An International Forum for Innovative Teaching
CONTENTS
1 Commentary
Sherwyn Morreale, Ph.D.
Donald Wulff, Ph.D.
3 The Autobiographical
Narrative: Bursting the
Solipsistic Bubble
Stan Kajs, Ph.D.
4 Getting Your Students
Organized for Their
Next Presentation
Nichola Gutgold, Ph.D.
C
O
Vo l u m e
M
M
E
N
T
A
R
Don Berkowitz, Ph.D.
7 An Approach to Grading
in a Process-Oriented
Composition Course
Richard Johnson
8 Helping Students
Become Lifelong
Learners Through
Portfolio Development
Tamarah Ashton, Ph.D.
Wendy Murawski, Ph.D.
10 Meet the Authors
•
I s s u e
2
•
M a r c h
2 0 0 2
Y
Communicate Clearly,
Logically, and Cogently
in Oral Language —
A Response From the
Discipline of Communication
Sherwyn P. Morreale, Ph.D.
Associate Director
National Communication Association
Washington, D.C.
smorreale@natcom.org
5 Teaching Difficult
Concepts Simply Using
the Socratic Method
1
Donald H.Wulff, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Instructional Development
and Research
University of Washington
wulff@cidr.washington.edu
In today’s information-rich society, graduates of
our colleges and universities must be able to
communicate competently, regardless of academic
discipline. To communicate clearly, logically, and
cogently in oral language is essential to individual
happiness and success and to the well being of
society. Therefore, all successful professors should
understand what is meant by communication
competence, why that competence is important,
and how to incorporate communication instruction
in day-to-day classroom activities.
First, what does it really mean to communicate
competently? Most people think a communicator
is competent if he/she possesses certain skills or
abilities. Communication skills are part of
competence, but current consensus is that communication competence is more than just a skill.
Rather, it is“the use of verbal and/or nonverbal
behavior to accomplish preferred outcomes in a
way that is appropriate to the context.” 1
If you read the definition carefully, it suggests
that there is no one best or right way to communicate. Rather, a competent communicator
speaks and uses nonverbal cues in the most
effective way to accomplish his or her purpose for
communicating in the given situation. Thus, being
competent means knowing the unspoken rules
for communicating appropriately in the context,
respecting others, and being sensitive to the impressions others form about how you are communicating.
For example, a loud laugh may be highly competent in response to a joke at a party, but entirely
incompetent in response to viewing an open casket
at a funeral.
Is this ability to communicate effectively and
appropriately important in contemporary society?
The answer is an emphatic yes! Today, we process
information and communicate with others faster,
with greater frequency, and through a multiplicity
of communication channels— face-to-face, via
computers, video and teleconferencing, and mass
media. In a recent annotation of nearly 100 national
articles, commentaries, and publications, communication was identified as the number-one skill
students should develop before leaving colleges
and universities.2 Four major themes emerged
from those publications that provide support for
the importance of communication education:
Developing the whole person
Educators and researchers agree about the role of
communication in self-development. Communication
enhances relationships with one’s self, others, and
society. Communication education improves critical
thinking, media literacy and criticism, leadership
skills, and family relationships, and it allows one
to gain personal power.
continued on pg. 2 ..............
Communicate Clearly
continued from pg. 1 ..........
Improving the educational enterprise
Communication education enhances classroom
instruction in all fields and is key to successful
collaboration in the educational environment.
The ability to listen discriminately, ask questions, interact in groups, and present ideas publicly are essential to learning in any discipline.
The Successful Professor
(ISSN 03087) is published
6 times a year by
Simek Publishing LLC
PO Box 1606
Millersville, MD 21108
Preparing responsible citizens of the world
Communication is vital to the continuation and
health of our society and to erasing cultural
boundaries. Education in communication helps
to develop the skills and sensitivities that
shape social and political life. Through communication education, people learn to participate
effectively in public life and understand and
relate to individuals from multiple cultures.
See our website at
www.thesuccessfulprofessor.com
for Subscription Rates,
Disclaimer, and Copyright
Notice.
Stanley J. Kajs,
Editor/Publisher.
Contact us at
Succeeding at work
Communication education is fundamental to career
development and advancement and to succeeding
in the entire business and corporate world.
Competent communicators entering the workforce
contribute more effectively to their organizations,
enjoy greater organizational mobility, and are
more likely to be promoted.
Despite these potential advantages, students
often arrive at college with little of the knowledge
and experience that will prepare them for
communicative interaction in their college/universities courses or in the future careers. Although
regional accrediting bodies are mandating
communication and communication is included
in institutional mission statements, too often
people assume that teaching communication is
easy and anyone can do it. As a result, there is
little encouragement to pursue training in teaching
oral communication in elementary or secondary
schools, and there are few certified K-12 teachers
across the country.
