Assigning homework outside of classroom or online corporate training allows an intensive topic to be covered. There are various types of homework assignments.
If your training is content heavy, one strategy to cover a larger amount of material than you can in one session is to assign tasks that participants complete outside of class. These assignments can require extensive time to learn new concepts outside of class or can be a refresher or reinforcement of material covered in class. Homework can be completed in teams or individually.
Assigned Reading
Reading can be assigned from a course text book, articles or web content. Be sure to let the students know that you will be discussing the material in the reading in the next class if you feel this reading is mandatory to their learning. If it is very important, you can quiz them on the reading. Readings can also be of a more supplemental nature, to help students gain another point of view or reinforce the concepts discussed in class.
Research Assignment
Research assignments are a great way for students to delve deeper into a subject. The assignment can be a series of questions they need to answer, a list of facts they need to gather or can form the basis for a large assignment such as a research paper.
Interviews
Asking students to create a list of interview questions and interview people with a specific background or expertise can be a creative way to reinforce learning.
Field Trip
Take students on short excursions to learn about different environments or meet a group of people that can offer them a new view point. Learning is enhanced when the concepts are demonstrated in a real life setting. For example, if you are teaching customer service, a trip to a mall where students observe customer/sales staff interactions can be very enlightening.
Breaking up a lecture format delivery by out of class assignments can increase student engagement and ensure learning.
