Making Your Teaching More Transparent

Making your teaching more transparent involves making the goals and processes of teaching and learning clear and explicit for students.

Research consistently shows that by adopting time-efficient transparent teaching practices, instructors can help students better understand expectations, which in turn fosters deeper engagement and more meaningful learning experiences, and strengthens trust and connection between students and instructors (Winkelmes et al., 2016; Anderson et al., 2013; Lambert & Felten, 2020).

Transparent teaching emphasizes clarity around three core elements: the subject matter (what), the instructor’s rationale for selecting course materials and activities (why), and the student’s process of learning (how)—all made visible to students (Winkelmes, 2019).

The strategies below offer evidence-based solutions to make your teaching more transparent.

Consistent use of clearly written learning objectives/outcomes/goals

Learning objectives and goals are some of the most powerful tools you have for articulating your “why” to students. Effective learning objectives are specific, observable, measurable, and serve as a foundation for both assessment and instructional planning from a backward course design perspective (Fink, 2003).

Please consider the following example of an effective learning objective for a business and economics course:

At the end of the course, the students will be able to analyze financial statements to assess organizational performance.

To integrate learning objectives throughout your course, consider the following strategies:

Clearly state the learning objectives for all activities, projects, and assignments on ICON.
Begin each class session by reviewing the objectives for that day. Instructors can also end each class session by asking students to summarize how they met the objectives for that day through the lecture/course activities.
Begin each new module or topic with an explanation of the objectives and an explanation of how you will assess whether students have met the objectives.
Make a habit of inviting students to ask questions about the objectives to ensure clarity and understanding.

Use formative check-ins throughout course activities and major assessments

Inviting students to reflect on how they’ve achieved learning objectives can help make teaching and learning more transparent. Formative assessments are low-stakes and typically ungraded tools that provide instructors with insights into students’ learning processes, while helping students reflect on their own progress.

Below are several techniques that help students demonstrate their learning and identify areas for growth:

Short quizzes: Quick, low-pressure assessments that help gauge understanding and reinforce key concepts.
Muddiest point: Students briefly note what part of the lesson was most confusing, giving instructors a snapshot of where clarification is needed.
Minute papers: A short written response to a prompt at the end of a discussion or section, often asking students to reflect on and engage with an aspect of the topic of discussion.
Concept maps: Visual tools that help students organize and connect ideas, fostering a deeper understanding of relationships between concepts.
Exam wrappers: Reflective activities completed after an exam that prompt students to reflect on their preparation strategies and performance, helping them identify ways to improve future learning.
Case study: Real-world scenarios that encourage students to apply course concepts, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

A key feature of many of these approaches is that they create opportunities for both instructors and students to share and reflect on feedback related to the learning process and experience.

Clarify the grading criteria

Clearly articulated grading criteria can help you communicate with your students about how they will be assessed. Here are some steps you can take to provide additional guidance to your students regarding assessment:

Encourage students to ask questions about the grading criteria so they feel confident and informed about how their work will be evaluated.
Go over a sample student product to show students how an assignment will be graded. Instructors can share an excellent example (such as one borrowed from a previous student, with permission) and a less-successful example (written by the instructor themselves or produced with the help of generative AI).
If you’re using rubrics for major assignments or projects, set aside time during class—at appropriate points in the semester—to walk students through the rubric and clarify expectations.
For group projects or collaborative activities, clearly outline the process and grading criteria. Be transparent about how both individual contributions and group outcomes will be assessed, such as whether there will be a peer assessment component or how individual contributions will be identified to the instructor and accurately weighted in the grade (Feldman, 2019). Students are often uncertain about how the instructor will objectively keep track of students’ contributions to determine a participation grade. Popular methods include completion grades for low-stakes writing (such as minute papers) or participation in Top Hat polling.

Use learning environment community guidelines

These agreements are shared understandings created collaboratively by educators and learners to foster a respectful and supportive learning space.

The Center for Teaching’s Handbook for Teaching Excellence outlines a process for creating community guidelines.

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