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How to Write an Effective Assignment

At their base, all assignment prompts function a bit like a magnifying glass—they allow a student to isolate, focus on, inspect, and interact with some portion of your course material through a fixed lens of your choosing.

The Key Components of an Effective Assignment Prompt

All assignments, from ungraded formative response papers all the way up to a capstone assignment, should include the following components to ensure that students and teachers understand not only the learning objective of the assignment, but also the discrete steps which they will need to follow in order to complete it successfully:

• Preamble.  This situates the assignment within the context of the course, reminding students of what they have been working on in anticipation of the assignment and how that work has prepared them to succeed at it. 
• Justification and Purpose.  This explains why the particular type or genre of assignment you’ve chosen (e.g., lab report, policy memo, problem set, or personal reflection) is the best way for you and your students to measure how well they’ve met the learning objectives associated with this segment of the course.
• Mission.  This explains the assignment in broad brush strokes, giving students a general sense of the project you are setting before them. It often gives students guidance on the evidence or data they should be working with, as well as helping them imagine the audience their work should be aimed at.  
• Tasks.  This outlines what students are supposed to do at a more granular level: for example, how to start, where to look, how to ask for help, etc. If written well, this part of the assignment prompt ought to function as a kind of "process" rubric for students, helping them to decide for themselves whether they are completing the assignment successfully.
• Submission format.  This tells students, in appropriate detail, which stylistic conventions they should observe and how to submit their work. For example, should the assignment be a five-page paper written in APA format and saved as a .docx file? Should it be uploaded to the course website? Is it due by Tuesday at 5:00pm?

For illustrations of these five components in action, visit our gallery of annotated assignment prompts .

For advice about creative assignments (e.g. podcasts, film projects, visual and performing art projects, etc.), visit our  Guidance on Non-Traditional Forms of Assessment .

For specific advice on different genres of assignment, click below:

Response Papers

Problem sets, source analyses, final exams, concept maps, research papers, oral presentations, poster presentations.

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Home / Blog / 15 foolproof tips for writing a great assignment

15 foolproof tips for writing a great assignment

15th Aug 2015

Student advice

If you’re the kind of person that only has to hear the word “assignment” and immediately has flashbacks to stuffy classrooms, ticking clocks and staring a blank page for hours….DON’T PANIC.

Our 15 foolproof tips for writing a great assignment will guide you to success.

Before you start…

1. do your reading.

Your course or module will have a reading list; make sure you actually use it! Your tutors choose texts to specifically help with your assignments and modules, and you’ll gain some valuable insights into the topic that are sure to make writing your assignment easier.

Expert tip:  If you have the time, do some reading from other sources not on your list to back up your argument.

2. Check the deadline

There’s nothing worse than scheduling time to sit down and write then glancing at the calendar and realising you’ve only got a few days left. Double-checking the deadline means you’ll have no nasty surprises.

Expert tip:  There are many apps out there that can add a ‘countdown’ to your phone or tablet. Use these to keep your assignment deadline front of mind.

3. Plan your time

Finding time to write is easier said than done, but if you break your time down into manageable chunks you’ll find it’s much easier to keep on top of your workload. Try scheduling mini-deadlines along the way (e.g. aim to have the first section done by a certain day) to keep your momentum going.

Expert tip:  Be realistic about the time you have spare, and the time you’re willing to give up. If you schedule a writing session at 9 p.m. on Friday evening when you’d rather be relaxing, chances are you won’t get anything done.

4. Ask for help (if you need it)

If there’s any doubt in your mind about the question or the requirements of the assignment, ask your tutor. It’s better to start right than have to re-write in the last few days.

Expert tip:  Remember, your tutor wants you to do well. He or she will not be annoyed if you need to ask a few questions.

5. Plan your assignment structure

Before you start, it can help to create a basic assignment structure. This can be as detailed as you like but the basic structure should contain your introduction points, your key arguments and points, and your planned conclusion.

Expert tip:  Try writing out your plan on sticky notes. These will allow you to rearrange your arguments and points easily as your plan develops.

As you’re writing…

6. introduction.

You wouldn’t start a conversation without introducing yourself; your assignment is the same. Your first paragraph should introduce your key argument, add a bit of context and the key issues of the question, and then go on to explain how you plan to answer it.

Expert tip:  Some people find it easier to write their introduction after they’ve finished the rest of their assignment. Give it a try!

7. Structure your argument

As you write the body of your assignment, make sure that each point you make has some supporting evidence. Use statistics or quotes you gathered during your reading to support your argument, or even as something to argue against.

Expert tip:  If you’re using a lot of different sources, it’s easy to forget to add them to your reference list. Make things easier for yourself by writing it as you go along.

8. Conclusion

Your conclusion is your final chance to summarise your argument and leave a lasting impression with your reader. Make sure you recap the key points and arguments you made in your assignment, including supporting evidence if needed.

Expert tip:  Make sure that you don’t introduce any new ideas in your conclusion; this section is purely for summarising your previous arguments.

9. Getting over writer’s block

Struggling to write? There’s nothing more frustrating than putting aside time to write and then just staring at a blank page. Luckily, there are lots of thing to try to get you inspired : a change of scenery, putting on some music, writing another section of the essay or just taking a short break.

Expert tip:  If you find yourself unable to write, try to use your time to read ahead or re-read what you’ve already written.

10. Make sure you use your ‘essay voice’

While each university, school or each college will probably have its own style guide, you should always use a neutral and professional tone when writing an assignment. Try to avoid slang, overly-familiar phrases and definitely don’t use text-speak!

Expert tip:  If you’re not sure about a phrase or word, search for it online to see what other publications use it. If it’s in a dictionary or used by a national newspaper it’s probably OK to use in your assignment.

After you finish…

11. get a little distance.

If you’ve got time (and you should have if you managed to stick to your schedule!), put your first draft aside for a day or two before re-reading it. This will give you time to step back and read your assignment objectively, making it easier to spot mistakes and issues.

Expert tip:  If you find it easier to review on paper, print out your assignment with double-line spacing to accommodate your notes and corrections.

12. Make sure you’ve answered the question

As you’re reading through your first draft of your assignment, check that all your points are relevant to the original question. It’s easy to drift off on a tangent when you’re in mid-flow.

Expert tip:  Read each paragraph and consider it on its own merit as to whether it answers the question, and also to check that it contributes to your overall argument.

13. Don’t be afraid to cut text out

Sometimes, when you’ve struggled to reach a word count it can be hard to remove text that you’ve slaved over. But if a piece of text isn’t supporting your argument then it doesn’t have a place in your assignment.

Expert tip:  With word processing software, the ‘Track Changes’ feature allows you to edit text without losing it forever. And if you realise later that you’ve made a mistake, just reject the change.

14. Check and double-check your spelling

Nothing can give a bad impression as quickly as a spelling mistake. Errors are distracting, look unprofessional and in the worst case they can undermine your argument. If you’re unsure about the correct use of a word, look it up online or use an alternative that you’re more comfortable with.

Expert tip:  While you’re running your spell-checker, check your word count too. You’re usually allowed to deviate by 10% above or below the assignment word count, but check with your institution’s guidelines.

15. Cite your sources

References and creating a bibliography are key skills that you unfortunately have to master when writing an assignment. Check your institution’s guidelines before you start to make sure you’re including all the information you need.

Expert tip:  Some eBooks have a citation feature that automatically collates all the information you need for your bibliography.

Wondering how you can apply these skills? Download a prospectus to choose your course today!

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• Designing Essay Assignments

by Gordon Harvey

Students often do their best and hardest thinking, and feel the greatest sense of mastery and growth, in their writing. Courses and assignments should be planned with this in mind. Three principles are paramount:

1. Name what you want and imagine students doing it

However free students are to range and explore in a paper, the general kind of paper you’re inviting has common components, operations, and criteria of success, and you should make these explicit. Having satisfied yourself, as you should, that what you’re asking is doable, with dignity, by writers just learning the material, try to anticipate in your prompt or discussions of the assignment the following queries:

• What is the purpose of this? How am I going beyond what we have done, or applying it in a new area, or practicing a key academic skill or kind of work?
• To what audience should I imagine myself writing?
• What is the main task or tasks, in a nutshell? What does that key word (e.g., analyze, significance of, critique, explore, interesting, support) really mean in this context or this field?
• What will be most challenging in this and what qualities will most distinguish a good paper? Where should I put my energy? (Lists of possible questions for students to answer in a paper are often not sufficiently prioritized to be helpful.)
• What misconceptions might I have about what I’m to do? (How is this like or unlike other papers I may have written?) Are there too-easy approaches I might take or likely pitfalls? An ambitious goal or standard that I might think I’m expected to meet but am not?
• What form will evidence take in my paper (e.g., block quotations? paraphrase? graphs or charts?) How should I cite it? Should I use/cite material from lecture or section?
• Are there some broad options for structure, emphasis, or approach that I’ll likely be choosing among?
• How should I get started on this? What would be a helpful (or unhelpful) way to take notes, gather data, discover a question or idea? Should I do research? 

2. Take time in class to prepare students to succeed at the paper

Resist the impulse to think of class meetings as time for “content” and of writing as work done outside class. Your students won’t have mastered the art of paper writing (if such a mastery is possible) and won’t know the particular disciplinary expectations or moves relevant to the material at hand. Take time in class to show them: 

• discuss the assignment in class when you give it, so students can see that you take it seriously, so they can ask questions about it, so they can have it in mind during subsequent class discussions;
• introduce the analytic vocabulary of your assignment into class discussions, and take opportunities to note relevant moves made in discussion or good paper topics that arise;
• have students practice key tasks in class discussions, or in informal writing they do in before or after discussions;
• show examples of writing that illustrates components and criteria of the assignment and that inspires (class readings can sometimes serve as illustrations of a writing principle; so can short excerpts of writing—e.g., a sampling of introductions; and so can bad writing—e.g., a list of problematic thesis statements);
• the topics of originality and plagiarism (what the temptations might be, how to avoid risks) should at some point be addressed directly. 

3. Build in process

Ideas develop over time, in a process of posing and revising and getting feedback and revising some more. Assignments should allow for this process in the following ways:

• smaller assignments should prepare for larger ones later;
• students should do some thinking and writing before they write a draft and get a response to it (even if only a response to a proposal or thesis statement sent by email, or described in class);
• for larger papers, students should write and get response (using the skills vocabulary of the assignment) to a draft—at least an “oral draft” (condensed for delivery to the class);
• if possible, meet with students individually about their writing: nothing inspires them more than feeling that you care about their work and development;
• let students reflect on their own writing, in brief cover letters attached to drafts and revisions (these may also ask students to perform certain checks on what they have written, before submitting);
• have clear and firm policies about late work that nonetheless allow for exception if students talk to you in advance.
• Pedagogy Workshops
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Communication Across the Disciplines

10 tips for writing assignments.

