Anstendig, Linda

Klingner, Beth Gordon

DigitalCommons@Pace

Pace UniversityDigitalCommons@PaceCornerstone 3 Reports : InterdisciplinaryInformaticsThe Thinkfinity Center for Innovative Teaching,Technology and Research12-1-2011The Pace ePortfolio as Educational Passport:Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential LearningLinda AnstendigPace UniversityBeth Gordon KlingnerPace UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cornerstone3This Report is brought to you for free and open access by the The Thinkfinity Center for Innovative Teaching, Technology and Research atDigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact rracelis@pace.edu.Recommended CitationAnstendig, Linda and Klingner, Beth Gordon, "The Pace ePortfolio as Educational Passport: Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary,Co-Curricular and Experiential Learning" (2011). Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics. Paper 60.http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cornerstone3/60Thinkfinity 2011 Final Report • The Pace ePortfolio as Educational Passport: Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential Learning  • Cornerstone # 3 Interdisciplinary Informatics • Principal investigators :  Linda Anstendig, Professor of English; co-Director of ePortfolio  Beth Gordon Klingner, Executive Director for Academic Computing • 12/1/11 Final Project Reports A) Original Goals a. To create an annual student showcase to celebrate the strongest student ePortfolios on each campus.   b. To use ePortfolios as part of Student Life’s leadership certification to document leadership outcomes c. To create an ePortfolio Assessment plan in cooperation with the University’s Assessment Committee.  Assessment plans will include interdisciplinary review teams of faculty. d. To enhance students’ study abroad experiences by having them document and reflect on their journeys and the competencies they develop through their ePortfolio. e. To partner with Career Services to achieve the following: i. Sponsor joint events on resume and ePortfolio building ii. Request alumni/employer input on ePortfolios iii. Encourage students to reflect on their internships and experiential learning f. To continue expanding ePortfolios to more departments and schools, undergraduate and graduate.   g. To educate students on the use of multimedia through ePortfolios. h. To develop a cohort of student consultants across the schools and disciplines to work with faculty and students. B) What progress have you made towards your original goals on your project to date? a) In April 2011 we held a student ePortfolio contest and honored five winners across both campuses at the first ePortfolio Student Showcase, which was held in conjunction with the Writing Enhanced Course and Library Award ceremonies on May 4 and 5. b) We collaborated with Dean Lisa Bardil Moscaritolo in the spring on a small student leadership pilot, in which four student leaders blogged about their experience as student leaders and developed their co-curricular/extracurricular activities page. Linda Anstendig and ePortfolio eTern, Jemma York, are members of the Setters  Leadership Program steering committee , where they helped ensure that ePortfolios will be a required element of the leadership certificate program, which will begin, January,2012.  We are currently collaborating with student government leaders on both campuses to organize an ePortfolio workshop for student leaders. c) In spring 2011 the Assessment subcommittee of the ePortfolio Advisory Board was formed. Joy Tatusko, from the Office of Planning, Assessment and Institutional Research was included in the subcommittee, along with Sarah Burns-Feyl and Linda Anstendig. The committee planned and executed a spring pilot in which they evaluated student ePortfolios from ten classes across the disciplines for evidence of three student learning outcomes: Written Communication, Analysis, and Information Literacy/Research Skills. Ten faculty reviewers were trained to use the rubrics and to assess the learning outcomes, using the students’ ePortfolios.  Valuable information about Core outcomes was gained from the pilot, but only 72 student ePortfolios out of the 176 reviewed could be accessed or had the quality of work that could be reviewed using the rubrics. A post-pilot faculty survey indicated faculty wanted more support for themselves and their students and wanted a higher emphasis on student reflection needed; 100% of those surveyed stated they would use ePortfolios again. d) We met with Christopher Hoffman, Assistant Director of Study Abroad, in spring 2011 to discuss the use of ePortfolio for students studying abroad in fall 2011 e) In April, we collected employer data from three employer breakfasts sponsored by Career Services. We surveyed a total of 41 employers and gained valuable insight into their perspective on ePortfolios. With the help of Career Services we reached out to a number of faculty teaching internship courses an encouraged them to use ePortfolios to evaluate student progress. We learned that a small