Strategies for Articulating Your Purpose
The Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework outlines three key components: purpose, task, and criteria; we have created resources for each one. When instructors explicitly communicate these elements, students perform better and report greater satisfaction with their learning experience. This framework also lends itself to good assignment and course design and provides simplified, understandable language for both instructors and students (Brandon et al., 2017). Transparent design of course assignments and activities play a key role in clearly communicating expectations and course components to students. This clarity helps students focus on learning rather than on decoding expectations (Fashant et al., 2019).
Why is sharing the purpose important?
The students who approach their academic work with an understanding of its purpose are more likely to succeed than students who don’t (Winkelmes, 2023). In transparent assignment design, the purpose of the assignment is a foundational element. It answers the question: 'Why are students being asked to do this?' and 'How will it benefit their learning?' The purpose component of transparent assignment design involves specific skills they will practice, knowledge they will gain, and how they might use that learning after college.
How can Backward Course Design help me identify and explain the purpose?
Transparent teaching and learning, when integrated with Backward Course Design, creates a powerful framework for student success, fostering motivation and deeper engagement. Backward Course Design is an opportunity to make sure that your purpose is meaningful and integrated into the whole context of the course. Fink (2013) described Backward Course Design as going beyond creating an outline for delivering content. In Backward Course Design, instructors begin by identifying clear, student-centered learning outcomes, then determine acceptable evidence of learning, and finally plan teaching and learning activities. Transparency strengthens this process by ensuring that students understand not only what they are expected to learn, but why it matters.
Strategies for Writing Your Purpose
Reexamine the alignment of your assignment or activity with the course learning objectives.
Courses can be very dynamic and things can evolve, so you need to check and see if the assignments and activities are still aligned.
As an instructor, you are working to align multiple objectives. Your course objectives (the ones that likely appear on your syllabus) explain what students will learn during the entire term. Each of your activities/assignments should also have their own learning objectives that explain what students will learn or demonstrate through that activity or assignment. Activity learning objectives support the learning articulated by the course learning objectives. In an effectively designed course, an activity’s learning objectives should support and align with one or more course objectives, and they may or may not use identical language.
- Use a learning taxonomy to help you articulate the objective.
Make this alignment explicit to the students.
- Clearly identify which course learning objectives each assignment supports.
Include a statement at the top of the assignment such as:
“This assignment supports Learning Objective #2: Analyze and interpret quantitative data to draw evidence-based conclusions.”
Show the students what they are going to get out of it
- The skills they will get to practice
- The knowledge they will get to practice
Show the students to long term gains beyond the course
- Name the impact
- Brainstorm with the students
- Giving examples – Transferable skills
- Career-focused skills and knowledge
- Transferable skills and knowledge for those who are not in the field
- Periodically revisit course learning objectives with students and connect them to real-world applications
- Use class discussions, reflective prompts, or mini-lectures to explore how objectives relate to career skills, civic engagement, or interdisciplinary thinking
Align Assignments with Course Learning Objectives
Once you have identified an assignment or activity to make more transparent, write or revise a learning objective for the assignment.
Nurture students’ intrinsic motivation
- Take time at appropriate points in the course to address students’ questions about the purpose of assignments and activities.
- Encourage students to identify a learning strategy they will use to complete the assignment and set it as a personal goal.
- Invite the students to link the purpose to their own personal goals.
Add short reflection questions to assignments, such as:
“What did you learn from this task?” or “How did this assignment help you meet the learning objective?”