scaling up story: picking up the pace with...
TRANSCRIPT
pu.mcnrc.o rg http://pu.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
segan September 24, 2013
Scaling Up Story: Picking Up the Pace with ePortfolios
Contents
Summary
Our Scaling Up Story
Part I: Current Status
Part II: Catalyst and Connectors
Part III: Developmental History:
Part IV: Connection to Core Strategies
Developing an Ef f ective Campus ePortf olio Team
Engaging Students
eTern Mentoring Program
Samples:
Next Steps
Connections to Other Sectors of the Catalyst
Pedagogy
Prof essional Development
Outcomes Assessment
Technology
Attachments and Supporting Documents
Assessment Rubrics
2012 Assessment Pilot Summary
eTern Program
Conclusion
SummaryPace University’s ePortf olio team f ocused on incorporating ePortf olios into the teaching and learningexperience, though we have also tried to promote ePortf olios f or assessment and career development.ePortf olios span through various core and major courses. One pleasant surprise is how may graduateprograms have adopted ePortf olios in courses and overall program assessment. Contributing elements to ourscaling up story include the team of student eterns and a commitment by the University to support the MaharaePortf olio platf orm. There is also a University cross-campus interdepartmental advisory board; a f acultydevelopment Teaching Circles init iative; and institutionally supported use of ePortf olios f or tenure andpromotion.
In addition the University is engaged in multidisciplinary assessment pilots using ePortf olios to evaluateevidence of Core Curriculum learning outcomes. Another new ef f ort is our outreach to individual departments,especially in the Arts and Sciences.
Our Scaling Up Story
Part I: Current Status
As of f all 2013, we are entering our 4th year of an institutional-wide ePortf olio project at Pace University. Wehave about 2,000 ePortf olio users consisting primarily of students, but also a f air number of f aculty and staf f . Our main f ocus has been on incorporating ePortf olios into teaching and learning, beginning brief ly inOrientation and UNV 101 (Freshmen Seminar course) and spanning through core and major courses. We’vebeen pleasantly surprised by how may graduate programs have adopted ePortf olios in courses and overallprograms. We have also partnered with our Deans f or Students f or Student development (leadership) workand our Career Services of f ice f or career development work. Both of these ef f orts are in early stages but wehope to continue to build momentum in these areas.
Part II: Catalyst and Connectors
There are certain init iatives that we are undertaking as we scale up that speak to Randy Bass’s f ormulation ofePortf olios as “a network of connections,” and as “a catalyst f or change.” Our approach has been multi-f aceted f rom the beginning, since our vision has been to enable students, with their ePortf olios to develop an“educational passport,” as they move through their academic experience both inside and outside theclassroom. One of our major goals has been to have ePortf olios permeate our Pace culture, be seen as a wayto show evidence of high impact practices, and curricular innovation. Although most agree as Randy Bassnotes that the paradigm has shif ted, “to one that is learning –f ocused, outcomes-driven, and studentcentered,” it is dif f icult to operationalize such a model on a college campus, or systematize the use ofePortf olios. However, we are making progress with our program. Integrating learning and making connectionshave been our mantras as, f rom the start, we have built partnerships with f aculty, staf f , and administratorsf rom all schools, many disciplines, as well as Student Lif e, Of f ice of Assessment, and Career Services. Wef ormed our Advisory Board with stakeholders f rom all of these areas, and have created pilot programs withmost of these groups. One way in which our ePortf olio project has served as both a connector and catalystf or change is in our Teaching Circle f aculty development work. In these semester- long f aculty developmentgroups, we have engaged groups of f aculty (60+ to date) in workshops and discussions about ePortf olios,but much of the work in these sessions is about signif icant curricular re-design in terms of assignments,learning objectives and assessment.