number of faculty did use ePortfolios in their internship courses, including Linda Anstendig, Heather Calchera,  Aly Sansone, and Kathy Winsted. f) Our fall 2011 teaching circle cohort represented faculty from each college in the University; 12 participants were in Dyson, 2 in Lubin, 3 in Seidenberg, 2 in the College of Health Professions and 1 in the School of Education. Within Dyson, we had participants from the math and biology departments for the first time. g) In classroom demonstrations and workshops, we emphasized the multi-media aspect of ePortfolios by demonstrating the use of images, videos, blogs, etc on ePortfolio. Our new embed.ly feature on ePortfolio made more multi-media options available to students. We advertised this feature through our ePortfolio blog, and through classroom demonstrations. h) We have had a number of student interns throughout the spring, summer and fall 2011 semesters that have aided us in delivering ePortfolio support through one-on-one appointments with students and faculty, classroom demonstrations and workshops and following up with our teaching circle participants. C) What activities have been completed to contribute to meeting/progressing toward these goals? • In addition to the activities described above, we met monthly with the ePortfolio Advisory Board to brainstorm and gather support. We also were able to work with Marketing to design ePortfolio posters, and are currently working with them to create large post cards and table tents to advertise student success with ePortfolios. We presented about the  ePortfolio program  to Provost Feldman, the Board of Trustees, President Friedman and faculty council. D) What activities have not been completed? Please indicate why they have not been completed. • We did not co-sponsor events with co-op and career services, as they felt the turn-out would be low. We plan to reach out to the new director of Career Services to initiate more collaboration. E) Please outline the outcomes you have received as a result.  We received the support of Provost Feldman and secured funding for future teaching circles.  F) Did you create a Class? If so, is the class running? • We did not create a class, but have worked with several classes to incorporate ePortfolio through the activities described above. G) Has your project impacted students? If so, how many? • As of May 2011:   1,252 students (combining the numbers from both the fall 2010 and spring 2011 semesters) have logged into Mahara and changed at least one artifact  370 students created significant (posting at least 3 artifacts) ePortfolios in the spring semester • As of December 1, 2011:  Significant users (3+ artifacts): 66 faculty 1082 students 1082 total  Total users (logged in at least once) 109 faculty 1785 students 1945 total •  Throughout fall 2011 we attended 61 classes and reached 981 students though these demonstrations. H) Has your project impacted other faculty members? If so, how many? • We are working with the programmers to determine concrete numbers of faculty users in Mahara, the ePortfolio platform.  Each semester we have approximately 25-40 faculty using ePortfolios in their courses and/or requesting a classroom demonstration. Through  our work with faculty candidates for  Tenure and Promotion,  and those members of TAP committees who will be reviewing them we have impacted approximately  110 faculty members (17 candidates, over 90 reviewers). I) Were there any unintended outcomes achieved? • The faculty council voted to use ePortfolios as a platform for the Tenure and Promotion process. In addition, the establishment of the Mahara User Group, an international group of institutions who are using the Mahara ePortfolio platform, was unexpected but has added another layer to our ePortfolio work. J) Did you present at a conference? • In March, 2011, Linda Anstendig presented at  the national AAC&U Conference in Chicago on “Using High Impact Practices to Transform Campus Culture and Advance Integrative Learning.” • In July 2011 we presented at the AAEEBL ePortfolio World Summit in Boston on "ePortfolios and Faculty Development: Charting the Impact on Teaching, Learning and Campus Culture" • In November 2011, Beth Klingner and Samantha Egan presented at the Sloan-C Conference on Online Learning in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on Shrinking the Distance in Distance Learning: Using ePortfolios to Close the Gap in Online Courses K) Do your outcomes reflect the change or benefit you were hoping to receive? • Through  our activities made possible by the Thinkfinity Grant, we believe we were able to reach a new level of expansion in ePortfolios, as reflected in the diversity of our fall teaching circle group and the robust number of requests for classroom demonstrations and workshops. L) How has your project furthered the Thinkfinity Cornerstone you selected? • ePortfolios have helped students across all disciplines better reflect on their coursework and has enabled them to make connections among their various courses, as well as between their coursework and activities outside the classroom.  