• Clarify the task. Don't let questions about the task encourage procrastination.
• Do the research early. Collecting and absorbing the material will help you meditate on what you will write, even if you don't get to work on the writing immediately.
• Leave a strong paper trail. Frequently, the lack of good note taking doesn't register until you are in the throes of the final preparation of your project, when deadlines loom, and materials are difficult to recover. This is because one often reads and discards materials as not being relevant during the research process, only to discover later, during the writing process, that they are.
• Brainstorm, make notes, jot down ideas as they occur, and begin by writing the stuff you do know. Most writing will be complex and you can't do all of the stages--brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading--in one fell swoop. Breaking the process into smaller steps makes it more manageable, and lets you make progress even when you don't have large chunks of time to devote to writing.
• Get feedback. It's difficult to anticipate the gaps, confusion, and potential misinterpretations that complex writing can generate. You need to have at least one outside reader to help you.
• Allow time for revising and editing. Once the ideas are drafted, you'll usually find that you need to go back and re-read, re-search, re-organize, and re-think what you have said.
• Make the organization apparent. Use paragraphs, subheadings, and spatial divisions (layout) to indicate clearly changes in subject matter, focus, and depth. Sometimes this is a good time to prepare an outline, to make sure that your organization makes sense.
• Write the introduction last. A good introduction must point forward to what the writing contains. It is a promise to the reader, and should be accurate. The best introductions will be prepared after you know what you will say and how you will say it.
• Check for accuracy. Research-based writing is often complex and it is easy to overlook a mistake made while drafting. Check your sources, read carefully through your quotations, citations, and documentation.
• Proofread carefully. This is often a step left out in the crunch to finish by a deadline, and yet, it is often little mistakes (typos, errors of punctuation and grammar) which communicate to your reader a sense of carelessness or inability to write.
• Forgive yourself for what is not perfect. We never stop learning how to write. No draft is ever perfect, but the deadline requires that you do your best and then send it out into the world of the reader.

Created by Susan Wyche

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Resources for Teachers: Creating Writing Assignments

This page contains four specific areas:

Creating Effective Assignments

Checking the assignment, sequencing writing assignments, selecting an effective writing assignment format.

Research has shown that the more detailed a writing assignment is, the better the student papers are in response to that assignment. Instructors can often help students write more effective papers by giving students written instructions about that assignment. Explicit descriptions of assignments on the syllabus or on an “assignment sheet” tend to produce the best results. These instructions might make explicit the process or steps necessary to complete the assignment. Assignment sheets should detail:

• the kind of writing expected
• the scope of acceptable subject matter
• the length requirements
• formatting requirements
• documentation format
• the amount and type of research expected (if any)
• the writer’s role
• deadlines for the first draft and its revision

Providing questions or needed data in the assignment helps students get started. For instance, some questions can suggest a mode of organization to the students. Other questions might suggest a procedure to follow. The questions posed should require that students assert a thesis.

The following areas should help you create effective writing assignments.

Examining your goals for the assignment

• How exactly does this assignment fit with the objectives of your course?
• Should this assignment relate only to the class and the texts for the class, or should it also relate to the world beyond the classroom?
• What do you want the students to learn or experience from this writing assignment?
• Should this assignment be an individual or a collaborative effort?
• What do you want students to show you in this assignment? To demonstrate mastery of concepts or texts? To demonstrate logical and critical thinking? To develop an original idea? To learn and demonstrate the procedures, practices, and tools of your field of study?

Defining the writing task

• Is the assignment sequenced so that students: (1) write a draft, (2) receive feedback (from you, fellow students, or staff members at the Writing and Communication Center), and (3) then revise it? Such a procedure has been proven to accomplish at least two goals: it improves the student’s writing and it discourages plagiarism.
• Does the assignment include so many sub-questions that students will be confused about the major issue they should examine? Can you give more guidance about what the paper’s main focus should be? Can you reduce the number of sub-questions?
• What is the purpose of the assignment (e.g., review knowledge already learned, find additional information, synthesize research, examine a new hypothesis)? Making the purpose(s) of the assignment explicit helps students write the kind of paper you want.
• What is the required form (e.g., expository essay, lab report, memo, business report)?
• What mode is required for the assignment (e.g., description, narration, analysis, persuasion, a combination of two or more of these)?

Defining the audience for the paper

• Can you define a hypothetical audience to help students determine which concepts to define and explain? When students write only to the instructor, they may assume that little, if anything, requires explanation. Defining the whole class as the intended audience will clarify this issue for students.
• What is the probable attitude of the intended readers toward the topic itself? Toward the student writer’s thesis? Toward the student writer?
• What is the probable educational and economic background of the intended readers?

Defining the writer’s role

• Can you make explicit what persona you wish the students to assume? For example, a very effective role for student writers is that of a “professional in training” who uses the assumptions, the perspective, and the conceptual tools of the discipline.

Defining your evaluative criteria

1. If possible, explain the relative weight in grading assigned to the quality of writing and the assignment’s content:

• depth of coverage
• organization
• critical thinking
• original thinking
• use of research
• logical demonstration
• appropriate mode of structure and analysis (e.g., comparison, argument)
• correct use of sources
• grammar and mechanics
• professional tone
• correct use of course-specific concepts and terms.

Here’s a checklist for writing assignments:

• Have you used explicit command words in your instructions (e.g., “compare and contrast” and “explain” are more explicit than “explore” or “consider”)? The more explicit the command words, the better chance the students will write the type of paper you wish.
• Does the assignment suggest a topic, thesis, and format? Should it?
• Have you told students the kind of audience they are addressing — the level of knowledge they can assume the readers have and your particular preferences (e.g., “avoid slang, use the first-person sparingly”)?
• If the assignment has several stages of completion, have you made the various deadlines clear? Is your policy on due dates clear?
• Have you presented the assignment in a manageable form? For instance, a 5-page assignment sheet for a 1-page paper may overwhelm students. Similarly, a 1-sentence assignment for a 25-page paper may offer insufficient guidance.

There are several benefits of sequencing writing assignments:

• Sequencing provides a sense of coherence for the course.
• This approach helps students see progress and purpose in their work rather than seeing the writing assignments as separate exercises.
• It encourages complexity through sustained attention, revision, and consideration of multiple perspectives.
• If you have only one large paper due near the end of the course, you might create a sequence of smaller assignments leading up to and providing a foundation for that larger paper (e.g., proposal of the topic, an annotated bibliography, a progress report, a summary of the paper’s key argument, a first draft of the paper itself). This approach allows you to give students guidance and also discourages plagiarism.
• It mirrors the approach to written work in many professions.

The concept of sequencing writing assignments also allows for a wide range of options in creating the assignment. It is often beneficial to have students submit the components suggested below to your course’s STELLAR web site.

Use the writing process itself. In its simplest form, “sequencing an assignment” can mean establishing some sort of “official” check of the prewriting and drafting steps in the writing process. This step guarantees that students will not write the whole paper in one sitting and also gives students more time to let their ideas develop. This check might be something as informal as having students work on their prewriting or draft for a few minutes at the end of class. Or it might be something more formal such as collecting the prewriting and giving a few suggestions and comments.

Have students submit drafts. You might ask students to submit a first draft in order to receive your quick responses to its content, or have them submit written questions about the content and scope of their projects after they have completed their first draft.

Establish small groups. Set up small writing groups of three-five students from the class. Allow them to meet for a few minutes in class or have them arrange a meeting outside of class to comment constructively on each other’s drafts. The students do not need to be writing on the same topic.

Require consultations. Have students consult with someone in the Writing and Communication Center about their prewriting and/or drafts. The Center has yellow forms that we can give to students to inform you that such a visit was made.

Explore a subject in increasingly complex ways. A series of reading and writing assignments may be linked by the same subject matter or topic. Students encounter new perspectives and competing ideas with each new reading, and thus must evaluate and balance various views and adopt a position that considers the various points of view.

Change modes of discourse. In this approach, students’ assignments move from less complex to more complex modes of discourse (e.g., from expressive to analytic to argumentative; or from lab report to position paper to research article).

Change audiences. In this approach, students create drafts for different audiences, moving from personal to public (e.g., from self-reflection to an audience of peers to an audience of specialists). Each change would require different tasks and more extensive knowledge.

Change perspective through time. In this approach, students might write a statement of their understanding of a subject or issue at the beginning of a course and then return at the end of the semester to write an analysis of that original stance in the light of the experiences and knowledge gained in the course.

Use a natural sequence. A different approach to sequencing is to create a series of assignments culminating in a final writing project. In scientific and technical writing, for example, students could write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic. The next assignment might be a progress report (or a series of progress reports), and the final assignment could be the report or document itself. For humanities and social science courses, students might write a proposal requesting approval of a particular topic, then hand in an annotated bibliography, and then a draft, and then the final version of the paper.

Have students submit sections. A variation of the previous approach is to have students submit various sections of their final document throughout the semester (e.g., their bibliography, review of the literature, methods section).

In addition to the standard essay and report formats, several other formats exist that might give students a different slant on the course material or allow them to use slightly different writing skills. Here are some suggestions:

Journals. Journals have become a popular format in recent years for courses that require some writing. In-class journal entries can spark discussions and reveal gaps in students’ understanding of the material. Having students write an in-class entry summarizing the material covered that day can aid the learning process and also reveal concepts that require more elaboration. Out-of-class entries involve short summaries or analyses of texts, or are a testing ground for ideas for student papers and reports. Although journals may seem to add a huge burden for instructors to correct, in fact many instructors either spot-check journals (looking at a few particular key entries) or grade them based on the number of entries completed. Journals are usually not graded for their prose style. STELLAR forums work well for out-of-class entries.

Letters. Students can define and defend a position on an issue in a letter written to someone in authority. They can also explain a concept or a process to someone in need of that particular information. They can write a letter to a friend explaining their concerns about an upcoming paper assignment or explaining their ideas for an upcoming paper assignment. If you wish to add a creative element to the writing assignment, you might have students adopt the persona of an important person discussed in your course (e.g., an historical figure) and write a letter explaining his/her actions, process, or theory to an interested person (e.g., “pretend that you are John Wilkes Booth and write a letter to the Congress justifying your assassination of Abraham Lincoln,” or “pretend you are Henry VIII writing to Thomas More explaining your break from the Catholic Church”).