One member of our team participated in our Provost f unded Undergraduate Faculty-Student Research programwith a student who was a f ormer ePortf olio etern. Their research examined student ePortf olios, especiallystudent ref lections, to f ind evidence that the ePortf olio had an impact on student learning. They presentedtheir f indings to the Pace community, and introduced more students and f aculty to the benef its of ePortf oliopractice; also, the director of the program mandated that all twenty f aculty-student research teams use theePortf olio to showcase their work, and ref lect on it.
ePortf olios have been used by Student Lif e on one campus as part of a new Leadership Certif icate Program;students in the program—f irst year and second year students, and their upper class mentors, used theePortf olio to document and ref lect on their activit ies, workshops, and leadership development.
Another new ef f ort is our outreach to individual departments, especially in the Arts and Sciences. We areof f ering departments a small stipend to incorporate the ePortf olio into their major programs, f or learningoutcomes assessment, travel courses, and/or Capstone courses. Meeting individually with Chairs, we arebrainstorming ways that the ePortf olio can be used; already Modern Languages and Biology have begun towork on this init iative. Our upgraded Mahara platf orm allows f or individual “Collections” to be created, andmany departments want to create departmental ePortf olios in addition to having them used in courses and f orprogrammatic assessment. The English department on one campus has agreed to use ePortf olios in allcomposition classes, f irst year and upper level Writ ing in the Disciplines; and incorporate our adapted WrittenCommunication Values Rubric (see below) f or our ePortf olio review process, in partnership with ourInstructional Librarians.
We are also using ePortf olios f or Tenure and Promotion (TAP) review, which has been helpf ul in getting f acultyexperienced with the platf orm, both as a candidate and as a reviewer. At Pace the f ull t ime f aculty must have anup-to-date academic portf olio when they apply f or TAP. The methodology f or this portf olio was established byPeter Seldin and is f ollowed by many institutions. The academic portf olio consists of three parts- teaching,scholarship/research and then community service. While constructing their academic portf olio, the f acultymember can keep it in any f ormat f or their personal use. When it comes time f or TAP the f aculty member musttransf er the documentation to the ePortf olio. The three parts of the academic portf olio become the templatef or the ePortf olio. Academic year 2011-12 was the f irst year f or Tenure and Promotion and the f eedback wasoverwhelmingly posit ive. The Provost and Deans approved ePortf olios as the of f icial TAP platf orm f or AY2012-13. In June 2012 Administrative Portf olios using the ePortf olio platf orm was introduced at the annualStaf f Development Day.
For the past f ew years we have engaged in several ePortf olio Assessment Pilots. In spring 2011 and 2013 weled a multidisciplinary assessment pilot, using ePortf olios to evaluate evidence of three Core Curriculumlearning outcomes: Communication, Analysis and Inf ormation Literacy and Research Skills. We used andmodif ied Value rubrics, and though our numbers of participants have been limited, we have gathered andanalyzed usef ul data that we have shared with our Provost and advisory board.
In f all 2011, spring 2012 and spring 2013 we conducted ePortf olio assessment pilots with 6 f aculty membersf rom the Pleasantville campus English writ ing f aculty in partnership with instructional librarians to assessstudents’ written communication and inf ormation literacy competencies, using the Written Communication andInf ormation Literacy rubrics (written communication and inf o literacy rubrics.docx). We hoped to scale up thisspring as the chair of the department expected all writ ing f aculty to begin using ePortf olio and participating inePortf olio assessment review. The English department has now instituted a required “Writ ing Portf olio” pagef or student ePortf olios which provides a template f or uploading and ref lecting upon writ ing in the ENG 110,ENG 120 and ENG 201 courses. We hope to continue the review of student work using this new template as itdevelops and is implemented by the English department.
In general, our Provost and Deans are promoting high impact practices across the university, and, in scaling up,we see ePortf olios playing a bigger role in UNV 101, Capstone courses, Learning Communities,and Undergraduate Research opportunit ies. Also, we see highlighting the kinds of research that f aculty arepursuing around these practices as supporting our cause; already this year, we have f ound out about twof aculty members who have participated in our Teaching Circles, who are publishing, and/or presenting atconf erences about using ePortf olios f or curricular enrichment. See our Scholarship page f or a list of thesepublications and presentations.
