eportfolios , liberal learning, and first generation college students: teaching and assessing...

KAREN RAMSAY JOHNSON AND SUSAN KAHN INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

Association of American Colleges and UniversitiesJanuary 29. 2011

ePortfolios, Liberal Learning, and First Generation College Students:

Teaching and Assessing Reflection

Blended campus founded 1969Metropolitan research university20+ schools; professional schools dominate30,000+ studentso Mostly first-generation, reflecting low educational

attainment statewideo Professionally oriented

The Context of IUPUI

IUPUI English DepartmentSix tracks

LiteratureWriting and LiteracyCreative WritingFilmLinguisticsIndividualized Curriculum

E450, the capstone seminar, serves all six tracks

E450: The Capstone SeminarDesired Outcomes

Integrate learningArticulate learning in terms meaningful to

employers and other audiencesUse evidence to substantiate claims about

abilities and skillsFoster metacognition and empowerment for

learningBuild confidence in value of degree

Two Components (incorporated into webfolio): Career/Professional Development English in the World/Global Citizenship

E450: The Capstone Seminar

Hoffman

Wendling Resume

ReflectionCentral to course goalsFor each component, we want students to

enhance their ability to reflect and articulate what they’ve learned across their studies

What is reflection?MetacognitionRe-processing ideas to support understandingQuestioning assumptionsSeeing in multiple contextsSelf-examination IntegrationSelf-assessment

Claims About Value of Reflection

1. Reflection helps students make knowledge by articulating connections

2. Reflection introduces students to new kinds of self-assessment that they carry into the rest of their lives

3. Reflection helps develop habits of reflective practice

4. Reflection supports deeper engagement in learning5. Reflection provides evidence of learning not

available by other means

Forms of ReflectionAccount/analysis of a processReview of progressGoal-settingSynthesisAnalysis of an experienceAnalysis that connects a series of

experiences Analysis of an artifactAnalysis that connects a series of artifacts

Some issues to considerHow can we teach students to reflect?What kinds of scaffolding/support do

students need at different levels and in different contexts?

When and how often should students reflect?

How can we assess reflection?

Development in Reflective Thinking

Self-assessmentUnderstanding of how

knowledge is createdIdentity as a lifelong learner

Development in Reflective Thinking

“Second in this section is my outline for a graphic novel titled What Good Men Dream. This was my first attempt at writing anything like this. Over the course of the semester every student worked on an outline for a story and at the end we polished it and presented the full outline with a few sample pages. Mine went very well and the teacher was pleased with it.”

Development in Reflective Thinking

“‘Afternoon at Grandma’s House’ was my first attempt at writing a form poem. I chose the sestina because of its difficulty, and I was very pleased with the way that my piece came out. I found that I had a little difficulty keeping the line lengths consistent as the piece went along, but I focused on keeping my language compact and precise. Wordiness is something I struggle with, so this was a real challenge to me.”

Preparing for ReflectionEvaluation of sample reflectionsWritten and oral peer review of rough draftsFinal reflection Importance of:

--Thoughtful, appropriate prompts--The “right” amount of reflection to assign

Reflection Examples“I never thought there would be an overarching theme to my college career….Through my work as an English major, which has included taking classes in literature and writing and linguistics and editing, I have realized that the one overarching theme is the power that words have to change the world; and as a Political Science major I have been blessed and cursed with the ability to see and understand those changes in a way that is sometimes heartbreakingly real….There is a gift that English majors are given that we sometimes forget about and take for granted…it is our desire and ability to see everyone in the world as people with stories that can turn on a dime when one simple word is spoken to them or about them.”

Reflection Examples“Indeed, even when I tried to study other disciplines I found myself still thinking within the Liberal Arts mindset. The clearest example of this was a paper I wrote about Charles Babbage during my Fundamental Computer Science Concepts course. While looking at the history of computing, as it is commonly taught, I noticed some interesting narrative gaps and accepted assumptions. My paper focused only on assumptions made by present historians looking back at Babbage, but the impulse for the paper was some fundamental errors I noticed in the way the history of computing is told. As I mentioned, there are many assumptions made about what Charles Babbage intended to produce (given that he produced very little), but even worse the entire narrative stems from an idea of technological determinism – that is technology advanced the way it did and when it did because it was bound to. While a common way of viewing any topic within history (e.g., WWII was inevitable because of WWI), it is only one view, and completely ignores the idea of contingency – that is just because something has occurred does not mean that it was certain to occur.”  

