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Portfolios of Progress
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Portfolios of Progress
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"Introducing a
new tool allows you to rethink or revise the way you teach a class." |
"Using Portfolio has incredible ramifications on how you teach," says Jennifer Turns, assistant professor of technical communication. "Introducing a new tool allows you to rethink or revise the way you teach a class. You have to be open-minded and willing to take a risk." Turns is using Portfolio in three different ways.
In Directed Class Assignments
For TC310 Autumn Quarter, Turns invited her 20 students to submit portfolios. The class involves teaching software used in technical communication, so students did assignments using PowerPoint, DreamWeaver, InDesign, and other programs. They submitted their work in Portfolio, where prompts asked them to reflect and discuss their design rationale and Turns provided feedback.
"It was not as time-consuming as I thought it would be," says Turns. "What was helpful was that I had a repository of my written commentaries to look back on later."
In Reflecting on Teaching
At the graduate level, Turns is working with engineering students to create teaching portfolios. They will use Portfolio to help them start to think about how they teach.
"It's a place for them to say 'these are the things I like to do in my teaching and here is evidence that I've done them'," she explains.
In NSF-funded Research
Turns also is using Portfolio in an NSF-funded research project to follow a group of engineering students as they progress from freshmen to seniors. Their theme is "me as an emerging (specialty) engineer." As students follow the curriculum, they explore how they believe coursework is building their knowledge base, and their understanding of the reasoning behind requiring particular classes. Their portfolios could inform a faculty discussion about program curriculum.
