Acceptable technology in the classroom: let students decide

 Simon Bates and Alison Lister, University of British Columbia  

Many faculty have issues with personal technology that students bring to class, and the things that students use these devices for during class time. Some may even have some sympathy with the powerfully distracting lure of glowing screens: have you really never checked or sent emails, Tweets or texts in a less-than-riveting meeting? 

One approach we have trialled for the first time this year in one of our large class (~250 students per section) intro physics courses is to ask the students themselves to collaboratively define the acceptable use guidelines for technology in the classroom. Once agreed, this charter is then posted publicly on the course website and students are reminded that they should feel empowered to have a word with those who transgress.

Collaborative online authoring environments, such a GoogleDocs or a wiki space, make the logistics of developing the guidelines feasible for any number of students to contribute outside class hours. We posted a publicly-accessible GoogleDoc with a skeleton framework of things for students to consider, together with one or two, we hoped, obvious and non-contentious groundrules (e.g. ‘anything that can make a noise, set to silent’) and some basic editing rules (e.g. do not erase what others have added, use a different color from previous comment). 

The link was publicized to the students in the first class meeting and on the course website. Around 75 edits were made over a 6 day period, showing true engagement of the class in the process. Issues that divided the class, such as where and for what laptops could be used in the class, were voted on in the session following the comment deadline, using clickers, and the agreed groundrules document was finalized and posted on the course website (and you can see a copy of it at http://goo.gl/lZd8Ya ). 

This is still a work in progress and this course is ongoing, so we’re certainly not trying to claim that we can demonstrate the effectiveness of this activity as reducing off-task technology use (which would be very difficult to do in the absence of a baseline measure anyway). However, it feels like a step in the right direction, it terms of trying to work with, rather than fight against, the role of technology in the classroom. It also gives students a little more ownership of (and associated responsibility for) what goes on in classroom spaces. Anecdotally, not a single transgression of these guidelines has been observed in the two weeks following the adoption of these rules… let’s hope it stays that way!

Variations on a theme: more uses for tent cards

Two teachers have written in with additional variations to the tent card tip submitted by Anne-Marie McAllister, who uses name cards to help her take attendance, and as part of an introductory exercise. Monique Finley, of Niagara College, in Ontario, writes that she has used the name card/attendance idea for some years now with one enhancement: on the inside of the tent card where they write the date they also have spaces to give feedback about the class:

• Stop: where they write what is happening in class that they find distracting
• Start: where they can give suggestions for class improvement
• Continue: where they can voice their opinion on what is working well for them

So in addition to helping the instructor with their names and taking attendance, the tent cards give the students a chance to communicate with the instructor on classroom and curriculum issues.

Similarly, Jan Oosterhof-Contant, of the University of the Fraser Valley, writes:

"I, too, provide students with a tent name card, but I invite students to put the name they prefer to use in class on the card. (We have many International students who do not go by their formal name.) I originally did this to learn the students' names (this also helped me when first returning assignments to students), but I soon noticed that students in the class also addressed other students by name and soon everyone knew each other's name. Students in my classes also pick up their name tag at the beginning of class and return it at class end. In addition to using this method to mark attendance when students are working, I use the name cards to put any handouts that have been given to students that class or marked assignments that have been returned during the class in the name card of absent students, which I then put into a separate protective sleeve in a special binder. When students come to class and see that their name tag isn't available, they know to check the binder where they will find any returned assignments or handouts for that class tucked inside their name tag. This makes it easy for students and for me because the student doesn't miss out on handouts, and I don't have to remember to take extra copies of handouts to each class. Furthermore, students can come to my office to get any missed work even when I am not available, which means they do not have to wait until the next class to get their work. If I agree to do something for a student, I attach a post-it note to the name tag to remind myself , and I return the name tag when I have followed through; if I have 'information' for the student, I put it with their name tag in the binder.

"With so many students, I also find it easy to simply mark a student away without necessarily noting how many classes have been missed; however, the binder serves as a visual reminder to follow-up with students who are chronically absent. When I have been unable to reach a student by phone or email, I can also slip a note into the plastic sleeve asking that student to meet with me. Again, this can prevent an awkward moment for a student because I do not have to try to speak to the student with others listening. These 'notes' are always out of view for other students."

