Transforming Curriculum and Promoting Student Learning: A Look at ePortfolio Initiatives

1. EDUCAUSE MARC 2004 E-Portfolios: Two Approaches for Transforming Curriculum & Promoting Student Learning Glenn Johnson Instructional Designer Penn State University David Middleton Sr. Instructional Designer Seton Hall University

2. Seton Hall University: ePortfolio Initiative • History of ePortfolios @ SHU • College of Education and Human Service • Psychology Department • Communication Department • Other Influences • Institutional Initiatives • Curriculum Development Initiatives (CDI) • System Analysis • Interest in ePortfolios has taken multiple forms across the Schools and Colleges at Seton Hall. As a product of various initiatives and as responses to diverse need, the ePortfolio presents equally diverse solutions and adaptability.

3. College of Education and Human Services • History of paper portfolios • PT3 Grant in 1999 sparked commitment to technology based student portfolios • Evaluation by professional societies impacts delivery decisions • Current leader in SHU: ePortfolio Initiative • CEHS has spearheaded Seton Hall’s investigation into ePortfolios as an educational tool for students and faculty alike, providing a means for assessment at the individual, course and program level. The influence of both internal and external entities has resulted in the development of various forms of ePortfolios from the College of Education.

4. Department of Psychology • Used for the demonstration of acquired technical skills • Assignment based • Artifacts of student skills in software applications • Submitted for assessment via CD-ROM • Efforts to integrate ePortfolio in the Department of Psychology have centered on the collection of resources and exercises created using University supported software applications such as the Microsoft Office Suite. Students collect assignments that have used these applications and generate an Index of Contents page linked to example documents.

5. Other Motivating Factors • Department of Communication • School of Business Core Competencies • Student initiatives • The Stillman School of Business has developed an extensive and well received process for assessing core competencies in undergraduate work. Students of the Department of Communication, as well as students from other Schools and Colleges have initiated electronic resources for the demonstration of their achieved skills and other accomplishments.

6. Institutional Initiative • Curriculum Development Initiative (CDI): ePortfolio • Four Branches of Project: • College of Education and Human Services • Department of English • Honors Program • Outcomes Assessment Team • The Curriculum Development Initiative (CDI) program intends to support to curricular re-design that integrates Seton Hall’s significant information technology infrastructure. Multiyear projects, such as the development of hybrid and enhanced courses for large enrollment core courses, research and analysis on technology and assessment, learning object development and interdisciplinary efforts are supported by the Office of the Provost and the Department of Information Technology.

7. CDI: College of Education and Human Services • Professional Accreditation Agency Influenced • Student achievement of Educational Standards • Development of Professional Portfolios of employment • CEHS has developed an intricate matrix to provide a vehicle for the assessment of the curriculum. This process was the groundwork for the mapping of all courses in the elementary, secondary, special education, and professional development programs to meet NCATE standards. Because of the importance of portfolios in the field of education, faculty never considered the portfolio as merely a storage container or a tool for acquiring a job.

8. CDI: Department of English • Faculty ePortfolios • Shared Resources through ePortfolio/DAL • Peer Review/Editing in Writing Process • The ePortfolio system provides a means for the English Department to provide staff development for the large and diverse faculty, to ensure the coherence of the composition program, to encourage instructors to develop a self-reflective practice that will be demonstrated in their teaching and in the English Department as a whole, to share teaching strategies, resources and techniques and to provide a record of teaching practices.

9. CDI: Honors Program • Interdisciplinary Integration • Students demonstrate progression of achievement • Programmatically determined educational goals and objectives • Fundamentally, this project will be a means of allowing Honors students to demonstrate their increasing proficiency in critical reading and writing. The use of the ePortfolio system within the Honors Program will also provide insight into the integration of the ePortfolio system into programs without the influence of accrediting agencies, and with the capability of demonstrating student learning.

10. CDI: Outcomes Assessment Team (OAT) • Established by the Office of the Provost in 1991 • Examining methods of integration across University Community • Developing matrices of assessment in conjunction with SHU’s Core Curriculum Committee • This CDI branch will be able to assess data in an effort to make critical recommendations regarding the strengthening of teaching and learning in the University community. The OAT is conducting an investigation into how the ePortfolio system can best be implemented by individual academic departments in support of identified educational goals for students and the processes to use to assess the extent to which these have been achieved.

11. System Analysis • Currently piloting two pre-release products • Consulting vs. “out of the box” • Identifying technical, curricula and institutional applications • Similar functionalities, unique challenges • The investigation into these two systems, one developed as consultation to an outside vendor, and the other a completely externally developed product, is shedding light on technical, curricular and institutional applications. In addition, each product has fundamentally the same functionality, yet each lacks a different element that has been identified as critical to the successful implementation and application of the system. The combination of these two elements can result in difficult decisions and adjustment.

12. Plans for Institutional Change • Singular Product to be identified by end of Spring semester 2004 • Limited implementation for Colleges of Education and Arts and Sciences during Summer 2004 • Expected use of over 35% of faculty from these schools by end of Fall Semester 2004 • Complete University roll out in Spring 2005 • The CDI projects will provide insight into the successful integration for unique segments of the University. After this phase of the project, analysis will continue to address potential obstacles and to offer strategic solutions.

13. Questions??? • History of ePortfolios @ SHU • College of Education and Human Service • Psychology Department • Communication Department • Other Influences • Institutional Initiatives (CDI) • College of Education and Human Services • Department of English • Honors Program • Outcomes Assessment Team • Future Implementation Strategies • Product analysis • Assessment and Research