Hi there! I'm hoping to hear from a number of Walden students who are currently working towards their Masters in Education. My question for you is, "What do you think of the portfolio process?
Do you think this is truly a valuable learning experience or is it better identified as excessive busy work?"
I am of the opinion that the portfolio is not designed to do what it is supposed to do. I feel like its greatest accomplishments are simply stressing out students and causing hours upon hours of writing while taking precious time away from our own students.
Here are some of my opinions-I'm sure I'll add more as we go....
1. The portfolio does not accurately demonstrate our teaching abilities, merely our ability to write papers.
However-our class assignments show that we are now capable of creating wikis, blogs (I had never really heard much about blogs until Walden, and look at me now!), VoiceThreads, Podcasts, electronic concept maps, participating in online discussions and collaborating globally-skills that we demonstrate we now have, an also demonstrate our understanding of how such items can positively impact our students' learning through the already created reflections.
2. The portfolio does not meet the needs of diverse learners.
(I for one, struggle to write papers, however I am assessed time and again on my ability to write and to use APA formatting despite the numerous resources Walden has had us view regarding ways to use technology to demonstrate understanding in other ways.)
3. I value our coursework and feel that I have learned amazing things about how to integrate technology into my classroom. I have put in countless hours every week (30-40hrs each week) on weekly coursework, and I value the assignments. If the assignments are truly quality in nature (which I think they are even though they don't meet the various needs of Walden's students) then they should be sufficient for our portfolio artifacts.
4. Research shows that portfolios are most effective when teachers are knowledgable about the requirements and able to offer advice for students. However, very few Walden professors have any access to this process at all. I have contacted the portfolio support and often get vague answers that don't answer anything until I express my dissatisfaction with their response.
5. Portfolio scoring is subjective in nature-not offering an accurate evaluation process.
6. I thought our resources stated that assessments should be part of the learning process, not separate. If we were able to just upload artifacts from our courses then I feel this would be the case. However, since we are to do so much stuff aside from coursework to meet the requirements for the portfolio I do not feel Walden is "practicing what it preaches".
7. Walden claims to be student centered...with the immense amount of anxiety and stress shared about these portfolios, it is evident that the process needs to be reconsidered.
8. Research also shows that in order for portfolios to be successful, students must clearly understand the requirements. The steps in taskstream are sometimes difficult to follow and I feel the descriptions of portfolio artifacts are so wordy (some are 40-75 pages), and the terminology used is such that it makes it very difficult to clearly understand what we are being asked to do.
9. The time commitment required to complete the portfolio artifacts is not manageable. (I personally have to take time off work-away from my students just to complete these at a very basic level-this goes against Walden's Student-Centered Motto "With close to 85% of our students pursuing their degrees while working full time or self-employed, Walden is dedicated to supporting busy adult learners, just like you, every step of the way....Our flexible online format offers an engaging online learning model that is designed to fit your busy schedule, which means you can participate in classes on a weekly basis whenever it's convenient for you.")
**I feel that most of us are really feeling the pressure of these transition points. I don't know that anything will change, but I feel I must do something to at least let our voices be heard. Nothing will change if we don't speak up.
I am currently working on a letter to send to the Dean of Education. If you have any other ideas or comments, or quotes to back up these opinions, please share them. I also encourage you to contact the Dean (kate.steffens@waldenu.edu) stating any concerns you may have.
I am asking for your input on the current portfolio process. I am also asking for you to post a sentence or two regarding your stance, whether you value it as a valuable learning experience or simply excessive busy work.
If you agree with these comments, but don't know what else to say, you may also just reply with a brief, "I agree".
I also encourage you to let others know about this posting, I want feedback from as many Walden students as possible. Please let me know if you have any ideas of other actions we should take.
To the Walden administrators, I know that Walden's motto is that they are student centered. I encourage you to demonstrate this by creating and sharing a survey that allows us to share our honest opinions regarding the portfolio process in regards to our learning experiences here at Walden and then sharing the responses with us. Please select the questions carefully as to give an accurate picture of our perceptions, and not to skew the results in one way or another.
Mindy Hart
Here is my final letter to the Dean: (It is not perfect, but I don't have time to make it perfect at this point.)
November 24, 2012
Dear Dean of Education,
Walden University is proud to offer
higher education while being student-centered.
