Portfolios for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment...• Apply their knowledge to new situations • Monitor their own understanding as they work by – modifying concepts – identifying

All materials © 2011 Three Canoes 1

Portfolios for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Janice A. Smith, Ph.D. Three Canoes LLC


Agenda •  ePortfolio Definitions and Background •  Folio Thinking •  ePortfolio Process •  ePortfolio Archetypes •  ePortfolio Scenario •  Keys to Successful ePortfolio Implementation


Definitions ePortfolio -- A collection of web pages individuals use to represent themselves to a selected

audience

Portfolio –- The complete set of an individual’s portfolio data -- Any subset of that data for a specific purpose

Open Source Portfolio –- A suite of ePortfolio tools in Sakai

Teaching and Learning -- Traditional and innovative teaching practices to support and guide learning

Assessment -- Measurement of learning in relation to specific outcomes with the intention of

improving the educational process


Portfolio Background

•  Portfolios have a long tradition in the arts, engineering, writing, and education

•  Electronic portfolios add the advantages of –  Multimedia files –  Sharing with multiple audiences –  Archived assessment data

•  Folio Thinking emphasizes dimensions of deep learning –  Reflection –  Integration –  Social Connection


Folio Thinking

Dimensions of Deep Learning:

•  Reflective Learning

•  Integrative Learning

•  Social Learning

Section 1

-- Darren Cambridge, George Mason University


Reflective Learning

Professionals use reflection in the workplace –

•  Learning and performance is a cycle of reflection and action –  Schon, The Reflective Practitioner

•  Information becomes knowledge when situated in the cycle by a knower –  Brown and Duguid, Social Life of Information

•  The cycle is hard-wired into our brains –  Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain

Section 1


Dimensions of Reflection

Reflection-in-action “reviewing, projecting, revising”

Constructive reflection “developing a cumulative,

multi-selved, multi-vocal identity”

Reflection-in-presentation “articulating the relationships between and among” creation,

creator, and context of creation”

Reflection as conversation with artifacts,

with self, with others

— Kathleen Yancey, Reflection in the Writing Classroom

Section 1


Integrative Learning as Expert Thinking

Experts –

•  Develop a conceptual framework for information

•  Notice features and patterns

•  Organize their knowledge to reflect deep understanding

•  Apply their knowledge to new situations

•  Monitor their own understanding as they work by

–  modifying concepts

–  identifying information gaps

–  taking control of their learning

–  Donovan, et. al., How People Learn

Section 1


Integrative Learning for Careers

•  Scholarship of integration – an important component of research –  Boyer, Scholarship Reconsidered

•  Systems thinking – crucial for professional excellence –  Partnership for 21st Century Skills

•  Multiple careers require continuous learning –  Chen and Mazow, Stanford Center for Innovation in Learning

•  Increasingly, we have career trajectories, not careers –  Brown 2004 AAHE keynote

•  In the USA – •  75% of students are older, independent, work full time,

attend part time -- NCES 2002 •  58% attend multiple institutions -- NCES 2002

Section 1


Social Learning

•  Our identities are formed through participation in communities of practice

–  Wenger, Communities of Practice

•  Learning to be a member of a disciplinary or professional community is as important or more important than learning “content”

–  Brown and Duguid •  Multiple identities

–  Are formed in the context of multiple communities –  Are integrated into learning career trajectories

•  The social dimension is the most difficult of the three to accomplish via portfolios

Section 1


Four Stages of Folio Thinking •  Stage 1. Exportation

–  Learning how to use ePortfolio software and understanding "folio thinking."

•  Stage 2. Directed Activity –  Following directions to document and reflecting upon stated objectives,

such as learning outcomes. •  Stage 3. Independent Activity

–  Maintaining an ePortfolio collection on a regular basis, documenting and reflecting on proficiencies without external motivation. Creating portfolios for self-identified purposes.

•  Stage 4. Community Building –  Becoming a steward in an ePortfolio learning community assisting others

in building and reflecting upon knowledge in a specific area of interest.

•  Paul Treuer, University of Minnesota-Duluth


ePortfolio Process

Collection

Selection

Reflection

Connection

A continuously iterative process

Collect information on yourself and your learning

Select information you want to share with specific audiences via a portfolio

Reflect upon the meaning of what you share in relation to who you are and who you want to become

Connect with others by sharing your portfolio and receiving their feedback


Three ePortfolio Archetypes

Personal Representation

Assessment and

Accreditation

Teaching and

Learning


ePortfolio Archetypes •  Personal Representation

–  Resumes –  Professional Portfolios

•  Teaching and Learning –  General Education Portfolios –  Disciplinary Portfolios –  Co-Curricular Transcripts

