this model carefully and being clear of the requirements of each stage, will help you focus your thinking and reflect more deeply. This model is popular in Health.

The 4 R’s of reflective thinking

This model (Ryan and Ryan, 2013) was designed specifically for university students engaged in experiential learning.  Experiential learning includes any ‘real-world’ activities including practice led activities, placements and internships.  Experiential learning, and the use of reflective practice to heighten this learning, is common in Creative Arts, Health and Education.

Annotated Bibliography

What is it.

An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of appropriate sources (books, journals or websites) on a topic, accompanied by a brief summary, evaluation and sometimes an explanation or reflection on their usefulness or relevance to your topic. Its purpose is to teach you to research carefully, evaluate sources and systematically organise your notes. An annotated bibliography may be one part of a larger assessment item or a stand-alone assessment piece. Check your task guidelines for the number of sources you are required to annotate and the word limit for each entry.

How do I know what to include?

When choosing sources for your annotated bibliography it is important to determine:

• The topic you are investigating and if there is a specific question to answer
• The type of sources on which you need to focus
• Whether they are reputable and of high quality

What do I say?

Important considerations include:

• Is the work current?
• Is the work relevant to your topic?
• Is the author credible/reliable?
• Is there any author bias?
• The strength and limitations (this may include an evaluation of research methodology).

Literature Reviews

It is easy to get confused by the terminology used for literature reviews. Some tasks may be described as a systematic literature review when actually the requirement is simpler; to review the literature on the topic but do it in a systematic way. There is a distinct difference (see Table 20.4 ). As a commencing undergraduate student, it is unlikely you would be expected to complete a systematic literature review as this is a complex and more advanced research task. It is important to check with your lecturer or tutor if you are unsure of the requirements.

Table 20.4 Comparison of Literature Reviews

Generally, you are required to establish the main ideas that have been written on your chosen topic. You may also be expected to identify gaps in the research. A literature review does not summarise and evaluate each resource you find (this is what you would do in an annotated bibliography). You are expected to analyse and synthesise or organise common ideas from multiple texts into key themes which are relevant to your topic (see Figure 20.10 ). Use a table or a spreadsheet, if you know how, to organise the information you find. Record the full reference details of the sources as this will save you time later when compiling your reference list (see Table 20.5 ).

Overall, this chapter has provided an introduction to the types of assignments you can expect to complete at university, as well as outlined some tips and strategies with examples and templates for completing them. First, the chapter investigated essay assignments, including analytical and argumentative essays. It then examined case study assignments, followed by a discussion of the report format. Reflective writing , popular in nursing, education and human services, was also considered. Finally, the chapter briefly addressed annotated bibliographies and literature reviews. The chapter also has a selection of templates and examples throughout to enhance your understanding and improve the efficacy of your assignment writing skills.

• Not all assignments at university are the same. Understanding the requirements of different types of assignments will assist in meeting the criteria more effectively.
• There are many different types of assignments. Most will require an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• An essay should have a clear and logical structure and use formal but reader friendly language.
• Breaking your assignment into manageable chunks makes it easier to approach.
• Effective body paragraphs contain a topic sentence.
• A case study structure is similar to an essay, but you must remember to provide examples from the case or scenario to demonstrate your points.
• The type of report you may be required to write will depend on its purpose and audience. A report requires structured writing and uses headings.
• Reflective writing is popular in many disciplines and is used to explore feelings, experiences, opinions or events to discover what learning or understanding has occurred. Reflective writing requires more than description. You need to be analytical, consider what has been learnt and evaluate the impact of this on future actions.
• Annotated bibliographies teach you to research and evaluate sources and systematically organise your notes. They may be part of a larger assignment.
• Literature reviews require you to look across the literature and analyse and synthesise the information you find into themes.

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide . Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ryan, M. & Ryan, M. (2013). Theorising a model for teaching and assessing reflective learning in higher education.  Higher Education Research & Development , 32(2), 244-257. doi: 10.1080/07294360.2012.661704

Academic Success Copyright © 2021 by Cristy Bartlett and Kate Derrington is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Common Writing Assignments

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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These OWL resources will help you understand and complete specific types of writing assignments, such as annotated bibliographies, book reports, and research papers. This section also includes resources on writing academic proposals for conference presentations, journal articles, and books.

Understanding Writing Assignments

This resource describes some steps you can take to better understand the requirements of your writing assignments. This resource works for either in-class, teacher-led discussion or for personal use.

Argument Papers

This resource outlines the generally accepted structure for introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions in an academic argument paper. Keep in mind that this resource contains guidelines and not strict rules about organization. Your structure needs to be flexible enough to meet the requirements of your purpose and audience.

Research Papers

This handout provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding sources.

Exploratory Papers

This resource will help you with exploratory/inquiry essay assignments.

Annotated Bibliographies

This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS.

Book Report

This resource discusses book reports and how to write them.

Definitions

This handout provides suggestions and examples for writing definitions.

Essays for Exams

While most OWL resources recommend a longer writing process (start early, revise often, conduct thorough research, etc.), sometimes you just have to write quickly in test situations. However, these exam essays can be no less important pieces of writing than research papers because they can influence final grades for courses, and/or they can mean the difference between getting into an academic program (GED, SAT, GRE). To that end, this resource will help you prepare and write essays for exams.

Book Review

This resource discusses book reviews and how to write them.

Academic Proposals

This resource will help undergraduate, graduate, and professional scholars write proposals for academic conferences, articles, and books.

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Complete List of Extracurricular Activities: 100s of Examples

Other High School , College Admissions , Extracurriculars

How do you like to spend your time after school? Did you know that how you choose to spend this time could be one of the most important ways you shape your future?

Extracurricular activities are a critical component of your college application, and you need to impress colleges with your interests. But you might not know what good extracurricular activities look like or what you should be spending your time on.

We've got you covered here in our guide of hundreds of examples of extracurricular activities. Read on to get some inspiration for how to spend your valuable free time during high school!

What Is An Extracurricular Activity?

An extracurricular activity can be almost anything that isn't required for high school credit or paid employment that you do while you're in high school. These activities will become very important later, such as when you are applying to colleges, because they help you develop your talents, interests, and passions. They can also teach you practical skills like time management.

With so many options out there, all students should be able to find an extracurricular that they are interested in and can develop a passion for!

Remember that extracurricular activities do not have to be sponsored by your school, so you should also consider things that you do with your family or within your community as viable options.

Below I've listed many popular activities that you may not have thought of as extracurricular activities. Take a look at the list and see if your activities are already on the list, or if anything you hadn't considered before catches your eye.

Of course, this list isn't complete, because you can turn almost any interest into an extracurricular. If you are actively involved in something that you don't see here—meaning you spend a significant amount of time doing an activity that is allowing you to develop a talent or interest, be a leader, or help out your community—then you should definitely consider that an extracurricular activity, as well!

What doesn't necessarily count as an extracurricular? Any interest of yours that's very self-centered is probably not going to make the cut.

An extracurricular should be an activity that demonstrates a talent or primarily contributes value to other people. If you have to really contort to find justification for something being an extracurricular (my taking drivers ed will make the roads safer for everyone! Keeping my vaccinations up to date helps immunocompromised people!), then chances are, it won't count as an extracurricular .

There's a spectrum here, though—for example, improving your hair quality or braiding hair for fun isn't really an extracurricular. But starting a YouTube channel around beauty tips or creating a club for teen health enthusiasts definitely does.

But if you're still unsure if something counts as an extracurricular, or you need some inspiration, then read on for our complete list of extracurricular activities.

How Should You Use This Extracurricular Activities List?

Not sure how you should use this list of extracurriculars? Just follow the six steps outlined in this section, and you'll be on your way to choosing the best extracurricular for you!

Step 1: Brainstorm Extracurricular Ideas

What are your interests? Have you always wanted to try out something related to art, but weren't sure if it would be worth your time, or if it would be viewed favorably by a college admissions team? Keep in mind that colleges don't really care about what kind of activity you are doing—instead, they want to see that you are doing something that you are passionate about. So make a list of all of your interests—both things that you are already interested in and other areas that intrigue you and you'd like to learn more about.

Step 2: See Which Extracurriculars Fit Your Interests

Look through the list below and see if any of the activities match your interests. You may see some ways that you hadn't thought of before to pursue an interest! Keep in mind that there can be a lot of different outlets for each interest you have. For example, if you want to play an instrument, you can take private classes, play in your school's marching band, play in a community concert band, or work as part of the orchestra for your school's next musical.

Step 3: Research Different Extracurricular Options

Research to see if these activities are available at your high school or in your community. If there is something you are very passionate about that's not already offered, consider starting up a group of your own. But if you aren't sure that the interest will stick and you only want to try it out, it's probably best to find a different outlet for your curiosity.