Similar to other schools, we f ace many of the same challenges in terms of shortage of t ime and resources tocommit to ePortf olio adoption. We would like to see more overall adoption of ePortf olios by undergraduatedepartments and would also like to see more universal acceptance of ePortf olio as an authentic mode ofassessment.
Some adoption issues seem to come out of a lack of understanding of ePortf olio as a truly integrativepedagogy and technology. Some f aculty members still see this as an add-on. Others do not understand thedif f erence between ePortf olios and Blackboard (our LMS). We are hoping to continue building on oursuccesses and while that won’t solve our challenges, it will hopef ully minimize them by showing all that’spossible with ePortf olios.
We also just upgraded our version of Mahara to 1.7, making a huge leap in f unctionality. We’re very hopef ulthat the f lexibility of this new version will help us to increase usage and increase satisf action overall. Keepingup with the technology upgrades is a challenge, but we have a clear plan f or how to do this now.
Our ePortf olio project has served as both a connector and catalyst in a variety of ways. First, we approachedour ePortf olio init iative as an integrated process, pulling together aspects of teaching/learning, assessmentand career development. While we haven’t made all of the connections and created all of the change we’d likein this process, we are on our way. Our work has been a gradual evolution, but our ePortf olio team representsa cross section of departments and together we continue to strive to increase awareness and adoption.
Some changes that have happened on our campus, which are evidence of this evolutionary change are theparticipation of 100+ f aculty in our teaching circles, the requirement of ePortf olios f or tenure and promotion,and the reliance on eTerns f or not only ePortf olio support, but also f or academic technology help in general.
Part III: Developmental History:
While a handf ul of f aculty have been using portf olios and electronic portf olios f or over 10 years, ouruniversity-wide project began to take shape in the summer of 2009. During that t ime, our two ePortf olio co-directors were determined to get a universal platf orm in place. Bef ore this t ime, we had experimented with avariety of ePortf olio solutions including purchased products and homegrown solutions with limited degrees ofsuccess. We knew that to progress, we would have to adopt a stronger platf orm, get the buy- in f rom the topas well as f rom the all the academic and support areas.
The summer of 2009 also happened to be a time of change at Pace when we hired a new CIO. Luckily he cameto us with an understanding and some experience using ePortf olios at his previous institution. We workedclosely with him during his f irst f ew months at Pace and he promised to either build us or f ind us an ePortf oliosolution that would meet our needs. He encouraged us to create a “bucket list” and to f ocus on what wewanted our ePortf olio to do and show rather than f ocus on the technology. This was a pivotal moment f or ourproject, because it f orced us to f ocus on what we wanted ePortf olios to accomplish rather than f lounderingaround searching f or the elusive perf ect platf orm.
We f ormed an advisory board, consisting of members f rom across the university. This board was crit ical inhelping us create our 7 page template, including sub-topics and internal help guides. This template became thef oundation of our project and is still in place now. The CIO support, advisory board members and template allcombined to create a culture of understanding and enthusiasm f or this project – all key aspects of oursuccess. We also had Provost support, despite the turnover in this role. Af ter the f irst year, the Provostappointed 2 co-Directors of ePortf olio and that has also helped to f ormalize the project. The Provost supporthas been instrumental in granting us f unding to run the teaching circles and recognize students in annualePortf olio showcases.
We have been able to obtain 3 internal Pace-Verizon Thinkf inity Grants, which have helped us incentivizef aculty, f und student e-terns, and promote our program.
Another key to our development was our participation in the Making Connections Grant as part of Cohort C. The timing was perf ect f or us as we were already on our way with our CIO/Provost support, Mahara platf ormand advisory board. The Making Connections group gave us ample encouragement and motivation to keepmoving ahead and working with the willing, despite so many obstacles. We will always be gratef ul f or the timespent learning f rom LaGuardia and the other schools involved.