Editorials . Students can define and defend a position on a controversial issue in the format of an editorial for the campus or local newspaper or for a national journal.

Cases . Students might create a case study particular to the course’s subject matter.

Position Papers . Students can define and defend a position, perhaps as a preliminary step in the creation of a formal research paper or essay.

Imitation of a Text . Students can create a new document “in the style of” a particular writer (e.g., “Create a government document the way Woody Allen might write it” or “Write your own ‘Modest Proposal’ about a modern issue”).

Instruction Manuals . Students write a step-by-step explanation of a process.

Dialogues . Students create a dialogue between two major figures studied in which they not only reveal those people’s theories or thoughts but also explore areas of possible disagreement (e.g., “Write a dialogue between Claude Monet and Jackson Pollock about the nature and uses of art”).

Collaborative projects . Students work together to create such works as reports, questions, and critiques.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Writing Assignments

Kate Derrington; Cristy Bartlett; and Sarah Irvine

Introduction

Assignments are a common method of assessment at university and require careful planning and good quality research. Developing critical thinking and writing skills are also necessary to demonstrate your ability to understand and apply information about your topic.  It is not uncommon to be unsure about the processes of writing assignments at university.

• You may be returning to study after a break
• You may have come from an exam based assessment system and never written an assignment before
• Maybe you have written assignments but would like to improve your processes and strategies

This chapter has a collection of resources that will provide you with the skills and strategies to understand assignment requirements and effectively plan, research, write and edit your assignments.  It begins with an explanation of how to analyse an assignment task and start putting your ideas together.  It continues by breaking down the components of academic writing and exploring the elements you will need to master in your written assignments. This is followed by a discussion of paraphrasing and synthesis, and how you can use these strategies to create a strong, written argument. The chapter concludes with useful checklists for editing and proofreading to help you get the best possible mark for your work.

Task Analysis and Deconstructing an Assignment

It is important that before you begin researching and writing your assignments you spend sufficient time understanding all the requirements. This will help make your research process more efficient and effective. Check your subject information such as task sheets, criteria sheets and any additional information that may be in your subject portal online. Seek clarification from your lecturer or tutor if you are still unsure about how to begin your assignments.

The task sheet typically provides key information about an assessment including the assignment question. It can be helpful to scan this document for topic, task and limiting words to ensure that you fully understand the concepts you are required to research, how to approach the assignment, and the scope of the task you have been set. These words can typically be found in your assignment question and are outlined in more detail in the two tables below (see Table 19.1 and Table 19.2 ).

Table 19.1 Parts of an Assignment Question

Make sure you have a clear understanding of what the task word requires you to address.

Table 19.2 Task words

The criteria sheet , also known as the marking sheet or rubric, is another important document to look at before you begin your assignment. The criteria sheet outlines how your assignment will be marked and should be used as a checklist to make sure you have included all the information required.

The task or criteria sheet will also include the:

• Word limit (or word count)
• Referencing style and research expectations
• Formatting requirements

Task analysis and criteria sheets are also discussed in the chapter Managing Assessments for a more detailed discussion on task analysis, criteria sheets, and marking rubrics.

Preparing your ideas

Brainstorm or concept map:  List possible ideas to address each part of the assignment task based on what you already know about the topic from lectures and weekly readings.

Finding appropriate information: Learn how to find scholarly information for your assignments which is

See the chapter Working With Information for a more detailed explanation .

What is academic writing?

Academic writing tone and style.

Many of the assessment pieces you prepare will require an academic writing style.  This is sometimes called ‘academic tone’ or ‘academic voice’.  This section will help you to identify what is required when you are writing academically (see Table 19.3 ). The best way to understand what academic writing looks like, is to read broadly in your discipline area.  Look at how your course readings, or scholarly sources, are written. This will help you identify the language of your discipline field, as well as how other writers structure their work.

Table 19.3 Comparison of academic and non-academic writing

Thesis statements.

Essays are a common form of assessment that you will likely encounter during your university studies. You should apply an academic tone and style when writing an essay, just as you would in in your other assessment pieces. One of the most important steps in writing an essay is constructing your thesis statement.  A thesis statement tells the reader the purpose, argument or direction you will take to answer your assignment question. A thesis statement may not be relevant for some questions, if you are unsure check with your lecturer. The thesis statement:

• Directly  relates to the task .  Your thesis statement may even contain some of the key words or synonyms from the task description.
• Does more than restate the question.
• Is specific and uses precise language.
• Let’s your reader know your position or the main argument that you will support with evidence throughout your assignment.
• The subject is the key content area you will be covering.
• The contention is the position you are taking in relation to the chosen content.

Your thesis statement helps you to structure your essay.  It plays a part in each key section: introduction, body and conclusion.

Planning your assignment structure

When planning and drafting assignments, it is important to consider the structure of your writing. Academic writing should have clear and logical structure and incorporate academic research to support your ideas.  It can be hard to get started and at first you may feel nervous about the size of the task, this is normal. If you break your assignment into smaller pieces, it will seem more manageable as you can approach the task in sections. Refer to your brainstorm or plan. These ideas should guide your research and will also inform what you write in your draft. It is sometimes easier to draft your assignment using the 2-3-1 approach, that is, write the body paragraphs first followed by the conclusion and finally the introduction.

Writing introductions and conclusions

Clear and purposeful introductions and conclusions in assignments are fundamental to effective academic writing. Your introduction should tell the reader what is going to be covered and how you intend to approach this. Your conclusion should summarise your argument or discussion and signal to the reader that you have come to a conclusion with a final statement.  These tips below are based on the requirements usually needed for an essay assignment, however, they can be applied to other assignment types.

Writing introductions

Most writing at university will require a strong and logically structured introduction. An effective introduction should provide some background or context for your assignment, clearly state your thesis and include the key points you will cover in the body of the essay in order to prove your thesis.

Usually, your introduction is approximately 10% of your total assignment word count. It is much easier to write your introduction once you have drafted your body paragraphs and conclusion, as you know what your assignment is going to be about. An effective introduction needs to inform your reader by establishing what the paper is about and provide four basic things:

• A brief background or overview of your assignment topic
• A thesis statement (see section above)
• An outline of your essay structure
• An indication of any parameters or scope that will/ will not be covered, e.g. From an Australian perspective.

The below example demonstrates the four different elements of an introductory paragraph.

1) Information technology is having significant effects on the communication of individuals and organisations in different professions. 2) This essay will discuss the impact of information technology on the communication of health professionals.   3)  First, the provision of information technology for the educational needs of nurses will be discussed.  4)  This will be followed by an explanation of the significant effects that information technology can have on the role of general practitioner in the area of public health.  5)  Considerations will then be made regarding the lack of knowledge about the potential of computers among hospital administrators and nursing executives.  6)   The final section will explore how information technology assists health professionals in the delivery of services in rural areas .  7)  It will be argued that information technology has significant potential to improve health care and medical education, but health professionals are reluctant to use it.

1 Brief background/ overview | 2 Indicates the scope of what will be covered |   3-6 Outline of the main ideas (structure) | 7 The thesis statement

Note : The examples in this document are taken from the University of Canberra and used under a CC-BY-SA-3.0 licence.

Writing conclusions

You should aim to end your assignments with a strong conclusion. Your conclusion should restate your thesis and summarise the key points you have used to prove this thesis. Finish with a key point as a final impactful statement.  Similar to your introduction, your conclusion should be approximately 10% of the total assignment word length. If your assessment task asks you to make recommendations, you may need to allocate more words to the conclusion or add a separate recommendations section before the conclusion. Use the checklist below to check your conclusion is doing the right job.

Conclusion checklist 

• Have you referred to the assignment question and restated your argument (or thesis statement), as outlined in the introduction?
• Have you pulled together all the threads of your essay into a logical ending and given it a sense of unity?
• Have you presented implications or recommendations in your conclusion? (if required by your task).
• Have you added to the overall quality and impact of your essay? This is your final statement about this topic; thus, a key take-away point can make a great impact on the reader.
• Remember, do not add any new material or direct quotes in your conclusion.

This below example demonstrates the different elements of a concluding paragraph.

1) It is evident, therefore, that not only do employees need to be trained for working in the Australian multicultural workplace, but managers also need to be trained.  2)  Managers must ensure that effective in-house training programs are provided for migrant workers, so that they become more familiar with the English language, Australian communication norms and the Australian work culture.  3)  In addition, Australian native English speakers need to be made aware of the differing cultural values of their workmates; particularly the different forms of non-verbal communication used by other cultures.  4)  Furthermore, all employees must be provided with clear and detailed guidelines about company expectations.  5)  Above all, in order to minimise communication problems and to maintain an atmosphere of tolerance, understanding and cooperation in the multicultural workplace, managers need to have an effective knowledge about their employees. This will help employers understand how their employee’s social conditioning affects their beliefs about work. It will develop their communication skills to develop confidence and self-esteem among diverse work groups. 6) The culturally diverse Australian workplace may never be completely free of communication problems, however,   further studies to identify potential problems and solutions, as well as better training in cross cultural communication for managers and employees,   should result in a much more understanding and cooperative environment. 

1  Reference to thesis statement – In this essay the writer has taken the position that training is required for both employees and employers . | 2-5 Structure overview – Here the writer pulls together the main ideas in the essay. | 6  Final summary statement that is based on the evidence.

Note: The examples in this document are taken from the University of Canberra and used under a CC-BY-SA-3.0 licence.

Writing paragraphs

Paragraph writing is a key skill that enables you to incorporate your academic research into your written work.  Each paragraph should have its own clearly identified topic sentence or main idea which relates to the argument or point (thesis) you are developing.  This idea should then be explained by additional sentences which you have paraphrased from good quality sources and referenced according to the recommended guidelines of your subject (see the chapter Working with Information ). Paragraphs are characterised by increasing specificity; that is, they move from the general to the specific, increasingly refining the reader’s understanding. A common structure for paragraphs in academic writing is as follows.

Topic Sentence 

This is the main idea of the paragraph and should relate to the overall issue or purpose of your assignment is addressing. Often it will be expressed as an assertion or claim which supports the overall argument or purpose of your writing.

Explanation/ Elaboration

The main idea must have its meaning explained and elaborated upon. Think critically, do not just describe the idea.

These explanations must include evidence to support your main idea. This information should be paraphrased and referenced according to the appropriate referencing style of your course.