Teach important terms with vocabulary bingo

Dayna Quick, College of Marin

As a way for students to recall important vocabulary terms, students can form groups (perhaps 4-5) to play a game of "Bingo". The instructor provides bingo cards with the course vocabulary terms - using several different arrangements of the terms on the cards depending on the group size. One student per group volunteers to be the 'caller', and receives a call list from the instructor that includes clues (based on definitions) and the appropriate terms. The caller calls out the clue for their group and the students work to identify the term on their bingo cards. This creates discussion and learning among the students. Students mark the correct term on their bingo cards until someone yells "Bingo!". 

I have used this in Geography courses as "Geo-Bingo" for basic terms related to the Geographic Grid and Earth-Sun Relationships. There are free programs online for creating bingo cards.

In an online course, reach out to students

Bruce Rosenbloom, an Adjunct Professor at City University of New York's School of Professional Studies, writes in with some tips for online instructors, taken from a post on his blog, Envisioning Online Learning. Here's one that I particularly like:

 2. Reach out to students. This semester, I tried something that was recommended to me many years ago, but I never attempted: I called my students. At agreed-upon times, I had about a 20-30 minute phone conversation with all (six) students in my capstone course. With a small class this is certainly doable, but please consider it in larger online classes also. The connection with students, feedback about the course, and insights into their lives, was well worth the extra time involved. Generally students appreciate the effort as it demonstrates caring for them as people and interest in their success. Try it and you may find it is one of the best time investments you can make as an online instructor.

For more, check out Bruce's blog on the CUNY Academic Commons, Envisioning Online Learning. 

Add a contract to your syllabus

Lois Lake Church, University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University, Southern CT State U, Charter Oak State College

In my freshman composition courses, one of the early lessons students must learn is how high school and college classroom expectations differ. At the end of my syllabus (which includes policies and procedures, and a class plan for the semester), I add a contract explaining behaviors and attitudes I expect of students who want to be successful. I invite students to discuss any points with me in person or in writing. I used to ask them to sign a copy of the contract, but now say that their returning to class is a tacit pledge to abide by the points of the contract. I have yet to find a student who quibbles or refuses. Here is a copy:

CONTRACT, Introduction to Academic Writing, Fall 2013

I agree to:

Attend every class awake, aware, and prepared to be an active learner

Communicate clearly and with proper etiquette with both prof and classmates

Understand the absence/lateness policy and abide by it

Complete every assignment (both classwork and homework)

Demonstrate ~willingness to attempt difficult reading, thinking, and writing

~belief in my own potential

~the effort to form positive attitudes and habits

~an open mind when encountering unfamiliar ideas, people, and activities

Listen with respect to classmates and teacher

Consider other viewpoints

Document carefully any use of others’ words and ideas

Build my vocabulary daily

Understand that it is not the teacher’s job to entertain me: it is my job to find a way to care about each assignment

Check my email and the class page each day for messages from teachers and group mates

Avoid visiting social network sites and personal email addresses during class and tutorial sessions

Leave outside the classroom non-academic habits of behavior and mind

Leave turned off and put away all electronic devices (except computer or tablet when we are writing electronically)

Abide by the University’s Code of Student Conduct: (I attach a link)

By continuing to attend this class, I tacitly pledge my honor to meet or exceed the standards listed above, and to accept the consequences without whining or appealing if my behavior falls outside the behavior outlined in these standards.

Have students interview each other before introductions

Lois Lake Church, University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University, Southern CT State U, and Charter Oak State College

 On the first day of the semester, before we do a syllabus read-through, I pair students and ask them to interview each other to find the other's name, one point of contact (nothing so simple as "he's male and I'm female"--I ask them to dig for a commonality), and one distinction between them. After each student introduces her/his partner, s/he has to say the names of all students who were already introduced. I finish the introductions by reciting all the names (this impresses them). The name-reciting talk breaks the ice effectively--students are laughing at their struggles by the end of the introductions. If some say "I cheated--I wrote down the names," I tell them it's not cheating: they have good study skills. 

I make a point of using their names at every opportunity, and of learning about them from the introductory letter they write me as their first homework assignment, so they understand that I see them as individuals who have something to teach me and their classmates.