They proudly boast on the website, that “We understand how important it
is to provide you with the resources and services you need to meet the needs of
both your professional and personal lives”.
It is in regards to this claim that I find myself contacting you with my
concerns about the current portfolio process, questioning why our coursework is
not sufficient for portfolio artifacts, and asking you to reconsider the
requirements for portfolio artifacts.
Although I do value portfolios as an
effective way to demonstrate growth, I do not feel that the current portfolio
requirements are accomplishing what it was designed to accomplish. As our Walden courses have taught us, “Making
an educational experience relevant and meaningful should include making the
method of assessment relevant and meaningful” (as cited in Lambert, DePaepe,
Lambert & Anderson, 2008, p. 77). At
this point it seems the portfolio’s greatest accomplishments are stressing out
students and causing hours upon hours of writing papers while taking precious
time away from the students in our classrooms.
I would like you to consider the
use of our Walden coursework to meet the requirements for the portfolio for
these reasons:
- The current portfolio doesn’t accurately demonstrate our teaching
abilities-merely our writing abilities.
“Student assessments that are
limited to a single medium immediately impose barriers that prevent some
students from accurately demonstrating their skills and knowledge” (Cennamo,
Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 125). The current portfolio process and rubric
more accurately assess our abilities to write papers, and follow APA guidelines
instead of our ability to create meaningful learning experiences for our
students. I, for one, am not a strong
writer, so the fact that the portfolio is comprised of extensive papers, limits
my ability to demonstrate mastery of the content to the fullest extent. Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer state that, “You
should use a variety of assessment formats and tools that are matched to your
students’ learning goals and that provide an adequate picture of student
understanding” (2009, p. 143). They go
on to say that, “Assessments are useless unless you score them to evaluate
students’ progress and determine whether your students learned what they set
out to learn” (2009, p. 153). I ask you to reflect, is the portfolio really
assessing what we have learned or is it just assessing our ability to
understand murky directions and the ability to regurgitate what we think they want
us to say?
“Assessments should be woven
throughout instruction to serve many purposes and can take many forms. Just as you should vary your instruction and
select multiple methods for presenting your instruction, you will draw upon
multiple assessment formats and tools to support them” (Cennamo, 163). Our assignments through our Walden courses
have provided a variety of assessment and varying ways for us to demonstrate
our newly acquired knowledge. Our
courses have introduced us to many new forms of technology and have required us
to partake in authentic experiences by engaging with the technology and gaining
a solid understanding of 21st century skills. Our weekly assignments have demonstrated our
ability to create wikis, blogs, podcasts, VoiceThreads and our ability to
collaborate with a global network. The
reflection component of these assignments demonstrates our ability to apply our
newly acquired skills to design meaningful experiences for our students, which
directly aligns with NCATE standard 1 that “requires teacher candidates to
demonstrate that they are able to facilitate student learning of the subject
matter…through the integration of technology” (NCATE, 2012).
It is amazing to me how many of my
colleagues and I have worked hard to earn and maintain a 4.0 in our classes but
still risk not getting our degree due to the portfolio process. If we have demonstrated that we are able to
utilize these various technologies and that we are able to create learning
experiences for our students using the technology, then why is this not
sufficient for our portfolio? As students, we greatly value the education we
have obtained through our courses; it is unfortunate that Walden does not value
these course assignments.
- It does not meet the diverse needs of Walden students.
“Culturally responsive pedagogy
suggests you have to know and understand the learning styles, preferences, and
abilities of your students in order to provide successful learning
experiences” (Cennamo, p. 166). ISTE NETS-T Standard 4.b indicates that you
will address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered
strategies”(Cennamo, p. 167). However
the current portfolio falls short of this.
Just as Daniel Broersma, a colleague of mine, shared on my blog post (http://m-hart.blogspot.com/2012/11/walden-portfolio-process-opinions-please.html
I encourage you to visit this blog to see other students’ responses as
well. I just poste my initial questions/concerns
yesterday and have already had a number of replies in 24 hours) regarding the
portfolio process, “it is doing a disservice to us all that every education
major must complete the same portfolio.
When we log into the ePortfolio, we must click on the link that clearly
states ‘all specializations’ despite the numerous specialization areas Walden
offers.”
