
Have you ever given students an assignment and then had them come back to you a short time later asking, “What are we supposed to do again?”, “I don’t understand how this relates to what we’re learning in class.” or “Why are we doing this assignment?” Despite instructors’ best efforts to clearly outline or explain an assignment to students, it doesn’t always translate the way they intend. Designing assessments that are transparent is one strategy instructors can use to address this situation.