Help students by making expectations clear

An anonymous tip:

In introductory-level college courses and lower-division teaching, students will be wrestling with new challenges in time management. Moreover, some of them may not be familiar with the assignments, expectations, and standards of performance we use in higher ed. To help students think realistically about performance and assessment, and to support them as they come to terms with college-level standards of performance, I list general guidelines on my syllabus for what constitutes A work, B work, etc., starting my list with the elements of "satisfactory" (that is, "C") work. The rubric subsequently suggests how satisfactory can be built up in the direction of excellence (B, A), or eroded in the direction of unsatisfactory (C- , D). Presenting grades in this manner helps students consider the difference between "doing all the work" and investing the time, attention and care it takes to excel in their mastery of new material and new approaches.

Shuffle name cards for a better discussion

 Kim Shankman, Benedictine College 

I have students write their name (the way they want to be addressed, formal or nickname) on an index card the first day of class. I use these to take attendance, but more importantly, I shuffle the cards and use them as my method for choosing students to answer questions. That way they all know that the process is random, I don't have to deal with the deer in the headlights ("please please don't call on me") looks scanning the class choosing someone to call on, and I also am not tempted to rely on the same group of "old reliables" (generally prepared students) to answer questions.

Help your students stay awake in class

Sean Heuston, writing in a recent issue of College Teaching, gives his students some simple ways to stay awake during class—surely a pressing concern for many students, and teachers. Heuston drove trucks when he was a college student, and learned a number of “trucker tips” that he now passes along to his students. These include lifting a leg three inches off the floor, or an arm three inches off the table, or merely standing up. His main point is that “muscle tension and muscle activity will keep them awake, which is why no matter how tired they are they will not fall asleep while walking to class.”

Heuston explains this concept on the first day of class, and lets students know that he understands that they are often running on very little sleep. He invites them, at any time during class throughout the term, to stand up if they feel like they are getting drowsy. He tells them he’d much prefer a class full of standing students to one full of sleeping, or even just sleepy, students.

The idea is a good one, not least because it takes the stigma away from tired students. And by acknowledging that students may have legitimate reasons to be tired, teachers can establish a rapport between themselves and their students, laying the foundation for a pedagogical relationship that is worth staying awake for.

Source: Sean Heuston. "Trucker Tips: Helping Students Stay Awake in Class." College Teaching 61.3: 2013. 108.

What do your students know about the topic?

Here’s another straightforward technique from Angelo and Cross’s Classroom Assessment Techniques: what they call the “Background Knowledge Probe.” Whenever beginning a new topic or working on a new task, ask students to list, in groups, or as a class, everything they know about about the topic or task. You might have the students do this in writing, or have them call out answers for you to add to a master list on the board.

After gathering everything the students know, think they know, possibly know, etc., begin the work, as a class or in student groups, of sharing and organizing the information. What is accurate and what is not? What is important and what is not? What is commonly known about the topic and what do only one or two students know? This can work really well as a discussion that begins in groups and then expands to the whole class.

The technique allows students to discover that they already have knowledge of the subject, encourages them to share their knowledge and grow as a learning community, and provides a natural way for you to begin your discussion or presentation of the topic at hand.  -DG

Source: Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. 121-24.

The Minute Paper: where you've been and where you're going

The Minute Paper is a flexible technique designed to get students to reflect and think critically about their learning, while giving teachers an easy way to assess how their students perceive their experience in class. It was first formulated, at least in a published form, by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross in their 1993 book, Classroom Assessment Techniques. It’s simple: ask students to briefly reflect on a learning experience and ask them to respond, in writing, to the following two questions: “What was the most important thing you learned?” and “What question or questions remain unanswered?”.

Angelo and Cross suggest using this technique in the last five minutes of class, to get students to reflect on that day’s content. This works to help solidify the day’s discussion in the students’ minds, but also allows the teacher, after collecting the papers, to see how the students experienced the class and what they still might not get.

Donna Killian Duffy and Janet Wright Jones suggest that the Minute Paper could be used in any number of situations: at the beginning of class to review a homework assignment, or the previous class’s discussion; in the middle of class to reinforce what’s come before and point the way forward; or at any time to gauge students’ learning experiences that took place outside of the classroom (in previous courses, for instance).