Extracurriculars List by Category

This list is organized into categories to make finding an activity that matches your interests easier. However, we recommend at least skimming all the extracurricular options below, even if you think they're categories you're not interested in. You never know what might catch your eye!

Note: not all schools will offer formal clubs in all these categories. If you see something you're interested in that your school doesn't offer, try joining a community group or even a national or online group to explore the interest further! Many of these topics are available as summer camp activities, as well.

You can also consider starting a club at your school if you are looking for a way to get involved in something you are interested in while also showing leadership and initiative.

These activities are based on a certain academic subject, and include both clubs (groups to discuss and practice certain subjects) and competitive teams. Academic teams have competitions that take place at all levels, from local to national.

• Adopt-A-Physicist
• Architecture Club
• Astronomy Club
• Biology Club
• Chemistry Club
• Economics Club
• Electronics Club
• Engineering Club
• English Club
• Distributive Education Clubs of America
• History Club
• Life Sciences Club
• Literature Club
• Literary Magazine Club
• Mu Alpha Theta: Math Honor Society
• National Honor Society
• Peer Tutoring
• Poetry Club
• Physics Club
• Psychology Club
• Quill and Scroll
• Robotics Club
• Science National Honors Society
• Trivia and Quiz Clubs
• Web design/coding club
• Writing Club

Academic Competitive Teams

• Academic Decathlon
• Academic Triathlon
• American Mathematics Competitions
• American Regions Math League
• Caribou Mathematics Competition
• Chemistry Olympiad
• Clean Tech Competition
• Creative Communication Poetry Contest
• EconChallenge
• Educators Rising
• FIRST Robotics Competition
• High School Innovation Challenge
• Intel International Science and Engineering Fair
• Kids Philosophy Slam
• Math League
• National Academic Quiz Tournament
• National French Contest
• National History Bee
• National Spelling Bee
• Odyssey of the Mind
• Poetry Out Loud
• Questions Unlimited
• Science Bowl
• Science Olympiad
• Other Trivia and Quiz Competition Teams

These activities will allow you to express yourself artistically—on paper, through a lens, on stage, and through several other media. Unleash your creativity!

• Anime/Manga Club
• Art: drawing, painting
• Blacksmithing
• Fashion design
• Graphic Design
• Jewelry Making
• Photography
• High School Theater Program
• Community Theater Program
• Video Game Development Club
• Woodworking

Cultural and Language

These activities may help you reconnect with your roots, or allow you to get a taste of the world's diversity without ever leaving home. There are many other cultural and language-related activities that you can participate in. Some of the most common ones are listed below.

• African American Student Alliances/Clubs
• American Sign Language Club
• Chinese Club
• French Club
• German Club
• International Food Club
• Pacific Islanders Club
• Russian Club
• South Asian Student Society
• Spanish Club

These activities will allow you to get involved in your community.

• Community Festivals
• Do Something
• Habitat for Humanity
• Kids Helping Kids
• Mountaineers Club
• Sisters on the Runway

Interested in making a difference in your school, community, or on a larger scale, through policy? Try a government-related activity to see if this could be a career interest for you!

• Community Youth Board
• Student Council
• Student Government
• Community Government

These activities could be a fit if you're a natural leader, skilled at motivating, directing, and inspiring others.

• National Beta Club
• Peer Leadership Group

If you love writing and communicating, consider getting involved in a media activity to help bring news and information to your school or community.

• School or local magazine/journal
• School or local newspaper
• School or local radio station
• School or local television channel
• School or local web site
• Work on a movie
• Yearbook Committee

If you are interested in learning about discipline, teamwork, and leadership, then you may be interested in a military-based extracurricular activity.

• Civil Air Patrol
• Junior ROTC

If you want to try playing an instrument or singing, there are many opportunities to try music-related activities. These are usually available both in your school community and in your wider community.

• Any musical interest club
• School Chorus/Choir
• Community Chorus/Choir
• Church Chorus/Choir
• Chamber Music Group
• Concert Band
• Singing Lessons
• Marching Band
• Your own band
• Tri-M Music Honor Society

Performance Art

Love to ham it up? You'll find there are many outlets both in your school and in your community to get on a stage and make an audience laugh and cry.

• Comedy Club
• Choreography
• Classic Film Club
• Film Production Club
• International Thespian Society
• Slam Poetry Club
• High School Theater Group
• Community Theater Group

You can usually find these groups in your community.

• Church groups
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes
• Jewish Student Union
• Missionary work
• Youth Groups

Roleplaying/Fantasy

Did you know your love of fantasy can also be an extracurricular activity? Participating in one of these groups can show a dedication to many different creative skills.

• The Civil War Reenactors
• Dungeons and Dragons Club
• Gamers Club
• LARPing (Live Action Role Playing)
• Renaissance Faires

Social Activism

These groups may have chapters in your school or in your community. If there's a cause you're passionate about, seek out the local group that supports it.

• Amnesty International
• Animal Rights Club
• Breast Cancer Awareness
• Cancer Foundation
• Environmental Club
• Fair Trade Club
• Gay-Straight Alliance
• Girls Lean International
• NOW —National Organization for Women
• SADD —Students Against Destructive Decisions

Special Interest

You will often find these groups in your school or supported by the community. If you have a special interest in something that you can't find a local group for, consider creating one or join a national group. You can communicate with other people who have the same interest online, and attend meet-ups throughout the year.

• Equestrian Club
• Entrepreneurship Club
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Girl Scouts
• Horticulture Club
• Model Railroads
• Quilt Making

Sports and Recreation

You probably already know about the sports teams at your schools, but there are also many opportunities to participate outside of those. Try doing extramural sports, join a club league in your community, or consider coaching a youth team.

• Baseball and softball
• Bodybuilding
• Cheerleading
• Climbing Club
• Hiking Club
• Intramural Sports
• Martial Arts
• Ping Pong Club
• Quidditch Clubs
• Skate Board Club
• Track & Field
• Ultimate Frisbee Club

There are a lot of ways to make a difference in your local community. Look for volunteer groups in your school, your church, or elsewhere in your neighborhood. There are many websites, such as Volunteer Match , that can help you find a local community service project that is of interest to you.

• Adopt-a-Highway
• Animal rescue
• Best Buddies International
• Church outreach
• Hospital volunteer
• International volunteer program
• Red Cross Club
• UNICEF High School Clubs
• Volunteer Fire Department
• Work with a local charity
• Work with a local soup kitchen

If none of the above activities are for you, you're still in luck. Why? You can always create your own extracurricular activity!

Did you know that almost any hobby can be turned into an extracurricular activity?

Starting a business or a website, volunteering, or any unusual hobby can be turned into something that you can write about for college. And if it's unique enough to not be on this list, you can be sure that it will be something new for the college admissions committee, as well!

What matters most is that it's an outlet for your passion, creativity, and leadership.

So instead of thinking you don't do anything interesting, take the opportunity to find a new passion, or to turn something you already love into an activity you can share with the world.

If you think there's something we left off that you want to see something added to this list, leave a comment below.

What's Next?

Now that you know what extracurriculars look like, read about how to write about extracurriculars on your college application.

Did you know that you can use community service work to help pay for college? Check out our step-by-step guide on how to win community service scholarships.

Want your extracurriculars to really stand out? Check out our guide of three amazing extracurricular examples that are sure to impress colleges.

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Mary Ann holds a BA in Classics and Russian from the University of Notre Dame, and an MA from University College London. She has years of tutoring experience and is also passionate about travel and learning languages.

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Writing Assignments for High School: Getting Started

What writing assignments for high school students will you introduce to a new class? High school writing assignments can shape the learning environment you want and provide important data.

The back to school rush will end. Routines, established. New shoes, broken in. Fresh notebooks, scribbled on. Maybe you’ve discussed the power of writing and language .

First writing assignments, assigned. Classes will write a paragraph, a paper, a reflection of some sort. Diving into teaching writing can be a slow process, or with older students, it can begin those first days of class. Here is what I know from teaching over a dozen years: Those first writing assignments with a new class, matter.

Meeting writing standards in an English class.

Students likely won’t produce papers at the start of the year with polished elements, meeting the standards for that particular class. (Of course.) Older classes will have an idea of expectations, of the work a paper requires. Still, it is important to establish expectations so writers understand your goals with them. It is only fair that everyone understand the standards.

Today, I’m talking about those first writing assignments. Dependent upon your community and classes, these ideas will look different for most teachers.

For the sake of this blog post, we’ll imagine a regular class. A class that doesn’t immediately produce near-perfection, and a class that has an overall idea of how to create a paper. Maybe the majority of classes fall into this segment? Some students enjoy writing; some don’t. A percentage want to be better writers; others don’t.

How do you determine which writing element to address first? How do I start writing assignments for high school students?