As successful professors, then, we first have
to recognize that students are not likely to come
to us with the knowledge and skills to communicate competently in our courses. We will have
to do something about this ourselves. But we
also have to understand that helping students
become competent requires more than simply
incorporating a few interactive activities in our
college classes. Enhancing communication
competence takes a concerted effort, especially
editor@thesuccessfulprofessor.com
••••••••••••
Would you like to share your
teaching successes with your
colleages from other colleges
and universities? If so, then
submit an article describing
your most effective teaching
strategy or technique to
The Successful Professor.
Visit our website to view the
Guidelines for Articles.
www.thesuccessfulprofessor.com
The Submission Deadline for
Volume 2 is October 1, 2002.
The Successful Professor
TM
for anyone who is not trained in communication
yet knows the importance of using communication
skills successfully.
Some basic considerations can assist the
professor who wants to provide knowledge and
experiences to help students achieve communication competence:
1. Recognize what communication entails—it
really is about more than public speaking.
Students also need the communication skills
associated with working in teams, debating
issues with reasoning and evidence, providing
leadership, maintaining interpersonal composure under pressure, to name a few.
2. Encourage students to take basic communication courses as prerequisites to the work you
expect them to do in your course. Then work with
instructors of those basic courses to extend the
students’competence in the context of your
own discipline.
3. Integrate communication in your classroom
work. Such communication can decidedly enhance
learning of course content, and, at the same time,
students learn to be better communicators. Include
a range of opportunities for students to communicate, for example in front of the class, in small
groups, in pairs, one-on-one with you, and so on.
4. Recognize that simply requiring students to
give a speech, to talk to each other, or work in
groups is not enough. To use communication to
enhance understanding of course content or increase
student competence, you need to provide a) clear
directions and descriptions of what is expected
and how it can be accomplished; b) some time
for reflecting about the process (what worked and
what did not work in accomplishing the specific
purposes); and c) a great amount of feedback.
Take time to talk about the process so students can
learn to be reflective about their own communication
styles and ability to communicate competently.
5. Finally, remember that we all assign meaning
to the language and actions of others, and students
are masters at assigning meaning even when we
do not know they are doing it. Therefore, model
the kinds of communication behaviors that you
want your students to develop—the ways of
communicating that are considered most relevant
continued on pg. 3 ..............
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
2
Communicate Clearly
continued from pg. 2 ..........
and valued in your specific discipline. Talk
about the reasons you are communicating in
certain ways for specific purposes and
encourage students to ask questions so that
they are not assigning unintended meaning
to your messages.
As a successful professor who wishes
to enhance students’communication competence, seriously consider following the
basic steps listed above. And, the most
important advice to remember is that you
should not assume that you can do it alone.
Get help. Find the communication department
on your campus and involve communication
scholar teachers in your work. You may find
that your campus has a communicationacross-the-curriculum program with specialists who can assist you with communication
instruction in your courses. Also, make use
of the resources available from the National
Communication Association. That organization
can recommend specialists on your campus
or provide print and web resources to assist
you in accomplishing your goals. As you
begin, you will be among many successful
professors who are working to help students
communicate clearly, logically, and cogently
in oral language within specific disciplines.
References
1 Morreale, S., Spitzber, B., & Barge, K.
(2001). Human Communication: Motivation,
Knowledge, and Skills. Belmont, California:
Wadsworth.
2 Morreale, S. P., Osborn, M. M., & Pearson,
J. C. (2002). “Why Communication is
Important: A Rationale for the Centrality of
the Study of Communication.” Journal of
the Association for Communication
Administration, 29,1-25.
•••••••••••••••
The Commentary in the third issue for dis tribution in May 2002 will be authored b y
Dr. Muriel Harris, Professor of English
and Director of the Writing Lab at Purdue
University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Her
topic is the importance of helping students
become competent writers.
The Successful Professor
TM
The Autobiographical
Narrative: Bursting the
Solipsistic Bubble
Stan Kajs, Ph.D., TSP Editor
In Zen and the Birds of Appetite, Thomas
Merton discusses the modern phenomenon
of solipsism, a state of self-absorption in
which each person resides in a self-created
bubble of awareness. It is, he says, a world
in which the self is “isolated and out of
touch with other such selves in so far as
they are ‘things’ rather than persons (22)”.
Our students, of course, are part of this
world, and they are too often absorbed in
their limited spheres. In an effort to puncture this bubble and have them view others
as persons rather than “things,” I have them
do an assignment which takes them out of
their own sphere and into the painful world
of another—a world much different from
their own.
