Purpose Statement Practice and Resources

Practice:

Review the purpose statements from the TILT Higher Ed website.  Under the heading Example Assignments (more and less transparent), you can compare two versions of the same purpose statement, one revised to be more transparent.  Specifically of interest is Example F, a library research assignment.  Choose a few examples and compare the two purpose statements.  Consider the following questions:

• How is the language different between the two purpose statements?  How did the vocabulary change?
• What differences, if any, are there in the ways the purpose statements are organized?
• What other differences do you notice between the original and revised purpose statements?
• What changes would you make to the revised versions of the purpose statements to fit your pedagogy?

More examples of Transparent Design specific to libraries are available for you to explore.

Metacognition Moment:

Take a few minutes to reflect.

Think about a time in the classroom when you presented an activity to students and noticed feelings of confusion, hesitation, or reluctance.  Maybe someone asked the question “but why?” Why do you think your students were hesitant, or not invested what you were trying to teach them? Was it the lack of time allocated for the session, the complex concepts, the jargon, or the complicated library database? What could you have said or done differently to connect the in-class experience to the everyday lives of your students?

Additional Resources

Purpose Statement in a TILTed assignment: Use this template as a guide for developing, explaining, and discussing class activities and out-of-class assignments. Also included is cue Questions Based on Bloom’s Taxonomy of Critical Thinking

Transparent Design Template from the TILT Higher Ed website.

References:

Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) Higher Ed. (n.d.). TILT higher ed examples and resources. https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources

Winkelmes, M. A., Boye, A., & Tapp, S. (2019). Transparent design in higher education teaching and leadership: A guide to implementing the transparency framework institution-wide to improve learning and retention. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.