Assignments Within a Larger Design
In inquiry-based multimodal courses, assignments often work best when they connect to one another across the term. Each project can build on the last, giving students repeated opportunities to practice research, shape stories, and work thoughtfully within a medium.
When experiences are sequenced in this way, students begin to see how their skills and ideas develop over time. Confidence grows through use, and connections across assignments become more visible.
Scaffolding Opens Possibilities for Assessment
Assessment tends to reflect the kinds of practice students have had. When a course includes structured opportunities to experiment, reflect, revise, and talk about process, instructors have more to notice and respond to.
That might include attention to:
• rhetorical decision-making
• use of evidence and structure
• engagement with the constraints of a medium
• development of ideas across drafts
Scaffolding creates space for these dimensions to emerge clearly.
Noticing Development Over Time
With supportive structures in place, assessment can focus on how thinking evolves. Instructors can observe how students:
• respond to constraints
• refine pacing or structure
• connect production choices to inquiry
• incorporate feedback into revision
Production becomes a way of making thought visible. Ideas take shape through structure, voice, pacing, and sound, and instructors can engage with that unfolding process.
Early Structures That Support Depth
Even small, early structures can make a difference. Low-stakes activities such as:
• story move exercises
• production planning checkpoints
• peer exchanges
• short process reflections
help students put language to what they are learning and how they are working.
These moments often strengthen later projects by giving students practice discussing inquiry as it unfolds.
If you are shaping a media assignment, we are glad to think with you about scaffolding and assessment strategies that align with your course goals.. Reach out to us to explore options.