Setting the tone, building a community of writers, and unpacking standards are big goals, but with young writers, they are all necessary. Below are my thoughts, ideas, and processes for those first writing assignments for high school students.

Gather data.

Students appreciate knowing that their teachers are on their side and that teachers will help them. As I first learn about my learners as writers, I explain that I want to see look at their writing skills. Older classes appreciate teachers not reteaching, which they rightfully see as boring.

To gather data, the writing prompt doesn’t matter much. Gather data from their first writing project.

The data that I gather is a starting point, looking to:

• know areas where students are proficient or excelling.
• identify areas where they need help.
• understand them as writers.

I’ve gathered data in many ways. Typically, classes write a paragraph. I also use that opportunity to respond to students’ ideas as a great way to build relationships.

After that initial writing exercise, I move to a larger assignment, our first writing assignment. Before assigning that, we work together to create expectations.

Outline expectations and grammar rules.

Frontload material so every member of your class has the same domain-specific language. Doing so starts conversations and allows classes to ask questions.

My presentation allows me to modify and add where classes need support. After providing the information, I post the presentation because students appreciate having material to consult as they work at home or in study hall.

And yes, I want students to add their ideas to our collaborative presentation. However, I want to establish common terms and expectations. For instance, I use the terms “topic sentence” and “thesis statement.” I know other teachers who use “claim.” Never do I want students to be confused! We discuss the ideas together, and practice them together; we take notes and discuss ideas together. Instead of making the process boring, I work to build relationships with classes through this process.

Next, we collaborate and add details together as a class to this presentation. Our brainstorming methods, inside jokes, and collaborations sit in this presentation for anyone to access. We consult the presentation throughout our semester together.

Finally, as we continue with this first writing assignment, I am sure to reference the presentation that we were building together.

Establish prewriting habits.

Students think you’re giving them extra work with prewriting, so stress that you’re not: You’re saving them time. Writing assignments for high school students should allow for brainstorming, thinking, and prewriting. I model the writing process with students with a fun activity that allows everyone to participate.

Overwhelmed writers give up on their papers, or they become increasingly frustrated, less willing to work. Prewriting provides a concrete reference point. It gets all the ideas out in the open. It gives students a direction, and it provides you with an opportunity to restructure a paper and provide feedback before students devote tons of time.

Concerning prewriting, a key aspect I acknowledge is the amount of strong ideas from students, their critical thinking. This is true! Teens have interesting perspectives; getting those ideas on paper in a sensible fashion becomes the obstacle. Lots of modeling on my part builds strong prewriting habits in classes. Plus, in the real world, every prewriting method is different for every person.

Any format (web, outline, list) works, and I allow students to choose which format works best for them. (This is a bonus for teaching older students!) If you’re assigning points for prewriting, clarify that effort is the goal: It needn’t be neat or perfect.

I ask students to list what each body paragraph’s focus will be. Then I read over those ideas  with the students.  We decide if ideas are too similar, out of focus with the topic, or are illogical. With a new class, conference early. Not only do these conferences allow for the prewriting and organizing of a paper, but they also allow me to focus on difficult areas.

Identify errors.

What are the most egregious errors? Right away, I don’t jump into difficult concepts like parallelism, but rather, I focus on grammar errors that are causing breakdowns in papers—confusing parts. In some high school classes, I’ve had to review confusing words along with possessives. That’s rare, but most often I cover sentence problems such as fragments, run-ons, and comma splices at the start of the year. As we work through those first papers, I target where students struggle.

The assignments to help students identify and correct these errors vary. I’ve never used the same exact material in the exact order from year to year. Each class has unique needs and learning styles. Some classes will never need to cover misplaced modifiers; others will need grammar sorts and direct instruction to understand the problem of punctuation, parallelism, and on.

Address those reoccurring problems that multiple students face. This not only will provide direction for grammar and language instruction, but will also show students they are capable of improving in measurable ways.

Strengthen the core.

The core of papers, the nuts and bolts, the thesis, introduction, conclusion, and such will probably need strengthened. Older students know these terms, but they might not realize the expectations yet. As they mature and their writing develops, as they experiment with types of writing, those elements should mature too. A thesis written in fifth grade should differ from one written in tenth grade.

With the first writing assignment, students might benefit from samples and mentor texts. Writing alongside students helps too.

Introductions and conclusions should relate and wrap a paper together. Write with students, and model the struggles you face. Provide varying ways to develop these elements. If I don’t use graphic organizers , I will create anchor charts. Then, we as a class have developed expectations and can reference that chart.

Put out a newsletter.

Add writing to a newsletter, utilize your school’s social media, or email coworkers with published pieces. Ask everyone to print out a finished piece of writing, add to a colored piece of paper, and fasten it to a bulletin board. An authentic audience for writing activities is a good way to showcase work and encourage reluctant writers.

In real life, polished drafts have an audience. Any time you can get your writers’ work in front of others, you are providing an authentic experience.

Writing is difficult. Some people will never care for writing. Encouragement can begin immediately with a new class. I begin building relationships immediately, am intentional in incorporating encouragement into conversations, and encourage classes to own writing.

Another trick is to keep this first paper so that as class progresses, you can return it to students on a particularly rough day. You know: the days when multiple students confide that they can’t do it, that they are terrible writers, that grammar is the devil’s spawn.

Show them that they are good writers, that they have grown, and that their writing assignments have improved. Mark great examples for your writing lesson plans ! The process will come together for you and them.

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Different Types of Essay Assignments for High School Students

These popular essay assignments enable high school students to explore the ins and outs of various types of writing.

In high school, essay practice is key to helping students fine-tune critical thinking skills and build writing fluency. For both efficacy and engagement reasons, the greater the  variety of writing activities , the better. Each of these essay exercises for high schoolers involves a different kind of thinking and a different approach to writing, ensuring students develop  well-rounded writing skill-sets :

1. Poetry analysis essay assignments

Poetry analysis assignments  ask students to break down a poem and study it closely in order to draw conclusions about its meaning. Doing so not only sharpens student  reasoning  and explanation skills, but deepens student understanding of how writers use language to communicate ideas about their experiences.

For many high schoolers, poetry analysis is among the most intimidating types of essay assignments. As such, it’s often worthwhile to use pre-writing activities that guide students through several readings of a poem, each time focusing on a specific element. Here’s one common approach for arriving at an interpretation of a poem:

• Read:  Ask students to read through the poem carefully, noting any immediate thoughts that come to mind.
• Build understanding:  Have students read the poem again. Then, ask them to answer guiding questions to get a better sense of what the poem is about. What impact does the title of the poem have on readers? What objects, people, or events are described in the poem? Is there a clear speaker narrating the poem, and, if so, what is their tone?
• Deepen understanding:  Have students read the poem a third time—this time out loud. Ask them to focus on the features of the poem that stand out to them. What sounds (such as rhyme or rhythm) are prominent in the poem? How does  descriptive language  like imagery or metaphors impact how readers feel about the poem? Does the poem’s structure affect its meaning or message?

Completing a pre-writing activity like this will ensure students feel prepared to craft an essay that articulates a coherent analysis of a poem.

2. Rhetorical analysis essay assignments

Rhetorical analysis helps students see how an author uses language strategically to achieve their purpose. Authors make deliberate rhetorical choices to make their text effective, persuasive, or moving depending on whether they’re trying to teach their audience about an issue, persuade them to take action, or change their feelings on a subject (or any number of other goals). By analyzing these choices, students become familiar with strategies like figurative language, varied sentence structures, and logical arguments that they can incorporate into their own writing.

Rhetorical analysis essay assignments  should guide students through the process of teasing out an author’s purpose, identifying the author’s rhetorical choices, crafting a thesis, and defending that thesis. To get students thinking along the right lines, try asking them any (or all) of these questions:

• Does the author structure the text in an interesting or purposeful way?
• Does the author try to seem trustworthy or likable to the audience?
• Does the author  use evidence  or logical reasoning to convince the audience that something is true?
• Does the author make any notable word choices (like using emotionally charged words or memorable descriptive language)?
• Does the author use interesting or unusual sentence structures or vary sentence length to grab the audience’s attention?

3. Expository essay assignments

Another common type of high school essay practice,  expository writing assignments  ask students to explain, describe, or expose interesting ideas about a subject. Doing so helps students think critically about the world around them and develop a deep enough understanding of a topic that they’re able to lead their audience through it. Expository essay assignments involve conducting research about a subject, gathering relevant evidence to support a position, and using this information to formulate a central idea or argument.

As with any type of essay assignment for high school students, you should show your class how to approach each section of an expository essay:

• For their  introductions , students must learn how to grab readers with a hook and connect this hook to their thesis using a bridge.
• For their body paragraphs, they must make sure that each piece of evidence and explanation adds a new point and supports their topic sentence and thesis.
• For their  conclusions , they must learn how to succinctly restate their key points without repeating language verbatim.

