What do students think of this approach? An
article in The Chronicle of Higher Education
highlights the experience of one student who
was on the receiving end of the transparent
approach (Berrett, 2015).
After class, Mr. Cronk said he'd started
to notice which courses used transparent
teaching and which didn't. Sometimes, he
said, he'd read instructions several times
and still not know what he was supposed to
do. Or he wouldn't know why he was being
asked to do an assignment in the first place.
Clarifying the task, purpose, and criteria
doesn't diminish expectations to him. Instead,
he says, it clears away distractions.
"I actually spend a lot more time learning
the material rather than devoting a lot of
unnecessary time to unscrambling what I'm
supposed to be doing," he says. "I get a lot
more out of class time."
But what about online instruction? This is
an area where more research is needed. A
study published in 2019 demonstrated that
students enrolled in online classes that utilize
transparent teaching methods achieved
comparable learning outcomes to those
students enrolled in the same course taught
in person (Howard, Winkelmes & Shegog).
Transparency in teaching is an idea that has
intrigued me for a while now and a topic I'd
like to talk more about. If it intrigues you as
well, I hope you'll peruse some of the resources
below and reach out to me if you'd like to
have a discussion or brainstorm ways that we
already practice this framework, as well as
other ways we could expand its use in
our curriculum.
TILT Examples and Resources
TILT Transparent Methods
Designing a Transparent Assignment
Checklist
PURPOSE:
Explain the content, skills, and real-life relevance beyond the context of the course.
TASK:
Explain expectations for the assignment. What steps should be taken? What should be avoided?
CRITERIA:
How will the assignment be graded? Is a checklist or rubric provided? Sample student work?
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