59 Learner Choice Quotes

If the course provided the opportunity for you to create a meaningful project, presentation or authentic task, what made it meaningful and how? If not, describe a type of assignment that would have made it meaningful.

1. It was meaningful because I was able to choose something that I was passionate about and try to create an effective solution.

2. We were able to pick a business for the Final Project that was within the area we wanted to think about.

3. We had the freedom to select the organizations we wanted therefore facilitating our creativity when developing the project.

4. I enjoyed the fact that we were able to choose our own topics for the final report.

5. Having the ability to choose a topic that was interesting. The individuality made it meaningful.

6. Being able to choose the person to interview was a way to really personalize the project for something that I will use in the future.

7. It allowed me to connect with all of my other classmates and give me the option to choose on who to comment on.

8. The way the final paper was meaningful was that you got to choose who you wanted to interview, essentially being a networking opportunity, which was much more important than the opportunity itself.

9. Selecting own topic and being able to use it in the work place.

10. I got to pick my final paper, so that made it really meaningful for me.

11. This project was meaningful because I could choose any topic that I was passionate about. It made it easier to want to work on and research, and it makes me prouder to see it completed. Writing this report about something I am passionate about is also meaningful because I could actually use it/the information I discovered to make the change I suggested in my report!

12. It was meaningful because we were able to pick something that was important to us, and the guidelines were flexible, allowing us to choose from a wide range of topics.

13. It was nice to choose our own topic of interest to focus our final project on.

14. I thought it provided the opportunity to be meaningful, because we were able to choose the project. Essentially, we could choose anything, which allowed us to choose something important or relevant to us. What made the project meaningful was the topic I chose. My choice of topic was related to the gym that I have been a member of and coach of for over five years. I have developed a lot of relationships at this gym and being able to provide an analysis that will potentially bring forth a positive outcome that will affect the community is important to me. 

15. I was able to choose something I am passionate about for the semester long report.

16. This was meaningful because we got to choose what we worked on and it was not just assigned to us.

17. The whole proposal process allows us to create a meaningful project. We're allowed to choose a topic that we feel passionate about and delve into potential ways to remedy that problem.

18. We were able to pick the organization we wrote the proposal for, and I was able to write the proposal on the organization I am currently interning for- Be the Match.

19. I had the opportunity to choose from a non-profit that I wanted and write a unique grant proposal for them that interested me. I would say that is pretty authentic and meaningful.

20. I especially appreciated having the opportunity to decide what was meaningful to me from each module.

21. The book summary allowed me as a student to pick a topic of interest and read a book that I found interesting rather than just having every student read the same book. This also allowed students to learn about other books that may be of interest.

22. The final project gave you a lot of freedom to write about what you please.

23. I was able to pick a monster that I was interested in for my research paper which made it more interesting and fun to write.

24. I think the project that was originally assigned would've been meaningful because we were able to choose any topic that we were interested in.

25. I enjoyed writing the final project. I am glad we had completely free reign to research whatever topic was interesting for us. I really appreciated the freedom and the chance to learn about something I chose for myself.

26. The final project was meaningful to me because I got to choose a topic that I was passionate about.

27. I liked the final project because I got to choose a topic that I am actually really interested in. That being said, since the Professor was nonexistent, I don't actually know whether or not my topic was acceptable for the project.

28. Having freedom of choice for our final paper topic was excellent and allowed students to pick topics that interested them.

29. I think that the final paper we got to write made the class meaningful and the TikiToki presentation. This is because both projects we were able to pick our own topic, therefore, that made sure it was something we were 100% interested in.

30. The final project was a good example of how this class provided a meaningful project, it allowed the student to pick an area of interest and expand on it.

31. It left room to choose the media for creating and submitting assignments.

32. The final project for us to create a YouTube playlist was something that we could all reflect on. We were able to choose the songs that we felt were most meaningful throughout the course. This project really gave me a personalized ownership of the assignments I completed during this course.