Assessing ReflectionIn your groups:

In groups, use the rubric for Development in Reflective Thinking to discuss and begin to evaluate the two reflections

Based on your experience of discussing the sample reflective essays, discuss the utility of the rubric. What would you add or modify?

What aspects of reflection are hardest to capture in rubric language? How much leeway is it possible to give students whose reflective thinking tends to the unconventional?

Conclusions

E450: A work in progress Questions?

Suggestions?

Contact us:

Karen Johnson: kjohnso6@iupui.edu

Susan Kahn: skahn@iupui.edu

Balancing needs of stronger and weaker students, especially in terms of instructions and prompts

Modifying concepts appropriate for traditional students so that non-traditional students see the value of their non-academic experience

Maintaining 1st-generation students’ pride in their educational achievements while helping them form realistic expectations for the job market

Issues

Issues 2The Central Issue

Students often arrive at the capstone with little or no direct experience of reflective thinking.

They view their education as a series of discrete courses.

They view reflection as having no practical value or as a rote exercise in repeating the language of the rubrics, the readings or the instructors and speakers.

Issues 3

Begin webfolio construction in first two weeks

Write short reflections before writing final component refection essay

Incorporate readings about metacognition andreflection

Solutions: Revised Assignment Structure

To help with students’ understanding of the realities of the job market and of the importance of reflection and self-assessment:

Involvement of alumni and local business leaders in stressing the value of reflection and webfolios

Presentations and examples of employee webfolios

Solutions: Job Search

Use of a text, currently K. Brooks, You Majored in What?

Increased use of alumni guest speakers who are recent graduates and can more directly address student concerns about the current job market

Solutions: Fear of the Future

Solutions: A Multifaceted Approach to Reflection

Three Short reflections, peer-reviewed and revised:Personal: an experience that is understood

differently in the presentTextual Reflection: a transformative encounter

with a text (loosely defined)Career: Use of two or more artifacts to

demonstrate skills relevant to job or further education

Culminating ReflectionEnglish in the World/Global Awareness:

An extended reflection on students’ long term goals both professional and civic

Solutions: A Culture of Reflection

ePortfolio and University College: The Personal Development Plan

English and the ePortfolio

Hoffman About Me

Hoffman Resume

Hoffman Work Showcase

Wendling Welcome

Wendling Work Showcase

Wendling Work Sample

Wendling Senior Project

Cutshall Resume

Ayers Project

category of expertise

100-level introductory

200-level gateway 200-level genre 200/300-level surveys 300/400-level advanced 400-level capstone

terms recognize basic literary vocabulary develop proficiency with literary vocabulary

develop proficiency with terms specific to a genre

understand literary terms used in different periods – the vocabulary developed in a period for talking about literature

understand problems and ambiguities inherent in the use of literary terminology

extraliterary context

integrate aesthetic experience of literature with social, moral, political dimensions of texts

explore the production and reception contexts of a work

understand historical periods and events as they shape and explain texts

develop an awareness of biographical, economic, and other contexts of work(s)

distinguish between implied and actual readers: connect capstone work with prior work as an English major and future work in a career

argumentation

develop the ability to distinguish between summary and interpretation, and to make text-based arguments

recognize and pursue a range of tenable interpretations

develop an ability to formulate an independent critical argument, and to incorporate a range of tenable interpretations into one’s arguments

develop an ability to integrate public and personal voices in framing an argument

critical thinking

move from an expressive to a critical mode in textual analysis

recognize ambiguity

analyze works in the context of genre characteristics

locate analysis in historical and period contexts

understand how works open themselves to different critical approaches

develop an ability to anticipate and value various critical approaches; integrate elements of English studies (literature, linguistics, and writing) into the seminar experience

English Dep’t: Literature Course Competencies (first half)