Moving from My Course to Our Curriculum:

Navigating the Challenges of ePortfolio Implementation

Susan Blackwell, School of EducationMary F. Price, Consortium for Learning and Scholarship

Elizabeth Rubens. Center for Research and LearningLee Vander Kooi, Herron School of Art and Design

Lynn Ward, Center for Teaching and Learning

Let’s Prime the Pump….What has been (or do you expect to be) the biggest obstacle or source of frustration for the implementation of ePortfolios at your campus?

What strategies has your implementation team identified to work through these challenges?

Consider the implications for ePortfolio implementation if program outcomes are used as the unit of analysis for student learning.

Identify “readiness” criteria for departments considering ePortfolios as tools to guide intentional teaching and learning.

Share IUPUI departmental experiences/insights. Identify generalizable strategies for program level

implementation of ePortfolios.

Session Goals:

Diverse and supportive academic community Culture of collective responsibility A commitment to excellence in teaching,

student learning and scholarship A culture of critical reflection Visionary leadership from both faculty and the

chair Adequate resources for students and faculty

Attributes of the Engaged Department(Wergin 2003)

Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

Blended campus Metropolitan research university Founded 1969 with a strong local mission 20+ schools (15 with professional/pre-

professional foci) Commuter campus w/ 30,000 students

Who are we?

• Accreditation prompts internal reflection• Campus mandate for change

◦Central coordination◦Identification of specific learning outcomes

for general education•Shift from distributed to process-based

approach to general education – “the principled curriculum”

Our Path to ePortfolio: A Process Approach to General Education

IUPUI Principles of

Undergraduate Learning

(PULs)

IUPUI’s Principled Curriculum: the PULs

• Adoption without implementation plan

• Adoption without framework to document progress in student learning vis-à-vis the PULs at the program level.

• SOLUTION = electronic portfolio

The Implementation Challenge and the Magic Bullet

Oops!

Yikes!What

a relief!

Original Vision: PUL Matrix

Introduce ePort in Freshman Learning Communities first

Massive training effort to prepare faculty and advisors

Assumption that interest would grow among faculty and students, as they became aware of the benefits

Initial Implementation Strategy

Immature technology Forced adoption Portfolio pedagogy not well understood Portfolio treated as add-on, not integrated

into work of course/TLC Perceived as top-down initiative Lack of campus-wide buy-in to PULs and to

assessment

Initial Obstacles

Small grants to interested departments and schools

First year designated for department-wide curricular and pedagogical preparation

Intensive one-on-one guidance and support Projects geared to needs the academic unit

wants to address Faculty in these departments are providing

guidance for ongoing software development

Current Strategy: Integrative Department Grants

School or Department Initial Focus Year

Transition to Teaching /Secondary Education

Mastery and assessment of PULs and Principles of Teacher Education (PTEs) in last four semesters of the major.

2005-07

Computer and Information Technology

Mastery and assessment of PULs and ABET Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) Standards. Piloted in one course.

2005-07

Visual Communications Mastery and assessment of PULs and Principles of Teacher Education.

2006-08

IUPUC Division of Education Mastery and assessment of PULs, PTEs, ACEI, NCATE Standards. Initial focus on demonstrating content knowledge for admission to the major.

2006-08

Biology Honors Preparation of a pre-professional portfolio assembling evidence of career readiness as well as master of PULs and biology outcomes

2007-09

Dentistry Mastery and assessment of PULs and IUSD outcomes with special emphasis on ethics and professionalism.

2007-09

Engineering and Technology More deliberate and transparent approach to teaching critical thinking and helping students to recognize how critical thinking manifests itself in the discipline.

2007-09

Computer Science Mastery and assessment of PULs and domain-specific knowledge in gateway and capstone courses.

2007-09

Funded Projects

Outcomes mapping (mapping PULs to disciplinary outcomes)

Curriculum mapping (determining where in the curriculum students learn and practice specific outcomes)

Developing evaluation criteria (expectations and rubrics)

Developing mastery assignments Communicating purpose and value of

project to faculty and students

Common Planning Activities

Each project has an assigned support team consisting of an instructional designer, instructional technologist, and an assessment specialist

Semi-annual ePortfolio symposium Online user community

◦ Implementation examples◦ Articles◦ Sample rubrics◦ Mailing list and discussion forums

Project Support

Herron School of Art & Design

Department of Visual Communications

Lee Vander Kooi

ePortfolio overview of year 1 Conceptualizing ePort Developing faculty buy-in Curricular analysis Curricular restructuring

Identifying challengesFaculty ownership of coursesLegacy assignments

Identifying challenges

Collaboration

Cultivating Collaboration Second looks All day faculty retreat At the end of the semester Sharing student projects

Cultivating Collaboration Second looks What is being learned? Strengths? Weaknesses? What do students need to

better integrate learning?