Concluding sentence (critical thinking)

This should explain why the topic of the paragraph is relevant to the assignment question and link to the following paragraph.

Use the checklist below to check your paragraphs are clear and well formed.

Paragraph checklist

• Does your paragraph have a clear main idea?
• Is everything in the paragraph related to this main idea?
• Is the main idea adequately developed and explained?
• Do your sentences run together smoothly?
• Have you included evidence to support your ideas?
• Have you concluded the paragraph by connecting it to your overall topic?

Writing sentences

Make sure all the sentences in your paragraphs make sense. Each sentence must contain a verb to be a complete sentence. Avoid sentence fragments . These are incomplete sentences or ideas that are unfinished and create confusion for your reader. Avoid also run on sentences . This happens when you join two ideas or clauses without using the appropriate punctuation. This also confuses your meaning (See the chapter English Language Foundations for examples and further explanation).

Use transitions (linking words and phrases) to connect your ideas between paragraphs and make your writing flow. The order that you structure the ideas in your assignment should reflect the structure you have outlined in your introduction. Refer to transition words table in the chapter English Language Foundations.

Paraphrasing and Synthesising

Paraphrasing and synthesising are powerful tools that you can use to support the main idea of a paragraph. It is likely that you will regularly use these skills at university to incorporate evidence into explanatory sentences and strengthen your essay. It is important to paraphrase and synthesise because:

• Paraphrasing is regarded more highly at university than direct quoting.
• Paraphrasing can also help you better understand the material.
• Paraphrasing and synthesising demonstrate you have understood what you have read through your ability to summarise and combine arguments from the literature using your own words.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is changing the writing of another author into your words while retaining the original meaning. You must acknowledge the original author as the source of the information in your citation. Follow the steps in this table to help you build your skills in paraphrasing (see Table 19.4 ).

Table 19.4 Paraphrasing techniques

Example of paraphrasing.

Please note that these examples and in text citations are for instructional purposes only.

Original text

Health care professionals   assist people often when they are at their most  vulnerable . To provide the best care and understand their needs, workers must demonstrate good communication skills .  They must develop patient trust and provide empathy   to effectively work with patients who are experiencing a variety of situations including those who may be suffering from trauma or violence, physical or mental illness or substance abuse (French & Saunders, 2018).

Poor quality paraphrase example

This is a poor example of paraphrasing. Some synonyms have been used and the order of a few words changed within the sentences however the colours of the sentences indicate that the paragraph follows the same structure as the original text.

Health care sector workers are often responsible for vulnerable  patients.   To understand patients and deliver good service , they need to be excellent communicators .  They must establish patient rapport and show empathy if they are to successfully care for patients from a variety of backgrounds  and with different medical, psychological and social needs (French & Saunders, 2018).

A good quality paraphrase example

This example demonstrates a better quality paraphrase. The author has demonstrated more understanding of the overall concept in the text by using the keywords as the basis to reconstruct the paragraph. Note how the blocks of colour have been broken up to see how much the structure has changed from the original text.

Empathetic   communication is a vital skill for health care workers.   Professionals in these fields   are often responsible for patients with complex medical, psychological and social needs. Empathetic   communication assists in building rapport and gaining the necessary trust   to assist these vulnerable patients  by providing appropriate supportive care (French & Saunders, 2018).

The good quality paraphrase example demonstrates understanding of the overall concept in the text by using key words as the basis to reconstruct the paragraph.  Note how the blocks of colour have been broken up, which indicates how much the structure has changed from the original text.

What is synthesising?

Synthesising means to bring together more than one source of information to strengthen your argument. Once you have learnt how to paraphrase the ideas of one source at a time, you can consider adding additional sources to support your argument. Synthesis demonstrates your understanding and ability to show connections between multiple pieces of evidence to support your ideas and is a more advanced academic thinking and writing skill.

Follow the steps in this table to improve your synthesis techniques (see Table 19.5 ).

Table 19.5 Synthesising techniques

Example of synthesis

There is a relationship between academic procrastination and mental health outcomes.  Procrastination has been found to have a negative effect on students’ well-being (Balkis, & Duru, 2016). Yerdelen, McCaffrey, and Klassens’ (2016) research results suggested that there was a positive association between procrastination and anxiety. This was corroborated by Custer’s (2018) findings which indicated that students with higher levels of procrastination also reported greater levels of the anxiety. Therefore, it could be argued that procrastination is an ineffective learning strategy that leads to increased levels of distress.

Topic sentence | Statements using paraphrased evidence | Critical thinking (student voice) | Concluding statement – linking to topic sentence

This example demonstrates a simple synthesis. The author has developed a paragraph with one central theme and included explanatory sentences complete with in-text citations from multiple sources. Note how the blocks of colour have been used to illustrate the paragraph structure and synthesis (i.e., statements using paraphrased evidence from several sources). A more complex synthesis may include more than one citation per sentence.

Creating an argument

What does this mean.

Throughout your university studies, you may be asked to ‘argue’ a particular point or position in your writing. You may already be familiar with the idea of an argument, which in general terms means to have a disagreement with someone. Similarly, in academic writing, if you are asked to create an argument, this means you are asked to have a position on a particular topic, and then justify your position using evidence.

What skills do you need to create an argument?

In order to create a good and effective argument, you need to be able to:

• Read critically to find evidence
• Plan your argument
• Think and write critically throughout your paper to enhance your argument

For tips on how to read and write critically, refer to the chapter Thinking for more information. A formula for developing a strong argument is presented below.

A formula for a good argument

What does an argument look like?

As can be seen from the figure above, including evidence is a key element of a good argument. While this may seem like a straightforward task, it can be difficult to think of wording to express your argument. The table below provides examples of how you can illustrate your argument in academic writing (see Table 19.6 ).

Table 19.6 Argument

Editing and proofreading (reviewing).

Once you have finished writing your first draft it is recommended that you spend time revising your work.  Proofreading and editing are two different stages of the revision process.

• Editing considers the overall focus or bigger picture of the assignment
• Proofreading considers the finer details

As can be seen in the figure above there are four main areas that you should review during the editing phase of the revision process. The main things to consider when editing include content, structure, style, and sources. It is important to check that all the content relates to the assignment task, the structure is appropriate for the purposes of the assignment, the writing is academic in style, and that sources have been adequately acknowledged. Use the checklist below when editing your work.

Editing checklist

• Have I answered the question accurately?
• Do I have enough credible, scholarly supporting evidence?
• Is my writing tone objective and formal enough or have I used emotive and informal language?
• Have I written in the third person not the first person?
• Do I have appropriate in-text citations for all my information?
• Have I included the full details for all my in-text citations in my reference list?

There are also several key things to look out for during the proofreading phase of the revision process. In this stage it is important to check your work for word choice, grammar and spelling, punctuation and referencing errors. It can be easy to mis-type words like ‘from’ and ‘form’ or mix up words like ‘trail’ and ‘trial’ when writing about research, apply American rather than Australian spelling, include unnecessary commas or incorrectly format your references list. The checklist below is a useful guide that you can use when proofreading your work.

Proofreading checklist

• Is my spelling and grammar accurate?
•  Are they complete?
• Do they all make sense?
• Do they only contain only one idea?
• Do the different elements (subject, verb, nouns, pronouns) within my sentences agree?
• Are my sentences too long and complicated?
• Do they contain only one idea per sentence?
• Is my writing concise? Take out words that do not add meaning to your sentences.
• Have I used appropriate discipline specific language but avoided words I don’t know or understand that could possibly be out of context?
• Have I avoided discriminatory language and colloquial expressions (slang)?
• Is my referencing formatted correctly according to my assignment guidelines? (for more information on referencing refer to the Managing Assessment feedback section).

This chapter has examined the experience of writing assignments.  It began by focusing on how to read and break down an assignment question, then highlighted the key components of essays. Next, it examined some techniques for paraphrasing and summarising, and how to build an argument. It concluded with a discussion on planning and structuring your assignment and giving it that essential polish with editing and proof-reading. Combining these skills and practising them, can greatly improve your success with this very common form of assessment.

• Academic writing requires clear and logical structure, critical thinking and the use of credible scholarly sources.
• A thesis statement is important as it tells the reader the position or argument you have adopted in your assignment. Not all assignments will require a thesis statement.
• Spending time analysing your task and planning your structure before you start to write your assignment is time well spent.
• Information you use in your assignment should come from credible scholarly sources such as textbooks and peer reviewed journals. This information needs to be paraphrased and referenced appropriately.
• Paraphrasing means putting something into your own words and synthesising means to bring together several ideas from sources.
• Creating an argument is a four step process and can be applied to all types of academic writing.
• Editing and proofreading are two separate processes.

Academic Skills Centre. (2013). Writing an introduction and conclusion . University of Canberra, accessed 13 August, 2013, http://www.canberra.edu.au/studyskills/writing/conclusions

Balkis, M., & Duru, E. (2016). Procrastination, self-regulation failure, academic life satisfaction, and affective well-being: underregulation or misregulation form. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 31 (3), 439-459.

Custer, N. (2018). Test anxiety and academic procrastination among prelicensure nursing students. Nursing education perspectives, 39 (3), 162-163.

Yerdelen, S., McCaffrey, A., & Klassen, R. M. (2016). Longitudinal examination of procrastination and anxiety, and their relation to self-efficacy for self-regulated learning: Latent growth curve modeling. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 16 (1).

Writing Assignments Copyright © 2021 by Kate Derrington; Cristy Bartlett; and Sarah Irvine is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to create assignments for your canvas course.

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How to Create Assignments

Using assignments in Canvas provides a streamlined process for assigning homework and creating quizzes for students.  Canvas considers an ‘assignment’ to be anything that is graded, whether that be a quiz or homework assignment, and whether it’s delivered entirely online, paper-and-pencil, or is a participatory assignment with no actual deliverable.

This Quick Start guide will cover the creation of assignments where the student submits a file electronically, on paper, using an external tool such as Turnitin or Panopto , or where no submission is expected (e.g. class participation). See How to Create Tests and Quizzes for Your Canvas Course and Create and Manage Discussions for more information about using those tools as assignments.

1. In the Course Navigation menu, click the Assignments link.

2. Click “ +Assignment ” at the top right.

3. Write the assignment title and directions for students.

4. Assign the number of points available for the assignment.

5. Choose an “ Assignment Group” . Assignment groups are, in essence, a category of assignment. For more information about using Assignment Groups, see the Canvas guides regarding Assignments.

