Portfolios in Higher Education: Capitalizing on the

Digital and Interactive

Darren Cambridge Grapevine, TX March 5, 2009

Objectives

•  Learn about – Contributions of the digital to portfolio practice – Models from the Inter/National Coalition for

Electronic Portfolio Research •  Reflect on these concepts and models in

relationship to your own current and future work in teaching and assessment

•  Identify heuristics for further exploration – Metaphors – Theories

Portfolios

•  Collection •  Reflection •  Selection •  Projection •  Connection

Contributions of the Digital

•  Easing management and archiving •  Offering rapid feedback and facilitating

collaborative learning •  Scaffolding the learning process •  Documenting and promoting lifewide learning •  Enabling multimedia and hypertextual

reflection

Discussion

•  Easing management and archiving

•  Offering rapid feedback and facilitating collaborative learning

•  Scaffolding the learning process

•  Documenting and promoting lifewide learning

•  Enabling multimedia and hypertextual reflection

•  Are there way in which you do these things now? What are their strengths and limitations?

•  Which of these capabilities might help you reaching an objective you have in your courses or program?

Easing management and archiving

Georgia Writing Portfolio

•  Assessment of first year composition outcomes

•  Three essays, one revised, and cover letter •  Collected and analyzed through <emma>

Seton Hall First Year •  First-year portfolio focused on

four non-cognitive factors related to retention

•  Research demonstrates all four factors predict persistence and success (GPA) beyond otherwise available data

•  Social integration and quality of effort most significant new curricular emphasis

Offering rapid feedback and facilitating

collaborative learning

Folio Thinking at Stanford

•  Folio thinking: learning principles and processes associated with portfolios

•  Reflective “Idealogs” composed throughout the semester

•  Wikis and blogs

Folio Thinking at Wolverhampton

•  Julie Hughes’ students in classroom placements at Wolverhampton

•  Community of practice through blogging •  “Everyday theorizing”

Scaffolding the learning process

Learning Record Online

•  Five dimensions of learning and course goals •  Observations and samples of work throughout

semester •  Interpretation and grade recommendations at middle

and end •  Midterm moderations

George Mason Leadership Portfolio

•  Leadership portfolio for an audience of their choice

•  Identity, relationships, community, future directions

•  Portfolio using template; matrix “pre-writing”

Beginning of Semester

•  Expanding thinking about evidence

•  Reflective writing in response to chosen prompts

•  Organized around categories for social change model of leadership

Mid-semester

•  Reconceptualizing as leadership

•  Organizing evidence and reflections in relationship to shared conceptual framework

•  Matrix Thinking

End of Semester

•  Presentation portfolio for an audience of their choice

•  Identity, relationships, community, future directions

•  Portfolio using template

Matrix Thinking at Kapi’olani •  First-year courses •  Six native Hawaiian

values and four stages of the journey of a canoe

•  Impact on student engagement and learning strategies

Kapi’olani Research Results

•  Significant positive difference between ePortfolio students and college and national benchmarks for – Student engagement

•  Six of twelve CCSSE questions – Learning strategies

•  Eight of ten Learning Strategies and Study Skills (LASSI) categories

Documenting and promoting lifewide learning

Three curricula

Kathleen Yancey, Reflection in the Writing Classroom

LaGuardia ePortfolio

•  Recent immigrants and first-generation college students

•  Bridging home and disciplinary culture

•  Impact on retention, student engagement, grades

•  Portfolio studios •  Visual design and

iteration

LaGuardia CCSSE Results

2.4

2.6

2.8

3

3.2

Critical Thinking 2.67 2.85 3.12

Nat'l Mean LaG Mean eP Mean

How much has your coursework emphasized synthesizing & organizing ideas, information, or experiences in new ways? 1 = Very Little, 2 = Some, 3= Quite a Bit, 4 = Very Much

LaGuardia ePortfolio & Retention

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

College 71 69 70

ePortfolio 76.5 74.7 75.5

Fa05->Sp06 Sp06-> Fa06 2 Smstr Mean

•  Used by 60,000 residents •  Most active users demographically representative •  Use across roles suggests intrinsic motivation and

lifelong learning •  Integration of different life roles in single

representation with user control over contents and visual design key success factor

Enabling multimedia and hypertextual reflection

Virginia Tech

Linking/Thinking at Clemson

•  Psychology undergraduate research program

•  Complexity of arrangement mirrors sophistication of disciplinary and professional identity

Stanford Learning Careers

An Emergent Typology of Use of Evidence in ePortfolios

•  Characteristics of item used as evidence –  Agency –  Media

•  Purpose of incorporating evidence –  Rhetorical Function –  Object

•  Characteristics of associated learning activities –  Sponsorship –  Participation

Write about …

•  If you were a student, which model(s) would be most appealing?

•  Which model(s) appeal(s) most to you as an educator?

•  Which best match current or anticipated practice in your classroom, program, or institution?

•  What challenges might you anticipate if you were to build on one of these models?

Metaphors

•  Mirror •  Map •  Sonnet - Mary Dietz

•  Test •  Story -Helen Barrett

•  Digital self •  Conversation piece •  Museum exhibit •  Interface

Which metaphors appeal the most to you?

Kathleen Yancey’s 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

(— Yancey, Reflection in the Writing Classroom)

Network Self Creating intentional connections

Symphonic Self Achieving integrity of the whole

Authenticity •  Ownership Validation through reflexivity •  Creativity Articulation the inchoate self through reflection

•  How does the portfolio model help students articulate their

self-understanding?

Deliberation Decisions made through discussion that • Is reasonable • Is inclusive • Takes into account information from all • Allows for both consensus and

dissent

•  How can the way portfolios are evaluated be defined by and involve everyone affected? •  How do we ensure that the information about learning that informs such decisions is broad enough to take advantage of individual differences?

Integrity Consistency of values and articulation of relationship between •  Different spheres of life

•  Different social roles

•  How does the portfolio help students represent their identity as “whole human beings”?

• How does it invite connections with learning beyond the context of the course, discipline or

institution?

Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Findings and

Shared Questions •  Collection of 24

chapters detailing research from cohorts I, II, and III of the Coalition

•  Out next week from Stylus

Stay in touch

•  dcambrid@gmu.edu •  +1-202-270-5224

•  http://ncepr.org/darren