1. Transparent Assignment Design to Promote Equitable Opportunities for Student Success Sandra Bailey Fort Lewis College March 30, 2017

2. Transparency in Teaching and Learning
Winkelmes, Mary-Ann, Matthew Bernacki, Jeffrey Butler, Michelle Zochowski, Jennifer Golanics, Kati Harriss Weavil. “A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved
College Students’ Success.” Peer Review (Winter/Spring 2016).
Publications and information about the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project are at:

3. Unwritten Rules of College Success
Equity of Access
Equity of Experience
Under represented, first-gen, and low income: half as likely to complete in 4 years
Transparent teaching and learning methods explicitly focus on how and why students are learning course content in particular ways. – Transparent teaching/learning methods benefit students who are unfamiliar with college success strategies by explicating learning/teaching processes. – Greater benefits for underrepresented and first-generation students.
Winkelmes, MA. “Transparency in Teaching: Faculty Share Data and Improve Students' Learning.” Liberal Education 99, 2 (Spring 2013).
Photo: AAC&U, Step Up and Lead for Equity (2016).

4. Intervention: Transparent Assignment Design
UNLV Retention Rates 1st year to 2nd year,
What is the effect when teachers provide two transparently designed, problem-centered take-home assignments (compared to the unrevised, business-as-usual take-home assignments in the comparison group) on spring-term first-year college students’ learning experiences?
Sources: UNLV Data Warehouse / MyUNLV Analytics, 5/5/2016; UNLV Registrar; TILT Higher Ed Survey

5. Transparent Assignment Template
Purpose
• Skills practiced
• Knowledge gained
Task
• What students will do
• How to do it (steps to follow, avoid)
Criteria for success
• Checklist or rubric in advance so students can self-evaluate
• What excellence looks like (annotated examples where students & faculty apply those criteria)
long-term relevance to students’ lives
connection to learning outcomes
Mary-Ann Winkelmes, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Instructional Development and Research; Associate Graduate Faculty, History Department
Office of the Provost
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4505 S. Maryland Parkway, Mail Code 1014
Las Vegas, NV
Phone: (702) Fax: Office: FDH 421
Senior Fellow, Association of American Colleges & Universities
Nevada Humanities Board of Trustees Member
Principal Investigator, Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project

6. Gather feedback on your assignment
Introduce your assignment to the group, setting up discussion (5 minutes)
Disciplinary strangers provide feedback as if from a novice student (10 minutes)
Written feedback (5 minutes)
Groups of 3 to 4 faculty from different disciplines.

7. Strategies for Impact What insights are you taking away?
What resources might instructors need?
What kinds of courses might achieve the greatest impact?
How can others be brought into this work or benefit from it?
What will you do next and what would help you do that?
Two assignments in one course
Faculty Learning Communities focused on a cross-cutting outcome
Program faculty collaborating on assignments with the intent to transfer knowledge and skills from foundation courses to capstone.
Transparent 2nd Tuesdays at 2:00 pm (your time zone)
Get some feedback on making your own assignments more transparent. Upload
any assignments you’d like to discuss with colleagues and connect on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. (

8. References
Degree Qualifications Profile, Organizing Assignment-Design Work on Your Campus: A tool Kit of Resources and Materials, Publications and information about the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project are at: Winkelmes, MA. “Transparency in Teaching: Faculty Share Data and Improve Students' Learning.” Liberal Education 99, 2 (Spring 2013). Winkelmes, Mary-Ann, Matthew Bernacki, Jeffrey Butler, Michelle Zochowski, Jennifer Golanics, Kati Harriss Weavil. “A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students’ Success.” Peer Review (Winter/Spring 2016).
Two assignments in one course
Faculty Learning Communities focused on a cross-cutting outcome
Program faculty collaborating on assignments with the intent to transfer knowledge and skills from foundation courses to capstone.
Transparent 2nd Tuesdays at 2:00 pm (your time zone)
Get some feedback on making your own assignments more transparent. Upload
any assignments you’d like to discuss with colleagues and connect on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. (