It’s an easy way to focus students and teacher alike on the ground that has been covered and the distance left to run.  -DG

Sources: Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross. Classroom Assessment Techniques : A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd ed.) . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1993. 148-53. Donna Killian Duffy and Janet Wright Jones. Teaching Within the Rhythms of the Semester. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 147-48.

Use "tent cards" to take attendance

Anne-Marie McAllister, of Georgian College in Ontario, writes in with a simple tip for reducing the time it takes to take attendance for a large class. At the beginning of term, she makes tent cards—pieces of card stock paper folded in half so they sit up like tents—and writes each student’s name on the outside of a card. These sit in a box on the her desk; when each student comes into class, he or she takes his or her name card and puts it on his or her desk. Filling out the day’s attendance is as easy as noting which cards are left in the teacher’s box. The strategy has the added benefit of helping the teacher remember the students’ names in the first weeks of class, as each student has his or her name displayed at his or her desk.

McAllister also uses the cards as part of a beginning-of-term introductory exercise. She has her students write important information about themselves on the inside of their cards, and then walks through class and shares some of what she finds with the class as a whole. At the end of the first class, after collecting the cards, she looks through them all to learn more about her students.  -DG

Use grades and comments to teach, not just to justify

The lack of absolute standards for grading can make marking assignments a task filled with anxiety. Are you too strict a grader? Too soft? Are you letting your annoyance at the kid who sleeps through class influence his essay grades? Why did one student get an 84, while another got an 83? This anxiety can lead you to put much of your energy, while marking, into justifying the grades you are giving. This is not ideal.

Instead of seeing a student’s grades as an official judgment that you need to preemptively defend, focus on your grades for your students’ assignments and tests—and your comments on the assignments and tests—as an opportunity to help your students improve. James Lang offers some suggestions to move the focus away from self-justification and toward further pedagogy.

• Don’t just focus on the negative. Make sure, when commenting on an essay or an exam, to emphasize the things that the student has done right. Of course, you want to correct mistakes, and explain what he or she has missed, but let your criticism be constructive, and don’t forget to encourage what you’d like to see more of.

• Return student work promptly. Your students have busy lives, and may forget most of what happened in class five minutes after you let them go. If you return their assignments three weeks after they’ve written them, your comments will most likely fall on deaf ears: they’ll hardly remember having done the assignment by then.

• Keep your comments simple and few. It is tempting to think that by spending plenty of time on your students’ assignments, and giving them plenty of detailed feedback, you are doing more to help them improve. What may happen, unfortunately, is that the student will see page after page of comments and just assume that she’s done a terrible job and leave it at that. Too many comments can be overwhelming, and can detract from your pedagogical aims. Rather, focus on two or three important points that the student can improve upon, and highlight them in your comments. Underline the most significant matters, and do your best to ignore at least some of the small stuff.  -DG

Source: James M. Lang. On Course. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2008. 148-51.

Three indirect steps to help prevent plagiarism

Despite the fact that most teachers now include academic dishonesty policies in their syllabi, and may even spend significant class time discussing different forms of plagiarism with their students, there is a general consensus that plagiarism is still common among today’s undergraduates. Why should this be?

A few years ago, English professors Sandra Jamieson and Rebecca Moore Howard set out to gather data on the way that students use sources in their academic writing. They had a sense, through their experiences in the classroom, “that what underlay much of what was being interpreted as plagiarism was not based in students’ ethical choices, but rather in their practices and skills in source-based writing,” i.e., students are not plagiarizing because they are “cheaters,” wanting to scam their way to better grades. Rather, students plagiarize because they don’t know how to properly integrate other people’s work into their own. Wanting to test this assumption, Jamieson and Howard launched the Citation Project, a multi-institution empirical study of the way students use sources in their writing.

So far, the Citation Project has analyzed 174 student papers from sixteen institutions, classifying a total of 1,911 citations. While the research did not attempt to document instances of out-and-out copying of sources without attribution, the data on what students do when they do cite sources is nonetheless illuminating. Only 6% of the citations came in the form of summary; the remaining 94% were either direct quotations (42%), copied without quotation marks (4%), patchwritten (16%), or paraphrased (32%). The low incidence of summarization suggests that students are not fully engaging with the ideas within the sources they cite. This sense is further cemented by the fact that 46% of the citations come from the source’s first page (70% come from the first two pages).

