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Transparency In Laamlng and Teaching
TRANSPARENT ASSIGNMENTS
PROMOTE EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES
FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
Mary-Ann Winkelmes, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Instructional Development & Research, UNLV
Senior Fellow, Association of American Colleges & Universities
Nevada Humanities Board of Directors member
Founder and Principal Investigate~ WfiHigher Ed
' Transparency In Laamlng and Teaching
·UNLV·
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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Transparency In laamlng and Teaching
Early Engagement Hypothesis
Context:
• We lose the greatest numbers of underserved students
from college in their first year.
• Two teaching practices that show learning benefits for all
students, especially underserved:
- Problem-centered for underserved engagement (Finley, McNair 2013)
- Transparency in teaching/learning (Winkelmes 2013)
Hypothesis: Combining these in introductory courses might
improve students' learning experiences, the quality of
students' work, and students' persistence/retention.
·UNLV·
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
©2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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Transparency In Leaming and Teaching
How can Transparency help students?
• Transparent teaching/learning methods benefit
students who are unfamiliar with college success
strategies by explicating learning/teaching
processes.
• Greater benefits for underrepresented and firstgeneration students
Winkelmes,AAC&U's Liberal Education 99, 2 (Spring 2013)
·"lJNU,T
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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Transparency In Leaming and Teachfng
What is Transparency?
• Transparent teaching and learning methods
explicitly focus on how and why students are
learning course content in particular ways.
·"UNJY"
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
©2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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i i l l iHigher Ed -
Trai
Where does Transparent Assignment Design Cc
I
Implications for Transpare1 _
Research on Learning
-9- -
Elbow, Jaschik/Davidson, Mazur Low stakes for greater creativity / risk
Ambrose, Bergstahler
Varied and/or flexible formats appeal equitably to
Gregorc, Kolb
students' strengths; inclusive
1
Build critical thinking skills in intentional sequence.
Target feedback to phase, don't overwhelm
2
Specify pertinent knowledge/skills, criteria
3
and encourage self-monitoring.
Provide annotated examples of successful work w/
Fisk/Light, Tanner
4
criteria applied, before students begin work.
Aronson, uweck, t-1sk, Light,
Structure and require peer instruction, feedback;
Schnabel, Spitzer, Steele,
5
Treisman, Yeager/Walton, Vygosky positive attribution activities.
Bass, Bloom, Colomb,
Felder, Perry
Doyle, Felder, Tanner,
Winkel mes
AAC&U Finley/McNair (HIP, P-8)
Winkelmes et al
Yeager, Walton
Explicate purposes, tasks, criteria in advance.
Give students a compass, set expectations;
Engage students in
Explicate applicability, relevance;
6
applying shared criteria to increase belonging.
·UNLV·
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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f t i lIniHigher
Ed
Leaming and TNChlng
What does Transparent Assignment Design look like?
Faculty/Instructors agreed (in national study)
to discuss with students in advance:
•Purpose
• What Skills will students practice?
importance
• What Knowledge will students gain?
•Task
• What students will do
• How to do it
•Criteria for success
• What excellence looks like (annotated examples)
• Criteria in advance so students can self-evaluate
Winkelmes et al, AAC&U's Peer Review (Winter, 2016)
·UNLV·
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
.----------------------iilliHigher Ed
Transparency In Leaming and Teaching
Transparency and Problem-centered Learning
AAC&U and Transparency Project collaboration (p. 10)
7 MSls, 1800 students, 35 faculty
• 425 First generation students
• 402 non-white students
• 479 low-income students
• 297 multiracial students
2 x simple teaching intervention (2 assignments)
Boosted students' learning in 3 important ways
(medium-large effect for underserved students):
• Academic confidence
• Sense of belonging
• Skills valued most by employers
·"l.JN.I::Y"
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
@2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
.---------------------ii71iHigher Ed
TraMpnncy In Leaming and leeching
Impact: UNLV Retention Rates 1st year to 2nd year, 2014-2015
All UNLV Retention
I.74.1%-·· _,.____ . - N:£2754 {3716- ..
MORE Transparent
jr, 90.2%
t JI J;
9I
0%
10%
C
C
20%
N =1030 / 1143
O
30%
1
liS" J
40%
J
50%
C.