In my Introduction to Humanities
course, I have my students assume the role
of a person who is very different from
themselves. This person may be either historical or fictional. The assignment requires
them to put themselves in the place of a
character from the past and write from his
or her perspective. In doing so, the students
move outside their own world to understand the world of another and to gain
empathy for that person.
The students select one character from
the list below. Then they use their research
skills and imagination and write a first-person narrative of approximately 1,000
words, or approximately 5 pages, from that
person’s perspective, focusing on events
leading up to the crisis moment in that person’s life, the crisis moment itself, and the
aftermath. The crisis moment is most often
a highly dramatic event. I advise students
to take care to present accurate and specific
historical events in the character’s world.
In their narratives, students include the following information:
Content
1. the character’s place of birth
2. information about his or her home life,
including values and beliefs
3. cultural and historical events of the time
4. philosophical and theological convictions
5. aspirations and goals of the character
6. description of the character’s personality
7. events leading up to the Crisis Moment
8. the crisis moment
9. the thoughts and feelings of the character
before, during, and possibly after the event
Characters and Crisis Moments
The students may choose from the following characters and their respective crisis
moments, or they may select their own for
which they need approval. But in each case,
the culture of the character selected must
be very different from the students’.
Character
Rachel Rosenberg
Crisis Moment
Auschwitz, 1945
Cossette Renoir,
Maid to Louis XVI
Angus Joad
Natalie Romanov
Paris, 1794
Dust Bowl, 1930s
Moscow, 1917
Karl Schmidt,
German Soldier
Berlin, April, 1945
Maria Perez,
Migrant Worker
California, 1960s
Miguel Rodriquez,
March 5, 1836
San Antonio,Texas
Matthew Buchanan,
Royalist
American
Revolution 1776
Mary Kennedy,
AntiwarProtestor
Chicago, 1968
Mark Roosevelt
Kim Wilson
June 6, 1944
Normandy, France
My Lai, March 1968
Anna Kirinsky
Kosovo, 1999
Student Evaluation of the Assignment
Student evaluations of this assignment
have been positive and instructive. Students
have commented on the interesting, extensive
continued on pg. 3 ..............
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
3
Getting Your Students
Organized for Their
Next Presentation
Autobiographical Narrative
continued from pg. 3 ..........
Nichola D. Gutgold, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Speech
Communication
Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College
Fogelsville, Pennsylvania
dgn2@psu.edu
Children of Rehabilitation Clinic
in Arkansas, 1935
(From the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library)
This exercise aids people who are preparing
for a presentation because it motivates them
to think about why organizational patterns
are important and how to consider organizing
main points for a presentation. The exercise
also creates an interactive atmosphere and
thus is dynamic as an icebreaker.
research they had to do about the different
worlds of their characters. They appreciate
the opportunity to use their imagination and
creative abilities. One student made this
particular comment: “I liked this assignment because we got to be creative, and I
don’t get a chance to do that in school very
much.” Another student stated that the
assignment “was unique and encouraged us
to think of the human aspects of historical
events. It fostered our creative and artistic
abilities while at the same time required
factual research and learning.” Perhaps a
third student summaries the thoughts of many
others: “I was able to look into the lives of
people from the past who I normally
wouldn’t have even thought about. Their
struggle with trying to stay alive and have
a normal life are some things that I would
not have been able to imagine.” Other students’comments reflect this thought and
attitude.
The Autobiographical Narrative is an
assignment that has worked well in my
Introduction to Humanities course. It is an
assignment which takes the students out of
their own limited sphere and into the painful
world of another. It is a world much different
from their own—but one they come to imagine
and begin to know.
Give one bag to each group of four-five workshop participants. Ask members of each group
to organize the items in their bag as many
different ways as they can imagine. After
about ten-fifteen minutes, ask each group
to present to the rest of the participants the
various methods of organization that they
discovered. Groups will get very creative!
They will organize the groupings of items by
color, size, shape, preference, weight, patterns,
newness and oldness, etc. The explanation
of how they sorted the items is a great deal
of fun and usually causes the group to laugh
and become involved in imagining even
more ways than were listed by the groups.
Reference
Discussion
Merton, Thomas. Zen and the Birds of
Appetite. NewYork: New Directions: 1968.
Once this atmosphere is created, conduct a
discussion about the reasons we try to organize anything. Ask the overarching question:
“Why organize?”Answers will include cre-
•••••••••••••••
The Successful Professor
TM
Preparations
Collect groupings of approximately twenty
similar items. Such items may include spools
of thread, coins, post it notes, plastic cutlery,
playing cards buttons—anything with at least
twenty—and no more than thirty similar, but
slightly different pieces. Place each collection
in a small paper bag.
