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

1. Moving from My Course to Our Curriculum:Navigating the Challenges of ePortfolio Implementation Susan Blackwell, School of Education Mary F. Price, Consortium for Learning and Scholarship Elizabeth Rubens. Center for Research and Learning Lee Vander Kooi, Herron School of Art and Design Lynn Ward, Center for Teaching and Learning

2. 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?

3. Session Goals: 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.

4. Attributes of the Engaged Department(Wergin 2003) 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

5. Who are we? 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

6. Our Path to ePortfolio: A Process Approach to General Education • 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”

7. IUPUI’s Principled Curriculum: the PULs

8. The Implementation Challenge and the Magic Bullet • 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 Oops! Yikes! What a relief!

9. Original Vision: PUL Matrix

10. Initial Implementation Strategy • 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

11. Initial Obstacles • 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

12. Current Strategy: Integrative Department Grants • 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

13. Funded Projects

14. Common Planning Activities • 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

15. Project Support • 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

16. Herron School of Art & DesignDepartment of Visual Communications Lee Vander Kooi

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

18. Identifying challenges • Faculty ownership of courses • Legacy assignments

19. Identifying challenges • Collaboration

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

21. Cultivating Collaboration • Second looks • What is being learned? • Strengths? Weaknesses? • What do students need to better integrate learning?

22. Cultivating Collaboration • Blue sky thinking

23. Creating Shared Vision • Curricular analysis

27. Curricular Revision and Beyond • Coordinating outcomes • Within a co-requisite semester • Horizontally across a year • Vertically across the major

28. Integrating ePort • Next steps • Focus on reflection • Focus on assessment • Focus on planning

29. Transition to Teaching & Secondary Education Programs Susan Blackwell, School of Education

30. Secondary Undergraduate Education Program • 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

31. Customize Matrix Grant 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

32. 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.

33. School of Education ePort Matrix

34. Overview of the Secondary Transition to Teaching Program • Full time, one year immersion experience • Graduate level program • Admission requirements 3.0 GPA in the major and overall Successful completion of PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II required for licensing Successful 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

35. Program Expectations • 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)

36. Three Sources of Evidence

37. E-Portfolio

38. Specific Process • 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

39. “Evidence of Readiness” Matrix Elizabeth Rubens

40. How can we take a very large, complex initiative and break it up into small, manageable steps?

41. How can we show evidence of progress with respect to our departmental grants?

42. How can we provide an experience that will give faculty and staff an introduction to working with the electronic portfolio?

43. “Evidence of Readiness” Matrix A. Project definition and administration B. Curriculum analysis, mapping, and integration of PULs and competencies C. Assessment and reporting protocols D. Competence with ePort software

44. 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

45. Curriculum Analysis • Curriculum “map” • PULs • Departmental/program competencies • Gaps / opportunities? • Overlap? • Sample assignments w/ integration • Reflection milestones

46. Assessment and Reporting Protocols • Rubrics • Formative evaluation process • Inter-rater reliability • Conversion mechanism from “local” score to “institutional” score • Sample reflection assignment • Reporting requirements

47. Competence with ePort Software • Implement competency framework as matrix, wizard, etc. • Select and link assignments • Conduct a trial run • Create a sample report based on data

48. Functioning Prototype

49. Does this process provide the data needed for assessing and improving student learning?

50. What impact has the work associated with the grant made on your department or program?