In a 2011 interview, Jamieson and Howard make three suggestions for teachers who wish to cut down on plagiarism among their students. Following on from their research, their suggestions are indirectly aimed at plagiarism, emphasizing ways to teach students to properly engage with academic sources:

1) Teach your students to read complex sources critically.

This is clearly not an easy task, but it is just as clear that it is an important one. Teaching students the value of proper research, the way that an in-depth understanding of someone else’s work can naturally lead to their own scholarly contributions, is one of the most critical jobs of a college teacher, applicable in nearly every discipline. If students know how to better read other people’s work, they will be more likely to have something substantive to say in response, rather than cherry-picking quotations to pad out their papers.

2) Teach your students good source selection.

This involves distinctions between types of sources, as well as getting students to understand how to cite a source properly. Don’t assume that they know how—or, as importantly, why—to create a works cited page.

3) Teach your students how to properly summarize sources.

Teaching students how to summarize may help reduce plagiarism by showing students the right way to use sources. What’s more, training students in integrating other voices into their writing may lead to the students learning how to integrate other voices into their thinking. 94% of the citations analyzed by the Citation Project were at the sentence level, suggesting that putting an emphasis on summary may be a necessary step for teachers who want their students to engage more fully with the work of others.  -DG

Source: “Unraveling the Citation Trail.” Project Information Literacy Smart Talk, no. 8, Sandra Jamieson and Rebecca Moore Howard, The Citation Project. 15 August 2011. Web. 29 August 2013. http://projectinfolit.org/st/howard-jamieson.asp

Interview important people in your field, even if they are dead

 One way to supplement course readings and lectures is to have students reach out to significant people in the field that the course covers. Science students can get in touch with working scientists, (or with officials who set policy for public research), political science students can contact politicians, art students can reach out to artists, etc. You can introduce your students to a prominent figure, and have them come up with questions for that person. The project can be a great way to demonstrate that the course’s subject is a living one, as well as bringing in contrasting perspectives to complement your own.

But what do you do if your subject is ancient history, or the literature of the nineteenth century? Well, you could contact another historian, or a literary scholar. But another possibility is contacting the very people that you are studying. Have students research a historical figure, say, or one of the authors on your syllabus, and prepare a slate of questions for him or her. You may want to play the role of the interview subject yourself—doing your best to answer the students’ questions—or you could assign one or more students to play the part. This project could easily be expanded to a more complex assignment, with students taking a number of weeks to research and write an essay, answering the peer-generated questions in the voice of the designated figure. Encouraging your students to take this fictional interview seriously will help them see your subject from a new angle.  -DG

Source: "84. Contact the Players." and "85. Travel Through Time and Space." Robert Magnan, ed. 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Professors. Madison: Atwood, 1990. 35-36. 

First day of class: Meet Your Teacher

Most teachers, I’m sure, make sure to leave time during the first class to take student questions, primarily about the syllabus and the shape of the course ahead. But it’s worth underlining the importance of student involvement right from the start, letting them know that your desire to hear their questions and concerns is not just a superficial courtesy (“Any questions? OK then…).

Here’s a way to encourage students to take ownership of the course. After a brief introduction, distribute the syllabus, and perhaps highlight a few important points. Then divide the students into groups of four and ask them to take time to review the syllabus thoroughly. Have each group come up with questions for you: about the syllabus, about the subject matter, about your qualifications to teach the course, about your expectations from them. Emphasize that a wide variety of questions relevant to the course are acceptable, not just strict matters of course policy. You can have each group choose a representative to ask their questions, if you don’t want the discussion to become a free-for-all.

The exercise, by insisting upon student questions, will encourage those students perhaps too shy or just not usually disposed to asking questions in class to speak up. It will expose any ambiguities in your course materials pretty quickly. It will, with luck, establish your classroom as a place where students are invited to speak regularly. Ideally, as well, it will signal that you care about their expectations and opinions about the course and are planning to work with them throughout the semester to create a successful course.  -DG

Source: "13. Play 'Meet Your Teacher.'" Robert Magnan, ed. 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Professors. Madison: Atwood, 1990. 5-6.