Using NoRedInk for high school essay practice

NoRedInk’s comprehensive online writing curriculum includes all these types of essay assignments for high school students (and more). Our  Guided Drafts ,  Quick Writes , tutorials, and pre-teaching resources help you build student writing, critical thinking, and research skills. Our  personalized, scaffolded approach  makes it easy to ensure that each student receives the support they need to learn at their own pace.

Sign up for free today  to get access to hundreds of essay exercises for high schoolers!

Lillian oversees email communications at NoRedInk. Prior to NoRedInk, she spent over four years at PBLWorks, an education nonprofit focused on project-based learning. A proud product of public education, Lillian holds both an MA in Education and a BA in Art History from the University of Massachusetts.

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Types of Assignments and Assessments

Assignments and assessments are much the same thing: an instructor is unlikely to give students an assignment that does not receive some sort of assessment, whether formal or informal, formative or summative; and an assessment must be assigned, whether it is an essay, case study, or final exam. When the two terms are distinquished, "assignment" tends to refer to a learning activity that is primarily intended to foster or consolidate learning, while "assessment" tends to refer to an activity that is primarily intended to measure how well a student has learned. 

In the list below, some attempt has been made to put the assignments/assessments in into logical categories. However, many of them could appear in multiple categories, so to prevent the list from becoming needlessly long, each item has been allocated to just one category. 

Written Assignments:

• Annotated Bibliography : An annotated bibliography is a list of citations or references to sources such as books, articles, websites, etc., along with brief descriptions or annotations that summarize, evaluate, and explain the content, relevance, and quality of each source. These annotations provide readers with insights into the source's content and its potential usefulness for research or reference.
• Summary/Abstract : A summary or abstract is a concise and condensed version of a longer document or research article, presenting the main points, key findings, and essential information in a clear and brief manner. It allows readers to quickly grasp the main ideas and determine whether the full document is relevant to their needs or interests. Abstracts are commonly found at the beginning of academic papers, research articles, and reports, providing a snapshot of the entire content.
• Case Analysis : Case analysis refers to a systematic examination and evaluation of a particular situation, problem, or scenario. It involves gathering relevant information, identifying key factors, analyzing various aspects, and formulating conclusions or recommendations based on the findings. Case analysis is commonly used in business, law, and other fields to make informed decisions and solve complex problems.
• Definition : A definition is a clear and concise explanation that describes the meaning of a specific term, concept, or object. It aims to provide a precise understanding of the item being defined, often by using words, phrases, or context that distinguish it from other similar or related things.
• Description of a Process : A description of a process is a step-by-step account or narrative that outlines the sequence of actions, tasks, or events involved in completing a particular activity or achieving a specific goal. Process descriptions are commonly used in various industries to document procedures, guide employees, and ensure consistent and efficient workflows.
• Executive Summary : An executive summary is a condensed version of a longer document or report that provides an overview of the main points, key findings, and major recommendations. It is typically aimed at busy executives or decision-makers who need a quick understanding of the content without delving into the full details. Executive summaries are commonly used in business proposals, project reports, and research papers to present essential information concisely.
• Proposal/Plan : A piece of writing that explains how a future problem or project will be approached.
• Laboratory or Field Notes:  Laboratory/field notes are detailed and systematic written records taken by scientists, researchers, or students during experiments, observations, or fieldwork. These notes document the procedures, observations, data, and any unexpected findings encountered during the scientific investigation. They serve as a vital reference for later analysis, replication, and communication of the research process and results.
• Research Paper : A research paper is a more extensive and in-depth academic work that involves original research, data collection from multiple sources, and analysis. It aims to contribute new insights to the existing body of knowledge on a specific subject. Compare to "essay" below.
• Essay : A composition that calls for exposition of a thesis and is composed of several paragraphs including an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. It is different from a research paper in that the synthesis of bibliographic sources is not required. Compare to "Research Paper" above. 
• Memo : A memo, short for memorandum, is a brief written message or communication used within an organization or business. It is often used to convey information, provide updates, make announcements, or request actions from colleagues or team members.
• Micro-theme : A micro-theme refers to a concise and focused piece of writing that addresses a specific topic or question. It is usually shorter than a traditional essay or research paper and requires the writer to present their ideas clearly and concisely.
• Notes on Reading : Notes on reading are annotations, comments, or summaries taken while reading a book, article, or any other written material. They serve as aids for understanding, retention, and later reference, helping the reader recall essential points and ideas from the text.
• Outline : An outline is a structured and organized plan that lays out the main points and structure of a written work, such as an essay, research paper, or presentation. It provides a roadmap for the writer, ensuring logical flow and coherence in the final piece.
• Plan for Conducting a Project : A plan for conducting a project outlines the steps, resources, timelines, and objectives for successfully completing a specific project. It includes details on how tasks will be executed and managed to achieve the desired outcomes.
• Poem : A poem is a literary work written in verse, using poetic devices like rhythm, rhyme, and imagery to convey emotions, ideas, and experiences.
• Play : A play is a form of literature written for performance, typically involving dialogue and actions by characters to tell a story or convey a message on stage.
• Choreography : Choreography refers to the art of designing dance sequences or movements, often for performances in various dance styles.
• Article/Book Review : An article or book review is a critical evaluation and analysis of a piece of writing, such as an article or a book. It typically includes a summary of the content and the reviewer's assessment of its strengths, weaknesses, and overall value.
• Review of Literature : A review of literature is a comprehensive summary and analysis of existing research and scholarly writings on a particular topic. It aims to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge in a specific field and may be a part of academic research or a standalone piece.
• Essay-based Exam : An essay-based exam is an assessment format where students are required to respond to questions or prompts with written, structured responses. It involves expressing ideas, arguments, and explanations in a coherent and organized manner, often requiring critical thinking and analysis.
• "Start" : In the context of academic writing, "start" refers to the initial phase of organizing and planning a piece of writing. It involves formulating a clear and focused thesis statement, which presents the main argument or central idea of the work, and creating an outline or list of ideas that will support and develop the thesis throughout the writing process.
• Statement of Assumptions : A statement of assumptions is a declaration or acknowledgment made at the beginning of a document or research paper, highlighting the underlying beliefs, conditions, or premises on which the work is based. It helps readers understand the foundation of the writer's perspective and the context in which the content is presented.
• Summary or Precis : A summary or precis is a concise and condensed version of a longer piece of writing, such as an article, book, or research paper. It captures the main points, key arguments, and essential information in a succinct manner, enabling readers to grasp the content without reading the full text.
• Unstructured Writing : Unstructured writing refers to the process of writing without following a specific plan, outline, or organizational structure. It allows the writer to freely explore ideas, thoughts, and creativity without the constraints of a predefined format or order. Unstructured writing is often used for brainstorming, creative expression, or personal reflection.
• Rough Draft or Freewrite : A rough draft or freewrite is an initial version of a piece of writing that is not polished or edited. It serves as an early attempt by the writer to get ideas on paper without worrying about perfection, allowing for exploration and creativity before revising and refining the final version.
• Technical or Scientific Report : A technical or scientific report is a document that presents detailed information about a specific technical or scientific project, research study, experiment, or investigation. It follows a structured format and includes sections like abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion to communicate findings and insights in a clear and systematic manner.
• Journal article : A formal article reporting original research that could be submitted to an academic journal. Rather than a format dictated by the professor, the writer must use the conventional form of academic journals in the relevant discipline.
• Thesis statement : A clear and concise sentence or two that presents the main argument or central claim of an essay, research paper, or any written piece. It serves as a roadmap for the reader, outlining the writer's stance on the topic and the key points that will be discussed and supported in the rest of the work. The thesis statement provides focus and direction to the paper, guiding the writer's approach to the subject matter and helping to maintain coherence throughout the writing.

