TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK Designing Effective and Equitable Assignments More

TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK Designing Effective and Equitable Assignments & More This presentation is adapted from materials by Jennifer Whetham, SBCTC. The content is based on "TILT Higher Ed: Transparency in Learning and Teaching" by Mary-Ann Winkelmes, University of Nevada Las Vegas licensed under CC BY-SA 4. 0

Overview of the Session Purpose This session will introduce you to a simple, replicable teaching intervention: the Transparency Framework. Task Compare and contrast “Less Transparent” and “More Transparent” assignments. Criteria for Success You’ll leave with strategies to apply the transparency framework to develop, explain, and discuss activities, assignments, and forms in ways that enhance the success of all students.

PURPOSE

The 4 Connections Trust is the key element of relationships that promote success. Practicing Paradox allows educators to establish trust with students through clear, high expectations. The Transparency Framework provides a tested and effective way of designing assignments that increase student success without compromising rigor. Practice Paradox Structure your course clearly. Communicate your expectations regularly. And, then, be reasonably flexible when students come to you with concerns.

TASK

Transparency in Action Analyzing Assignments • You have received an assignment - from a real course! • There are two versions of that assignment. One is less transparent, and the other has been revised to be more transparent.

Read Individually You have 3 minutes to read your assignment. Here are two inquiry questions to shape your reading: • What changes did the faculty member make in the revision of the assignment? What catches your eye and/or surprises you? • Which assignment would you, as a student, prefer to receive? Why?

Discuss in Pairs Find a partner who had a different assignment from the one you reviewed. Take turns describing the assignment and answering the questions below: • What specific differences did you notice between the two versions of the assignment you read? • Looking at the revised assignment, theorize as to why the faculty member made those changes. How might the changes deepen student learning?

CRITERIA

Think of a typical grade distribution in one of your classes… Does it look like this?

What are we measuring? Ability & Learning -OR- Good Guessing, Mind Reading, Opportunity, & Preparedness

Contextualizing Transparency “A 2013 study identified transparency—engaging teachers and students in focusing together on how college students learn what they learn and why teachers structure learning experiences in particular ways—as a teaching method that showed promise for improving underserved students’ educational experiences in college (Winkelmes, 2013). ” A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students Success, AAC&U Peer Review, Winter/Spring 2016.

The Transparent Assignment Template • 1, 800 students and 35 faculty from 7 institutions (intentionally varied) • Faculty received training on how to make two take-home assignments in a course more transparently designed. • Each faculty member taught 2 class groups of the same course; one group received the intervention of the two revised assignments.

Measuring Students’ Learning Experiences Amount of transparency students perceived in the course 2. Students’ self-ratings of three important predictors of success 1. Academic confidence B. Sense of belonging C. Improved mastery of skills valued by employers A. Direct assessment of students’ work as indicated by scored student work samples, selected randomly 4. Short-term retention rates 3.

Student Benefits

90. 2% In a parallel study of UNLV undergraduates enrolled in more transparent introductory-level courses, 90. 2% students returned the subsequent academic year, in contrast to the average retention rate of 74. 1% for first year full-time students.

NOW WHAT?

Consider Next Steps • On Your Own Read the article and the FAQ. • Revise your assignments, forms, or processes using the transparency framework (and run your own research project in your classes or office). • • With Interested Colleagues • Pair up with a colleague unfamiliar with your discipline or area and use the transparency framework to review each other’s assignments or forms through the lens of a novice student. • Organize a group of colleagues to use the transparency framework to revise your assignments and then join TILT Higher Ed as a professional learning community. Contact Mary-Ann. Winkelmes@unlv. edu for more details.

Final Reflection I used to know…now I know… -or. One question I have now is…