The Open Pedagogy & Renewable Assignments online guide is by Linda Miles and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Imagine a range of assignment types between "traditional" and "renewable" (the horizontal axis in the graph below).
You can also think of assignments falling within a range of levels of engagement with the audience (the vertical axis in the graph below).
Take a look at the assignment examples positioned on the diagonal line toward increasing student agency and creativity.
Which of these assignments might be a possibility for your course?
(Audience Engagement of Assignment Types by Beth South, CC BY 4.0)
A graph demonstrating how different assignment examples rate for student agency and creativity. Along the X axis are a range of assignment types, beginning with traditional assignments on the far left which are only relevant until the assignment is turned in and graded. Next are authentic assignments which involve realistic problem solving and opportunities for feedback and revision. Next are constructive assignments which are directly tied to learning outcomes and assessments. And on the far right are renewable assignments right where students intentionally create something for use beyond the class. Along the Y axis are three levels of audience engagement, from one-on-one where the assignment is seen only by the instructor and perhaps members of the class, through publicly available in the middle, and finally openly licensed to allow for anyone to retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute the work (what is known as the 5 Rs). Along the diagonal trajectory of the graph are the example assignment types running from less to more student agency and creativity.
Examples of traditional assignments with a one-on-one or classroom audience are writing assignments with little to no scaffolding and multiple choice quizzes. Examples of authentic assignments with a potential public audience are developing a marketing plan for a company and drafting a syllabus or lesson plan. Examples of constructive assignments with a potential public audience are creating a model or creative interpretation of a method, process, etc. and holding a debate or public performance. Examples of renewable assignments with a public audience and ability for anyone to exercise the 5 Rs are writing a book chapter of creating ancillary materials for an open textbook or contributing to or editing Wikipedia articles.