6. There are four submission types :

• No Submission: an activity where nothing will be collected from students (e.g. a participation grade)
• For the full details about the online assignment subtypes, (text entry, annotation, file upload, etc.), please see the official documentation .
• We have a recorded mini-webinar on annotation assignments, including assignment ideas, available on the Training Webinars page.
• On Paper: assignments/quizzes/activities that were written on paper and collected by the instructor
• External Tool: assignments submitted through a 3rd party tool that is integrated with Canvas, such as a textbook publisher’s website or Turnitin

7. Submission Attempts: You may allow unlimited submission attempts for Online assignments, or restrict attempts to one or more. When a student submits to an assignment they have already submitted to, the previous submission is retained as well, and the instructor may view both.

8. Group Assignments and Peer Reviews:  Assignments can be created as either a group assignment or peer review assignment.

9. Assign options- You can assign an assignment to your entire class, a specific student, and/or a section of your class. You can also set the due date and the availability dates (when your students can submit their assignment). Each section can have different due dates and availability dates.

10. If you are finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save & Publish “. If you are not finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save ” and you may come back and work on it more later without students having access to it.

Instructor Help for Assignments

Creating assignments.

• How do I create an assignment?
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• What assignment types can I create in a course?
• How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment?
• How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
• How do I enable anonymous instructor annotations in student submissions?
• How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
• How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?

Managing Assignments

• How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
• Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments?
• How do I assign an assignment to everyone in a course?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
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• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I delete an assignment?
• How do I duplicate an assignment?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment?
• How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
• How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?

Creating and Managing Peer Review Assignments

• How do I create a peer review assignment?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?

Creating External Tool Assignments

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• How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?

Using Assignment Groups

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Grading Considerations

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How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom

Lee Stanton Lee Stanton is a versatile writer with a concentration on the software landscape, covering both mobile and desktop applications as well as online technologies. Read more September 22, 2021

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• Individual Student
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Google Classroom is one of the top tools for teaching online classes. If you’re a teacher, learning how to manage assignments on the platform is a great skill. In addition to creating them, you can save draft versions, copy them, schedule them to be sent later, choose which students receive them, etc.

If you’re new to Google Classroom and wondering how to make an assignment, you’ve come to the right place. This article will discuss assigning them to all or specific students as well as offer tips and tricks to fully take advantage of Google Classroom.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for Each Student

Sometimes, you’ll need to create different assignments for different students. Whether your students need extra homework, want a better grade, or received detention and need to make up a lesson, learning how to make assignments for individual students is essential. Fortunately, Google Classroom made the process easy.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for Each Student on a PC

Here’s how to make an assignment for individual students in Google Classroom:

• Go to Google Classroom .

• Select the students.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for Each Student on an Android

If you’re on the go or don’t have your computer nearby, you can use the Google Classroom app on your Android device. Although you may think it’s hard to work on a smaller screen, Google Classroom did an excellent job of making the process quick and simple.

Follow these steps to create assignments for each student on your Android device:

• Tap “All students” twice to deselect them.
• Type the names of the students to which you want to send the assignments.
• Tap “Assign” to send the assignment right away or schedule it.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for Each Student on an iPhone or iPad

The Google Classroom app is also available for iPhone/iPad users. Creating an assignment for each student can be done in several clicks. Follow the instructions below to make an assignment for individual students on your iPhone/iPad:

• Add a student by typing their name. You can select up to 100 students.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for All Students

If you’ve prepared one assignment for the whole class, Google Classroom allows you to send it to all students at once. In fact, this is the default option that you can customize if necessary. You can also choose whether you want to save it as a draft, assign it right away, schedule it for later, etc.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for the Whole Class on a PC

Create an assignment for all students in your class by following the steps below:

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for the Whole Class on an Android Device

If you’re not near your computer but want to send the assignment to your students, you can use the Google Classroom app for Android. Creating and sending an assignment on your Android is just as easy as doing it on your computer.

Here’s what you need to do:

• Double-check whether the “All students” option is selected.
• Send the assignment right away, schedule it for later, or save it as a draft.

How to Create an Assignment in Google Classroom for the Whole Class on an iPhone

iPhone/iPad users will be happy to know they can download the Google Classroom app from the App Store . Navigating through the app is straightforward, so you can create assignments for all your students even when you’re not at home or near your computer.

Here’s how to make an assignment in Google Classroom for all students on your iPhone/iPad:

How to Make a Copy of an Assignment in Google Classroom

If you have one assignment for multiple classes or want to use one from previous years, the good news is you don’t have to waste time creating it from scratch. Instead, Google Classroom offers the “Reuse” option that enables you to send an existing assignment to students in other classes.

How to Make a Copy of an Assignment in Google Classroom on a PC

If you’re using a PC and want to create a copy of an existing assignment, here’s what you need to do:

• Select the class to which you want to send the assignment.

• If you want, you can change information, customize the attachments or instructions.

How to Make a Copy of an Assignment in Google Classroom on an Android Device

Google Classroom’s “Reuse” option is perfect for when you’re not near your computer and want to “recycle” an old assignment. The Android app allows you to do this in just a few clicks:

• Edit the assignment’s information if you want.

How to Make a Copy of an Assignment in Google Classroom on an iPhone

iPhone/iPad users can copy an existing Google Classroom assignment and share it with a class or save it for later. Follow the steps below to do it:

• If needed, change information or edit existing attachments.

Google Classroom Has a Lot to Offer

As one of the best online teaching tools, Google Classroom allows you to take advantage of numerous options regarding assignments. It’s available on both your computer and phone/tablet, which makes creating assignments more convenient. If you’ve already created an assignment, you can easily copy it and send it to a different class, which can be a real time-saver.

We hope this article taught you how to make an assignment in Google Classroom. Along with that, we hope you learned additional information about the app’s useful options.

Have you ever used Google Classroom? Which option is your favorite? Tell us in the comments section below.

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How to Make Assignments in Google Classroom

New to the digital teaching world and looking for a quick way to add assignments to Google Classroom?

Here are 8 easy steps on how to get started.

Open your Google Classroom page in your browser. Google Classroom will automatically open up to the Stream tab. Think of the Stream tab as the notification center, similar to the homepage on Facebook. Here, students will see announcements, classwork, questions, and resources.

Select the Classwork tab. This is where you will see and add assignments.

Click the Create button and select “Assignment” from the list.

You can also select the options: Quiz assignment, Question, Material, or Reuse post.

Here’s a mini explanation of each.

• Quiz assignment : Uses Google Forms to auto-grade assessments.
• Question: Post a quick, open-ended question for students to answer from the Stream page.
• Material: Need to quickly share a digital resource with students? Select Material from the list and add a link, PDF, or video for students to view.
• Reuse post: Find yourself retyping instructions again and again? Select Reuse post from the list to use a previous post as a template.

Click here to view my FREE Digital Morning Work for grades 3 through 6!

When creating an assignment, you will want to complete the following steps:

• Title your assignment
• Write instructions
• Select which subject this assignment is for
• Create a point value (if the assignment is being graded)
• Select a due date
• Select or create a topic (This will make it easy for you and your students to filter through assignments throughout the school year. I’d suggest not skipping this step!)
• Select which students should complete this assignment. (This is a great way to differentiate!)

Select the Add button and select the source where you will be attaching your resource from. If your assignment is interactive, you’ll most likely select Google Drive.

If you have purchased your assignment through Teachers Pay Teachers you’ll want to make sure that you have made a copy of the resource to your Google Drive. You can do this by selecting File -> Make Copy within the resource or through a special link provided to you by the Teachers Pay Teachers author.

Don’t Forget: You must make your own copy of the resource and add it to your Google Drive account before posting to Google Classroom.

Find the assignment you’d like students to complete and click the Add button.

The next step is important. Select the dropdown menu to the right of

the assignment. Select the option “Make a copy for each student” from the menu list. If you do not select this option students will open the same Google resource and will be able to edit the same document. (Cue the raised hands or emails!) It can make for quite a mess.

Just as you would pass out a paper-based assignment in class to each student, be sure to select “Make a copy for each student” from the menu list.

Once selected, review your assignment, and press the Assign button.

Once you have assigned your assignment you will be redirected to the teacher page. From here you will see which students you’ve assigned work to and how many have completed the assignment. This page will help you keep track of your students’ work!

That’s it! Now you’re ready to assign your first assignment in Google Classroom!

Looking for digital resources that are aligned to standards and fun? These digital reading units for Google Classroom are easy to assign and easy for students to use. All of the slides (except the reading passages) are interactive!

CLICK THE LINK BELOW EACH PHOTO FOR MORE INFORMATION!

3rd Grade Digital Reading Bundle

4th Grade Digital Reading Bundle

5th Grade Digital Reading Bundle

If you’re interested in reading more about Google Classroom check out these blog posts below:

Google Classroom™ FAQ

Why You Will Love Using Google Slides™

How to Support ALL Students Using Google Slides™

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[Examples] Create Custom Policies Policy Sets and Assignments

This page describes how to deploy your Azure landing zone with custom policy definitions and policy set (Initiative) definitions.

In this example you will use three custom policies and a custom policy set definition. The custom policies will be named Enforce-RG-Tags , Enforce-Resource-Tags and Deny-NIC-NSG . You will then create a custom policy set definition (Initiative) named Enforce-Mandatory-Tags that will include the Enforce-RG-Tags and Enforce-Resource-Tags custom policies.

You will update the built-in configuration by following these steps:

• Create the custom policy definition file for Enforce-RG-Tags
• Create the custom policy definition file for Enforce-Resource-Tags
• Create the custom policy definition file for Deny-NIC-NSG
• Create the custom policy set definition file for Enforce-Mandatory-Tags
• Make the custom policy definitions available for use in Azure by extending the built-in archetype for es_root
• Create the policy assignment files for Enforce-RG-Tags , Enforce-Resource-Tags , Deny-NIC-NSG and Enforce-Mandatory-Tags
• Assign the custom policy set definition for Enforce-Mandatory-Tags at the es_root Management Group by extending the built-in archetype for es_root
• Assign the custom policy definition for Deny-NIC-NSG at the Landing Zones Management Group by extending the built-in archetype for es_landing_zones

IMPORTANT: To allow the declaration of custom or expanded templates, you must create a custom library folder within the root module and include the path to this folder using the library_path variable within the module configuration. In our example, the directory is /lib .

