Do you often misunderstand assignments?

Post Reply New Topic

Does anyone else always misunderstand assignments in school that your classmates seem to have no trouble with? I always get assignments and misunderstand the task completely, and end up with something that is completely different from everyone else's. I'll often look at the assignment description and take out a few points in it and focus on that, ignoring the rest of the assignment because sometimes it doesn't make sense with the other points. And then there will be times when the written explanation of the assignment is different than what the professor talks with the class about, and I'll get confused about whether to follow what the written assignment says or what the teacher says. It's like the teacher expects us to draw the connections between what they say and what is written, and I always draw the wrong connections. I think it's partly to do with me taking things literally and seeing things in black and white, but it's so confusing to come into class the day something's do and see that everyone else's assignments are completely different and then wondering how everyone in the class was able to understand what the teacher wanted. It sometimes feels like the whole class has secret meetings without me.

I had problems like this when I was younger, too. When I started college the first time around, I'd have problems with "book report" assignments. When I was in high school, "book report" had a specific definition. It took years, a number of poor grades, and a move to another college to get it through my head that what they had meant was "critical review." I just couldn't get past my original definition of the words they were using. It occasionally still happens after all these years. I recently earned a very poor grade on an assignment because I just flat didn't understand what the professor wanted -- I thought I did, but it turns out he had a completely different idea in mind.

The best advice I can give is to talk to the professor and ask them to clarify the instructions. Point out the specific points that don't make sense to you so they can address it before you turn in the assignment. It may not be the magic bullet that fixes the issue entirely, but they absolutely can't help you with a problem they don't know you're having. Ask if a professor will let you redo something that has gone badly. If they find out that you simply didn't understand the assignment, they may let you rewrite it. Don't make this request very often, however. They may decide you're doing it on purpose in order to get more time to work on it. Also, don't be afraid to go to the professor while you are writing an assignment and ask if what you have done so far is acceptable or if it needs changes before you turn it in. If the prof is too busy, ask one of your classmates to look it over for you.

Yep. If I could get something wrong at school, I would.

I don't have a lot of assignments, but it is definitely normal for me to misunderstand something, and not shocking for me to do something unlike the way the teacher wanted it done. I don't get marks taken off hardly at all anymore though because I've learned how to prevent it. In high school I approached the teacher and asked for very clear instructions on assignments, and now in college I usually email professors and ask about assignments. If you have trouble with every assignment, I would tell the teacher upfront: I'm going to need guidance with what is expected of me on assignments. Would you rather me approach you at the time the assignment is given, or contact you some other way after class to get instructions? (If you need verbal directions, then just ask when can the teacher help/guide you-ask if you should stay after class or go during office hours.)

Sometimes I do stuff that I think there is no way I could have known was not okay for me to do in an assignment. In philosophy homework, I used to use examples for all my test questions. For one of them I used my horse for an example. (I know a lot more about animal behavior than human behavior, particularly equine behavior.) My instructor counted off a lot for it, saying it needed to be a human example. How would I have known that?! We didn't get directions on tests, just how many questions to answer and to write thorough answers (or something like that). I think I do better with female professors because they give longer descriptions, usually.

Constantly.

I've noticed quite a few universities specifically stipulate that AS students can submit drafts as part of disability accommodations, so I expect this is quite common.

YES!! But I thought it was not related to asperger (now I'm not so sure) People seems to know EXACTLY what is the professor asking with a few directives when I have to ask him a lot of things, like how many pages should it have ,etc. I need them to be more specific.

I have that same exact issue. I need to have the teacher brake down the directions much more further and I have to make teachers take time to give me the directions. Sometimes whenever I turn in things, I sometimes don't follow the directions or I mess up on assignments because I do not clearly understand the directions. I need to really learn how to follow directions so I can transfer to a 4-year university or else I will feel miserable about not having a bachelors degree.

Yes I distinctinvley(sp) remember being given a task to write a story about an assasin and the Teacher gave the whole class a basic layout where the assasin was on a hilltop with a gun in a better off area, with lots of cars at night, and I thought "Cool, an assasin story alrighty then!" So I wrote a story about an assasin posing as a caravan vendor in the desert selling water but the water was actually poison and when the target came alone an advisor to the Kings son who was corrupting him for when his time for the crown came ect ect and The Teacher came and saw my work and said id once again overcomplicated my work.

This confused me as I thought it a brilliant piece of work far more thought out than everyoneelse in the class who has done the same as the teacher and she said we could do what we like, so I did.

All through school and university I tended to have this problem. I usually found a classmate and asked them questions about the assignment. I also liked to look at as many examples as I could so I could get a feel for what they want and be able to come up with something original that would fit that pattern.

In my work, I don't have this problem. Anytime there is ambiguity or insufficient information, I ask questions. I wish I did this in school. Back then I would rather not do anything than do something and it be wrong. I usually didn't do my homework because of this. I really hated to be wrong, and I hated to ask questions and make people think I was stupid.

Yeah, I have had this problem in high school. Not in college yet, but I've only been here for three weeks so far. I always have to ask a friend about assignments to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to.

This phenomenon caused me to fail History 111

I understood the material, but not what the teacher was asking of us. Also I'd slipped into a phase where I was using "Junk colloquialisms" in my writing which would cause the teacher to mark all my stuff wrong.

When I was in school I misunderstood assignments all the time. I hated vague assignment descriptions, where the teacher expected the students to read between the lines or interpret things and come to some conclusions based on something else than the actual assignment description. Just like you said, it felt like the whole class had had a secret meeting or received a secret memo from the teacher or something. I always seemed to be the only one who didn't get it and did something completely different.

If it was something we were supposed to introduce in class, I always tried to make sure there were at least a few other students before me, because often when I saw them present their assignments I realized how way off I had been about mine and I made some fast last-minute changes before it was my turn. This wasn't always possible though, especially on written tests or assignments that we were supposed to hand in.

That is really hard for me to deal with different kind of college assignments. A lot of them are very hard to my understanding. Thanks God I can contact Supreme essay guys. They usually both proofread and edit my papers. But I'm pretty sure they will be able to write assignments, as well. So if you want you can give them a try.

I have a habit of wandering off-topic while answering questions, and talking for that matter. Though what I might write could be correct, if it isn't within the strictures of the grading system, marks are lost. Luckily as part of my studies (I'm with the Open Uni) my assignments always display the various learning outcomes for the texts we have studied as a further reminder of what our answers are meant to cover.

I found keeping detailed of instructions for assignments in a planner helps with avoiding misinformation. Keeping a high lighted print out of your syllabus helps as well. Even with these little methods, I still feel like I'm always missing something and sometimes do. I think this also may have something to do with issues with aspies processing verbal instruction, perhaps speaking with your teacher one on one to double check you haven't missed anything. I know it sounds tedious; but if it can increase your grade and results in better information retention, I think it is well worth it.

Wow, yes exactly how I feel first sentence immediately. My teachers would insult me non stop for being the "dumb one" or being defiant. I use to do exactly what the instructions said.
It's almost like the NTs communicate with some sort of 6th sense! It's not logic, so we have no way of understanding and neither do they (of course they don't understand half the things they do). I get assignments and do them based on the instructions but then I come into class thinking I aced it because I did everything, only to find that I forgot to be "creative" or "emotional" and all that other intangible stuff and that I need to connect with the person reading my essay more. I hate this