Supporting and Assessing Lifewide Learning: Rethinking Evidence for Integration

Darren Cambridge, Ph.D.Assistant Professor, New Century CollegeFaculty Affiliate: Higher Education Program

Kimberly K. Eby, Ph.D.Associate Provost for Faculty DevelopmentDirector, Center for Teaching Excellence

Session OverviewExpanding what we value in

student learningEportfolios models for this

expanded understandingEportfolio research on evidence

at George Mason University Implications of social network

site use

Expanding What We Value in Student Learning

IntegrativeHolistic – educating the whole studentStudent Affairs – Academic Affairs

Partnerships◦Learning Reconsidered◦Leadership Reconsidered

Stakeholder analysis ◦Greater Expectations ◦AAC&U Project LEAP◦AAC&U VALUE project

Interconnectedness of Student Learning (from Learning Reconsidered, 2004)

Social Context

Institutional Context

Academic Context

STUDENTIdentity

FormationCognition/EmotionBehavior

Meaning Making

Integrated Outcomes

Construction of knowledge

Construction of meaningConstruction of self in

society

Learning Reconsidered: Student Learning Outcomes

Student Outcomes Dimensions of Outcomes Sample Learning Experiences

Cognitive complexity Critical thinking, reflective thinking, effective reasoning, intellectual flexibility, emotion/cognition/identity integration

Classroom teaching; campus speakers; problem-based learning; living-learning communities; judicial boards; diversity programs; study abroad

Knowledge acquisition, integration & application

Understanding knowledge in a range of disciplines; connecting knowledge to other knowledge, ideas, and experiences; relating it to daily life; pursuit of lifelong learning; career decidedness; technological competence

Majors, minors, general education; certificate programs; research teams; group projects; service learning; internships; jobs (on- and off-campus); living-learning communities; career development courses; drama/arts/music groups

Humanitarianism Understanding and appreciation of human differences; cultural competency; social responsibility

Diverse membership of student organizations; inter-group dialogue programs; service learning; cultural festivals; identity group programming

Civic engagement Sense of civic responsibility; commitment to public life through communities of practice; engage in principled dissent; effective in leadership

Involvement in student and community orgs; service learning; student governance; sports teams; leadership courses; open forums

Interpersonal and intrapersonal competence

Realistic self-appraisal and self understanding; attributes such as identity, self esteem, confidence, ethics/integrity, spiritual awareness, personal goal setting; meaningful relationships; interdependence; collaboration; ability to work with people different from self

Identity based affinity groups; academic/life planning; peer mentor programs; religious life programs and youth groups; classroom project groups; classroom discussions; student employment; paraprofessional roles (e.g., RAs, peer tutors/mentors, sexual assault advisors)

Practical competence Effective communication; capacity to manage one’s affairs; economic self-sufficiency and vocational competence; maintain health and wellness; prioritize leisure pursuits; living a purposeful and satisfying life

Health center programs; campus and community recreation programs; financial planning courses and programs; club sports; academic and personal advising; career development courses; senior capstone courses

Persistence and academic achievement

Manage college experience to achieve academic and personal success; academic goal success including degree attainment

Learning skills; bridge programs; peer mentoring; faculty and staff mentoring; tutoring; orientation programs; academic advising; disability support

Liberal Education for America’s Promise (LEAP) Knowledge of Human

Cultures and the Physical and Natural World◦ Through study in the sciences

and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts

Intellectual and Practical Skills◦ Inquiry and analysis◦ Critical and creative thinking◦ Written and oral

communication◦ Quantitative literacy◦ Information literacy◦ Teamwork and problem

solving

Personal and Social Responsibility◦ Civic knowledge and

engagement—local and global

◦ Intercultural knowledge and competence

◦ Ethical reasoning and action

◦ Foundations and skills for lifelong learning

Integrative Learning◦ Synthesis and advanced

accomplishment across general and specialized studies

VALUE Lifelong Learning Rubric

Networks of Educators: I/NCEPR

Institutional research teams examining the impact of electronic portfolio practice on learning

50 institutions in five cohorts Third cohort focuses on student affairs -academic

affairs collaboration US, Canada, England, Scotland, Netherlands Book out from Stylus More information on website: ncepr.org. Links with other networks of educators

◦ AAC&U / Carnegie Integrative Learning Project◦ Visible Knowledge Project ◦ Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching

and Learning

What outcomes do you value?