•  Assessment and Accreditation –  Course and Program Assessment Portfolios –  Institution-Wide Assessment Portfolios

Personal Representation

Assessment and

Accreditation

Teaching and

Learning


Portfolios for Personal Representation

•  Developmental focus •  Guide students in collecting information about themselves •  Assist students in managing their virtual identity •  Examples include:

–  Resumes –  Professional Portfolios –  Leadership Portfolios


Portfolios for Teaching and Learning

•  Educational focus •  Guide students in creating and submitting portfolio-worthy evidence •  Evidence is linked to and evaluated according to standards, outcomes, objectives •  Examples include:

–  General education portfolios –  Disciplinary portfolios –  Co-Curricular Transcripts


Portfolios for Assessment and Accreditation

•  Focus on acquisition of assessment data to improve the educational process •  Usually combined with portfolios for teaching and learning •  Reports aggregate and analyze assessment data and identify representative

artifacts of learning •  Examples include portfolios for:

–  Assessing institutional outcomes –  Assessing disciplinary outcomes –  Combination of the above


ePortfolio Scenario

•  Four personas –  archetypal characters representing real people

•  One fictional institution of higher education •  The story of a typical portfolio experience


Clipper College •  A four-year undergraduate institution

in the United States •  Featuring a general education program

with coursework for the freshman and senior years

•  A thriving business administration degree program

•  An institution and a discipline dedicated to the improvement of teaching and learning at the programmatic and institutional level


Student Persona

•  Brian Jeffreys –  Undergraduate student completing

a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Clipper College

•  Photo downloaded from the internet on 3-7-11 from stock.xchng, http://www.sxc.hu.

•  Credit: “Sepia Portrait” uploaded by Vikash Sharma in 2010


Advisor Persona

•  Grace Connolly –  A professor of business

administration at Clipper College –  Serving as Brian’s major advisor

and his instructor for the capstone course in business administration

•  Photo downloaded from the internet on 3-7-11 from stock.xchng, http://www.sxc.hu. •  Credit: Melody 2, Uploaded by Jesse Therrien


Instructor Persona

•  Sharon Westerly –  A professor teaching in the General

Education program at Clipper College

–  Skilled in using portfolios to teach writing skills

•  Photo downloaded from the internet on 3-7-11 from stock.xchng, http://www.sxc.hu

•  Credit: “Spontaneous” uploaded by Benjamin Earwicker


Administrator Persona •  Bruce McAllister

–  Professor and Chair of the Department of Business Administration at Clipper College

–  Encourages faculty in the department to assemble evidence of student learning for institutional and programmatic assessment

•  Photo downloaded from the internet on 3-7-11 from stock.xchng, http://www.sxc.hu

•  Credit:“Beto Book 4” Ensaio Fotografico Beto 2008, uploaded by Beto Lima in 2010


General Education - 1 •  During his first year at Clipper College, Brian Jeffreys

participated in the General Education program, which requires Brian to –  Collect artifacts of his learning and/or review assignments he

had completed in a matrix according to 15 institutional learning outcomes

–  Reflect upon how each artifact met one or more of the learning outcomes

–  Evaluate his own work using a rubric for each learning outcome

–  Submit his artifacts, reflection, and self-evaluation for summative evaluation


General Education - 2

•  Professor Sharon Westerly, General Education instructor –  Provides training in how to use the portfolio tools in Sakai –  Lets Brian know he is expected to continue developing his

portfolio throughout four years of college.


Institutional Outcomes

•  Inquiry and analysis •  Critical thinking •  Creative thinking •  Written communication •  Oral communication •  Reading •  Quantitative literacy •  Information literacy •  Teamwork •  Problem solving •  Personal and Social Responsibility •  Civic knowledge and engagement—local and global •  Intercultural knowledge and competence •  Ethical reasoning •  Integrative and applied learning

- Adopted from the AAC&U VALUE Rubrics at http://www.aacu.org/value/


Major Course of Study •  Midway through his degree in business administration, Brian Jefferys decides

to pursue an opportunity for an unpaid internship offered by a local business.

•  His advisor, Professor Grace Connolly, urges him to create a resume using the portfolio tools in Sakai to share as part of his application for the internship.

•  Professor Connolly also works with Brian each semester to create a portfolio representing his understanding of and accomplishments in business administration.

•  Brian documents, reflects upon, and includes artifacts from –  Course work in the major –  Internships –  Semester abroad


Capstone Course - 1 •  In the senior year capstone course, Professor Connolly helps

Brian further refine his portfolio and begin to prepare it for the job market.

•  Brian organizes his work in the portfolio in relation to the 15 institutional learning outcomes from his experience in General Education and according to eight additional learning standards required by Association to Advance Collegiate Schools in Business (AACSB).