~
·-· . . .
·1
60%
"qq
70%
,
:z4tit $ iFlsii:tia
80%
90%
100'6
red: UNLV first-time full-time freshman students in all courses AY 2014-2015,
including "more transparent" courses, retained in October 2015
blue: UNLV students enrolled in 100-level or lower "more transparent" courses
Spring 2015, who completed the Fall 2015 term
Sources: UNLV Data Warehouse I ~l!-~L~ Analytics, 5/5/2016;
UNLV Registrar; TILT Higher Ed Survey
UNLV
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
©2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
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TnlMIWllflCV In uamlnQ llM TAMhlna
Impact: UNLV Retention, 2014-2015
~---.........
Non-White .
N=539
N=1916
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pcO.O)
Low SES
~;~:::::::==J:ii:;~~:::
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African American
N=176
ES~
o:O.tOO
____
,_
First Generation
N=408
N:1030
All .~
ES-0.397
p::0.000
100%
N=99
200%
300'-
400%
S00%
roo~
700%
800%
soo~
1000%
red: UNLV first-time ful-tlme freshman students In au coorses. lnduding '"more transparenr ca.uses, woo were retained in 0c:Ober 2015
(SOutce: UNLV Data Warehouse/ MyUNLV AnalY1S(s. 5/512016)
b-tuo UNLV Wdoots enrolled In 100-level or IOwer ·more transparenrcourses n Spring 2015, who completed the Fall 2015 tenn
(Sources: UNLV Registrar and TILT Higher Ed Survey)
• Oiffecences between the two groops will be greater when •more transparent" group is removed from the (red bars) group of UNLV first·
time run~e frest'.man students in a!I courses.
·l.JNTh,T
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
Musicianship III/Music Theory III
Song Composition Assignment.
The following is a short poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. We will discuss my
setting of the first half of this poem in class. Your assignment is to set the second
half.
The Eagle
Alfred Lord Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The Wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
1. Writing only the melody line, set these lines to music.
2. Use piano score, leaving the bottom staff blank for later harmonization. Write
the LSCS suggested by the melody above the score, and the RNA beneath the
score.
3. Make sure that your cadences reflect the punctuation of the poem, i.e. periods
should have some kind of authentic cadence (IAC or PAC), while commas and
question marks should avoid the conclusive feeling of an authentic cadence,
employing instead HC, DC, plagal HC (ending on IV), etc.
4. Write a paragraph or two about the decision-making process you went through
in setting this poem to music.
Musicianship Ill/Music Theory III.
Song Composition Assignment.
Purpose(s):
• To consider the relationship between poetic language and musical imagery.
• To create musical phrases that evoke the imagery the poem suggests to you.
• To end each phrase with a cadence that is analogous to Tennyson's punctuation.
• To reflect on the process of setting these lines so that you can articulate them in a
meaningful way to any reader.
The following is a short poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. We will discuss my
setting of the first half of this poem in class. Your assignment is to set the second
half.
The Eagle
Alfred Lord Tennyson
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The Wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
Task:
1. Writing only the melody line, set these lines to music.
2. Use piano score, leaving the bottom staff blank for later harmonization. Write
the LSCS suggested by the melody above the score, and the RNA beneath the
score.
3. Make sure that your cadences reflect the punctuation of the poem, i.e. periods
should have some kind of authentic cadence (IAC or PAC), while commas and
question marks should avoid the conclusive feeling of an authentic cadence,
employing instead HC, DC, plagal HC (ending on IV), etc.
4. Write a paragraph or two about the decision-making process you went through
in setting this poem to music.
Criteria for Success:
• Consider each word of these three lines; what imagery does it suggest to you?
Then look at your melody and decide if another listener is likely to "get" similar
imagery from your melody without the help ofthe poetic text.
• Check your cadences. Make sure that an inconclusive punctuation mark, such as a
comma coincides with an inconclusive cadence, such as an HC or DC, and that a
conclusive punctuation mark, such as a period coincides with a conclusive
cadence, such as a PAC. For gray areas, such as a semicolon, you might use an
IAC (semi-conclusive) sounding.