Also, we have learned that ePortfolios can be useful in assessing student learning outcomes across the disciplines.  •  In a post-teaching circle meeting, one faculty member remarked that developing ePortfolios helped her students realize they have more to offer than they originally thought.  We have received positive testimonials from faculty members across the disciplines:  “With the ePortfolio, students become creators of content, not just consumers of content.” -Connie Knapp, Dean of Seidenberg School of Computer Science “Electronic portfolios help keep our learning environments dynamic.” -Hillary Knepper, Assistant Professor of Public Administration “The greatest gift we can give students is to teach them to express an idea, present their point of view about the idea, and support the idea. The ePortfolio is the perfect tool for this.” -Paul Kurnit, Clinical Professor of Marketing “I think that ePortfolio should be mandatory for every course, especially the MPA program. It is a nice way to display your work in an organized manner.” -Student, Masters of Public Administration Program    

The Pace ePortfolio as Educational Passport: Enhancing Students\u27 Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential Learning

Klingner, Beth

Pace UniversityDigitalCommons@PaceCornerstone 3 Reports : InterdisciplinaryInformaticsThe Thinkfinity Center for Innovative Teaching,Technology and Research5-31-2011The Pace Eportfolio as Educational Passport:Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential LearningBeth KlingnerLinda AnstendigFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cornerstone3Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, Business Commons, Education Commons, LifeSciences Commons, Medicine and Health Sciences Commons, Physical Sciences and MathematicsCommons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences CommonsThis Report is brought to you for free and open access by the The Thinkfinity Center for Innovative Teaching, Technology and Research atDigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact rracelis@pace.edu.Recommended CitationKlingner, Beth and Anstendig, Linda, "The Pace Eportfolio as Educational Passport: Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential Learning" (2011). Cornerstone 3 Reports : Interdisciplinary Informatics. Paper 58.http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cornerstone3/58Thinkfinity Grant Interim Report  • Title of the Project: The Pace Eportfolio as Educational Passport: Enhancing Students' Interdisciplinary, Co-Curricular and Experiential Learning • Cornerstone 3 • Principal Investigators Names along with their School/College: o  Beth Klingner, Executive Director of Academic Technology ,co-Director of ePortfolio Program o Linda Anstendig, Professor of English, co-Director of ePortfolio Program • Date: 5/31/11 •  Mid-Project Reports - Please submit the following: A) Please outline your original goals. a. To create an annual student showcase to celebrate the strongest student ePortfolios on campus. b. To use ePortfolios as part of Student Life’s leadership certification to document leadership outcomes c. To create an ePortfolio Assessment plan in cooperation with the University’s Assessment Committee.  Assessment plans will include interdisciplinary review teams of faculty. d. To enhance students’ study abroad experiences by having them document and reflect on their journeys and the competencies they develop through their ePortfolio. e. To partner with Career Services to achieve the following: i. Sponsor joint events on resume and ePortfolio building ii. Request alumni/employer input on ePortfolios iii. Encourage students to reflect on their internships and experiential learning f. Continue expanding ePortfolios to more departments and schools, undergraduate and graduate.   g. To educate students on the use of multimedia through ePortfolios. h. To develop a cohort of student consultants across the schools and disciplines to work with faculty and students.  B) What progress have you made towards your original goals on your project to date? a. ePortfolio Showcase: In April, we launched our second annual ePortfolio Spring contest. The 5 winners (2 from the Pleasantville campus, 3 from the NYC campus) were honored at the ePortfolio Showcase Ceremony at their campus, which was held in conjunction with the Writing Enhanced Course Awards and the Library Research Awards. Each winner received an ePortfolio Certificate of Excellence and presented their ePortfolio. b. Student Life Pilot: The Student Life Office partnered with the ePortfolio team to enable student leaders to showcase and reflect on their leadership activities.. The Dean For Students led the program with help from the co-director of the ePortfolio Program, one ePortfolio staff member and an Portfolio student assistant. Four student leaders volunteered to participate. Student leaders reflected on their leadership skills and began building ePortfolios.  