The Activity
ating understanding, being neat, and keeping
our sanity. Good organization means ordering
main points in a way that is appropriate for
your audience, fits the material, and serves
the purpose of the speech.
Instruction
Remind participants that the structure of a
presentation should follow the ways we naturally see and arrange things in their minds.
We rarely store information in individual
bits. Instead, we cluster material so that it
can be more easily recalled. Once information is grouped, information can be organized in several understandable patterns.
Then present an overhead or handout, like
the one below, that lists the major ways that
presentations are organized and discuss the
types of presentations that fit into the various patterns of organization.
Patterns of Organization
Spatial - shows the closeness of physical
relationships.
Cause and Effect - takes a situation and
traces its origins.
Chronological - offers an historical look at
a topic.
Problem-Solution - focuses attention on a
problem and then finds a solution.
Sequential - presents points in the order that
they should be taken.
Topical - shows the most significant different
types of points.
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
•••••••••••••••
4
Teaching Difficult
Concepts Simply Using
the Socratic Method
Don A. Berkowitz, Ph.D.
Academic Programs Coordinator
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland
db219@umail.umd.edu
Introduction: The Goals of the Professor
The goal of the professor is to profess, that
is, to impart knowledge to his students, but
what is the nature of that knowledge and
how is it to be imparted? Is that knowledge
simply a series of rubrics, reproducible
skills and vocabulary, or is it knowledge
which helps the student to think critically,
to apply concepts to new situations, and to
enable self-learning?
If, as college professors, all we do is
impart our subject matter in such a way
that it can simply be mentally regurgitated
on an exam, have we been successful?
Surely there is more to our profession than
training intelligent parrots. Regardless of
subject matter, the nature of teaching at the
college level must be to inspire our students
to think and to apply learned skills across
disciplines.
The Language Barrier
As professors, we are naturally enthusiastic
about our subject. Often, because we want
our students to master the terminolo gy, we
forget that behind the jargon lie the actual
concepts. Too often, we make sure the students can use the precise vocabulary, even
if their understanding of the real concepts
is only superficial. The correct vocabulary
is critical to convey to our students, but it is
far more critical to convey the concepts. As
we teach our students, we need to keep in
mind that the jargon of our professions is,
in the best case, alien to many of our students
in introductory courses. In the worst case,
it can be misleading.
The Use of Questions in Teaching
Building upon what students have
learned in their previous science courses,
I introduce basic concepts in plain, simple
language, and then bring in the more difficult terms later through the use of the Socratic
Method. This use of questions enables students to become active learners, even within
the lecture halls of the big universities. The
nature of these questions can vary considerably, but all share the trait of leading the
students to develop the concept within their
own minds rather than of “pouring it in.”
I have used the Socratic Method with
great success in teaching the particularly
difficult concept in freshman chemistry of
the reason particles of a substance attract
each other. In the process of questioning, I
receive a variety of answers too numerous
to include here. For brevity, I include a few
of my questions, students’ responses, and
my explanations. I present the technique
here as I would to my students in my class.
Topic: The Reason Particles of a
Substance Attract Each Other
Professor: In order to simplify things as much
as possible to understand this concept, let’s
consider particles (atoms) of helium gas,
the gas used to inflate balloons at the circus.
In essence, a helium atom is spherical in
shape.
What do you recall from your high
school chemistry course about the positive
and negative charges of the nucleus and its
electrons?
be at any given instant. The perfect symmetry
around the nucleus means that the electrons
are as likely to be at any position within the
outer “shell” as any other.
Now, what is the nature of the atom in
terms of its positive and negative charges?
Student: The atom is neutral.
Professor: Yes, overall the atom is neutral.
But why?
Student: Because the amount of positive
charge equals the amount of negative charge.
Professor: Correct. The amount of positive
charge exactly equals the amount of negative
charge. Charges work just like the poles of
a magnet, as in the illustration below. The
two north poles of the magnet are next to
each other.
S
N
N
S
Professor: Will the magnets as they appear,
based upon your experience, repel or attract
each other?
Student: The two magnets will repel each
other.
Professor: And why is that?
Student: Because “like repels like.”
Professor: Correct. What happens when we
turn one of the magnets around as illustrated
below?
Student: There is a positively charged nucleus
(inner circle) and a pair of negatively charged
electrons “circling” the nucleus.
N
S
N
S
Student: The magnets will attract each other.
Professor: And why is that?
Student: Because “opposites attract.”
