Presentation given for a panel presentation at the AAC&U 2019 meeting. Abstract: In this panel presentation, three institutions explored how ePortfolio curriculum prompts new ways of thinking about education. In Northeastern University’s online master’s education program, students draw from and transform their earlier “learning ePortfolios” into professional ePortfolios showing accomplishment and career readiness. Key to this transition are four critical moves: remembering, analyzing, envisioning, and synthesizing. In Florida State University’s Rhetoric and Composition ePortfolio, a signature practice is selection, supported by an ePortfolio curatorial process helping students make decisions about what’s to select for the ePortfolio and what to leave behind. Across all three programs, students report that these supportive practices are fundamental.
1. Understanding the Past & Present
While Weaving the Future
ePortfolios as a Space for Professional
Discernment and Growth
Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Graduate School of Education
Associate Director, Center for Advancing Teaching and
Learning Through Research
Northeastern University
6. Currere
This autobiographical method [for
curriculum] asks us to remember,
even enter, the past and
meditatively imagine the future ...
in order to understand more fully,
with more complexity and subtlety ...
the present
This autobiographical method [for
curriculum] asks us to remember,
even enter, the past and
meditatively imagine the future ...
in order to understand more fully,
with more complexity and subtlety ...
the present.
(William Pinar, 2004)
8. Currere Process
(William Pinar, 2004)
Regression
Return to past,
capture it,
hover over it
Progression
Look forward to what
is not yet the case,
not yet present
Analysis
Consider how the
future is in the past,
and past in the future
Synthesis
Listen to inner voice
for the meaning of
the present
11. Syllabi, etc. Reflections
Feedback
Artifacts
ePortfolio as
Curriculum
Remember
How can I record
my work and
thinking to revisit
the past as data in
the future?
Envision
What do I imagine
and desire that is
not yet present?
What are the
possibilities?
Synthesize
Given what I have
experienced, who
am I now? How am
I, and my thinking,
transformed?
Analyze
What relationships
do I perceive
between the past,
present, and
future?
Past Future
Present
12. 1 Curriculum: What’s in a name?
2 ePortfolio as curriculum
3 Northeastern example
14. Gateway
Course
Education as an
Advanced Field
of Study
Concentration
Core
e.g. How People
Learn
Elective
Courses
e.g. Social Media
Learning Portfolio
Signature
Assignment(s)
Education
Narrative
Signature
Assignment(s)
Case
Study
Signature
Assignment(s)
Media
Critique
Capstone
Learning Portfolio
Work/Life Experiences
Professional Portfolio
15. 1 Curriculum: What’s in a name?
2 ePortfolio as curriculum
3 Northeastern example
4 Student evidence
16. • Week 1 – Annotated Curriculum
• Week 2 – Self-Assessment
• Week 12 – Final Reflection
Evidence Considered
17. Wk1 Annotated Curriculum
WL: At the beginning I felt a bit overwhelmed. I
didn’t know what [terms] meant and how they
related to the work I was doing … that bothered me
at the time.
[Now] I use research to direct my thinking and
deepen my understanding …
I would not have come to that realization
without the starting at the beginning and feeling
overwhelmed at first.
Past
Present
Present
Past
18. Wk2 Self-Assessment
LW: As an undergraduate, I just presented data
that existed.
[Now I ] acknowledge my own perspective and
how it directs my work … [I can] connect ideas on
the spot …
I note a change in my mindset from simply
understanding that issues exist in higher education
to engaging in work meant to change and
improve higher education.
Past
Present
Present
Future
19. Wk12. Final Reflection
JN: Returning to the end at the
beginning, my philosophy statement
reflects what I have learned about
those views I held so long ago in
my educational narrative.
I still believe in equality of opportunity
in education. I still believe in
supporting students as individuals to
find their respective paths in their
lives through education. What has
changed is my ability to help
others achieve these goals.
20. Final Thoughts
The value of ePortfolio as currere is that it
creates a space for students to hold past,
present, and future in dialogue.
If we intentionally elicit this form of
engagement, they will increase their sense
of agency in relation to “curriculum,” their
development, and their path forward.