Give your students a pause button

Here’s a great, simple tip that offers a non-invasive way for your students to exercise a bit more control over the way a class proceeds. Early in the semester, tell your students that you never want to leave anyone behind, that it is important to you that students are able to keep up with your teaching. Work with the students to come up with a signal—maybe a hand raised, maybe tapping on a desk—that they can use when they want you to stop for a minute. A student might signal if she needs to catch up with her note-taking, or because she has questions about something you’ve said.

Essentially, this is an easy way to offer some control to the students. When we read, we often pause to make sense of the material. Sometimes we read a passage a second or third time. Why not offer your students something of the same control over course content? These time-outs encourage students to more actively process the material, and goes some way to ensure that they’re not just sitting there, passively receiving your words.  -DG

Source: "29. Give Your Students a Pause Button." Robert Magnan, ed. 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Professors. Madison: Atwood, 1990. 12.

Use quotations to prompt discussion and/or writing

Here’s a class activity that’s easily adaptable to a variety of classrooms and disciplines. It’s a good way to spur discussion and encourage evidence-supported argument. The activity, which comes from Constance Staley’s Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern, begins with the teacher distributing a number of quotations, each typed onto a strip of paper, to the students.

Staley gives a number of possible quotations to use, on such topics as education, self-understanding, and the definition of success:

• “Education worthy of the name is essentially the education of character.” Martin Buber
• “Learning is what most adults will do for a living in the 21st century.” Perelman
• “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Derek Bok, president Harvard University

…and so on. I can see the exercise working just as well, if not better, with quotations that directly apply to the course’s subject.

In Staley’s version, after handing out the quotations, the teacher goes around the room, calling on students one by one. Each student, when called on, must read her quotation aloud, say whether she agrees or disagrees with the statement, and then “identify two pieces of support from personal experience, course material, or other relevant information sources.” This can easily be modified for larger classes, either by breaking the students up and having the discussion take place among groups, or by turning the exercise into a writing prompt—each student must write a paragraph or two explaining why she agrees or disagrees with the quotation, and must support her position with evidence. In all versions, particularly if the teacher uses quotations tailored to course content, the exercise offers a straightforward way to allow students to take an active role in the learning process, and encourage them to construct arguments with proper support.  -DG

Source: Constance Staley, Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003. 120-24.

Make a lecture map to help students follow

The logic and overall thrust of your lectures are probably very clear to you. But to your students, who are hearing everything for the first time, following closely, seeing how the pieces fit together, is more difficult. Constance Staley suggests a very simple, but effective, technique to put students in a better position to learn from lectures: a lecture map.

A lecture map can be as simple as a list of the topics you will cover, in the order you’ll cover them, posted on the board so the students can see where you are at any time. Or it can be a more complex and creative visual representation of the day’s intellectual journey. What’s important is that, at all times, the students can look and see the itinerary for that journey. You may want to put this map on the board behind you, or give it to students as a handout. Knowing where they are in the lecture can free students to focus better on the nuances of what you’re saying at any given moment.  -DG

Source: Constance Staley. Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lectern. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003. 118.

Gauge student expectations with first day questions

Sarah Neville, West Virginia University 

On the first day of class, ask students to submit (in writing) answers to the following questions:

1) What grade do you anticipate receiving in this course?

2) What will you do if you discover that you are receiving a lower grade than the one you anticipated?

3) Why do you feel these strategies will work? 

Students' responses to question 2 typically vary from the reasonable ("go to the professor's office hours and ask for feedback", "visit the writing center", "complete extra-credit assignments, if there are any") to the deliberately silly ("beg, or possibly cry"). Other students use this as an opportunity to recognize that they may need to cut back on hours at their job if their schoolwork suffers, or that a failure to meet personal expectations might be signalling that they should get more sleep. 

The point of the exercise is to force students to consider their goals for the course at the outset, along with their new plan-of-attack should things not work out as they intended. I hang onto these writing assignments and bring them out when students visit my office hours; students get them back at the end of the term so they can consider how/whether they met their stated aim.