No Burp Back Education

It is easy to get in a routine of teaching materials and having the students to memorize and recall that information, most of the time in test form. I believe it is important for students to actually learn the information rather than memorizing and simply forgetting it after the test. In order to accomplish this, I believe it is important to have assignments that capture the students attention.

How can teachers catch students attention through assignments? Rather than making students outline pages and pages out of a book or always handing out tests, why not give students a hands on assignment where they can experience what they are learning first hand. Fun projects where students can research information online or assignments where students have to interview someone or go observe how things are done. These types of assignments are more likely to stay with a student rather than pen and paper assignments.