Cultivating Collaboration

Blue sky thinking

Creating Shared Vision

Curricular analysis

Curricular Revision and BeyondCoordinating outcomes

◦Within a co-requisite semester◦Horizontally across a year◦Vertically across the major

Integrating ePortNext steps◦Focus on reflection◦Focus on assessment◦Focus on planning

Transition to Teaching & Secondary Education

ProgramsSusan Blackwell, School of Education

Grant objective #1-- Ensure the alignment of the evaluative matrices with the Principles of Teacher Education (PTEs)

Grant Objective #2 – Critique program cohesion

Grant Objective #3 – Plan properly Grant Objective #4 -- Establish

infrastructure to generate success

Secondary Undergraduate Education Program

Customize MatrixGrant objective #1-- Ensure the alignment of

the evaluative matrices with the PTEs The School of Education Principles of Teaching are as follows: Principle 1: Conceptual Understanding of Core

Knowledge Principle 2: Reflective Practice Principle 3: Teaching for Understanding Principle 4: Passion for Learning Principle 5: Understanding School in Context of

Society and Culture Principle 6: Professionalism

Objective #2 – Critique Program Cohesion Review the extent to which assessments are valid

and that assignments/rubrics align with the SOE’s Principles of Teaching◦ Gather syllabi for all courses in the program◦ Review key assignments posted in Oncourse and

offline◦ Identify which assignments should include

enhancements in technology◦ Identify key assignments for each principle that

will be posted within the ePort.

DRAFT

PTE Matrix Block I Block II Block III Block IV       

PTE 1 Understanding of Core Knowledge    

Unit/Lesson Plan Coach ratings

PTE 2 Reflective Practice

Critical Reflective Journal 2    

Stu.Teaching Reflection

PTE 3 Teaching for Understanding    

Video Case Analysis Video Teaching

PTE 4 Passion for Learning   Autobiography    PTE 5 Understanding School in Context of Society and Culture  

Pop-culture video    

PTE 6 ProfessionalismBenchmark pre-post 1

Benchmark 2 Reflection   Coach ratings

School of Education ePort Matrix

• Full time, one year immersion experience• Graduate level program• Admission requirements

3.0 GPA in the major and overallSuccessful completion of PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II required for

licensingSuccessful interview

• Accompanying courses– Psychology of Teaching and Learning– Teaching and Learning in the Middle School– Teaching and Learning in the High School– Professional Issues and Portfolio Creation

Overview of the Secondary Transition to Teaching Program

• Curricular and instructional focus on …– content and instructional differences for middle and

high school teaching– developmental differences between middle and high

school teaching– differentiated instruction and assessment–working with diverse learners– inquiry and reflection as a process for growth as a

beginning professional• Performance based on six core principles as

well as course grades validate competencies (principles embed the PULs)

Program Expectations

Teaching

Performance

Clinical experience

CourseworkE-portfolio

Three Sources of Evidence

Teaching and Learning Process

E-Portfolio

• Directions and rubric– Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) used

specific documents to create the web space for the students and to develop the site for reviewers to post their reviews

• Selection and training of raters– Liberal arts faculty, School of Science faculty,

graduates of the program, professional education faculty, coaches, teachers

– Brief training prior to reading

Specific Process

“Evidence of Readiness” Matrix

Elizabeth Rubens

How can we take a very large, complex initiative and break it up

into small, manageable steps?

How can we show evidence of progress with respect to our

departmental grants?

How can we provide an experience that will give faculty and staff an introduction to working with the

electronic portfolio?

“Evidence of Readiness” MatrixA. Project definition and administrationB. Curriculum analysis, mapping, and

integration of PULs and competenciesC. Assessment and reporting protocolsD. Competence with ePort software

Project Definition and Administration Goals and objectives Letters of support Project team info

◦ contact info ◦ roles and responsibilities ◦ major tasks & timeline ◦ signed letter of understanding

Curriculum Analysis Curriculum “map”

◦PULs◦Departmental/program competencies◦Gaps / opportunities?◦Overlap?◦Sample assignments w/ integration◦Reflection milestones

Assessment and Reporting Protocols

Rubrics Formative evaluation process Inter-rater reliability Conversion mechanism from “local” score

to “institutional” score Sample reflection assignment Reporting requirements

Competence with ePort Software Implement competency framework as matrix, wizard, etc.

Select and link assignmentsConduct a trial runCreate a sample report based on data

Functioning Prototype

Does this process provide the data needed for assessing and improving

student learning?

What impact has the work associated with the grant made

on your department or program?

Recommendations regarding curriculum mapping and development

and/or ePort technology?

Clarifying nature and purpose of the portfolio

Presence of commitment to meaningful collaboration among faculty

Attention to continuous improvement Faculty commitment to assessment Visionary leadership and alignment at

multiple levels

Preconditions for Implementation:

Questions and Discussion

Slides and handouts:http://www.iupui.edu/~iddlew/laguardia2008/

Susan Blackwell (sfblackw@iupui.edu) Mary Price (price6@iupui.edu) Elizabeth Rubens (erubens@iupui.edu) Lee Vander Kooi (lv2@iupui.edu) Lynn Ward (leward@iupui.edu)

For More Information…