Signature Assignments
A Signature Assignment (SA) requires that students integrate and apply course content to address a significant personal, social, or professional question or issue in some way (e.g., through critical thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving, quantitative literacy, inquiry and analysis, etc.) for a specified audience.
How do I create and assign a Signature Assignment in my Gen Ed course?
Each faculty member teaching a GE course is expected to assign a SA, although the SA can be defined, weighted, and assessed at the faculty member’s discretion for course grades. We suggest that faculty use the following four key elements in instructing students about the requirements of a SA.
- AUDIENCE: To assess the effectiveness of the SA, faculty must make explicit for students an audience to whom the SA should be addressed. The choice of audience is at faculty discretion. The audience may be students themselves in the case of a self-reflection, it may be a future employer in the case of a business plan, or it may be the professor in the case of writing for an “expert in the field.” However, other audiences are possible too including members of students’
family, the community, children or adolescents, or even virtual or future audiences. Whatever audience faculty choose, the choice should be explicit in the assignment description because it requires students to imagine and/or adopt a perspective in the SA. Clarity in specifying the audience will aid assessment of students’ communication skills as part of GELO 2 (Intellectual Tools). - PERSONAL/SOCIAL/PROFESSIONAL QUESTION OR ISSUE: Faculty should express the significant personal/social/professional question or issue for students to address in the SA. Faculty can specifically define the nature of the question or issue (address issue X) or provide students the opportunity to define the nature of the question or issue for themselves (address the meaning or significance). For example, does the question or issue bear on a social concern (such as sustainability, social justice, or global learning), a personal concern (such as a self-reflection or evaluation of prior beliefs or knowledge), and/or a professional concern (such as being on the job)? Ideally, the question or issue will be tied in some way to the BQ, but there is no obligation that it must be. Clarity in the question or issue of the SA will aid assessment of GELO 3 (Responsibility to Self and Others).
- INTEGRATING AND APPLYING COURSE CONTENT: Faculty should specify which course content students need to integrate and apply in the SA. The specification can be explicit and directive about the content (specified concepts), explicit but less directive (any of the following contents), implicit and directive (key content from chapters 5 and 6), or implicit and not directive (content from any part of the course). Course content will not be assessed for purposes of Gen Ed assessment, but evidence of students’ ability to integrate and apply the content will be assessed for GE learning outcomes. A clear description of which content is to be integrated and applied in the SA will aid assessment of GELO 4 (Connected and Applied Learning).
- INTELLECTUAL TOOLS: We suggest that faculty broadly outline how students are to bring course content to bear on the question or issue. For example, faculty may ask students to integrate and apply course content to a) solve a problem, b) critique or analyze a claim, c) find an alternative to particular perspectives, c) evaluate a situation/process, d) interpret patterns of evidence, or e) reflect on their own learning. This is not an exhaustive list of the entire set of options faculty may specify. Clear specification of the kind of intellectual tools students are asked to exercise in the SA will aid assessment of GELO 2 (Intellectual Tools).
Video: Implementing Signature Assignments in Gen Ed courses |
Video: Grading and Assessing Signature Assignments |
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Link to PowerPoint download |
Do I have to call it a Signature Assignment?
Yes! This will help students learn that in each Gen Ed class they will have a similarly named assignment that taps into the same skills and understandings. Calling it "Signature Assignment" also helps the OIE to be able to find your assignment (preferably in Canvas) for the purposes of SA assessment on the four GELOs.
Where can I find examples of SA?
Look for this app in the eWeber portal:
This app provides searchable access to Signature Assignments in a variety of disciplines and GE attribute areas.
First Year Summit 2025 Panel: Revisiting Signature Assignments
Leigh Shaw, Moderator. Panelists: Anne Bialowas, Heidi Costello, Ryan Evans, and Becky Marchant (45 min)
This panel considers aspects of the common activity that engages students in all General Education courses – signature assignments (SAs). Panelists are instructors who teach in General Education with SAs and who have served as faculty reviewers of SAs for program assessment. Panelists address questions about the goals of signature assignments, features of well-designed signature assignments that support student learning and success, the role of SAs in Gen Ed program assessment, and supporting our concurrent enrollment partners in implementation of signature assignments.
How do I reconsider my SA in the context of Generative AI?
You may need to reconsider your SA in the context of GenAI, which is very good at writing and summarizing a lot of content quickly. GenAI can not produce the reflective and nuanced thinking of creative learners. Reduce the misuse of GenAI by leveraging its limitations, as outlined in the following infographic. Please reach out to the Director of Gen Ed directly (lshaw@weber.edu) with any questions.
