The following resources from the Transparency in Learning and Teaching project (TILT Higher Ed) can help faculty, educational developers and administrators to apply the Transparency Framework (of purpose/task/criteria) in contexts including assignments, curricula, assessment and strategic initiatives, all toward the goal of enhancing student success equitably. If you have developed TILT-focused tools or publications you would like to share, please contact wink@tilthighered.com
Authors of Examples A-D describe the outcomes of their assignment revisions
Discussion Questions (about Examples A-E)
Example F: Library research Assignment
Example G: Criminal Justice In-Class activity
Example H: Criminal Justice Assignment
Example I: Political Science Assignment
Example J: Criteria for Math Writing
For institutions, results can include increased retention and completion rates. For participating instructors, individualized reports identify small teaching adjustments best suited to improving students’ learning for the specific population of students in their courses. Ongoing analysis explores teaching/learning adjustments that improve learning outcomes, specific to discipline, class size, level of expertise, and student demographics.
A national study by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, funded by TG Philanthropy, demonstrated that transparency around academic work enhances students’ success at statistically significant levels, with even greater benefits for historically underserved students (with a medium-to-large sized magnitude of effect) [Winkelmes et al., Peer Review 2016]. Students who receive transparent instruction about the purposes, tasks and criteria for their academic work report gains in three areas that are important predictors of students’ success:
Important studies have already connected academic confidence and sense of belonging with students’ greater persistence and higher grades [Walton and Cohen, Science 2011; Aronson, Fried, Good, 2002,Brady, Cohen, et al., Science Advances 2020. ]
Offer research-based explanations about concepts or tasks that students often struggle to master in your discipline [See examples below including Bloom, Bransford, Gregorc, Light, Perry.]
Organizing Assignment-Design Work on Your Campus: A Tool Kit of Resources and Materials.
A Library of DQP Assignments: Building Capacity for a New Model of Assessment
AAC&U VALUE Rubrics (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education)
Please send to wink@tilthighered.com any additional materials and resources that you develop and would like to share.
Mary-Ann Winkelmes, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator and Founder, TILT Higher Ed
wink@tilthighered.comCopyright © 2009-2023 M.A. Winkelmes.
TILT Higher Ed © 2009-2023 by Mary-Ann Winkelmes and materials on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) except where otherwise noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
2009-2023 M.A. Winkelmes
TILT Higher Ed © 2009-2023 by Mary-Ann Winkelmes and materials on this website are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) except where otherwise noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/