The Course Portfolio
Danielle Mihram, Director
Center for Excellence in Teaching
University of Southern California

What is a Course Portfolio?

No single standard formula, but defining features:

A focus on the course: From conception to results

A spotlight on student learning

A process of scholarly inquiry into approaches to teaching

Five Practical Functions of the
Course Portfolio

They serve as an aid to memory
– What worked, what didn’t?

They help in investigating student learning
– (Are they learning what I am teaching? Are they getting it? What happens to their understanding of the field itself?

They are available to others for discussion, feedback, and formal review

They are a way of bringing peer recognition of teaching excellence
 They make a contribution to one’s field by influencing others in the field

What kind of documentation is included in a Course Portfolio?

Course design (syllabus)
 Pieces of evidence (this constitutes a wide array which varies from field to field). A few examples:
– Weekly diary
– Samples of work that are key to course design (problem sets, artifacts, reflections relating to student art or writing groups, study guides, hardcopy of electronic exchanges with individual students)
– Videotaped class sessions
– Peer observations of class sessions
– Reports from student group work
– Student projects (paper or electronic)

Documentation (Continued)

Evidence of student learning
– Longitudinal or vertical sampling of student responses to assignments or projects

Reflective essays
– Evaluative summaries of classroom assessment data
– Reflective essays on the progress of the course
– In final portion of portfolio: implications and lessons learned

How much documentation is enough?

Axiom: An ideal portfolio is both brief and complete

Electronic course portfolios are perhaps the the best format currently
– Randy Bass (Georgetown University)
» http://georgetown.edu/bassr/portfolio/amlit
– William W. Cutler III (Temple University)
» http://wwwtheaha.org/teaching/aahe/aahecover.html
– The Knowledge Media Laboratory
» http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/klm/KLM.htm

How do I organize the information?

A clear table of contents (annotated perhaps)

An executive summary (or some kind of overview)

Tabs or color-coding to divide sections

How long does it take? How will
I find the time?

Time required varies from field to field and from individual to individual

Ideally, documentation for the course portfolio develops in tandem with the delivery of the course (About an hour of reflective comments per week.).

When cumulated the time amounts to approximately 15-20 hours or less.

How do I know when I am “On the Right Track”?

If the course is team-taught collaborate with the other colleagues to assemble the course portfolio

Find a colleague (or another TA) with similar motivation or ask CET to help you find someone on campus with similar knowledge-base, goals and incentives

Faculty usually solicit outside responses (e.g., Bass,
Cutler), then build on the process

Is it worth my while to spend time on a course portfolio?

Ultimately it is a question of value:
• How long does it take to conduct research? Is such a question asked in the context of research?
• Course portfolios should be subject to peer review: is peer-reviewed research worth my time?