TILTing Assignments in In-Major Undergraduate Courses

Background

Higher education in the United States of America continues to navigate the challenges associated with a long history of inequities in access and outcomes for students from historically underserved communities. Many colleges and universities are working to reduce the challenges for these students on campus; however, historically underserved, and underrepresented students continue to find that many institutions are becoming increasingly segregated by race and socioeconomic status (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2015; Carnevale & Strohl, 2013; Cahalan et al., 2021). Yet against this context of existing disparities, along with new ones, students from historically underserved communities are entering higher education institutions in larger numbers than in previous years (Grawe, 2018; Hussar & Bailey, 2018; Cahalan et al., 2021).

Entering college, though, does not guarantee the successful completion of a degree, especially when instructional practices that should foster student learning also function inadvertently as barriers to student achievement. Students from minority populations are more likely to disappear from rosters (Cahalan et al., 2021; Shapiro et al., 2018). These students also often enter college with many misconceptions about how to be successful in their courses (Gabriel, 2008; Habley et al., 2012; Lohfink & Paulsen, 2005; Persellin & Daniels, 2018; Pike & Kuh, 2005). These misconceptions and misunderstandings can hinder students’ ability to detect and respond successfully to the sometimes-opaque expectations of college education (Nilson, 2016; Weimer, 2013; Winkelmes, 2013a; Winkelmes et al., 2019). The unclear or vague expectations can also be termed the hidden curriculum of higher education, which means that information is often implicit and embedded within educational experiences, rather than information being explicitly stated and on the surface for students (Sambell & McDowell, 1998). As a consequence, then, many students who struggle to identify the vague structure of how a course functions or how to achieve its learning outcomes continue to uphold their misinterpretations of what college students need to do to be successful.

Especially in their first year of college, students from historically underserved communities often struggle to find a sense of belonging on campus, thus undermining their social connections and campus communal affinity (Felten & Lambert, 2020; Gabriel, 2008; Hausmann et al., 2009; Nunn, 2021). Consequently, these students are less likely to persist through academic challenges (Robbins et al., 2004). Discriminatory educational environments further compound these issues for underrepresented students, resulting in a detrimental impact on learning. For example, Aronson and Steele (2005) warned educators that the prejudices that shape people’s behaviors often produce decidedly negative consequences for academic achievement.