Visual Representation

• Brochure : A brochure is a printed or digital document used for advertising, providing information, or promoting a product, service, or event. It typically contains a combination of text and visuals, such as images or graphics, arranged in a visually appealing layout to convey a message effectively.
• Poster : A poster is a large printed visual display intended to catch the attention of an audience. It often contains a combination of text, images, and graphics to communicate information or promote a particular message, event, or cause.
• Chart : A chart is a visual representation of data or information using various formats such as pie charts, bar charts, line charts, or tables. It helps to illustrate relationships, trends, and comparisons in a concise and easy-to-understand manner.
• Graph : A graph is a visual representation of numerical data, usually presented using lines, bars, points, or other symbols on a coordinate plane. Graphs are commonly used to show trends, patterns, and relationships between variables.
• Concept Map : A concept map is a graphical tool used to organize and represent the connections and relationships between different concepts or ideas. It typically uses nodes or boxes to represent concepts and lines or arrows to show the connections or links between them, helping to visualize the relationships and hierarchy of ideas.
• Diagram : A diagram is a visual representation of a process, system, or structure using labeled symbols, shapes, or lines. Diagrams are used to explain complex concepts or procedures in a simplified and easy-to-understand manner.
• Table : A table is a systematic arrangement of data or information in rows and columns, allowing for easy comparison and reference. It is commonly used to present numerical data or detailed information in an organized format.
• Flowchart : A flowchart is a graphical representation of a process, workflow, or algorithm, using various shapes and arrows to show the sequence of steps or decisions involved. It helps visualize the logical flow and decision points, making it easier to understand and analyze complex processes.
• Multimedia or Slide Presentation : A multimedia or slide presentation is a visual communication tool that combines text, images, audio, video, and other media elements to deliver information or a message to an audience. It is often used for educational, business, or informational purposes and can be presented in person or virtually using software like Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides.
• ePortfolio : An ePortfolio, short for electronic portfolio, is a digital collection of an individual's work, accomplishments, skills, and reflections. It typically includes a variety of multimedia artifacts such as documents, presentations, videos, images, and links to showcase a person's academic, professional, or personal achievements. Eportfolios are used for self-reflection, professional development, and showcasing one's abilities to potential employers, educators, or peers. They provide a comprehensive and organized way to present evidence of learning, growth, and accomplishments over time.

Multiple-Choice Questions : These questions present a statement or question with several possible answer options, of which one or more may be correct. Test-takers must select the most appropriate choice(s). See CTE's Teaching Tip "Designing Multiple-Choice Questions."  

True or False Questions : These questions require test-takers to determine whether a given statement is true or false based on their knowledge of the subject.

Short-Answer Questions : Test-takers are asked to provide brief written responses to questions or prompts. These responses are usually a few sentences or a paragraph in length.

Essay Questions : Essay questions require test-takers to provide longer, more detailed written responses to a specific topic or question. They may involve analysis, critical thinking, and the development of coherent arguments.

Matching Questions : In matching questions, test-takers are asked to pair related items from two lists. They must correctly match the items based on their associations.

Fill-in-the-Blank Questions : Test-takers must complete sentences or passages by filling in the missing words or phrases. This type of question tests recall and understanding of specific information.

Multiple-Response Questions : Similar to multiple-choice questions, but with multiple correct options. Test-takers must select all the correct choices to receive full credit.

Diagram or Image-Based Questions : These questions require test-takers to analyze or interpret diagrams, charts, graphs, or images to answer specific queries.

Problem-Solving Questions : These questions present real-world or theoretical problems that require test-takers to apply their knowledge and skills to arrive at a solution.

Vignettes or Case-Based Questions : In these questions, test-takers are presented with a scenario or case study and must analyze the information to answer related questions.

Sequencing or Order Questions : Test-takers are asked to arrange items or events in a particular order or sequence based on their understanding of the subject matter.

Projects intended for a specific audience :

• Advertisement : An advertisement is a promotional message or communication aimed at promoting a product, service, event, or idea to a target audience. It often uses persuasive techniques, visuals, and compelling language to attract attention and encourage consumers to take specific actions, such as making a purchase or seeking more information.
• Client Report for an Agency : A client report for an agency is a formal document prepared by a service provider or agency to communicate the results, progress, or recommendations of their work to their client. It typically includes an analysis of data, achievements, challenges, and future plans related to the project or services provided.
• News or Feature Story : A news story is a journalistic piece that reports on current events or recent developments, providing objective information in a factual and unbiased manner. A feature story, on the other hand, is a more in-depth and creative piece that explores human interest topics, profiles individuals, or delves into issues from a unique perspective.
• Instructional Manual : An instructional manual is a detailed document that provides step-by-step guidance, explanations, and procedures on how to use, assemble, operate, or perform specific tasks with a product or system. It aims to help users understand and utilize the item effectively and safely.
• Letter to the Editor : A letter to the editor is a written communication submitted by a reader to a newspaper, magazine, or online publication, expressing their opinion, feedback, or comments on a particular article, topic, or issue. It is intended for publication and allows individuals to share their perspectives with a broader audience.

Problem-Solving and Analysis :

• Taxonomy : Taxonomy is the science of classification, categorization, and naming of organisms, objects, or concepts based on their characteristics, similarities, and differences. It involves creating hierarchical systems that group related items together, facilitating organization and understanding within a particular domain.
• Budget with Rationale : A budget with rationale is a financial plan that outlines projected income and expenses for a specific period, such as a month or a year. The rationale provides explanations or justifications for each budget item, explaining the purpose and reasoning behind the allocated funds.
• Case Analysis : Case analysis refers to a methodical examination of a particular situation, scenario, or problem. It involves gathering relevant data, identifying key issues, analyzing different factors, and formulating conclusions or recommendations based on the findings. Case analysis is commonly used in various fields, such as business, law, and education, to make informed decisions and solve complex problems.
• Case Study : A case study is an in-depth analysis of a specific individual, group, organization, or situation. It involves thorough research, data collection, and detailed examination to understand the context, challenges, and outcomes associated with the subject of study. Case studies are widely used in academic research and professional contexts to gain insights into real-world scenarios.
• Word Problem : A word problem is a type of mathematical or logical question presented in a contextual format using words rather than purely numerical or symbolic representations. It challenges students to apply their knowledge and problem-solving skills to real-life situations.

Collaborative Activities

• Debate : A debate is a structured discussion between two or more individuals or teams with differing viewpoints on a specific topic or issue. Participants present arguments and counterarguments to support their positions, aiming to persuade the audience and ultimately reach a resolution or conclusion. Debates are commonly used in academic settings, public forums, and formal competitions to foster critical thinking, communication skills, and understanding of diverse perspectives.
• Group Discussion : A group discussion is an interactive conversation involving several individuals who come together to exchange ideas, opinions, and information on a particular subject. The discussion is typically moderated to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate, and it encourages active listening, collaboration, and problem-solving. Group discussions are commonly used in educational settings, team meetings, and decision-making processes to promote dialogue and collective decision-making.
• An oral report is a form of communication in which a person or group of persons present information, findings, or ideas verbally to an audience. It involves speaking in front of others, often in a formal setting, and delivering a structured presentation that may include visual aids, such as slides or props, to support the content. Oral reports are commonly used in academic settings, business environments, and various professional settings to share knowledge, research findings, project updates, or persuasive arguments. Effective oral reports require clear organization, articulation, and engaging delivery to effectively convey the intended message to the listeners.

Planning and Organization

• Inventory : An inventory involves systematically listing and categorizing items or resources to assess their availability, quantity, and condition. In an educational context, students might conduct an inventory of books in a library, equipment in a lab, or supplies in a classroom, enhancing their organizational and data collection skills.
• Materials and Methods Plan : A materials and methods plan involves developing a structured outline or description of the materials, tools, and procedures to be used in a specific experiment, research project, or practical task. It helps learners understand the importance of proper planning and documentation in scientific and research endeavors.
• Plan for Conducting a Project : This learning activity requires students to create a detailed roadmap for executing a project. It includes defining the project's objectives, identifying tasks and timelines, allocating resources, and setting milestones to monitor progress. It enhances students' project management and organizational abilities.
• Research Proposal Addressed to a Granting Agency : A formal document requesting financial support for a research project from a granting agency or organization. The proposal outlines the research questions, objectives, methodology, budget, and potential outcomes. It familiarizes learners with the process of seeking funding and strengthens their research and persuasive writing skills.
• Mathematical Problem : A mathematical problem is a task or question that requires the application of mathematical principles, formulas, or operations to find a solution. It could involve arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or other branches of mathematics, challenging individuals to solve the problem logically and accurately.
• Question : A question is a sentence or phrase used to elicit information, seek clarification, or provoke thought from someone else. Questions can be open-ended, closed-ended, or leading, depending on their purpose, and they play a crucial role in communication, problem-solving, and learning.

More Resources

CTE Teaching Tips

• Personal Response Systems
• Designing Multiple-Choice Questions
• Aligning Outcomes, Assessments, and Instruction

Other Resources

• Types of Assignments . University of Queensland.

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help.  View the  CTE Support  page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

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• Career Development
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Understanding the Different Types of Assignments in Detail

• Rachel R.N.
• November 30, 2023
• How to Guides

As students advance in their academics studies, their academic knowledge increases thus increasing the level of assignments issue by their lecturers. Students are given academic assignments to test their level of understanding in a particular topic or subject.

Are you a student struggling to understand the various types of assignments you encounter during your academic journey? Look no further! In this article, I will provide you with a comprehensive overview of the different assignment types commonly found in universities. By gaining a better understanding of these assignment categories , you will be better equipped to meet the requirements and excel in your academics.