In order to create and assign custom policies, we need to create both a definition file and an assignment file for each custom policy or custom policy set definition. In this example we will do this by using the below files:

lib/policy_definitions/policy_definition_es_enforce_rg_tags.json

Lib/policy_definitions/policy_definition_es_enforce_resource_tags.json, lib/policy_definitions/policy_definition_es_deny_nic_nsg.json, lib/policy_set_definitions/policy_set_definition_enforce_mandatory_tagging.json, lib/policy_assignments/policy_assignment_es_enforce_rg_tags.json, lib/policy_assignments/policy_assignment_es_enforce_resource_tags.json, lib/policy_assignments/policy_assignment_es_deny_nic_nsg.json, lib/policy_assignments/policy_assignment_es_enforce_mandatory_tagging.json.

NOTE: This module provides the ability to define custom template variables used when reading in template files from the built-in and custom library_path. For more info click here .

Create Custom Policy Definition

In your /lib directory create a policy_definitions subdirectory if you don't already have one. You can learn more about archetypes and custom libraries in this article .

NOTE: Creating a policy_definitions subdirectory is a recommendation only. If you prefer not to create one or to call it something else, the custom policies will still work.

In the policy_definitions subdirectory, create a policy_definition_es_policy_enforce_rg_tags.json file. This file will contain the policy definition for Enforce-RG-Tags . Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Now create a policy_definition_es_policy_enforce_resource_tags.json file. This file will contain the policy definition for Enforce-Resource-Tags . Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Next create a policy_definition_es_policy_deny_nsg_nic.json file. This file will contain the policy definition for our last custom policy - Deny-NSG-NIC . Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Create Custom Policy Set Definition

In your /lib directory create a policy_set_definitions subdirectory.

NOTE: Creating a policy_set_definitions subdirectory is a recommendation only. If you prefer not to create one or to call it something else, the custom policies will still work.

In the policy_set_definitions subdirectory, create a policy_set_definition_enforce_mandatory_tags.json file. This file will contain the Policy Set Definition for Enforce-Mandatory-Tags . The policy set will contain the Enforce-RG-Tags and Enforce-Resource-Tags custom policies that you previously created. Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Create Custom Policy Assignment Files

In order to assign your custom policies or policy sets, you need to create policy assignment files. The first step is to create a policy_assignments subdirectory within /lib .

NOTE: Creating a policy_assignments subdirectory within \lib is a recommendation only. If you prefer not to create one or to call it something else, the custom policies will still work.

You will then need to create a file named policy_assignment_es_enforce_rg_tags.json within the policy_assignments directory. Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Now create a file named policy_assignment_es_enforce_resource_tags.json within the policy_assignments directory. Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Next create a file named policy_assignment_es_deny_nic_nsg.json within the policy_assignments directory. Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Finally, create a file named policy_assignment_es_enforce_mandatory_tagging.json . Copy the below code in to the file and save it.

Make the Custom Policy Definitions and Policy Set Definition available for use

You now need to save your custom policy and policy set definitions at the es_root Management Group to ensure they can be used at that scope or any scope beneath. To do that, we need to extend the built-in archetype for es_root .

NOTE: Extending built-in archetypes is explained further in this article .

If you don't already have an archetype_extension_es_root.tmpl.json file within your custom /lib directory, create one and copy the below code in to the file. This code saves the custom policy definition and policy set definitions but we still haven't assigned them anywhere yet.

Assign the Enforce-Mandatory-Tags Custom Policy Set at the es_root Management Group

You now need to assign the Enforce-Mandatory-Tags policy set and in this example, we will assign it at es_root . To do this, update your existing archetype_extension_es_root.tmpl.json file with the below code and save it.

You should now kick-off your Terraform workflow (init, plan, apply) to apply the new configuration. This can be done either locally or through a pipeline. When your workflow has finished, the Enforce-Mandatory-Tags policy set will be assigned at es_root .

Assign the Deny-NIC-NSG Custom Policy Definition at the Landing Zones Management Group

As you have already saved the Deny-NIC-NSG Custom Policy Set at es_root , this gives us the ability to assign it at the es_root scope or at any scope beneath it. In this example, we will assign it at the Landing Zones Management Group. To do this, either update your existing archetype_extension_es_landing_zones.tmpl.json file or create one and copy the below code in to it and save.

You should now kick-off your Terraform workflow (init, plan, apply) again to apply the updated configuration. This can be done either locally or through a pipeline. When your workflow has finished, the Deny-NIC-NSG Policy Definition will be assigned at the Landing Zones Management Group.

You have now successfully created and assigned both a Custom Policy Definition and a Custom Policy Set Definition within your Azure environment. You can re-use the steps in this article for any Custom Policies of your own that you may wish to use.

This wiki is being actively developed

If you discover any documentation bugs or would like to request new content, please raise them as an issue or feel free to contribute to the wiki via a pull request . The wiki docs are located in the repository in the docs/wiki/ folder.

Azure landing zones Terraform module

• Getting started
• Module outputs
• Module permissions
• Module variables
• Module releases
• Module upgrade guidance
• Provider configuration
• Archetype definitions
• Core resources
• Management resources
• Connectivity resources
• Identity resources
• Video guides
• Deploy default configuration
• Deploy demo landing zone archetypes
• Deploy custom Landing Zone Archetypes
• Deploy connectivity resources (Hub and Spoke)
• Deploy connectivity resources (Virtual WAN)
• Deploy identity resources
• Deploy management resources
• Assign a built-in policy
• Create and assign custom RBAC roles
• Set parameter values for Policy Assignments
• Deploy connectivity resources with custom settings (Hub and Spoke)
• Deploy connectivity resources with custom settings (Virtual WAN)
• Deploy with Zero Trust network principles (Hub and Spoke)
• Deploy identity resources with custom settings
• Deploy management resources with custom settings
• Expand built-in archetype definitions
• Create custom policies, initiatives and assignments
• Override module role assignments
• Control policy enforcement mode
• Policy assignments with user assigned managed identities
• Deploy using module nesting
• Deploy using multiple module declarations with orchestration
• Deploy using multiple module declarations with remote state
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Troubleshooting
• Raising an issue
• Feature requests
• Contributing to code
• Contributing to documentation

Clone this wiki locally

How To Assign Villager Jobs In Medieval Dynasty

Quick links, assigning villager jobs, all job assignments available, do workers need tools, automating your village production.

As you start recruiting villagers to join you in Medieval Dynasty , you will need to assign various jobs to them. There is a wide range of jobs available; villagers can cook, hunt, craft, or even supply water to others. Overall, you will need to make sure that the villagers have all the resources that they need.

Medieval Dynasty: How The Building Limit Works

With several different job types available, it may be hard to decide where you place your villagers. Not every setup will be efficient though, but we are here to help. In this guide, you'll learn how to manage villager jobs. First, let's take a look at how to assign villagers to a job.

Updated February 3, 2024, by Sean Murray: It's not easy being the chief of your own village, but it's incredibly rewarding once you've managed to make your little hamlet self-sufficient. That's why we've updated this guide with improved formatting and more breakout tips to make assigning the right tasks to villagers that much easier. We've also given this guide more links to other helpful Medieval Dynasty topics.

To assign a villager to a job, open the Management tab on the main menu . From here, you will be able to see all your villagers on the left-hand side of the screen. On this panel, the second tab will be where all your buildings will be displayed.

This tab is sorted by building type, such as housing, extraction, and production. Double-clicking on one of these buildings will show you a more detailed information panel on the right side of the screen.

In the image above, you may notice red icons . Here's a brief explanation of what these icons mean .

From here, you will be able to assign a villager to a job. Simply select the villager from the list, and they will now have that job. Once you have selected a villager, you will need to assign them a task to d o.

This can be done from the right-hand panel . At the top of the screen, you will see a hammer icon next to a circle. Clicking on this will now display the available tasks that the villager will be able to do.

Here, you will be able to select the intensity at which they will work. Higher intensity means that they will work more efficiently, and create or produce more of an item. For example, in the image above, the villager assigned to be a cook is working at 45 percent intensity. This means that every day, they will produce around 13.5 pieces of meat.

Medieval Dynasty: Where To Find Clay

Let's take a quick look at every job site , as well as the associated jobs.

The most important early game jobs are cook, hunter, and lumberjack. These three jobs will provide almost all the basic resources that your villagers will need.

Villagers require the same tools that you would need if you were to do the job. Certain jobs require equipment, but not every worker needs a tool.

For example, the cook job does not require any resources, but if you assign a villager to be a lumberjack from the Woodshed and gather logs, they will need to have an axe. Tools like this can either be placed directly into the chest within the building or in the resource storage building.

To help keep track of tools , place them all in a resource storage building , so you can quickly take inventory.

Medieval Dynasty: Affection And Flirting Guide

Throughout the game, you will be doing a lot of traveling . There are tons of villages to visit, so you can't always be taking care of things at home.

If you have a large village with a majority of the building types, you should be able to automate production in your village. This means that villagers produce everything they need, including resources and items that other jobs will use.

Focus On The Essentials

If you don't have enough villagers for every building, prioritize the essential ones . Apiaries and sewing huts aren't necessary for survival.

Additionally, if you are struggling to keep up with demand, construct multiple buildings of the same type! If one kitchen isn't big enough for your village, build a second one.

Be sure to build food and resource storage buildings . These act as supply rooms for all villagers.

Create An Endless Production Loop

If you have a job that requires a resource or item , be sure that there is another job producing it. For example, if you have a farmer taking care of crops, be sure to have a villager assigned to the pigsty to collect manure, and a barn worker to turn the manure into fertilizer for the farmer.

Always have a villager assigned to the Well . Water is essential!

Assign a villager to the Smithy to make tools for the other jobs that require tools. Without proper tools, a villager will be unable to do their job. Remember, the blacksmith will need materials as well, which can be gathered by miners or lumberjacks.

Dealing With Pregnancy

It's important to take into consideration pregnant women in the village. Once a woman gives birth, she will be unable to work for two years. Be sure that you can fill her job.

If you can survive without filling her role, then you can just wait until she comes back to work. If not, you may need to do some reshuffling of jobs .

Villager Preferences

Assign villagers to jobs that they like . You can get a feel for what a villager likes by talking to them, as well as looking at their skills from the management menu. This will make a villager happy and more productive. If you have a worker who doesn't like the job, you may not reach your village's full potential.

Villagers can increase their skills for a certain job by doing it for a long period . If you don't have a person strong in a job type, you can essentially make a person who is.

Overall, you will always work quickly and more efficiently than a villager. You can quickly hunt and chop trees, but with villagers assigned to these jobs, you can focus your attention on other tasks.

Medieval Dynasty: How To Make And Use Farmland

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How to Create a Timeline in Excel (Free Templates Included)

Excel is a versatile spreadsheet tool that can create a variety of graphs, charts and forms, including timelines for projects. In this blog, we’ll go through each step needed to create a timeline in Excel and explain the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.