The Dean For Students used the pilot to demo what she would like Orientation Leaders to do with ePortfolios. Though small, this pilot was the first step toward building a relationship between student leaders and ePortfolios. We hope to see this pilot expand and further develop. c. Assessment Pilot:  The Assessment Subcommittee of the ePortfolio Advisory Board is using ePortfolios to evaluate evidence of students’ learning.  Starting with selected courses that are requiring ePortfolios, we gathered teams of faculty reviewers to read a sampling of course ePortfolios for evidence of Core learning outcomes, focusing on Written Communication, Analysis, and Information Literacy and Research Skills. Ten courses volunteered to have their students’ ePortfolios evaluated.  Ten faculty and staff members volunteered to review the ePortfolios in accordance with the rubrics, created by the Assessment sub-committee, to assess ePortfolios based on the three learning outcomes.. The ePortfolio sub-committee hopes to analyze the data collected and evaluate if ePortfolios are an efficient means of assessing the University core competencies. We hope both faculty and students will benefit from the information we gather. ePortfolio training sessions for the reviewers are scheduled for late May and the review process will take place in early June. d. Study Abroad: In January, we met with Chris Hoffman, Assistant Director of the Study Abroad Office, to introduce him to ePortfolio. Hoffman hopes to use ePortfolios for the next round of study abroad students in fall 2011. e. Career Services: i. We have not yet sponsored student events. However, the ePortfolio is featured on the Career Services webpage on pace.edu. ii. In April, we presented ePortfolios at the Accounting Employer Breakfast, hosted by Career Services. We introduced ePortfolios to the employers and gathered their feedback using a brief survey. We also attended the general employer breakfasts in May, also hosted by Career Services, on each campus. We gathered feedback from these events as well. iii. During Spring 2011, we attempted to launch a small pilot with faculty advisors and student interns, in which students would blog about their internships using ePortfolio and post samples of their work, as well as their research paper. We did not have enough participants, but we did learn that ePortfolios were being used by three interns in Lubin and a few in Dyson College f. Expansion of ePortfolios in other progams/schools: During Spring 2011, the Lubin docrotal program expressed interest in using ePortfolios. We also presented to the Publishing department in April 2011. g. Educating Students:  We have done several ePortfolio workshops in classes, upon instructors’ requests. Students also may have learned about ePortfolios through our posters throughout both the PLV and NYC campuses. We also hope that our advertising for the ePortfolio Spring Contest raised some awareness. h. In Spring 2011, we hired two student “eTerns”: one on each campus. They played a significant role in assisting ePortfolio Teaching Circle participants, as well as other faculty and students who needed assistance throughout the semester. C) Has your project impacted students? If so, how many? a. Yes- we estimate 1,600-2,00 students have heard about ePortfolios. We introduced ePortfolios to over 1,600 incoming students who attended summer orientation. We also had several articles published in the student newspaper relating to ePortfolios.  Additionally, we’ve also given visited several classes to give ePortfolio workshops. Other students may have learned about ePortfolio through the promotional posters on campus.  D) Has your project impacted other faculty members? If so, how many? a. Yes- we estimate that 500 faculty have heard about ePortfolios. We collected this number based on the amount of instructors who attended ePortfolio sessions, participated in teaching circle seminars, requested classroom demonstrations or reported using ePortfolios in their class(es). We also accounted for the faculty who will be using ePortfolios to apply for tenure and promotion. In addition, we also took into consideration our marketing campaign, which involved creating and distributing ePortfolio posters across both campuses. E) What are your next steps? a. Follow up with the Student Life pilot participants and expand it for Spring 2012. b. Gather data from the Assessment Pilot and share this data with the ePortfolio Advisory Board, University Assessment Committee as well as other stakeholders. c. Follow-up with Study Abroad department in the fall d. Continue to work with Career Services to gather employer feedback, recruit more student interns and possibly co-host an event  e. Collaborate with the Lubin doctoral program  f. Continue to work with the Publishing department and MA in Publi9shing Program. g. Continue to give demonstrations/workshops to classes h. Maintain “eTerns” i. Launch pilot program with the Writing faculty, where they will use ePortfolio to review student portfolios j.  Work on developing ePortfolio studio space so students and faculty would have a  dedicated area to work on ePortfolios with tech support.    