"Plaster" by Carl Sandburg
'I KNEW a real man once,' says Agatha in the splendor of a shagbark hickory tree.
Did a man touch his lips to Agatha? Did a man hold her in his arms? Did a man
only look at her and pass by?
Agatha, far past forty in a splendor of remembrance, says, 'I knew a real man once.'
. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Transparency
iilllHigherEd
Leaming and TNChlng
In
DISCUSS in groups;
Institutions
Report back
• What specific goals at your institution might benefit
from an inclusive teaching initiative?
- retention rates
- graduation rates
- increased diversity of students, and/or faculty and
staff
- increased student satisfaction, faculty/staff
satisfaction
- community engagement
- research productivity
- scholarship of teaching and learning
·UNLV~-----------=--::-:-:-:--_J
UNNERSITY OF NEVADA,
LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Transparency
ii/liHigherEd
In Laamlng and Teaching
DISCUSS in groups;
Report back
Institutions
What kinds of courses would help us achieve the
greatest impact on underserved students?
• intro (large, small); freshman seminars;
remedial/bridge;
• High DFW; Gen Ed; Pathways through major;
Gateway
What kinds of campus units might make strong
partners in an inclusive teaching initiative?
• academic advising; tutoring; campus recreation
• Library; registrar; community engagement/ diversity
• online education; continuing education
· ~
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS
© 2014 Mary-Ann Winkelmes
t
'·
UNLV
IJ1'rjHigher Ed
t::-IVERSITY OF XIXAIM, L\S VEG,\S
. _.. i--a ... - . . .
1. Transparent Assignment Template for Students
The Unwritten Rules:
Decode Your Assignments and
Decipher What's Expected of You
Breaking News
Background
The Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Project at
UNLV demonstrated in a national study that transparency around academic
assignments enhances students' success - especially that of first-generation,
low.income and underrepresented college students - at statistically significant
levels {with a medium•ta.large sized magnitude of effect for underserved
students). Students who understand the purpose, tasks and criteria of an
academic assignment before they begin to work on it (in comparison with
students who don't share that understanding) experience higher academic
confidence, an Increased sense of belonging, and greater awareness
that they are mastering the skills that employers value, as well as higher
rates of returning to college the following year. {Winkelmes et al., Peer
Review 2016; Gianoutsos and Winkelmes, PADE Proceedings 2016).
Researchers have demonstrated that
increases in college students' academic
confidence and sense of belonging are
linked with higher GPAs, persistence
and retention rates, especially for
underserved students (Walton and Cohen
2011 ). In addition, struggling college
students increased their test scores after
endorsing the belier that lnteHlgence Is not
fixed but rather malleable. A year later,
these students were 80% less likely to drop
out of college {Aronson et al 2002).
WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO:
Before you begin working on an assignment or class activity, ask the Instructor
to help you understand the following. (Bring this document to help frame the
conversation.)
Purpose
•
•
•
Skills you'll practice by doing this assignment
Content knowledge you'll gain from doing this assignment
How you can use these in your life beyond the context of this course, in and beyond college
Task
•
•
What to do
How to do it (Are there recommended steps? What roadblocks/mistakes should you avoid?)
Criteria
•
•
Checklist (Are you on the right track? How to know you're doing what's expected?)
Annotated examples of successful work
(What's good about these examples? Use the checklist to identify the successful parts.)
Al'Ollson, J., Fried, C. & Good, C "Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories or intelligence." Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology38 (2002) 113-125.
GiallO\llsos, Daniel and Mary-AnnWinkelmes. 'Navigating with Transparency.' Proceedings of thePennsylvania Association of Developmental Educators (Spring, 2016).
Walton, G. M, & Cohen. G. L "A brief social-belonging intervention improves academic and health outoomes among minority students· Science 331 (2011): 1447-51
Winkelmes, Mary-Ann. Matthew Bernacki, Jeffrey Bu~er, Michelle Zochowski Jennifer Golanics, Kati Harriss Weavil. ' A Teaching Intervention that lncraases Underserveil College
Students· Success: Peer Review (Winter1Spring 2016).
http:/fwww.unlv.edu/provost/teachingandleaming
[email protected]
© 2014 Mary.Ann Winkelmes, Principal 1 a:ve;;
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