Part IV: Connection to Core Strategies
Developing an Effect ive Campus ePortfolio Team
Creating and working with our university wide advisory board was a key part of our scaling up success. Thegroup consisted of members f rom each of our academic areas and also the Library, Inf ormation TechnologyServices, Center f or Teaching Learning and Technology, Of f ice of Students Success, and Assessment Of f ice .We also included some students here, though students have played a much larger role af ter the roll out ofMahara.
In addition to the advisory board, great ef f orts were made early in the process to reach out to keystakeholders to get their input and support. In a way, there has been a continuous PR process f or allstakeholders including administrators, f aculty, staf f and students. Now as we are in our 4th year, we’re lookingto continue our communication ef f orts. So much ef f ort was init ially put into communicating what is anePortf olio and now we want to deepen that understanding among our Pace community. We are re-evaluatingour original campus ePortf olio team and looking f or new ways to engage them and keep them committed tosupporting ePortf olios.
Engaging Students
Pace students are at the heart of the ePortf olio project. One of the key members of our ePortf olio team,Samantha Egan, is a recent graduate who was part of our original pilot in spring 2010. Since she has theexperience of being a student using ePortf olio, she is extremely well suited f or presenting ePortf olios tof aculty and other students. She is also leading our talented group of eTerns (seven students as of f all 2013),f unded by grants and ITS. The eTerns create tutorials, lead workshops and do much of the publicity andhands-on training. We could not do this init iative without them. Their energy and ideas about ePortf olios arevital to our program. They grapple with the technology and f ind great ways of showing f aculty and studentshow to maximize the ePortf olio tool to enhance the teaching and learning.
eTern Mentoring Program
The summer f ollowing our init ial pilot program, we hired one eTern, Sam, through the AmeriCorps program. Samconducted sessions and met with instructors who seemed interested in ePortf olio. When ePortf olio accessbecame University-wide in the f all, Sam began visit ing classes to do demonstrations and workshops. As morecourses utilized ePortf olio, the demand f or one-on-one support f or both f aculty and students began to grow.In addition to providing support, Sam also helped create resources, including a glossary of tutorials, t ip sheetsand guides, some designed specif ically f or f aculty. Supporting the teaching circle participants on each campuswas also a key part of Sam’s role.
By January, the word was spreading about ePortf olio and the demand f or support increased. Beth and Lindahired another eTern, this t ime through the Thinkf inity grant at Pace University. This eTern worked while schoolwas in session, f rom January to early May. Simultaneously, Sam became a f ull- t ime ITS staf f member. ThroughITS, Beth hired an eTern to serve the NYC campus. This eTern was able to be the key point of contact f or theNYC teaching circle participants, as well as any other ePortf olio clients on the NYC campus. Init ially, it was a bitof a challenge to manage the NYC eTern and help them f eel connected to the rest of the team, who wereprimarily based on the Westchester campus. However, as our eTern program developed, our team learned howto bridge this gap better.
The f ollowing f all, Beth was able to hire a graduate assistant through ITS, who helped manage the growingadministrative tasks associated with the now f ully- f ledged ePortf olio program. Linda also connected with aneager NYC student who was enthusiastic about ePortf olios and willing to join the team remotely. We began tosee that the most successf ul eTerns were not necessarily especially technical, but had excellentcommunication skills and the people-skills to help students and f acult ies use ePortf olio.
Eventually our team expanded to two eTerns on each campus (including the graduate assistant). To help buildteam collaboration, Sam scheduled monthly check- in meetings though webinars and checked- in with each eTernas needed. When new eTerns were added, our veterans were able to train them and coach them f or conductiondemonstrations and workshops. The team camaraderie became a central piece to the eTern system. Wef ostered this through end-of - the-semester lunches where the co-directors and the eTerns came together toref lect on the previous semester, in true ePortf olio spirit.
Currently, our team consists of three NYC eTerns and f our Westchester eTerns. It is easy to see thetransf ormation take place within our more seasoned eTerns; af ter a year of being on the team, they havebecome conf ident presenters, have a strong sense of prof essionalism and an eagerness to help thecommunity.