Professor: As it turns out, this explanation
is just a bit simplistic. The picture above
tells us where the electrons are LIKELY to
Professor: Again correct. To summarize what
the magnet illustrations tell us, like poles
repel and opposite poles attract. The same
continued on pg. 6 ..............
The Successful Professor
TM
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
5
true at the instant the electrons are together
at the position of the triangle?
Teaching Difficult Concepts
continued from pg. 5 ..........
is true of electrical charges. Thus, two negative charges will repel each other. Let’s now
apply this concept to our lonely helium atom:
Professor: What do we know from the symmetry surrounding the nucleus (inner circle)?
Student: The electrons circle the atom.
Professor: Very good. More precisely, the
electrons are evenly dispersed throughout
the atom, meaning that the electrons are as
likely to be on one side as the other. Now,
what is the chance that at a particular instant
of time, the two electrons find themselves at
a particular point in the circle as represented
by the triangle below? [long pause. After a
minute or two, I respond to my own question.]
There is a tiny chance. Now think about this
situation and give me your answer: Is the
charge still equally dispersed at that moment?
Professor: Excellent! Let’s proceed into
more unchartered territory: If the left side
of the atom is now negative for the moment,
what can be presumed about the charge on
the right side, given that the overall atom
MUST be neutral?
Student: [Obviously swinging for the fence]
Perhaps the right side of the atom is positive.
Student: [confidently] They will attract.
Professor: Yes, relatively positive for the
moment. Well done. We call this concept
instantaneous dipole, that is, a positive and
negative “pole” existing for the instant. [I
introduce this term after the students have
learned the concept.] And now, let us consider the effect of this instantaneous dipole
on a neighboring helium atom: The atom
on the left is a perfectly average helium atom,
with its charges well-distributed throughout
the atom, when its next door neighbor suddenly “goes ballistic,” becoming an instan taneous dipole.
Professor: Yes, even if it is only for an instant.
Thus, the forces of attraction between two
neutrally charged particles, known as London
Dispersion Forces, are a result of probability.
[Note: I introduce additional terminology at
this point, after the point is made.] This
attraction explains the reason two neutral
atoms will have a small attraction for each
other. That they do so is good; otherwise,
no solids or liquids could exist because this
slight attraction between molecules holds
the molecules together to form solids and
liquids. [End of lesson.]
Conclusion
Now, what effect do you think all that negative
charge built up to one side of our dipole will
have on the left-hand atom? What effect will
the negative charge of the dipole have on the
evenly-dispersed negative charge on the
“normal” atom?
Student: [tentatively] No?
Professor: Okay. So, is the atom still neutral?
[long pause] This is an intentionally vague
question to lead you to the understanding that
the OVERALL charge is still zero. [longer
pause]
Student: [boldly] Could the left side of the
atom be more negative than the right side
as you have drawn it because . . . .
Professor: Yes, go on… Under what circumstances might this be the case?
Professor: Finally, what will happen to the
two atoms?
Student: [less tentatively] Could it be that
the electrons in the “normal atom” will now
be pushed to the left?
If my audience were taking their first course
in chemistry, I would further explain other
types of intermolecular forces and so forth.
My point here has been to take one of the
most difficult concepts in freshman chemistry,
namely, the reason particles of a substance
attract each other, and make it understandable. I have been successful by building on
what students learned in earlier science
courses and by using layman’s terminology
at first and then presenting the technical terms
only after students have learned the basic
concept. The specific technique I use for
imparting the information is the Socratic
Method in order to have the students develop
the concepts within their own minds.
Professor: And why is that?
Student: Because “like repels like,” as in
the first illustration of the magnet?
•••••••••••••••
Professor: Very astute. As in the illustration
below, the left-hand side of each of these
dipoles is now slightly negative, while the
right side is slightly positive. Note that the
two sides nearest each other are of opposite
charge!
Student: [less boldly] Could it be that it is
The Successful Professor
TM
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
6
An Approach to Grading
in a Process-Oriented
Composition Course
Richard Johnson
Assistant Professor of English
Kirkwood Community College
Iowa City, Iowa
rjohnso@kirkwood.cc.ia.us
The way we grade students’performance
speaks volumes about what we truly value
in our courses. For more years than I care
to admit, I taught what I considered to be
process-oriented composition courses; and
yet by looking at my grading policies in
those courses, one could hardly tell that the
writing process movement had ever happened
at all. The marks in my gradebook were
based on product, product, and more product. No marks indicated whether a student
was learning good habits as a writer. No
marks at all signified that she was internalizing a reliable process or approach that
would see her through a lifetime of writing.