Assignments come in different forms and serve different purposes. Some of the most common types of assignments you may encounter include essays, case study responses, reports, reflective writing assignments , annotated bibliographies , and literature reviews . Let’s explore each of these assignment types in detail!

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Essay Assignments

One of the most frequently assigned tasks in university is the essay. Essays require you to present your ideas and arguments in a formal and structured manner. They demand clear and logical thinking, as well as the use of credible academic sources to support your claims. Essays can be further categorized into analytical essays , where you thoroughly examine a topic, and argumentative essays , where you take a stance on an issue and provide supporting evidence.

How to Format Essay Assignments

The following is a general list of sections you should include in your essay assignment:

A good essay title tells people what your essay is about. It helps them know what to expect from your essay, especially if they’re reading it for their own research. If the essay title is interesting, it can also make people curious and want to read your essay.

How important a catchy title is depends on the type of essay you’re writing. If it’s for a class assignment and your teacher is the only one reading it, the title doesn’t have to be super exciting. But if you’re entering a contest, applying to college or grad school, or trying to get it published, a catchy title is crucial. This is because the title is the first thing the editor or admissions committee will see, and it might decide whether they read your essay or not.

In short, a strong essay title gives a clear idea of what your essay is about. It doesn’t have to reveal everything, but it should give a general sense of what to expect and make people want to keep reading.

• Introduction

Your introduction is like the hello of your paper. It’s the first thing your reader sees, and it gives them an idea of how your writing will be. It helps them know what to expect in terms of tone, voice, and style.

Think of it as a warm-up for your reader. It shares some important info about your paper, so your reader understands what you’re talking about and why it matters.

But the introduction is not just about facts. It’s also a chance to grab your reader’s interest. If you start with something cool or make them think, they’ll be more excited to read the rest.

Here’s what you should include in your introduction, no matter what kind of paper you’re writing:

• A hook to get attention : Something that makes your reader go, “Hmm, this is interesting!”
• Background information : The basics your reader needs to understand your paper.
• A clear main point or thesis statement : What your paper is all about in one sentence.

Think of paragraphs as small parts of a bigger piece of writing. Each paragraph is like a mini version of the whole thing, with its own introduction, body, and conclusion in the form of sentences.

Now, let’s break it down. A good paragraph has four important parts, and you might already know some of them from our guide:

• Transitions: These are just a few words at the start or end of a paragraph that link it to the others. They help the writing flow smoothly.
• Topic sentence: This is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. It tells you what the whole paragraph is about.
• Supporting sentences: These sentences make up the main part of your paragraph. There are usually one to three of them, and they give more information or reasons to support the topic sentence.
• Conclusion (Summary): This is the last sentence of your paragraph. It sums up or repeats your main point in light of the evidence you provided.

Many people find writing conclusions in essays tough. But, they are super important because they make things clear and give you a better understanding of the topic.

To make a good ending for your essay, follow these steps:

Restate the thesis : A good ending reminds the reader about the main idea of your essay. But don’t just repeat it word for word. Say it in a different way while keeping the main point.

Repeat the important points : Besides talking again about your main idea, also go over the key points you made to support it. Instead of saying the same things you said before, summarize the main ideas.

Connect the beginning and ending statements : It’s helpful to go back to what you talked about at the start of your essay. This gives the reader a clear ending. You can do this by using similar ideas, going back to a story you started with, or using the same images.

Give some new thoughts Your ending should give the reader something to think about. It could be a solution, a new idea, questions for more thinking, or a call to do something. Explain why your ideas matter and why people should care. Answer these kinds of questions to leave your reader with something important to ponder.

• References.

You should include a list of sources (including module materials) that are mentioned in the essay. Find out more in the ACADEMIC STYLE GUIDE

Analytical Essays

Argumentative Essays

Essay assignment example: Applying the Concepts of Epidemiology and Nursing Research on Measles Nursing Paper Essay

Case Study Assignments

In certain fields like health or business, case study assignments are commonly assigned. These assignments require students to analyze a scenario in a particular field and respond to it guided by specific questions posed concerning the situation. In many cases, the scenario or case study involves a number of issues or problems that must be dealt with in a professional workplace.

To effectively respond to a case study, it is important to refer to the case itself, structure your analysis effectively, and use examples and data from the case as evidence to support your points.

Types of Case Studies

Illustrative case study: employed to provide a descriptive portrayal of a particular situation without aiming for generalizations. Often used for educational purposes, it offers readers a tangible example, fostering a clearer understanding of concepts.

Exploratory case studies: serve the purpose of exploring a subject or phenomenon, collecting preliminary insights before conducting a more extensive study. Ideal for gaining an understanding of the scope, scale, and potential variables associated with a problem, these studies help researchers refine their focus and approach.

Explanatory case studies : focus on establishing cause-and-effect relationships. They investigate why and how a specific situation occurred and explore its impact. This type is valuable when researchers seek to uncover underlying principles or factors contributing to a particular outcome, providing a deeper understanding of complex issues.

Critical instance case studies : concentrate on instances deemed uniquely interesting or significant. By delving into cases of exceptional relevance, researchers can extract insights that might be applicable to broader contexts. This type is particularly useful when studying rare or extreme cases that offer a distinctive perspective on an issue or challenge.

Prospective or longitudinal case studies: involve tracking the development of a situation over time. This approach necessitates repeated observations and data collection to analyze changes and patterns, making it well-suited for studying processes, developments, or changes in individuals, groups, or organizations over an extended period.

Steps to writing an answer to a case study assignment

• Carefully read the case study and questions
• Identify the issues being raised in the case study
• Link theory to practice
• Draft your answer
• Start writing your case study
• Proofread and edit

Analyzing Case Studies

When analyzing a case study, consider the following aspects:

• Context: Understand the background and setting of the case.
• Key Issues: Identify the main problems or challenges within the case.
• Analysis: Apply relevant theories or concepts to examine the case in depth.
• Recommendations: Offer practical solutions or suggestions for addressing the issues.

Example Case Study Analysis

“The case study presents a real-world scenario in the healthcare industry, focusing on the challenges faced by a hospital in improving patient satisfaction. Through a detailed analysis of patient feedback and hospital data, I identified the key issues contributing to low satisfaction scores, such as long wait times and inadequate communication. Based on this analysis, I recommended implementing strategies to streamline processes, enhance communication between staff and patients, and improve overall patient experience. This case study provided valuable insights into the complexities of healthcare management and the importance of patient-centered care.” – Student, Health Management Program

Case Study Structure

A well-structured case study analysis typically includes the following sections:

• Introduction: Provide a brief overview of the case and its importance.
• Background: Present relevant background information about the case.
• Analysis: Analyze the case, addressing the key issues identified.
• Findings: Summarize your findings based on the analysis.
• Conclusion: Provide a concise conclusion that ties everything together.

Related blog article: Case Study on Moral Status .

Report Assignments

Reports are a common form of assessment in various professions. They serve as a means of communicating information and analysis to a specific audience. Report assignments can take different structures and formats, depending on the professional requirements and the purpose of the report.

In general, a report consists of several sections that provide a comprehensive overview of the topic being discussed. This may include an executive summary, introduction, methodology, findings, analysis, and conclusion.

The specific sections of a report can vary depending on the field and purpose of the assignment. For example, a business report may include sections on market analysis, financial analysis, and recommendations, while a scientific research report may include sections on hypothesis, methodology, results, and discussion.

When working on a report assignment, it is important to carefully follow the given guidelines and structure the report in a logical and coherent manner. Each section should be clearly labeled and organized, making it easy for the reader to navigate and understand the content.

Additionally, reports often require the use of visual aids such as tables, charts, and graphs to present data and support findings. These visual elements should be properly formatted and referenced within the text.

Overall, report assignments require careful planning, research, and analysis to effectively present information and make informed recommendations. By understanding the structure and components of reports, you can ensure that your assignments meet the requirements and effectively convey your findings and insights to the intended audience.

Report assignment essay: Term-Long Project Nursing Paper Example

Reflective Writing, Annotated Bibliographies, and Literature Reviews

Reflective writing assignments , annotated bibliographies, and literature reviews are important types of assignments that you may encounter in your academic journey. They each serve a unique purpose and require specific approaches to effectively complete them. These assignments encourage self-reflection and exploration of personal experiences and thoughts on a particular topic.

Reflective Writing Assignments

Reflective writing assignments provide an opportunity for self-reflection and personal exploration. In fields such as nursing, education, and human services, these assignments encourage you to think critically about your experiences, thoughts, and emotions related to a particular topic. By analyzing your own reactions and considering the impact of these experiences, you can gain deeper insights and develop a greater understanding of the subject matter.