Our ePortf olio staf f and eTerns travel to classes to conduct demonstrations. Usually we encourageprof essors to book computer classrooms so students can f ollow along during the demo. Otherwise, theinstructor asks the students to bring their laptops and they can f ollow along via the projector in the classroom.
On the Westchester campus, we have an of f ice space where eTerns sit. Usually f aculty members like to haveeTerns come to their of f ices f or one-on-one help, but adjuncts and students of ten come to our of f ice. On theNYC campus, we are f ortunate that two of our eTerns belong to student government and are able to use thatspace. However, there is an increasing need f or a phone line and stationary computer f or testing sof tware.This semester we were able to reserve a single-person space in the education media department and reserveand ePortf olio table in the library.
As our eTern program has evolved, we have ref ined our managerial approach to more ef f ectively engage ourstudents on both campuses. In spring 2013 we worked with Human Resources to develop a brief perf ormancereview. We also had our f irst summer orientation in late August 2013 to gather all eTerns together and inf ormthem of news, and updates and participate in team building activit ies to prepare f or the academic year. Many ofour eTerns have told us that they f eel part of team. It is encouraging when we see our students include theireTern posit ion on their Facebook pages and/or email signatures (something we do not ask them to do),ref lecting the pride they take in their posit ions.
We were f ortunate to have our graduate assistant, Adam Yogel, who created the video below on the powerf ulimpact our eTerns have on our ePortf olio program:
Samples:
We have f ive students currently on Pace’s Digital Commons site where they have provided a screenshot anddescription of their ePortf olios and links to them as well (some are private and others are public).
Digital Commons ePortf olio Showcase: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/eportf olio_showcase/
In spring 2012, we also created videos of our ePortf olio Contest winners. They each presented their ePortf olioat an our annual award ceremony.
•Ashley Dandridge
•Kiersten Albrecht:
Here are some of our eTern ePortf olios:
•Megan Burke
•Adam Yogel
Hana Ljubicic
Nelli Agbulous
Uri Charles
Next StepsWe have many next steps f or our project, which is part of the challenge – trying to decide what best to f ocuson. Some of the next steps include:
Increasing adoption in key areas such as UNV 101, core courses, major departments
Continuing our Teaching Circle work and f ollowing up with Teaching Circle Alums
Incorporating more Digital Storytelling work
Creating a more robust reporting structure in Mahara
Create a sustainable assessment plan f or ePortf olios including quantitative and qualitative measures onstudent ref lections
Continue our leadership role in the Mahara User Group (MUG) an international group of 150+ members
Foster use of ePortf olios f or Advising and incorporate ePortf olios into the Provost’s ElectronicPersonal Development Plan (ePDP) f or all students.
The challenge with our list above is that it is vast and ever growing and there are limited resources to workwith. Our team is committed to this project, but we need to f ind ways to encourage adoption across moredepartments and programs. Our team continues to address challenges by continuing to work throughobstacles and spread the word about successes and continuing to work through the obstacles. We know wewill not convince everyone to use ePortf olios but f eel we can have a successf ul program even without 100%acceptance.
Two of the strategies that may be usef ul to us in this next phase are listed below. We have alignedePortf olios with a f ew key programs such as Communications, the Pleasantville campus Writ ing department,and a doctoral degree in Nursing, but we would like to do more of this in the f uture. We also want f aculty tounderstand that ePortf olios can be part of high- impact practice strategy. And hopef ully this work will be valuedin the annual review and tenure/promotion process f or all. Successf ul ePortf olio init iatives build relationshipswith degree programs. When ePortf olio is integrated across a program, it both helps engage a wider communityof f aculty and can serve as a model and catalyst f or other departments at the institution.
Successf ul ePortf olio init iatives also build connections to the ten high- impact practices that have beenrevealed through broad research to demonstrably improve student success and learning in higher education.ePortf olios have already shown an intensif ying and integrating ef f ect on certain high- impact practices,especially First-Year Seminars and Experiences, Capstones, and Learning Communities.