My course description claimed to value
one outcome, but my gradebook told a different story.
A process-centered writing course
with a product-centered grading policy is a
course still in the process of becoming
process centered. For me, the shift to a
more fully process-oriented course
required that I stop thinking of my classes
as comparable to most of the other courses
my students take—economics, psychology,
biology, and so on—in which the professor
and the textbook together dispense some
academic content for students to absorb.A
writing course just is not that sort of
course. It is a skills class. My job is not to
impart knowledge but to foster certain
kinds of effective habits. In a very real
sense, teaching writing is less like teaching
those other courses than it is like teaching
driver’s education: my job is to encourage
the kinds of habitual practices that will
guide students through whatever sunny or
stormy, open or congested writing conditions life throws at them.
The Successful Professor
TM
Practice & Process
My gradebook nowadays includes four sections: practice, process, product, and professionalism. Under “practice” I record
marks for short writing exercises—mostly
sentence-level work—and the marks are
usually simply ones and zeroes: they did it
or they did not. Under “process” I give
credit for the kinds of writing habits I am
trying to foster. Because we know that the
better writers—both student writers and
professional writers—tend to devote a great
deal of attention to the pre-writing invention stage, I reward students for exhibiting
just such habits: the use of lists, clusters,
freewriting, sketch outlines—all these are
habits to be rewarded and so are worth
credit.
Similarly, I award credit when I see
evidence that students are learning to make
significant revisions to their drafts. My old
gradebook seemed to suggest that the point
of my composition courses was to make a
few particular bits of writing as good as
they could be—rather than to help a few
writers learn some useful and lasting strategies. The point of conferences with students
and writing all those revision suggestions
on their drafts is not to make these particular
essays as good as they can be. Rather, the
whole point of assigning the essays in the
first place is simply to provide occasions
for students to learn and to practice lifelong
strategies, like deep revision. I do not care
how brilliant the first or the last drafts are;
if the student has not had to revise, she has
not met a fundamental course objective.
And if the only revision she undertakes is
what I suggest she do, then all I have done
is to make her co-dependent. My job, as a
teacher of the process of writing, is to wean
students from English teachers altogether. I
am, after all, very likely the last English
teacher they will ever have.
In addition to assigning credit to students whose drafts exhibit evidence of
invention strategies and significant revision,
I also award “process” credit for what I call
“afterthoughts memos”—essentially, letters
they write to me in which they reflect upon
their learning: what worked in this piece,
what they are still unsure of, what they feel
they learned as a writer by working
through this assignment.
Product & Professionalism
The “product” section of my gradebook,
naturally, is where I record scores on students’ final drafts. It is still an important
part of their total grade, of course, but in
the old days this “product” section essentially comprised my entire gradebook. The
fourth section, “professionalism,” includes
a variety of marks for sound study habits,
teamwork, and service to the class: meeting
deadlines, participating in workshops, writing helpful feedback to peers, serving on
teams—all the sorts of responsible, learned
behaviors that may at some point keep my
students from getting fired from a job.
Like any teacher developing a new
grading system, I juggled the weightings
and ran some likely scenarios until I was
satisfied that my grades would be fair. What
I have, now, is a grading policy that reflects
what I value as a teacher. My students’grades
are no longer based solely upon their final
products but reflect, instead, my desire to
see them develop lifelong habits that will
serve them long after we have all forgotten
what any of the assigned topics were even
about.
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7
Helping Students Become
Lifelong Learners Through
Portfolio Development
Tamarah M. Ashton, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Special Education
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330-8265
tamarah.ashton@csun.edu
Wendy W. Murawski, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Special Education
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330-8265
wwmurawski@yahoo.com
The New Webster’s Dictionary (Patterson,
1992) defines a teacher as being someone
who “informs.” Clearly, in order to inform,
one must be informed. As society changes,
we must all struggle to stay abreast of our
respective fields and continually seek to
update ourselves about the latest accepted
best practice in that field. For example, those
of us in Teacher Education must understand
the current state of affairs in educational
reform in order to inform our students accordingly. By demonstrating and modeling these
skills, we are training our students to be lifelong learners themselves.
Because we believe in teaching teachers
skills rather than adopting a “hope and pray”
attitude that students will attain them through
observation (or perhaps osmosis), we require
our students (i.e., teachers in training) to
develop and maintain portfolios. Certainly,
portfolios are not new to the field of education.
They have been used as methods of alternative,
more authentic measures of performance
for both students (Wesson & King, 1996)
and faculty (Fallon & Watts, 2001) since
the mid-1980’s wave of educational reform
efforts (Calfee, 1994).
