I think a good rule of thumb is that anything I want students to learn should be:
- mandatory
- introduced as early as possible
- seen constantly, and better still used constantly
- made as easy as possible for students to learn from me, by following instructions and also by observing my regular example.
Leaving such things merely “suggested” or “optional”, though it seems to grant freedom, is equivalent to not assigning them at all. Rather than the community of excellence that I hope for in my heart, I usually end up with a slum of underachievement, instead. Generally, only a really superior student ever does “suggested” activities, and even s/he rarely does many of them.
I hate to disillusion you further by agreeing, but I never read anything that was “optional” in college, heck I barely skimmed the mandatory stuff. I do remember a lecturer making it clear to us how obvious it is once assignments come in who has bothered and who has not.
Thanks, but I doubt it’s possible to disillusion me in this area.
As long as the goal remains getting students to learn constructively, I advocate any reasonable level of subterfuge and trickery toward that end. The one crucial thing is that you have to be willing to spend time and attention helping students who are willing to work to learn — otherwise the dynamics of the relationship no longer function.