Why Should You Create a Project Timeline in Excel?

Learn how to create a timeline that can be used to visualize how tasks or projects will be executed over time, identify who will be responsible for completing them and identify milestones and deliverables. The best part is that it’s helpful for any type of team or organization that’s executing a plan regardless of its industry.

Once you create this Excel project timeline, you can use this template to estimate future project timelines using project tasks and due dates. Templates are extremely helpful in creating and executing a successful project, so we encourage you to download our free Excel timeline template below.

Get your free

Timeline Template

Use this free Timeline Template for Excel to manage your projects better.

Even though Excel can be helpful in some scenarios, the platform can only do so much. Static timelines are only a weaker version of a collaborative Gantt chart which is an integral project management tool. If you’re looking for best-in-class timelines, ProjectManager has award-winning Gantt charts that populate data in real time.

Use ProjectManager’s Gantt chart to plan projects, define phases, link tasks, build a WBS, set a baseline and link all four types of task dependencies. Since everything is online, it’s easy to collaborate with your team as the project progresses. You can import an Excel file and get started in a matter of minutes. Get started with ProjectManager today for free and build a better timeline.

How to Create a Project Timeline in Excel

Creating a timeline in Excel using this method takes only five simple formatting steps and doesn’t require any formulas or complicated Excel features. This Excel timeline was created using Excel for Microsoft 365.

1. Define the Length of the Timeline

First, think about the best scale for the timeline. For this example, we’ll make a timeline that spans over one year. To start, list all the months of the year horizontally as shown below. Then merge all the cells above them and write the year for your timeline. Then select all the cells that were just edited and add a border to them.

2. Create Rows for Assigning Work to the Team

Now, edit the column on the left side of the monthly timeline, which will be used to list tasks or projects and indicate who will execute them .

In this case, we’re creating a timeline for a business that needs to map the projects that each of its business departments will execute over a year, but instead of business departments, one can write the names of their team members, too.

Next, format all the cells on the right side of the column that was just created. To do so, start by merging the columns next to the first row and then merge them by clicking the “Merge & Center” button at the top of the screen.

Now, select the merged cell, click the format painter button and then select all the cells as directed below. This automatically formats the cells as the one above.

Edit the borders and after completing those steps, the timeline should look like this.

3. Add a Row for Tracking Milestones and Deliverables

Now create a row for tracking milestones and deliverables by right-clicking the top cell in the work assignment column, clicking insert and selecting “Entire row.”

Once you insert this new row, adjust its height. We suggest using a cell height of at least 100 pixels so you can add a marker for each milestone and deliverable and write a description.

4. Make a Task List and Add Task Bars

Once done formatting the timeline, it’s time to start mapping tasks or project plans. In the example below, we’ll use the Excel timeline to visualize a project that the product team will execute, which is to develop the new product called “XYZ.”

That project is intended to start at the beginning of January and should be completed in mid-May. So, we’ll need to create a bar that shows the project duration in the Excel timeline by inserting a shape and then adjusting its size by holding the left-click button.

Repeat this process to add all the projects or tasks to the timeline. Then, identify milestones and deliverables to get a summarized view of all the key events from all the projects or tasks in the timeline.

5. Mark Milestones and Deliverables

We’ll use shapes again to identify when milestones and deliverables will be delivered, but instead of bars, we’ll need a marker like an arrow. For our example, we’ve used the pentagon arrow.

Then add some text to explain what the deliverable or milestone is. In this case, the milestone is that the new product has gone through all the stages of product development and testing and is ready to be launched into the market.

Continue to edit the timeline in Excel by color coding projects or tasks, such as assigning a different color for each team or individual who will be executing the work.

Excel Timeline Template

As stated above, you can also download a free Excel timeline template. It was created using the same process we’ve just gone through. On top of that, this template offers six-month, one-year, three-year and five-year Excel timelines that can be used for planning short, medium and long-term projects for a team or organization.

Advantages of Making a Timeline in Excel

As we’ve explained, the main reasons for using Excel to make a timeline are that it only takes a few steps and Excel is a software that most people are familiar with. But there are some other advantages of learning how to make a timeline in Excel using our method.

• Create a timeline that works similarly to a Gantt char t or a milestone chart
• Make a timeline in Excel from scratch and it can be customized to fit the particular characteristics of a project
• Excel timelines are simple to understand, which makes them a good addition to project documentation such as project plans or project proposals

However, while Excel templates can be helpful for project and business management, they have their limitations, too.

Disadvantages of Making a Timeline in Excel

The main disadvantage of making a timeline in Excel is that Excel isn’t a project planning or time management tool and therefore lacks the features needed to create and track a timeline for professional purposes such as managing your business operations or managing a project.

• Excel files don’t allow for online collaboration with team members
• When changes are made to the timeline an updated copy of that timeline must be sent to all team members, which makes them hard to share
• Lacks features that Gantt chart software like ProjectManager offer, such as task dependency mapping, critical path analysis or cost tracking
• Any changes to the project timeline require a labor-intensive process

More Free Project Scheduling Templates for Excel

Other tools can be used to create a timeline, which is why we’ve created dozens of free project scheduling templates for Excel and Word to help with the process of creating a timeline.

Gantt Chart Template

This free Gantt chart template for Excel automatically generates a visual timeline with a stacked bar chart based on a list of project tasks, their estimated duration and due dates.

Project Calendar Template

Project calendars are familiar to most people and offer another popular way of making a timeline. Our free project calendar template helps visualize how tasks and projects span over time and can be color-coded.

Resource Plan Template

Creating a timeline for a project or business requires estimating the time it will take to complete tasks and achieve objectives. In addition, knowing resources, such as raw materials, people and equipment, is necessary to execute that work. This free resource plan template can list all project resources and specify when they’re needed.

Using ProjectManager Is Better Than Creating a Timeline in Excel

ProjectManager is award-winning project management software equipped with all the tools needed to create a project timeline. These features include Gantt charts, kanban boards, project calendars, dashboards and much more. Here are some reasons why ProjectManager is better than making timelines in Excel.

Plan, Schedule and Track Timelines With Powerful Gantt Charts

Gantt charts are the most important project management tool because they can be used for planning, scheduling and tracking the timeline of any type of project or process. They map tasks in a visually stacked bar chart that shows the whole project on one screen. However, not all Gantt chart makers offer the same features as ProjectManager, which combines a user-friendly interface with advanced project planning features such as critical path analysis, task dependency mapping, resource monitoring, cost tracking and timesheet management.

Manage All Key Areas of Projects

The main advantage of using ProjectManager over a simple Excel timeline is that it allows organizations to manage other areas of plans besides timelines. For example, use ProjectManager to estimate the progress of projects, identify risks, estimate the costs of project resources and then use online project dashboards to compare those estimates against the actual cost of your project in real time. In addition, it’s easy to make a variety of project management reports and timesheets in minutes.

Related Content

Making a timeline is very important for the success of a project, no matter how big or small. For this reason, we’ve created dozens of blogs, templates and guides to help anyone master this process. Here are some of them.

• Project Timeline Software – Create a Project Timeline Online
• Gantt Chart vs. PERT Chart vs. Network Diagram
• How to Make a Gantt Chart In Excel Step-By-Step

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How United Airlines uses AI to make flying the friendly skies a bit easier

From chatbots to pilot announcements, ai is starting to gain traction.

When you board a United Airlines plane, the gate agents, flight attendants and others involved in making sure your plane leaves on time are in a chatroom coordinating a lot of the work that you, as a passenger, will hopefully never notice. Is there still space for carry-on bags? Did the caterer bring the missing orange juice? Is there a way to seat a family together?

When a flight is delayed, a message with an explanation will arrive by text and in the United app. Most of the time, that message is generated by AI. Meanwhile, in offices around the world, dispatchers are looking at this real-time data to ensure that the crew can still legally fly the plane without running afoul of FAA regulations. And only a few weeks ago, United turned on its AI customer service chatbot.

Jason Birnbaum, who became United’s CIO in 2022, manages a team of over 1,500 employees and about 2,000 contractors who are responsible for all of the tech that makes this happen.

“What I love about our business is also what you hate about the business,” he told me in a recent interview. “I was at GE for many years in the appliance business; we could go down for a day, I don’t think anyone would notice. They’d be: ‘All right, the dishwashers aren’t rolling off the line.’ But it wasn’t newsworthy. Now if something happens, even for 15 minutes, not only is it all over social media but the news trucks head out to the airport.”

Before joining United, Birnbaum spent 16 years at GE, moving up the ladder from technology manager to becoming the CIO of GE Consumer and Industrial, based in Budapest. In 2009, he became the CI of GE Healthcare Global Supply Chain. He joined United in 2015 as its SVP of Digital Technology, where he was responsible for launching projects like ConnectionSaver, one of United’s first AI/ML-based services that will proactively hold flights when fliers have tight connections (and that saved me from spending 12 hours at SFO last week).

I wanted to talk to Birnbaum about how he — and other CIOs at global enterprises — are thinking about the use of AI. That’s one area of innovation the airline is looking at. But before we could talk about AI, United is also still in the process of moving services into the cloud. If there’s one trend in cloud computing right now, it’s that everybody is trying to optimize their cloud infrastructure and spend less.

United Continental Airlines YR202 3490 (CAL) 737-800 BSI interior.  Image Credits:  United

“I’m starting to see these companies and startups that are, ‘How do you optimize your cloud, and how do you manage your cloud?’ There’s a lot of people focused on questions like, ‘You’ve got a lot of data, can I store it better for you?’ Or, ‘You’ve got a lot of new applications; can I help you monitor them better?’ Because all the tools you used to have don’t work anymore,” he said. Maybe the age of digital transformation is over, he said, and we’re now in the age of cloud optimization.

United itself has bet heavily on the cloud, specifically AWS as its preferred cloud provider . Unsurprisingly, United, too, is looking at how the company can optimize its cloud usage, from both a cost and reliability perspective. Like for so many companies that are going through this process, that also means looking at developer productivity and adding automation and DevOps practices into the mix. “We’re there. We have an established presence [in the cloud], but now we’re kind of in the market to try to continue to optimize as well,” Birnbaum said.

But that also comes back to reliability. Like all airlines, United still operates a lot of legacy systems — and they still work. “Frankly, we are extra careful as we move through this journey, to make sure we don’t disrupt the operation or create self-inflicted wounds,” he said.