Capstone Course - 2

•  Brian also consults with the career services office on campus and asks his two internship supervisors for feedback on his portfolio.

•  At the end of four years, Brian presents his portfolio to a panel of faculty as a final graduation requirement.

•  By the time he graduates, Bryan has thought deeply about his professional abilities and career goals and is well prepared to present his skills and accomplishments to future employers.


Disciplinary Outcomes

AACSB Learning Standards Going Beyond the VALUE Rubrics •  Dynamics of the global economy •  Financial theories, analysis, reporting, and markets •  Creation of value through the integrated production and distribution of

goods, services, and information •  Group and individual dynamics in organizations •  Statistical data analysis and management science as they support decision-

making processes throughout an organization •  Information technologies as they influence the structure and processes of

organizations and economies, and as they influence the roles and techniques of management

•  Domestic and global economic environments of organizations. Other management-specific knowledge and abilities as identified by the school.

- From AACSB website at http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/business_standards.pdf


Assessment - 1 •  Professor Bruce McAllister, Chair of Business Administration, organizes his

faculty to assemble evidence of student learning using Sakai. •  Professor McAllister encourages faculty to address disciplinary learning

outcomes via the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)’s 15 VALUE rubrics.


Assessment - 2

•  Clipper College wants to see evidence of how the faculty apply institutional learning outcomes as well as AACSB disciplinary standards to college curricula –  Examples of course assignments that represent student mastery of

standards and outcomes –  Random student responses to assignments that faculty have rated as

successful or unsuccessful in addressing the standard or outcome •  Professor McAllister wants to see customized reports for his department that

–  Demonstrate how standards and outcomes relate to course assignments –  Show how faculty members evaluate assignments in relation to

standards and outcomes –  Provide a random sample of assignments representing different

standards, outcomes, courses, and levels of student mastery


Keys to Successful ePortfolio Implementation

Overview

•  Integrate ePortfolios into academic and student life purposes •  Plan campus activities to introduce ePortfolios to faculty and students •  Motivate students, faculty, and administrators to use portfolios •  Begin small, expand as demand increases •  Plan for continuing leadership and promotion of ePortfolios over time


Integrating ePortfolios on Your Campus

•  Student Development –  Admission –  Student orientation –  Advisement

•  Assessment of Learning –  Course and Program level –  Professional certification

•  Institutional Assessment

• Learning Beyond the Classroom • Study Abroad • Co-Curricular Activities • Service or Experiential Learning • Career Development

• Faculty Concerns • Faculty development • Promotion and tenure • Curriculum development

Address ePortfolio use through its potential for:


Campus Activities to Introduce ePortfolios

•  Initiate conversations among faculty, administrators, and students about –  Benefits of ePortfolios –  Challenges to ePortfolio use

•  Provide hands-on learning about ePortfolios through –  Faculty and student orientation sessions –  Master student classes & first year seminars –  General education courses –  Advisement –  Faculty development

•  Provide resources for pilots in various campus units


Motivating Students to Use Portfolios

•  Enhancement of self-esteem –  Awareness of how much and how deeply one has learned –  Demonstration of progress to faculty, peers, family, and employers

•  Improved learning outcomes –  Incorporation of standards –  Enhanced feedback from faculty and peers –  Increased creativity –  Integration of learning in and outside of the classroom –  Real-world relevance –  Better positioning for careers and job search


Motivating Faculty to Use ePortfolios

•  Reward faculty for implementing ePortfolios with: –  Release time –  Summer institutes or retreats –  Small grants from institutional money –  Assistance in seeking external grants –  Showcasing effective faculty portfolio use

•  Encourage faculty to use their own faculty development activities to learn and model ePortfolio use

•  Demonstrate how ePortfolios can streamline faculty workload by: –  Decreasing paper flow –  Minimizing lost assignments –  Assisting with assignment review and feedback –  Improving assessment of student learning –  Enhancing benefits already present in a course management system


Motivating Administrators to Support ePortfolio Use

•  Strengthening and streamlining advisement •  Providing students with read-only access to student records •  Encouraging students to document and appreciate learning in and

beyond the classroom •  Developing and accessing data on learning assessment •  Encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration in curriculum

development •  Developing and submitting promotion and tenure files •  Streamlining applications for grants and awards

Demonstrate ePortfolio efficiency and effectiveness in:


Strategies for ePortfolio Success

•  Begin small –  With pilot groups

•  Specific colleges, programs, or activities •  Cohorts of students

–  By discipline –  By year or semester

•  Expand as demand builds –  Incrementally by adding units, activities, or cohorts –  To include as many common interest groups as possible

Documents

Portfolios for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment...• Apply their knowledge to new situations • Monitor their own understanding as they work by – modifying concepts – identifying