Eportfolios Models for Integrative Learning and Whole Student Development

Learning Record Online (Texas)Stanford Learning Careers ProjectLaGuardia ePortfolioSeton Hall First Year EportfolioVirginia Tech English Education

Eportfolio

Three Curricula

Kathleen Yancey, Reflection in the Writing Classroom

Learning Record Online

Five dimensions of learning and course goalsObservations and samples of work throughout

semester Interpretation and grade recommendations at middle

and endMidterm moderations

Stanford Learning Careers

LaGuardia ePortfolio

Recent immigrants and first-generation college students

Bridging home and disciplinary culture

Impact on retention, student engagement, grades

Portfolio studiosVisual design and

iteration

LaGuardia CCSSE Results

How much has your coursework emphasized synthesizing & organizing ideas, information, or experiences in new ways? 1 = Very Little, 2 = Some, 3= Quite a Bit, 4 = Very Much

LaGuardia ePortfolio & Retention

Seton Hall First Year

First-year portfolio focused on four non-cognitive factors related to retention

Research demonstrates all four factors predict persistence and success (GPA) beyond otherwise available data

Social integration and quality of effort most significant new curricular emphasis

VA Tech English Education Portfolio

Pre-professional ePortfolio

Organized around INTASC principles

Reflection focused on linking evidence to outcomes

Includes course, field, and life experiences

Designed using generic tools

The Same Model with Student Topic “Overlay” on Principles

What intrigues you about these models?

Our ePortfolio Team Juliet Blank-Godlove, Director

of Leadership Education and Development

Darren Cambridge, Asst. Professor, New Century College

Kara Danner, Director, Portal Communications

Kimberly Eby, Assc. Provost for Faculty Development; Director, CTE

Heather Hare, Asst. Director, Center for Leadership & Community Engagement

Julie Owen, Asst. Professor, New Century College

Lesley Smith, Assc. Professor, New Century College

Our Project

Central question: What are the implications of evidence selection and use for integration, learning, and student engagement?

Portfolio contexts: Integrative approach to learning with specific attention to classroom-based, experiential, and co-curricular learning

NCC and portfolio-based assessmentIntentional collaboration with University Life Part of the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic

Portfolio Research (INCEPR)Small data sets over two cohorts (spring ’07;

spring ’08); additional cohort beginning in fall ‘08

Reflection and Evidence Research at Alverno College suggests that as

students become more skilled at reflection, they◦ Draw on analysis of their own experiences rather

than appealing to external authorities◦ Reference a wider range of activities and artifacts

Research deals only with the content of the reflections, not the evidence itself

Types of evidence in science portfolios (Collins, 1992): ◦ Artifacts, Attestations, and Reproductions

Mixes analytically distinct dimensions, such as characteristics of evidence and purpose

MethodologyDesign research

◦Intervention design informed by theory ◦Evaluated for effectiveness and

contributes to further development of theory

Grounded theory◦Collaborative coding of portfolio

content◦Informed by observations of course

meetings and conversations with portfolio authors

Characteristics of item used as evidence

Agency • Self-authored • Collaboratively authored (portfolio author and associates) • Other-authored Media •Media and modality of evidence (e.g., text, audio, image, streaming video, multimedia, etc.)

Purpose of incorporating evidence

Rhetorical Function• Intended (or deduced) function of the evidence (e.g., demonstrates or symbolizes) Object • Evidence reflects author’s knowledge, skills, character traits, beliefs, goals, or identifications

Characteristics of associated learning activity

Sponsorship• Institutionally sponsored (curricular, co-curricular, community organizations, etc.) • Self-sponsored • Unsponsored Participation• Individual participation • Group activity • Larger community/associational activity

Matches and MismatchesReflective description of evidence Content of evidence Local – site of specific evidence

use Global – the whole portfolio Matches and mismatches yield

more sophisticated understanding and resources for supporting portfolio authors

Applications & Implications

The typology can be used ◦To help portfolio authors think about their learning

experiences more broadly to promote integration.◦To help portfolio authors, teachers, and evaluators

think more deliberately about the hows and whys of evidence inclusion in ePortfolios.

If we want students to become integrative thinkers and learners, then we need to invite them to do this both within and outside of the classroom.

Blogs and SNS are Popular39% of Internet users read blogs8% write blogs54% of those authors have never

published their writing anywhere else 35% of adults have a social network

profile65% of teens do94% of college students are on Facebook175 million users spending 3 billion

minutes a month on Facebook

Being popular matters because

It suggests intrinsic motivation, which we’d like to understand and tap.

There are social practices related to use beyond academic settings we need to take into account.

Public Displays of ConnectionBlogroll and friends lists as

messages (Donath and Boyd, 2004)

Intentional performance of identity rather than a transparent representation of a social network beyond the system

Network as implicit validation of profile information

danahboyd as suicide girl

“impression management is an inescapably collective process”

(2008)

ParticipationCopy and paste as a key literacy

practice (Perkle 2008)

◦Embedded code ◦Reuse of other-created media and

functionality Neither fully production or consumption “Materially connected”: meaning and

functionality dependent on connections Compare to “authorship” and

“ownership” and “control”

Some Questions How do we mediate between the brevity, frequency,

loosely-structured conventions of blog and SNS genres and the more intensive and complex conventions of symphonic portfolios in a way that embraces connection?

How do we help students craft public displays of connection as intentional self-representations through their eportfolios? How do we determine when they’re successful?

If we embrace participation as a meaningful means of self-representation and reflection, how does that change how we think about evidence and ownership in eportfolios?

What is the appropriate balance between coherence and control and malleability and interconnection?

Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Findings and Shared Questions

Collection of 24 chapters detailing research from cohorts I, II, and III of the Coalition

Published by Stylus in 2009