“The design of assignments matters much for student learning.”

Dr. Pat Hutchings, at WSU’s capstone assignment design workshop, May 2016

The foundation of the work you will do in this workshop is based on the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) transparency project that concluded the most promising intervention that supports learning gains for all students, especially first-generation, low-income, and under-represented students is assignment design, including making the assignment’s purpose, tasks and criteria “transparent.”

What is Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)?

Transparent teaching and learning methods explicitly focus on how and why students are learning course content in particular ways.

How Does Transparency Benefit Students and Faculty?

Promotes equitable learning opportunities for student success
Transparent teaching/learning methods particularly benefit students who are unfamiliar with college success strategies by explicating learning/teaching processes.
Greater benefits for underrepresented and first generation students
Strengthens the curriculum and assessment, as students are able to do their best work.

How Can Faculty Make Assignments More Transparent?

Using the transparent assignment template and incorporating 3 simple, but powerful, tweaks in the assignments by stating clearly the purpose, the tasks and criteria.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

This approach is built on considerable research in teaching and learning, including work from AAC&U, NILOA, Winkelmes, Mazur, Felder, Tanner, Light, Dweck, Fisk, Dweck, Yeager, and many others.

Clement, M. (2016, July). Introduction to learning theories and implications for classroom design. In 2016 Joint Annual Meeting. Asas.
Winkelmes, M. A. (2013). Transparency in Teaching: Faculty Share Data and Improve Students' Learning. Liberal Education, 99(2), n2.
Winkelmes, M. A. (2015, February). Equity of Access and Equity of Experience in Higher Education. In The National Teaching & Learning Forum (Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 1-4).
Winkelmes, M. A., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Weavil, K. H. (2016). “A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students' Success.” Peer Review, 18(1/2), 31.

Dr. Mary Anne Winkelmes, UNLV, and TILT Higher Ed founder, has researched transparency extensively and provides materials, examples, and information.

This work, “Overview of Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT)” by WA SBCTC, TAD Toolkit, 2,1,1 TILT: The Equitable Assignment Challenge, is licensed under CC BY 4.0. It is a derivative (with permission) of The Unwritten Rules of College: Transparency and Its Impact on Learning by Mary-Ann Winkelmes used under CC BY 4.0.