Research has shown that, “For portfolios to be truly authentic, they
have to relate to each students’ academic major” (Shavelson & Klein,
2009). Since the requirements for our
portfolio are generic and fall into the cookie cutter, “one size fits all
mindset” it is obvious that our current portfolio process falls short of being
truly authentic. However, the
assignments that we complete in our courses are specific to our specialization
area and demonstrate our abilities using a variety of media. If these artifacts were utilized in the
creation of our portfolio, our assessment process would be more authentic, and
student centered, just as Walden has deemed as “best practice”.
- Expectations are unclear.
“The guidelines and criteria for
the selection of materials contained in the portfolio should be explained and
made clear to your students” (Cennamo,
Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p. 152). The
resources to access the directions for our current portfolio are very hard to
access and understand. The descriptions
for many of the portfolio artifacts are extremely wordy and may range from
20-45+ pages. The vocabulary used to
describe the requirements is confusing and vague, leaving the students guessing
what is expected of them, leading to increased stressed and anxiety. With
every approaching transition point discussion boards are filled with student
questions regarding how to understand the directions, and trying to guess what
is expected of us. Tell me, is the
purpose of the portfolio to assess our ability to decipher the pages upon pages
of vague descriptions, or should the purpose be to demonstrate our abilities to
create meaningful and effective lessons for our students? Is the purpose of this Masters to be a
writing scholar or to become a better teacher overall?
Research shows that portfolios are
most effective when teachers are knowledgeable about the requirements and able
to offer advice for students. After
contacting numerous professors, it has become evident that very few Walden
professors have any access to this process at all. Many have just redirected us to the portfolio
support team, admitting they have no information regarding the portfolio
process. I ask you, if the portfolio is
such an important component of our education then why aren’t your professors
familiar with the process? I have contacted the portfolio support team a
number of times and have gotten vague answers that did not answer my
questions. Instead I had to contact them
again, sharing my dissatisfaction with their response in order to get a reply
to my question.
“Students who understand the goals
of their schoolwork are more likely to stay focused, monitor themselves
successfully, and drive satisfaction from their practice” (as cited in Cennamo
et al., 2009, p. 122). Throughout the
seven courses I have completed, I have found the weekly expectations to be
rigorous, yet manageable. Progressing
with each week, and relating to the weekly resources, it has been easy to
understand, and recognize the importance of each assignment. Also,
should questions arise, we have had the great support of our professors and our
colleagues to assist us with understanding our course requirements and to help
us extend our thinking to the next level.
Our coursework and discussions
more accurately demonstrate our level of understanding and the ability to apply
this new knowledge to our classrooms than the portfolio pieces ever will.
- Time
According to the Walden website,
85% of its students are pursuing their degrees while working full time or self-employed. We are trying to juggle our ever-demanding
careers with the rigorous Walden course requirements. On a daily basis I spend between 10-12 hours
every day of the week preparing for the students in my classroom. I value my learning experiences from Walden
and each week I spend a minimum of
35 hours on my weekly Walden coursework, reviewing resources, even the optional
resources, writing papers and discussions, and being an active participant in
the online forums. This leaves
approximately 7 hours a day left to sleep, commute, pay bills, buy groceries, shower
if I’m lucky, and eat (notice I did not mention any free time, exercise, or even
time with family). I have not attended
any family events in the past 14 months.
I have missed my grandparents’ 91st birthday, seeing my
cousin who has been teaching in Germany the past 15 years, my husband’s birthday,
and I have had to put off starting a family.
The fact that the majority of the
artifacts for the portfolio must be completed outside of class causes a great
deal of stress and anxiety for students.
There simply isn’t enough time in the day. There is no time left in the remaining 7
hours a day to put forth the energy and effort needed to complete the portfolio
to the degree that is necessary.
The eighth week of each course is
“set aside” for us to work on portfolio assignments, however many of these artifacts
claim that they take more than one week to complete. Most of us have not had one single day off
away from Walden work since we began 14 months ago. I have even utilized the 8th week
of each course and still find myself beyond behind. I
noticed that Walden posted an announcement a few weeks ago that said to relax
and rejuvenate over the holiday season. Unfortunately,
we will be unable to relax when we have the stress of portfolio checkpoints 3
and 4 on our shoulders. I also noticed that
the Walden offices were closed for Thanksgiving. I’m sure this was nice for the Walden
employees, however the students still had an enormous amount of work to do.
