Our final Student Fellows session focused on the importance of transparency in the classroom and specifically, transparency in class policies. Molly Fortner and Tris Flores summarized the content they shared in this session giving attention to the ways certain policies and procedures differ between STEM and Humanities.
Transparency
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Why Transparency Matters
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Being transparent builds trust between faculty and students. This trust helps students feel confident that the class will benefit them, and it helps faculty feel that the students will put effort into the class.
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It helps to reduce confusion, grade disputes, and stress for both parties. It does more good than harm to be as clear as possible, even when things seem obvious. Of course, there will always be students who will be contrarians, but transparency in faculty expectations for a class encourages students to be accountable.
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It also improves student engagement and performance. Confusing or conflicting syllabus information demotivates students from engaging in a class. Clear instructions with fully transparent expectations help students achieve faculty goals, as well as pay closer attention to coursework.
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Interdisciplinary Considerations
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STEM and humanities courses have different grading structures and workload expectations, so how transparency takes shape in a classroom varies among different fields.
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Policies that work well in one discipline may need adjustments in another. Not every approach will easily transfer between different classes or even departments.
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The major emphasis is that transparency ensures fairness and consistency across disciplines, regardless of how you choose to incorporate it.
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Course Deadlines/Due Dates
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Common Student Concerns About Deadlines
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Why are assignments due at certain times (11:59 PM, 5:00 PM, during class)? Is there a specific reason for atypical due dates (i.e., due before class time, due at 10 PM instead of midnight, etc)?
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How do different due times impact student workload across courses? Are there classes commonly taken at the same time as yours that conflict?
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How much time should an assignment take/should be spent on an assignment? Am I working too hard for a simple task? Am I not working hard enough on a major project?
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Best Practices for Transparency in Deadlines
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One of the best ways to be transparent is to explain why specific deadlines exist in each course. If you want to discourage students from all-nighters, state that when you make things due before midnight. If you need a specific assignment to be done before students arrive in class, explain that when mentioning the assignment.
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Offer alternative submission windows when possible (e.g., grace periods, revision policies). For papers or creative projects, it could be beneficial to allow late submissions if a student would rather take a late penalty on high-quality work than be on time with a subpar assignment. That is a suggestion, but the key point is being transparent about deadlines. If you do not and will not accept late work, if you have a late penalty, or if there are no formal deadlines, students will adjust as long as this expectation is clear.
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Grade Weighting
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Common Student Concerns About Grade Weighting
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How are assignments weighted, and does the distribution reflect course priorities?
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Do students understand what assessments contribute most to their final grade?
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Are grading rubrics and expectations clearly communicated?
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STEM Perspective
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Heavy weighting on exams: In many STEM courses, exams may count for 60-90% of the final grade, leaving little room for improvement if a student struggles early.
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Bonus credit policies: Little to no partial credit or bonus points are available for students willing to put more work into their grades.
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History Perspective
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Essays and participation grading: Weighting is often subjective—students need clear rubrics that define what constitutes an A, B, or C paper.
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Revisions & improvement opportunities: Some history courses allow rewrites; transparency in these policies helps students plan their effort.
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Issue: Lack of clear feedback on essays can make it hard for students to improve over time.
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Best Practices for Transparency
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Provide detailed grading rubrics and explain weight distribution at the start of the semester. Canvas can cause panic with how it displays grades. It may help transparency to list out each individual exam as its own weight instead of combining the exam weights.
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Clarify how participation, revisions, and partial credit work in different disciplines. Ensure feedback is timely and constructive so students understand how to improve.
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Syllabi
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Common Student Concerns About Syllabi
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Changes to deadlines, assignments, or policies mid-semester.
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Inconsistencies between syllabus details and actual course structure.
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Lack of clarity on office hours, contact policies, or academic resources.
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Best Practices for Transparency
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Treat the syllabus as a living document—update it as needed and notify students of changes. This can be done by making it a view-only Google Doc embedded into Canvas.
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Align assignments and assessments with stated learning objectives.
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Include clear policies on attendance, participation, and academic integrity.
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