Enhancing student equity, engagement and employability with renewable assignments

Abstract: Every year, students put an immense amount of creative and cognitive effort into producing university assignments that will be seen only by those assessing their work. At the same time, higher educational institutes are looking for ways to engage their students, many of whom moved to online learning this year, and to enhance student employability throughout the educational journey. One solution for addressing these challenges is the use of renewable assignments where students create authentic artefacts that become public and openly licensed (Wiley & Hilton, 2018).

This presentation offers a case study from the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland which piloted the use of renewable assignments. As part of their course assessment, undergraduate students enrolled in an intercultural education course created resources for the early years profession resulting in the openly published book Gems and Nuggets. Examples will be shared about how the renewable assignment enhanced student equity, how the creation of the open resources increased student engagement during and after the course, and how this activity augmented student employability.