33. The YouTube playlist project was meaningful in that you were able to choose songs that you personally thought were "best of" songs and ones that you enjoyed.

34. The projects and assignments within this course were meaningful because it allowed the students to incorporate their own experiences in music. I thoroughly enjoyed completing the assignments for this class because I was able to apply the concepts we were learning to my favorite artists and music.

35. This course had me complete numerous projects and reflections that allowed for personal reflection. Specifically, the final project that allowed for freedom in song selection and analysis was extremely meaningful due to its autonomous nature.

36. Allowed us to pick our own songs and personalize our playlist which I liked. Gave us the freedom to choose our own theme.

37. I enjoyed being able to choose songs that were of significance to me from our course time and reflecting on them.

38. I compiled a playlist of music from the course that I enjoy - I will keep listening to this playlist even after the course ends and add more to it with other songs to which I was introduced in the course.

39. We had a lot of freedom in our projects and I believe that is what made it meaningful. I was also able to learn more about songs that I listened to prior to the course.

40. I liked the Spotify assignment and the ability to choose our theme for a playlist, but it was very easy to fake, could be done without a lot of effort.

41. The choice assignments and critical essays were helpful since it made us think more about the context of the songs we had to listen to.

42. For me this was the final review. What made it more meaningful was that I was able to pick the movie and slowly work on it over the course of the semester.

43. The final review was very meaningful. It helped me to be critical of one of my favorite films. I focused on the small details and how they connected to larger messages.

44. The final review was meaningful, as it allowed you to review a movie of your choice.

45. By letting us choose the film for the finally review made it meaningful.

46. I was able to choose the film I reviewed for my final.

47. Being given the choice to write about a movie of my choice for my final project and in meta reviews made my experience very authentic. 

48. I enjoyed the ability to choose the movie I wanted to do my report on and the whole thing allowed for self-pacing to an extent.

49. The course was one of the most organized courses I've taken in the three years I have been at the University of Minnesota. It was very helpful to have the specific week's assignment checklist appear on the homepage and to have more detailed instructions within each individual assignment. Overall, I think the organization, clear instruction, and the instructor's availability (quick response time to emails) made each assignment (review, discussion, draft, etc.) meaningful. I also thought it was meaningful to be able to apply the course content to films of our choice.

50. The ability to choose what film we were using for the film paper helped shape enjoyment.

51. The research paper is the meaningful project. It was meaningful because we got to pick a topic that we were passionate about.

52. All of the writing (essays, discussions, reflective assignments) were quite open ended. While the prompts offered guidance, it was nice to be able to take a direction that I found most interesting or important.

53. Getting to choose the topic for my research paper (within a few limits) was very meaningful to me. I think that choosing the topic myself was tough because there are so many good topics to write about, but I think writing about one that I am passionate about made it a lot easier for me to be engaged with the paper and enjoy myself when writing it.

54. I was able to select a project (choosing where to live) that is directly applicable to my future.

55. I had the opportunity to choose from a non-profit that I wanted and write a unique grant proposal for them that interested me. I would say that is pretty authentic and meaningful.

56. It allowed me to do a project I wanted to do and it was approved. I know other professors try to give students flexibility by letting them create their own project but is still very specific when it comes to their guidelines.

57. I think being able to use course concepts and create your own business was the most meaningful assignment. You can choose something that you are passionate about instead of just being told what to do.

2 Suggestions to Increase Learner-Choice

58. Making the Math Demonstration videos helped me in my understanding of certain problems. One thing that I didn't like as well about them is that we had to choose which kind of problem we would present before we had learned how to solve the listed problems. This took away the chance of picking a problem that I had had difficulty with and might have understood better if given the chance to work on that specific kind of problem in greater detail.

59. I felt like the final project wasn't meaningful because we only got to choose from the songs listed in class. It would have been more meaningful if we could choose from any rock song of any era and maybe we didn't learn about them in class. Because the way the project was set up, I felt like every peers' playlist that I listened to was the same.