United has already moved and turned off a lot of legacy systems, and that process is ongoing. Later this year, for example, the company will turn off a large Unisys-based system. But Birnbaum also thinks that United will continue to have on-prem systems. “I just want to be in the best places for the applications and for the user experience,” he said, whether that’s for performance, privacy or security reasons.

The one thing the company is not trying to build, though, is some kind of overarching United Platform that will run all of its systems. But there’s too much complexity in the day-to-day airline operations to do that, Birnbaum said. Some platforms manage reservations, ticketing and bag tracking, for example, while others handle crew assignments.

A worker in the United Airlines Station Operation Center at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. Image Credits:  Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images

When something goes wrong, those systems have to work together and in near real time. That’s also why United is betting on one cloud provider. “I don’t imagine we’ll have one platform,” Birnbaum said. “I think we’re going to get really good at connecting things and getting applications to talk to each other.”

In practice, that means that today it’s possible for the team to see when the caterer got off the plane and who has checked in for the flight, for example. And the ground teams and flight attendant crews can see all of that through their internal chat app, too.

Every flight has an AI story

While all of this work is still going on, United is also looking at how it can best leverage AI.

One story I regularly hear about AI/ML in large enterprises is that ChatGPT didn’t necessarily change how the technologists thought about it, but that it suddenly became a boardroom discussion. That also holds true for United.

“We had a pretty mature AI practice,” Birnbaum said when I asked him when he realized that generative AI was something the team had to pay attention to. “We built a lot of capabilities to manage models, to do tuning and all that. So the good news for us was that we had already made a pretty big investment in this capability. What changed [when ChatGPT arrived] was not that we had to take it seriously. It was who was asking about it: When the CEO and the board suddenly are saying: ‘Hey, I need to know more about this.'”

United is quite bullish on AI, Birnbaum said. “I think the travel industry has so many different examples of where AI can be used both for the customer and for the employees.” One of those is United’s “Every flight has a story.”

Not that long ago, it was rather typical to get a notification when a flight was delayed, but no further information about it. Maybe the incoming flight was delayed. Maybe there was a maintenance issue. A few years ago, United started using agents to write short notices that explained the delay and sent those out through its app and as text messages. Now, pulling in data from its chat app and other sources, the vast majority of these messages are written by AI.

Similarly, United is looking at also using generative AI to summarize flight information for its operations teams, so they can get a quick overview of what’s happening.

A United Airlines flight information board. Image Credits: Jim Vondruska/Getty Images

Just a few weeks ago, United fully moved its chat system on United.com to an AI agent, too. In my own tests, that system still felt quite limited, but it’s only a start, Birnbaum said.

Famously, Air Canada once used an AI bot that sometimes gave wrong answers , but Birnbaum said he wasn’t too worried about that. From a technical perspective, the bot draws upon United’s knowledge base, which should keep hallucinations under control. “But to me [the Air Canada incident] wasn’t a technology failure, that was a customer service failure because — and I won’t comment too much — but I would say that, today, our human agents give wrong answers, too. We just have to deal with that and move on. I think we’re very prepared for that situation,” Birnbaum said.

Later this year, United also plans to launch a tool that is currently called “Get Me Close.” Often, when there’s a delay, customers are willing to change their plans to switch to a nearby airport. I once had United switch me to a flight to Amsterdam when my flight to Berlin got canceled (not that close, but close enough to get a train and still moderate a keynote session the next morning).

“While our mobile tools are great — and they are excellent — when people go talk to humans, the interactions are usually more about building optionality. Meaning you’re going to say, ‘Well, your flight’s delayed’ and then someone might say, ‘Well could you get me to Philadelphia instead of New York? Could you get me close? We believe that interaction is a great use case for AI.”

AI for pilots?

After creating the system that automatically writes the delay “stories” in the app, Birnbaum’s team is now thinking about where it can use the same generative AI technology. One area: those short briefings pilots usually give before takeoff.

“A pilot actually came up to me and said, ‘One of the things that some pilots are great at is getting on that speaker and saying, “Hey, welcome, everybody going to Las Vegas, blah blah.”’ And he said, ‘Some pilots are introverted; could you have an AI engine that helps me generate an announcement on the plane about where I’m going so that I could give a really good announcement about what’s happening?’ And I thought that was a great use case.”

As it turns out, one of the main drivers of customer satisfaction for airlines is actually pilot interaction. A few years ago, United started focusing on its Net Promotor score and asked pilots to make announcements about delays while standing at the front of the cabin, for example. It makes sense for the airline to look at how it can improve upon such a crucial interaction — while hopefully still allowing for pilots to go off-script, too.

Another area where generative AI may help pilots is in summarizing complex technical documents. But as Birnbaum rightly noted, everything that involves the pilot flying the plane is heavily structured and regulated, so it’ll be a while before the airline will launch anything there.

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Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn’t changed much in two decades

The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. These results are similar to where the pay gap stood in 2002, when women earned 80% as much as men.

As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In 2022, women ages 25 to 34 earned an average of 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group – an 8-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 18 cents.

While the gender pay gap has not changed much in the last two decades, it has narrowed considerably when looking at the longer term, both among all workers ages 16 and older and among those ages 25 to 34. The estimated 18-cent gender pay gap among all workers in 2022 was down from 35 cents in 1982. And the 8-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2022 was down from a 26-cent gap four decades earlier.

The gender pay gap measures the difference in median hourly earnings between men and women who work full or part time in the United States. Pew Research Center’s estimate of the pay gap is based on an analysis of Current Population Survey (CPS) monthly outgoing rotation group files ( IPUMS ) from January 1982 to December 2022, combined to create annual files. To understand how we calculate the gender pay gap, read our 2013 post, “How Pew Research Center measured the gender pay gap.”

The COVID-19 outbreak affected data collection efforts by the U.S. government in its surveys, especially in 2020 and 2021, limiting in-person data collection and affecting response rates. It is possible that some measures of economic outcomes and how they vary across demographic groups are affected by these changes in data collection.

In addition to findings about the gender wage gap, this analysis includes information from a Pew Research Center survey about the perceived reasons for the pay gap, as well as the pressures and career goals of U.S. men and women. The survey was conducted among 5,098 adults and includes a subset of questions asked only for 2,048 adults who are employed part time or full time, from Oct. 10-16, 2022. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

The  U.S. Census Bureau has also analyzed the gender pay gap, though its analysis looks only at full-time workers (as opposed to full- and part-time workers). In 2021, full-time, year-round working women earned 84% of what their male counterparts earned, on average, according to the Census Bureau’s most recent analysis.

Much of the gender pay gap has been explained by measurable factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation and work experience. The narrowing of the gap over the long term is attributable in large part to gains women have made in each of these dimensions.

Related: The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap

Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations relative to their share of the workforce. This may contribute to gender differences in pay.

Other factors that are difficult to measure, including gender discrimination, may also contribute to the ongoing wage discrepancy.

Perceived reasons for the gender wage gap

When asked about the factors that may play a role in the gender wage gap, half of U.S. adults point to women being treated differently by employers as a major reason, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2022. Smaller shares point to women making different choices about how to balance work and family (42%) and working in jobs that pay less (34%).

There are some notable differences between men and women in views of what’s behind the gender wage gap. Women are much more likely than men (61% vs. 37%) to say a major reason for the gap is that employers treat women differently. And while 45% of women say a major factor is that women make different choices about how to balance work and family, men are slightly less likely to hold that view (40% say this).

Parents with children younger than 18 in the household are more likely than those who don’t have young kids at home (48% vs. 40%) to say a major reason for the pay gap is the choices that women make about how to balance family and work. On this question, differences by parental status are evident among both men and women.

Views about reasons for the gender wage gap also differ by party. About two-thirds of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (68%) say a major factor behind wage differences is that employers treat women differently, but far fewer Republicans and Republican leaners (30%) say the same. Conversely, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say women’s choices about how to balance family and work (50% vs. 36%) and their tendency to work in jobs that pay less (39% vs. 30%) are major reasons why women earn less than men.

Democratic and Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts in the same party to say a major reason for the gender wage gap is that employers treat women differently. About three-quarters of Democratic women (76%) say this, compared with 59% of Democratic men. And while 43% of Republican women say unequal treatment by employers is a major reason for the gender wage gap, just 18% of GOP men share that view.

Pressures facing working women and men

Family caregiving responsibilities bring different pressures for working women and men, and research has shown that being a mother can reduce women’s earnings , while fatherhood can increase men’s earnings .

Employed women and men are about equally likely to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially and to be successful in their jobs and careers, according to the Center’s October survey. But women, and particularly working mothers, are more likely than men to say they feel a great deal of pressure to focus on responsibilities at home.

About half of employed women (48%) report feeling a great deal of pressure to focus on their responsibilities at home, compared with 35% of employed men. Among working mothers with children younger than 18 in the household, two-thirds (67%) say the same, compared with 45% of working dads.

When it comes to supporting their family financially, similar shares of working moms and dads (57% vs. 62%) report they feel a great deal of pressure, but this is driven mainly by the large share of unmarried working mothers who say they feel a great deal of pressure in this regard (77%). Among those who are married, working dads are far more likely than working moms (60% vs. 43%) to say they feel a great deal of pressure to support their family financially. (There were not enough unmarried working fathers in the sample to analyze separately.)

About four-in-ten working parents say they feel a great deal of pressure to be successful at their job or career. These findings don’t differ by gender.

Gender differences in job roles, aspirations

Overall, a quarter of employed U.S. adults say they are currently the boss or one of the top managers where they work, according to the Center’s survey. Another 33% say they are not currently the boss but would like to be in the future, while 41% are not and do not aspire to be the boss or one of the top managers.

Men are more likely than women to be a boss or a top manager where they work (28% vs. 21%). This is especially the case among employed fathers, 35% of whom say they are the boss or one of the top managers where they work. (The varying attitudes between fathers and men without children at least partly reflect differences in marital status and educational attainment between the two groups.)

In addition to being less likely than men to say they are currently the boss or a top manager at work, women are also more likely to say they wouldn’t want to be in this type of position in the future. More than four-in-ten employed women (46%) say this, compared with 37% of men. Similar shares of men (35%) and women (31%) say they are not currently the boss but would like to be one day. These patterns are similar among parents.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on March 22, 2019. Anna Brown and former Pew Research Center writer/editor Amanda Barroso contributed to an earlier version of this analysis. Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology .

What is the gender wage gap in your metropolitan area? Find out with our pay gap calculator

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Women have gained ground in the nation’s highest-paying occupations, but still lag behind men

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