by Beth Petitjean, Ph.D., Digital Learning Specialist, Reinert Center
I’m teaching an Ignite Seminar course this semester and I’m super excited about it! Not only am I getting to interact with students, but I got the chance to fully design a shiny new course from the ground up. No standard textbook, no standard content coverage, no same ole’ classroom activities and assignments. Moreover, because the Ignite Seminar emphasizes process over content, I could put the students at the forefront of my mind instead of meeting coverage requirements as I designed the course. This made me think: What did I really want them to get out of this course? And how would I communicate this to my first-year students?
It was enlightening to have a free-range experience of course design to say the least. One insight I’d like to share with you about it is how it helped me engage with the Teaching Effectiveness Framework. Since I was putting my students–my learners–at the center of course design, I wanted to be sure that everything I asked them to do during the course had a reason. The essential practices of the Learning-Focused category of the Teaching Effectiveness Framework guided me in the process. In particular, making sure to “align teaching and assessment methods with intended learning,” and “explain instructional choices and course expectations with transparency about the rationales” stood out. To my mind, these are opposite sides of the same coin, and thinking about them together helps to whittle away extraneous content, activities, and assessments.
The mandate to explain instructional choices encourages clear transparency in the alignment of activities and learning outcomes. If I couldn’t explain why I was teaching specific content or assigning something, then how could I explain it to my learners? More importantly, if there was no clear reason for why we were doing something, then why was it there? Students are like bloodhounds when sniffing out busy work. Busy work frustrates students, resulting in poor quality or missed assignments, which in turn frustrates instructors.
A way to mitigate at least some of that is to answer the “why are we doing this?” question with a response that fills in the blanks. Here is an example:
“We are doing this [assignment/activity/reading] ____________ to [introduce, review, practice, brainstorm, etc] _______________ this/these [topic(s), skill(s)] ____________________ because it will be applicable for [the test, your essay/research, your knowledge, your career] ________________.”
I asked myself “why are we doing this?” and “how does this part fit in with the whole?” at every step of course design. If I couldn’t conclusively answer these questions with a transparency statement, then there was more whittling to be done. This process resulted in a course where everything fits together in a cohesive whole and nothing is extraneous. And I’m communicating that to my students with a transparency statement on every major assignment and verbally during classroom activities so that students understand my instructional choices.
It’s only been a few weeks into the semester so it’s hard to tell how well students are receiving this transparency. However, it makes a difference for me; it brings clarity to what I’m doing, what I’m asking of my students, and why. I realize you may not have the luxury of a total course design or redesign, but you can start from where you are now. Consider trying to answer the “Why are we doing this?” question for upcoming assignments or activities, make a note of your answer, then return to it next time you’re prepping this course. Little by little, you’ll engage with the framework and bring more clarity and transparency to you and your students.
Additional Resources:
Stoeckle, A. (2022). “TILT 2.0: How to Convey Your Expectations of a Class Assignment Effectively.” Faculty Focus. April 27, 2022.
CAST (2024). Universal design for learning guidelines version 3.0 [graphic organizer]. Lynnfield, MA: Author
Additionally, Reinert Center has numerous Resource Guides that support all aspects of teaching and the Teaching Effectiveness Project.
For more information or to discuss how you might incorporate these ideas into your courses, contact the Reinert Center by email or submit a consultation request form.