At the collegiate level, education students
often use portfolios as a mechanism to
organize handouts, notes, and assignments
from their education coursework. Later, as
The Successful Professor
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they begin their initial observations of children
and their fieldwork experiences in various
classrooms, they can transfer the skills and
knowledge they have acquired to their les son planning, goal writing, and student
evaluations. In other professions or fields of
study, students would be able to incorporate
various projects, real life examples, and other
documents which help to demonstrate the
competencies they've mastered or in the
process of mastering.
The teaching profession is governed by
a variety of local, state, and federal guidelines or standards. Specifically, we have our
students use the “California Standards for the
Teaching Profession” (California Commission
on Teacher Credentialing and the California
Department of Education, 1997) to guide
the development of their portfolios. Listed
below are the six major cluster areas of the
"Standards," and some of the items we recommend teachers in training develop and
include under each heading.
This is not a static assignment. Students
are encouraged to start compiling their
portfolios immediately at the beginning of
their program. While instructors require certain
items to be added each semester, the portfolio
contents frequently go through numerous
permutations before students actually complete
their credentialing. However, completion of
a credential does not signal the end of portfolio maintenance. Though teachers may be
tempted to place the portfolio on a shelf once
they have used it to acquire a teaching position, faculty strongly encourage students to
maintain and update their portfolios on a
continual basis. As best practice in the field
changes, professors overtly model how they
have updated their own skills by changing
lesson plans and teaching methodology to
reflect new content. This emphasis on
maintenance and continued improvement is
one of the ways in which portfolios become a
symbol to teachers of the importance of
life-long learning, a quality that we believe
they will then pass on to their students as well.
As teacher educators who work with
students at the pre-service as well as graduate
level, we have personally experienced the
success of these portfolios. We continue to
see students use the portfolios to obtain
employment, to prepare for master's degree
comprehensive exams, and to reflect and
improve on their own skills as educators.
Students comment that their portfolios serve
as an excellent organizational tool, a way to
demonstrate competencies to others, and
a motivator which helps them see how far
they have come and how much they have
truly learned.
Although the field of education has
rapidly begun to adopt portfolios as a valid
means of assessing the competencies of both
students and teachers (Bloom & Bacon, 1995;
Doyle, 1996; Murawski & Ashton, 2001),
Rainforth (1996) states that portfolios allow
for the demonstration of competencies
important in any profession. We submit that,
while the demonstration of competencies is
critical in assessing a person’s current performance, it is the on-going evaluation and
improvement of skills that lead to life-long
learning. Portfolios are a means by which one
can personally evaluate, analyze, and subsequently improve, his or her own professional
skills. This reflection and targeted improvement
of skills is what we want our teachers-intraining to do. In fact, this is what we believe
all successful professors want their students
to do. Thus, we suggest that professors in
all disciplines consider the use of portfolios
as a means by which they can encourage their
students to begin this very important process.
References
Bloom, L., & Bacon, E. (1995).
“Professional portfolios: An alternative perspective on the preparation of teachers of
students with behavioral disorders.”
Behavior Disorders, 20(4), 290-300.
Calfee, R. C. (1994). Ahead to the Past:
Assessing Student Achievement in Writing.
Washington, D.C.: Office of Educational
Research and Improvement. (ERIC
Document Reproduction Service No. ED
374-433).
continued on pg. 9 ..............
VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 2
8
Helping Students
continued from pg. 8 ..........
California Commission on Teacher
Credentialing and the California
Department of Education. (1997).
“California Standards for the Teaching
Profession.” Sacramento, CA: State of
California.
Fallon, M. A., & Watts, E. (2001).
“Portfolio assessment and use: Navigating
unchartered territory.” Teacher Education
and Special Education, 24(1), 50-57.
Murawski, W. W., & Ashton, T. (2001).
“The ABC’s of any quality portfolio.” Paper
submitted for publication.
Patterson, R. F. (Ed.) (1992). The New
Webster's Dictionary. Miami, FL: P.S.I. &
Associates.
I: Engaging and Supporting
all Students in Learning
• case study
• description of instructional strategies
employed in the classroom
• sample lesson plans promoting choice,
problem solving, critical thinking
II: Creating and Maintaining
an Effective Environment
for Students
• visual representation of classroom layout
• classroom rules
• consequences for behavior
• positive behavior support
• management plan
• description of routines and transitions
• daily schedule
III: Understanding and Organizing
Subject Matter Knowledge for
Student Learning
• explanation of classroom curriculum
unit plan
• description of resources available in
classroom
IV: Planning Instruction and
Designing Learning
Experiences for All Students
Rainforth, B. (1996). “Portfolio assessment
in higher education.” Presentation at the
Annual Meeting of the TASH Conference,
New Orleans, LA.