Annotated Bibliographies

Annotated bibliographies are valuable resources that provide a comprehensive list of sources accompanied by brief descriptions and evaluations. These assignments require you to carefully select relevant sources and provide thoughtful annotations that summarize the key points, strengths, and weaknesses of each source. By creating an annotated bibliography, you demonstrate your ability to critically analyze and evaluate existing literature on a particular topic.

Literature Reviews

Literature reviews involve a thorough examination of existing literature on a specific subject. They aim to identify current trends, research gaps, and areas for further investigation. By conducting a comprehensive review of scholarly articles, books, and other relevant sources, you can contribute to the existing knowledge base and showcase your ability to synthesize information from multiple sources.

Now that you have a better understanding of the different types of assignments , you can confidently tackle any task that comes your way. Remember, at StudyingHq.com, you can find thousands of free essay examples, samples, guides, topics, and research papers to inspire your own work. And if you need writing assistance, our team of expert writers is ready to help you within 2-3 hours. Good luck with your assignments!

What are the different types of assignments in university?

Some common types of assignments include essays, case study responses, reports, reflective writing assignments, annotated bibliographies, and literature reviews.

What do essays require and how can they be categorized?

Essays require formal language, a clear and logical structure, and the use of credible academic sources. They can be categorized into  analytical essays , which involve examining a topic thoroughly, and  argumentative essays , which require taking a position on an issue and presenting arguments supported by evidence.

What are case study assignments and how should I respond to them?

Case study assignments  involve analyzing a specific situation, problem, or organization over a selected period of time. When responding to a case study, it is important to refer to the case, structure your paragraphs effectively, and use examples and data from the case as evidence to support your points.

What are the different types of report assignments?

Reports can take different structures, such as business reports or scientific and research reports. The structure of a report depends on professional requirements and the purpose of the report. It typically includes sections like an executive summary, introduction, process, findings, and conclusion.

What are reflective writing assignments, annotated bibliographies, and literature reviews?

Reflective writing assignments involve self-reflection and exploring personal experiences or thoughts on a particular topic. Annotated bibliographies are lists of sources with brief descriptions and evaluations. Literature reviews examine existing literature on a topic, highlighting current trends and identifying research gaps.

Source Links

• https://usq.pressbooks.pub/academicsuccess/chapter/types-of-assignments/
• https://www.writeneed.com/post/2017/09/20/the-different-types-of-academic-assignments
• https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/understanding-assignments/

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Extracurriculars Matter — To You and To Colleges

Find the right college for you..

If you're looking to enjoy more opportunities after high school, it's important to think beyond just grades. Participating in extracurricular activities like clubs, sports, or a job can foster new interests and help you discover more about yourself. Admissions committees also review the extra-academic activities listed on your college application to help decide whether to give you an offer of admission.

High school is a time to try new things, learn new skills, and develop new passions. While grades and test scores are important, colleges also want to see the person you're becoming and the skills you've learned outside of class. They want to know what makes you unique, and the extracurricular activities you participate in will help you stand out .

What Extracurricular Activities Are Best for College-Bound Students?

The best extracurricular activities will be pursuits that already match your interests and passions. Rather than joining many different groups or the most prestigious clubs, focus on the ones that spark your talents. After-school activities offer a fun way to explore interests and develop friendships. This may be one reason why more than 80% of adolescents ages 12–17 take part in at least one extracurricular activity. The following list of extracurriculars for college covers the main categories of options.

School-Sponsored Activities

School-sponsored extracurriculars are school-supervised programs based on an activity, goal, or purpose. While they're not part of regular curriculum, they can certainly be educational. Most high schools offer an array of programs, including:

• Sports teams
• Band/orchestra/choir
• School newspaper or yearbook club
• Student government
• Special-interests clubs, such as drama club
• Competitive academics, such as math league

Think of school-sponsored activities as a way to complement your regular classroom studies. If you like a specific subject or aspect of a class, chances are your school offers a related program. For example, joining the school newspaper if you enjoy writing or math club if you have a knack for algebra. Admissions officers like to see school-sponsored activities on applications because it shows that you're interested in a field of study beyond the classroom.

Community Activities

Community groups and organizations may have programs available for high school students looking to engage in their community in a meaningful way. Some options that could be available in your community include:

• Community service
• Local clubs and sports teams
• Political activist groups
• Community arts or music groups
• Volunteer work

Getting involved with community issues, political discussions, or leadership opportunities can show admissions committees that you're passionate about making a difference. It also shows them your values and if they're aligned with the college’s values. Participating in these organizations long-term can demonstrate your commitment level and work ethic, which is an important skill to have.

Volunteering for a local group or non-profit is a great way to showcase what you are passionate about as well. For example, if you're interested in veterinary technician programs, volunteering at an animal shelter will demonstrate your passion for helping animals and increase your chances of being accepted to a veterinary technician program.

Independent Activities

You can also participate in activities at home that help develop your skills outside the classroom. Some of these include:

• Taking specialized online courses, such as coding
• Engaging in related hobbies, such as painting or building
• Learning new skills, such as computer software programs
• Hosting an online podcast
• Starting a small business

Your choice of independent extracurricular activities shows your creativity, passion, and commitment to learning. Colleges like to see your willingness to learn. After all, learning is what college is all about. Showing admissions committees that you're curious and are willing to work hard for what you want is a great way to stand out from other applicants.

Work Experience

Work experience—whether it's full-time, part-time, or freelance—is another extracurricular worth adding to a college application. Even if the job is not related to your area of study, it can really impress college admissions committees. Roughly one in three high school–age teens will have a job at some point in a year.

Balancing work with high school studies shows that you have good time management skills and are excited about developing job skills early on. A job commitment also helps you learn the importance of teamwork, reliability, and work ethic. If you work up to a managerial position at your summer job or internship, this shows admissions committees that you are capable of sustained commitment and excellence.

How to Get Started With Extracurricular Activities

It's ideal to start with extracurricular activities as early in high school as possible. This shows a long-term commitment and gives you time to potentially earn a club leadership role, which looks great on college applications . That being said, it's never too late to get involved with extracurricular activities.

You can begin your search for activities by:

• Joining clubs or groups that your friends belong to
• Checking your school’s website for clubs and opportunities
• Reaching out to local organizations, such as a church, community center, or town hall
• Checking national organizations’ websites, such as the YMCA, Girl or Boy Scouts, or Junior Achievement
• Searching online for specialized courses of interest or visiting your local community college

When choosing extracurriculars, keep these factors in mind:

• Career paths you're considering
• Your intended college major or minor
• Any passions or hobbies you already enjoy

Still can't find anything? You can always start your own club, group, or business.

Student Stories

The following students were all involved in an extracurricular activity that profoundly impacted their lives. As their stories show, extra-academic activities can introduce you to a lifelong passion, give you new perspectives, and help prepare you for college.

How to Get Started

Katie discovered her perfect major.

Katie, a high school senior, loved participating in her school’s drama club so much that she decided to pursue that interest in college. She has enrolled in a college program for technical theater, where she will hone her skills to work behind the scenes bringing plays to life.

Kelsey Expanded Her Cultural Horizons

Kelsey, a college junior, says that her activity shaped her into the person she is today.

In high school, Kelsey joined a community-based club that focused on female empowerment. She spent time with group members from diverse backgrounds, which led her to open her mind to people who are different from her. Taking on leadership roles within the organization also helped Kelsey build her confidence. “The program gave me the opportunity to learn about myself in a positive environment,” she says.

Ben Learned He Could Make Things Happen

Ben, a first-year college student, says that his experience made him “realize that the world is full of possibilities.”

Ben started a charity golf tournament to raise money for a local hospital when he was just 10 years old. By the time he graduated from high school, the event had raised more than $1 million.

Making extracurricular activities a part of your high school experience can enrich your life now and set you up for success in the future.

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4 Engaging Writing Tasks for High School Students

Short, authentic writing tasks can encourage high school students to compose richer long pieces.

It’s quite likely that many of your students dislike writing. After all, they’re often expected to compose lengthy pieces that typically require lots of brainstorming, researching, planning, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing—and that can be exhausting. My class of high school boys had the same attitude, and their short, underdeveloped, and passionless pieces were most telling. I had to overhaul my approach.

During my quest for an alternative practice, I quickly learned that by building students’ knowledge about the topic on which they are expected to compose, and by initially assigning them shorter and more authentic writing tasks, we can successfully motivate them to write longer, richer, and more compelling multiparagraph pieces. Yes, baby steps—from a creep to a stable walk—can work wonders.

Incorporate Knowledge-Building Activities

Judith Hochman and Natalie Wexler said it best in  The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades : “Writing and content knowledge are intimately related. You can’t write well about something you don’t know well. The more students know about a topic before they begin to write, the better they will be able to write about it.”

Documentaries, podcasts, TED Talks, and other authentic and engaging audiovisuals can facilitate this knowledge building. Field trips, as well as interviews with relevant community-based experts, can also offer students significant fodder for their writing.

