Research assignments, which are assignments that require students to form an argument or develop a question about a topic and use information sources to support their argument or to answer their question, are common across disciplines in tertiary education and often require students to demonstrate their information literacy development. However, instructors often take for granted that students have developed their information literacy to meet performance expectations or feel constrained to teach core academic skills like information literacy at the expense of disciplinary content. Because of this, the ways of thinking and knowing related to information literacy can form a hidden curriculum for some students, resulting in lower grades, frustration, and decreasing motivation. In this workshop, we will model how a team of library and writing staff have used the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) approach to help instructors to develop more transparent and equitable research assignments. The TILT approach requires instructors to think carefully about the purpose of any research assignment, identify the kinds of information-literacy related tasks students will need to do to be successful, and to intentionally articulate the criteria by which student work will be evaluated. Research has indicated that the use of TILT has positive results for students’ academic confidence, sense of belonging, and awareness of skills mastery (Winkelmes et al., 2016).
Learning Outcomes
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Describe the importance of transparency and equity to design research assignments;
• Apply the Transparency in Learning & Teaching (TILT) approach to research assignments prompts, handouts, and other instructional collateral;
• Consider how to apply TILT when working with instructors.
Topics to be Covered
• Introduction to the expert/novice researcher gap, implications for student learning, and role of the librarian;
• Introduction of TILT, emphasizing how research has provided evidence of this as an equity-focused;
• Participants are encouraged to bring their electronic devices, though some paper copies of the workshop materials will be available.
Target Audience
Any librarian who works with faculty/ instructors, particularly at a college or university.
References
Winkelmes, M. A., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Weavil, K. H. (2016). A teaching intervention that increases underserved college students’ success. Peer Review, 31–36.