Wesson, C. L., & King, R. P. (1996).
“Portfolio assessment and special education
students.” Teaching Exceptional Children,
28(2), 44-48.
V: Assessing Student Learning
•••••••••••••••
VI: Developing as a Professional
Educator
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• samples of Individual Education
Programs (IEPs) and system for
monitoring goals and objectives
• sample modification plan for students
with disabilities, English language
learners, gifted, etc.
• description of coordination between
general and special education teachers
• description and example of informal
assessment procedure utilized
• list of formal assessment tools trained
to administer
• sample data charts
• sample protocols
• sample write-up of assessment data
• description of how assessment results
are communicated to parents
• copies of any credentials previously
obtained
• copies of previous and current
evaluations list and brief description
of committees, task forces, etc
• copies of letters of recommendation,
letter/notes from parents, notes from
students
• examples of communications to
parents
• description of work in the community
and with parents
• certificates received for attending
workshops and conferences
• copies or description of any awards
received
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Meet the Authors
Dr. Sherwyn P. Morreale, Ph.D. is the Associate Director of the National Communication
Association (NCA) based in Washington, D. C. She earned an undergraduate degree in
communication at the University of Colorado, and her Ph.D. at the University of Denver.
She has authored two communication textbooks and numerous journal articles and convention
papers. At NCA she provides consulting services to communication departments and
college campuses. She represents the communication field as the disciplinary liaison to
interdisciplinary organizations such as the American Association for Higher Education,
the American Association of Colleges and Universities, the Carnegie Foundation, and the
Council of Graduate Schools.
Don H. Wulff, Ph.D. is a affiliate graduate faculty member in Speech Communication,
Director of the Center for Instructional Development and Research, and Assistant Dean in
the Graduate School at the University of Washington in Seattle. He earned his doctorate in
speech communication at the University of Washington in 1985. His teaching areas include
instructional and interpersonal communication, communication education, and teaching and
learning in higher education. His research has focused on teaching and learning in higher
education with current emphasis on the development of graduate students as prospective
teaching scholars. In addition, Don has consulted and published widely on teaching and
learning in higher education and has served in leadership roles in various national educational
organizations and on editorial review boards for Communication Education, The Journal for
Graduate Teaching Assistant Development, ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports, and
The Journal of Higher Education.
Nichola D. Gutgold, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of speech communication at Penn
State Berks-Lehigh Valley College. Her work includes pedagogy related to teaching
public speaking and the rhetoric of women. Her recent projects include a book on the
rhetoric of Elizabeth Dole and a chapter on the rhetoric of Betty Ford. An active consultant,
she enjoys teaching public speaking, professional and organizational communication and
negotiation skills.
Don Berkowitz, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in physical chemistry in 1981 and has been
the recipient of many teaching awards including the Chemical Manufacturer’s Association
Regional Catalyst Award for Excellence in Two-Year College Science Teaching in 1990.
He has been teaching chemistry, physics and related sciences for 26 years at the secondary,
junior college, community college, and university levels. He is currently the Academic
Programs Coordinator at the University of Maryland Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry and is responsible for training Teaching Assistants, the undergraduate program,
and for a new Statewide Initiative, REACTS, to advance chemical education at the K-14
level across Maryland and the District of Columbia.
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Meet the Authors
Richard Johnson studied English Education at the University of Iowa. Before accepting
his current position at Kirkwood Community College in Iowa City, he taught in both
public and private high schools. At Kirkwood he teaches a full spectrum of writing
courses, including developmental writing, English for non-native speakers, and first-year
composition and rhetoric, as well as a literature course in creative nonfiction. Professor
Johnson also directs the Writing Center on Kirkwood’s Iowa City campus. He serves
on the board of trustees for Scattergood Friends School, a college-preparatory Quaker
boarding school.
Tamarah M. Ashton, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Special
Education at California State University, Northridge. She holds a bachelor’s of music
education from Western Michigan University, master’s degrees in Counselor Education
and Special Education from San Diego State University, and a doctorate in special
education from The Claremont Graduate University/San Diego State University joint
program. Her research interests include assessment of diverse learners, teacher education,
and instructional/technological adaptations for students with learning disabilities.
Wendy W. Murawski, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Special
Education at California State University, Northridge. From the College of William and
Mary in Virginia, she received baccalaureate degrees in comparative literature and
German, a master’s degree in special education, and an educational specialist degree in educational administration. She completed her doctorate in special education at the
University of California, Riverside. Her research interests include co-teaching, collaboration, staff development, and teacher education.
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