What is Texas In Action?
TIA is a menu-based assessment system designed for Texas Government (GOVT 2306) at community colleges. Instead of exams, students choose from a menu of authentic activities — mapping the invisible special districts layered over their own address, watching their county's commissioners court, dissecting a real property tax bill, investigating a data center deal — and earn points by doing Texas government, not just reading about it.
| Tier | Point Range | Activities | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higher Effort | 20–30 pts | 12 | Hidden Districts Investigation, Commissioners Court Field Study, The Data Center Reckoning |
| Medium Effort | 10–15 pts | 13 | Fix My Street, JP Court Observation, The Week the Heat Went Out (Winter Storm Uri) |
| Quick Engagement | 5–8 pts | 14 | Texas Impact Reflections, Meet Your Officials, Emergency Ready in 60 |
Signature Assignments
Every assignment includes a step-by-step "How to Get Started" guide — written for students who have never attended a public meeting, looked up a tax record, or known their commissioner's name. Most haven't. That's the point. A new assignment appears below every few seconds — or use the dots to browse.
Hidden Districts Investigation
Map every invisible special purpose district taxing your home address — MUDs, ESDs, hospital districts — using the Comptroller's public database. Find out what they charge and who governs them.
Instructor Resources
Everything you need to implement TIA in your own course. All files are free to use and adapt — and the tracker builds your Canvas import package for you, so setup takes minutes, not an afternoon.
Why TIA? — The Research Behind It
The pedagogical case for TIA, drawn from civic education theory, Self-Determination Theory, service-learning research, and the safety-engagement findings that shaped the menu. A science-based argument for fellow community college instructors.
TIA Student Tracker for Instructors
Exports a Canvas package! Pick your activities and point values, then download a ready-to-import Canvas file containing only the assignments you chose. Also does multi-section completion tracking, JSON backup, and can fill a Canvas gradebook export with TIA completions for re-import (test in a sandbox course first). Opens in any browser — no install required.
TIA Path to 100 Points for Students
Interactive tool showing all assignments. Helps students and instructors plan activity combinations to reach 100 points — including a suggested Safety & Preparedness path.
Interactive Assignment & Rubric Browser
All 39 assignments with full prompts, "How to Get Started" guides, and Complete/Incomplete checklist rubrics. Filterable by tier, searchable, and student-friendly.
TIA Assignments Complete Guide
All activities with full descriptions, requirements, time estimates, and printable checklist rubrics.
Canvas Import Package (All 39)
Want every activity at once? This ready-to-import file drops all 39 TIA assignments into Canvas, organized into three tier modules. Want just the ones you'll use? The TIA Student Tracker above builds you a custom Canvas package — your chosen activities, your point values.
All 39 Assignments — Full Text
Complete markdown source with detailed instructions, rubrics, and requirements. Easy to copy, edit, and adapt for your course.
Getting Started
TIA is designed to be adopted as-is or adapted to fit your course structure.
- Download the Assignment Guide
Start with the TIA Assignments Complete Guide (PDF). This gives you the full picture of all 39 activities, point values, and requirements.
- Build your TIA in the Tracker
Open the TIA Student Tracker in any browser. In the setup phase, pick the activities you want and set their point values — use all 39 or just a handful.
- Export your Canvas package — one click
The tracker generates a Canvas import file containing only your selected assignments, at your point values, all in one TIA module. In Canvas, go to Settings → Import Course Content, choose "Canvas Course Export Package," and upload. No more importing all 39 and deleting what you don't need.
- Track progress with the TIA Tracker
Back in the tracker, import your Canvas roster and track completions across sections. When you are ready to post grades, the tracker can fill a Canvas gradebook export with TIA completions so you re-import it in one step — a guided walkthrough explains each step. Always test this with one section in a Canvas sandbox before relying on it.
- Adapt and make it yours
Every file here is free to modify. Change point values, swap activities, adjust deadlines — whatever works for your students, your county, and your course.
Teaching Federal Government too? Meet the CAP.
TIA's sibling project, the Civic Action Project, brings the same experiential framework to GOVT 2305 — 39 distinct federal assignments, zero recycled content between courses.
About the Author
Professor Jared Alan Stewart
I built Texas In Action because the government that touches my students most — the commissioners court, the appraisal district, the school board, the invisible special districts on their tax bills — is the government they know least. They're working adults, parents, and first-generation college students who are already paying Texas property taxes and navigating Texas agencies every day. They deserve a course that treats them as the capable civic actors they are.
TIA is the Texas Government sibling of the Civic Action Project, grounded in Self-Determination Theory, experiential learning theory, and authentic assessment research. It gives students real choices, connects GOVT 2306 to their actual lives, and replaces high-stakes testing with meaningful engagement in Texas state and local government.
If you're interested in using TIA, adapting it for your context, or collaborating on research, I'd love to hear from you.