Transparent Assessments: Supporting Equity and Learning

Providing clarity in purpose, task, and criteria helps every student succeed.

By Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning

Transparent assessment means making the purpose, task, and criteria of an assignment clear to students. When students understand why they are doing a task, what they need to do, and how their work will be evaluated, they are better able to demonstrate their learning.

This approach directly supports USask Assessment Principle #2: Effective assessment is inclusive and transparent, so students have equitable opportunities to demonstrate their learning. It also strengthens alignment with Principle #1 (alignment with learning outcomes) and Principle #3 (assessment for learning through practice and feedback).

What Is Transparent Assessment?

The modern application of transparent assessment is rooted in the TILT (Transparency in Learning and Teaching) model developed by Mary-Ann Winkelmes and colleagues. TILT operationalizes transparency through three core elements in any assignment:

  • Purpose: Why are students doing the assessment and what skills/knowledge they will gain?
  • Task: What exactly do students need to do, broken down into steps?
  • Criteria: How will their work be assessed (rubrics, examples)?

When students can see all three components, they are more likely to understand expectations, plan effectively, and approach tasks with confidence. This reduces ambiguity that disproportionately affects first-generation students, EAL learners, and others who may not be familiar with implied academic norms (Winkelmes et al., 2016).

Practical Strategies to Make Assessments Transparent

1. Start with the TILT template.

2. Connect explicitly to outcomes.

  • List the relevant course learning outcomes at the top of the assignment.
  • Use verbs from your outcomes in the criteria so alignment is visible.

3. Make criteria usable for students and show them what good looks like.

  • Share the rubric early and walk students through it.
  • Provide examples and/or annotated samples of past student work.
  • Ask students to apply the rubric to the examples.
  • Highlight and discuss why a sample meets certain criteria.

4. Scaffold process and feedback.

  • Break larger tasks into stages (e.g., proposal → draft → peer review → revision → submission).
  • Build in low-stakes practice with targeted feedback opportunities.
  • Encourage peer- and/or self-assessment before submission.

5. Clarify logistics and academic integrity.

Improvements You Can Expect

  • Greater equity and confidence: Students know what’s expected and can plan effectively, reducing hidden expectations and supporting inclusive practices.
  • Higher-quality submissions: Clear criteria reduce misinterpretations and help all learners, including those from diverse experiences and cultural backgrounds, demonstrate their learning.
  • More efficient grading: Rubrics and exemplars make evaluation faster and feedback clearer.
  • Improved academic integrity: Explicit expectations reduce ambiguity and reliance on prohibited practices.

Want more tips to make transparency work in practice?

Read our follow-up article: Common Pitfalls in Transparent Assessment (and How to Fix Them) for practical tips to avoid common mistakes.

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Resources

  • GMCTL Support – Contact gmctl@usask.ca for consultation and workshop opportunities.
Title image credit: Mario Letschert from Pixabay
This article was created with the assistance of AI tools, as described in the GMCTL AI Disclosure Statement.
This resource is shared by the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL), University of Saskatchewan, under a CC BY-NC-SA license.