Numerous colleagues are sick from working such hours; some are now on
medication for anxiety due to this process.
I ask you, is Walden really living up to its claims that it is designed
with working professionals in mind?
Since the majority of Walden’s
students are also working full-time jobs, they simply don’t have the time and
energy to create artifacts aside from the weekly assignments. One study found that, “because they are
responsible for applying their knowledge and managing a classroom, students
hurriedly completed the tasks and collected the artifacts, detracting from the
overall purpose of the e-portfolio”
(Parker, Ndoye, Ritzhaupt, p. 104).
With each portfolio checkpoint I have found that I have had to take days
off work, away from my students, to simply complete these tasks, which has had
a negative impact on my students’ learning, and goes directly against the
school of education’s claim, “our faculty members understand your day-to-day
and professional needs” (Walden
University, 2012).
“The National Council for
Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) has played a large role in the rapid
increase of e-portfolio use because ‘institutions are expected to use
technology to maintain their assessment systems” (Parker, Ndoye, Ritzhaupt, p.
99). However, according the FAQ page on
the NCATE website, it does not require schools to have portfolio assessments
(NCATE, 2012). Portfolios are great way
to showcase what we have learned when artifacts are selected appropriately, and
I feel that our Walden coursework more accurately demonstrates what we have
learned than the current portfolio requirements. Walden has taught us that technology should
be used to do things that are not possible without the use of technology, not
simply for the sake of using technology.
The only way our current portfolio supports technology is by allowing us
to save our artifacts online, but it does not allow us to use technology to do
new things or to demonstrate our competencies using a variety of media.
However, our coursework has allowed us to develop 21st Century
Skills to collaborate with peers to make a group wiki, sharing our opinions and
viewpoints using VoiceThreads, and allowing our voices to be heard through
Podcasts and blogs. These assignments
allow us to learn from others, to extend our thinking, and truly demonstrate
what we have learned through our time at Walden.
As I near the end of my eighth
course, I am feeling the immense pressure of the next two checkpoints and felt
the need to share my concerns, as well as the concerns of my classmates. I truly do value my experiences through
Walden and I urge you to reconsider the requirements for the portfolio process.
I encourage you to get honest feedback
from Education majors on the portfolio process through an open forum (like the
one I posted in my blog: http://m-hart.blogspot.com/2012/11/walden-portfolio-process-opinions-please.html),
or through a survey. If the portfolio
really does create a valuable learning experience instead of just extra busy
work, then this will be revealed in the results of the survey. I caution you to select questions carefully
and to provide sections for open-ended responses to avoid skewing the results. I also encourage you to conduct research to
see what was the determining factor for students who have decided to drop out
as well as statistics to show how many education majors pay the fee to have
continued access to their portfolio. This research, with appropriate action will
help to meet the needs of Walden’s students, provide insight into student
perceptions of the portfolio process, and it may help to improve graduation
rates in the future.
I found it comforting to know that you have
stated that, “There is a strength that comes from just listening to people”
(University of Minnesota, 2010). It is
great to have a Dean who is committed to improving the university and staying
true to being student-centered. I do not
like to complain but when there is an issue as large as this, I feel I must do
my part to make my classmates’ and my voice heard. I appreciate your time; I will be eagerly
awaiting your reply on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Mindy Hart
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. &
Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use:
A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Lambert,
C., DePaepe, J., Lambert, L, & Anderson, D. (2007) e-Portfolios in
Action. Kappa Delta Pi Record. 43.
2. 76-81. Retrieved from the Education
Research Complete database.
NCATE. (2012).
FAQ of NCATE Standards. Retrieved
from: http://www.ncate.org/standards/NCATEunitstandards/FAQAboutStandards/tabid/406/default.aspx#faq11
Parker,
Ndoye, Ritzhaupt. (2011). Qualitative Analysis of Student Perceptions
of E-Portfolios in a Teacher Education Program.
International Journal of ePortfolio. 1, 95-106.
Retrieved from the Eric database
Shavelson
& Klein. (2009). The Limitations of Portfolios. Retrieved from Inside Higher Ed at: http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/16/shavelson#ixzz2Cz20wzT7
University
of Minnesota. (2010). Connect.
Retrieved from: http://www.cehd.umn.edu/Connect/2010Spring/Higher-Ed.html
Walden
University. (2012). Retrieved from: www.waldenu.edu
