Supporting Critical Thinking through Backward Design and Transparent Assignments
Aug. 17, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and Aug. 18, 1-4:30 p.m. with follow-up during Winterm
The UW-Whitewater campus is committed to supporting student critical thinking across disciplines as an essential skill for working in any field in the 21st century. This three-part workshop will help you move from wanting to support critical thinking to using the backward design principles of starting with the end in mind to create a transparent assignment designed to measure and assess student’s critical thinking skills in a meaningful way.
We are now looking for participants! All participants that complete the workshop will receive a $200 stipend. This workshop will be held as a face-to-face, on-campus workshop, so please keep that in mind. Details on the exact location will be provided to those that sign up.
Day 1: Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Day 1 will include conversations on:
- use of rubrics for grading vs. for developmental assessment
- critical thinking and how it looks in our courses
- transparent assignment design and how it will help you get what you want from your students
- redesign an existing assignment into a transparent format that will allow for the use of some or all of the critical thinking rubric
Day 2: Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, 1-4:30 p.m.
Day 2 will include:
- sharing of assignments and feedback with peers
- embedding rubric outcomes into Canvas for easy data collection
Day 3: Tentatively set for a half-day on Jan. 13
Day 3 will allow us to come back and discuss how the overall process went. You will be asked to provide a short written summary of your project prior to this meeting.
Stipends
The stipend will be split into two parts. You will receive the first $100 after completing both Day 1 and Day 2 workshops. The second $100 will be received after completing the tasks throughout the semester, submiting your summary and attending the Day 3 workshop.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Jessica Bonjour (menkej@uww.edu).
Space is limited to 12 participants, so please don't wait to sign up! Sign-up deadline is Wednesday, Aug. 4. To sign up, please follow this link: Workshop Sign-Up