Moreover, when students have interesting discoveries to share, they’ll be excited about the writing tasks, and their compositions are likely to be longer, more detailed, more affecting, and more compelling. Because they have a rich knowledge bank, they’re less likely to get stuck and frustrated as they write. Knowledge stimulates ideas.

But information gathering is not all. It’s also important to show students how to use the newly learned content. We don’t want them to plagiarize information or inadvertently silence their own voices by over-quoting others. Their research should enhance what they write, not substitute for their initial thoughts or suppress their creativity.

What can you do then?

Go beyond lessons in citation format. Model, through write-aloud, how to make decisions about the content included in written work, how to paraphrase and summarize from the original source, and how to ensure that the added content actually strengthens what you already have.

Offer Authentically Rooted Writing Assignments

Finally, make sure that the writing assignments are authentic—with realistic, real-world communicative goals and true-to-life audiences (not just the classroom teacher). Here are some suggestions that you can implement in your teaching practice:

Travel blogs:  Take students on virtual field trips. Nearpod , Google Earth, and YouTube are excellent for this. Following this activity, have students write a blog post to describe the place they visited. If your students have visited resorts or attraction sites locally, they could write about that experience, recommend activities for prospective visitors, and simultaneously persuade them to visit when it is safe to do so.

Their insights might even persuade others to travel to this site. Students could use pictures to supplement their writing. They could also convert their written piece into a mini-video production for a real or imagined YouTube channel that promotes exotic getaways. Their composition would become the audio narration, and, with some background reggae, R & B, or any other culturally popular music, their piece would be beautifully transformed into a riveting marketing pitch.

Movie reviews:  Due to the pandemic, we know that many of our students may be watching far more movies than ever before. Therefore, let’s repurpose this social activity and use what they love or do for pleasure to help them refine a key academic skill. Have students write a review of their most recently watched or favorite film.

Prompt them to provide a summary of the movie, share their impressions of major characters and the plot’s unfolding, and examine the techniques used to create suspense and mounting tension. Later, when they’re writing their own narratives or putting on drama productions, they can adopt and adapt some of these techniques.

Song or music video reviews: Some students enjoy listening to music, so a song or music video review could also motivate them and facilitate interest-based differentiation. State where the review may be published—a local tabloid, a social media page, etc. Have students keep that in mind as they write so that their finished pieces are authentic and fitting for the context and audience intended.

Social media:  Based on your content area, you could have students make discipline-specific posts and write related captions. For instance, if you are looking at rocks in geography or soil types in science, have students photograph different types and post related descriptive or explanatory captions. They’ll be learning and teaching concurrently.

Provide Mentor Texts

These activities are exciting, but before you scuttle off to assign them, find or create models of the kinds of writing that you want your students to produce. Discuss the sample by prompting students to keenly attend to the content and the writer’s craft (style and techniques) throughout the piece.

Finally, make arrangements to have your students publish their pieces—through a safe online space or through an in-school magazine or newsletter—for authenticity at its finest.

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• 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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Advantages and Disadvantages of Assignments For Students

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of assignments for students.

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Advantages of Assignments For Students

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The BIG List of Extracurricular Activities for High School

175+ offerings to interest every kind of student!

When the school day ends, extracurriculars are just getting started! Whether students are into sports, academics, hobbies, service and leadership, or the arts, this huge roundup of extracurricular activities for high school has something for everyone.

What are the benefits of extracurricular activities for high school students?

There are so many terrific reasons to offer and participate in extracurriculars. They offer kids the chance to meet others with similar interests, encouraging them to make friends outside of their normal groups. Extracurriculars can encourage leadership and a sense of community and school pride too. Students get the opportunity to explore new interests and dive deeper into their personal favorite subjects or hobbies.

Plus, extracurricular activities look great on college applications and high school r é sumés . When kids participate in a mix of clubs and teams, they show their excitement in learning new things and serving their community. These are traits that universities and employers really value.

Schools should make an effort to offer extracurricular activities that appeal to a wide range of skills, interests, and talents. Encourage diversity with a range of clubs, sports, and organizations that anyone can join and enjoy. This big list will help you find creative new offerings to consider.

Athletics and Sports for High School

Sports extracurriculars can help students keep fit and learn to value a healthy lifestyle. These ideas include both team sports and individual competitions, from long-standing favorites to newer athletics opportunities.

• Baseball/Softball
• Beach Volleyball
• Billiards/Pool
• Capture the Flag
• Crew/Rowing
• Cross-Country
• Disc Golf/Frisbee Golf
• Field Hockey
• Figure Skating
• Flag Football
• Martial Arts
• Skateboarding
• Skating (Inline or Roller)
• Snowboarding
• Speed Skating
• Swimming & Diving
• Synchronized Swimming
• Table Tennis/Ping Pong
• Track & Field
• Weightlifting

Academic Clubs and Teams for High School

These extracurriculars offer opportunities for students to explore their favorite subjects more deeply. Some are competitive, while others simply give kids a chance to learn and make like-minded friends.

Academic Competitive Teams

• Academic Decathlon
• American Mathematics Competitions
• Chemistry Olympiad
• Debate Team
• FIRST Robotics Competition
• Mock Trial Competition
• Model United Nations
• Science Olympiad
• National History Bee
• National Science Bowl
• Physics Bowl
• Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee
• VEX Robotics Competitions

Academic Clubs by Interest or Achievement

• Astronomy Club
• Creative Writing Club
• Economics Club
• History Club
• Language Clubs (French, Chinese, Latin, etc.)
• National Honor Society

Arts Extracurriculars for High School

Tap into teens’ creative sides with extracurricular activities that explore fine, visual, and performing arts.

Performing Arts Extracurriculars

• A Capella Choir
• Barbershop Quartet
• Chamber Choir
• Concert Band
• Film/AV Club
• Flag Team/Color Guard
• Marching Band
• Men’s Chorus/Women’s Chorus
• Mixed Choir/Chorus
• Vocal Jazz Choir

Visual and Fine Arts Extracurriculars

• Ceramics Club
• Comedy/Improv Club
• Drawing Club
• Fashion Design
• Graphic Design
• Literary Magazine
• Photography Club
• Puppetry Club
• Slam Poetry Club
• Visual Arts Club

Hobby Clubs for High School

When students meet up with others who share the same interests, they’ll find new friends and learn so many new skills. Any hobby can become a club, including these ideas.

• Birding Club
• Bridge Club
• Cooking Club
• Croquet Club
• Dominoes Club
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Equestrian Club
• Esports/Video Games
• Fishing Club
• Foodie Club
• Geocaching Club
• Geology Club
• Hiking Club
• Historical Reenactment Club
• Horticulture/Gardening Club
• Makerspace Club
• Minecraft Club
• Nature Club
• Orienteering Club
• Philosophy Club
• Scale Model Club
• Sewing/Quilting/Needlework Club
• Tabletop Gaming Club
• Toastmasters/Speech Club
• Woodworking Club

Career-Focused Extracurriculars for High School

These clubs and activities support students who already have careers in mind, or those who want to see if a particular job or field is the right fit for them.

• Anthropology/Paleontology Club
• Architecture Club
• Auto Mechanics Club
• Business Professionals of America
• Computer Science/Coding Club
• Economics/Investment Club
• FFA (Future Farmers of America)
• Forensic Science Club
• Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
• Future Educators of American
• HOSA Future Health Professionals
• Inventors Club
• Junior ROTC
• Technology Student Association
• Women in Science and Engineering
• Young Entrepreneurs Club

Leadership, Service, and Community Clubs

Try these clubs to encourage students who want to make a difference in their school or community.

• Amnesty International
• Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts
• Cultural Clubs (Asian Students Association, Association of Latin-American Students, etc.)
• Ethics Bowl
• Gay-Straight Alliance
• Habitat for Humanity
• Multicultural/Diversity Club
• National Organization for Women
• Political Affiliation Clubs (Young Democrats, Young Republicans, etc.)
• Social Justice Club
• Spirit Club
• Student Government
• Student Union
• Tutoring Club
• Volunteer Club

Thinking about starting some new extracurricular activities at your high school? Come ask for advice in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, 25+ meaningful service learning projects for kids and teens ..

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Colorado High School Activities Association

Field Hockey 9/9/2024 9:01:13 AM CHSAA

Field Hockey Rankings (Sept. 9)

This week's top-10 Field Hockey rankings are below, using data from the CHSAA Seeding Index through Sept. 8.

The Seeding Index is one of the main tools used to determine qualification and postseason seedings for all team sports. The rankings below are a snapshot as of this morning, but are updated hourly throughout the season.

To find the most recent rankings, which include all teams, visit the Seeding Index Page . The Seeding Index combines the MaxPreps and RPI rankings.