Connections to Other Sectors of the Catalyst
Pedagogy
As a result of semester- long f aculty development Teaching Circles, a group of f aculty incorporated ePortf oliosinto their teaching methodology. The power of ePortf olios enabled the f aculty to assess student learningthrough dynamic student ref lections. One Biology Prof essor used ePortf olios as a teaching tool to havestudents ref lect on the synergy between the learning outcomes and real world applications. The skill setsachieved by the students produced evidence of a dynamic social pedagogy. Another examples of e-portf olio asa pedagogical tool is the creation of students’ digital stories and aligning those stories to the stated outcomesof the course. Finally f aculty have incorporated ref lection into their teaching and stated learning outcomes withePortf olios as the powerf ul tool to create those ref lections.
Professional Development
There are two prof essional development programs that have been successf ul with bringing new f acultymembers to learn about and incorporate e-Portf olios.
The f irst init iative is to have ePortf olios serve as the platf orm f or Tenure and Promotion (TAP) processthroughout the University.There will be a campaign to make the TAP portf olio more dynamic including muf ti-media f iles to allow the f ine arts f aculty to better document their portf olio.
The second prof essional development activity f or our ePortf olio project acts as both a connector and catalystf or change is are the Teaching Circles. In these semester- long f aculty development groups, we have engagedgroups of f aculty (100+ to date) in workshops and discussions about ePortf olios and their ef f ective use inteaching and learning. Much of the work in these sessions is about signif icant curricular re-design in terms ofassignments, learning objectives and assessment. The semester af ter the Teaching Circles are of f ered it isexpected f or f aculty participants to adopt e-Portf olios into their pedagogy.
Outcomes Assessment
Our assessment pilots, mentioned above, are the key ways that we hope to move ePortf olio assessmentf orward on campus.
Technology
Technology has played a pivotal role in our scaling up process because it wasn’t until the adoption of Maharathat our university-wide init iative picked up traction. There are several reasons f or this. First is that Mahara isopen source and customizable so we were able to create a template to meet the needs of a variety ofstakeholders. We have been able to make key integrations with Banner, which has helped our f aculty to viewstudents’ ePortf olios and allows students to see their courses listings on their Academic Materials page. Secondly, the cost of Mahara has been “f ree” in some ways because it is open source. However there is acost involved in terms of the programmer and technical staf f t ime required to customize, host and upgrade.Thirdly, Mahara has a social networking f eel that has helped with our adoption around campus. Although somestudents and f aculty do report usability issues, the team is working toward addressing those concerns withmore training and support f rom our talented eTerns.
Attachments and Supporting Documents
Assessment Rubrics
assessment pilot summary aug 12 f inal (2)
written communication and inf o literacy rubrics
2012 Assessment Pilot Summary
assessment pilot summary aug 12 f inal (2)
eTern Program
eTerns at Pace University:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmvpsedOVKA
ConclusionThe Pace journey with e-Portf olios has been rewarding. There is no denying that there have been bumps in theroad but af ter the 4 year journey the University is seeing the dynamic power of e-portf olios to change teachingand learning. From our Teaching Circles each academic year we recruit willing f aculty who want to transf ormtheir “classroom” experience. The students in the classes are able to reap the rewards of using e-portf olios todocument and assess their learning outcomes. The students are actively involved with creating evidence oftheir learning with e-portf olios and create a platf orm to highlight their skill sets and the transf er of knowledgef rom the learning experience.
The e-Portf olio Advisory Board membership that is f rom dif f erent sectors of the University assures that the e-Portf olio init iative is connected to the Pace community and that community needs drive the e-portf oliosprocess. The tenure and promotion prof essional development demonstrate that the Provost and the Deansare well invested with e-Portf olios.
As we continue on the journey with e-Portf olios we are excited to see student –f aculty researchcollaborations, to witness students using e-portf olios document their lif elong education and to use it f orcareer planning. Lastly, we have f aculty beginning to see the power of e-portf olios as a tool f or socialpedagogy in the arts and sciences. We are conf ident in the year to come that we will pick up the pace with e-Portf olios.