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Stud e nt p re se nting the ir e Po rtfo lio to jud g e s

mcnrc

Mastery ePortfolio Defense

Contents

Description of Practice

MPeP Def ense Context

Ref lections

Impact and Evidence

Practice Identif iers

Helping students advance their learning

Attachments and Supporting Documents

Conclusion

The f ollowing practice, teacher candidate students’ def ense of a mastery presentation-style ePortfolio(MPeP), constitutes part of a programmatic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (TLA) ePortf olio in EarlyChildhood Education.

Social pedagogy has been def ined as a “design approachf or teaching and learning that engages students withwhat we might call an “authentic audience” (other than theteacher), where the representation of knowledge f or anaudience is absolutely central to the construction ofknowledge in a course” (Bass & Elmendorf , 2012).

At the end of the senior year, teacher candidate students(TCs) in the Early Childhood Education capstone presentand def end their mastery presentation-style ePortf olio(MPeP) to an authentic audience as one of theculminating experiences in their program. The MPePcaptures the students’ documentation of the NationalAssociation f or the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)standards. Although the TCs prepare all six NAEYCstandards in their MPeP, f or their def ense they present one standard that is randomly chosen.

The oral def ense allows TCs to demonstrate the student learning outcome of communication to an authenticaudience comprised of peers, f aculty other than the instructor, and guests. Each MPeP def ense consists oftwo parts: 1) an overview which includes an interpretation of the NAEYC standard comprising sample artif actsthat address the standard and demonstrate the TCs’ skills /competencies in this area; and 2) aquestion/answer session where each TCs responds to audience questions related to the TCs’ understandingof the standard, their selection process f or the artif acts, and a discussion of their personal portf oliodevelopment process.

Maste ry e Po rtfo lio De fe nse , De ce mb e r 16, 2013

Sharing in a me al p rio r to the Maste rye Po rtfo lio De fe nse

The portf olio development process consists of a self analysis of the TCs’ mastery of the competencies withinthe standard, a description of the f eatured artif acts, an analysis of how the artif acts demonstrate thecompetency, and what TCs have learned f rom the artif act creation (ref lection). The MPeP def ense provides ahigh stakes setting that replicates a job interview process. Since the MPeP is presentation-based, it can alsobe easily shared with others to establish credibility with colleagues, parents and other stakeholders.

Author

The practice was developed by Lynn Worden, Ph.D., Assistant Prof essor and Undergraduate Coordinator in theDepartment of Human Development & Family Studies, with f eedback f rom f aculty colleagues and TeacherCandidate Students.

Submitted by ePortf olio Leadership Team

Description of Practice

MPeP Defense Context

Senior teacher candidate students in the Early ChildhoodEducation capstone def end their MPeP to an authenticaudience at the University of Delaware LaboratoryPreschool. The TCs are placed into small groups with af aculty evaluator and guests in each group. Guestsusually include program f aculty external to the capstonecourse, f aculty f rom other departments, universityadministrators, ePortf olio support staf f (e.g., members ofthe C2L UD team), and colleagues f rom the localcommunity college.

The f aculty evaluators receive copies of the MPePDef ense rubric f or each student. The TCs’ ability to“def end” their portf olio is crit iqued in 6 areas: (1)Preparation, (2) Overview of standard, (3) Contentknowledge and analysis, (4) Evidence of understanding of key concepts and their application, (5) Ref lectivepractice, and (6) Quality of presentation.

Teacher candidate students, in groups, take turns presenting thef aculty-selected standard and related ePortf olio work. Af ter thepresentation, the f aculty evaluator, guests, and peers posequestions. The ePortf olio def ense starts with a celebratory light mealthat the students share in bef ore the presentations and sometimesspecial presentations of research projects by honors students areincluded in the program.

This prof essional and collegial atmosphere underscores theimportance and authenticity of the MPeP def ense and creates astrong sense of community. The f ormat enables TCs to share theiracademic work along with their thinking about the work in relation toset criteria, and also provides their peers with a deeper understandingof their own work.

Finally, the program f aculty are provided an opportunity to synthesize the quality of the academic programexperiences f or their students. The f aculty members discussions and ref lections about the students’presentations are then used to f urther discussions of curricular improvement. In addition, these “closing theloop” discussions are documented so that improvement strategies can be monitored and accreditationdocumentation also occurs.

Reflect ions

The TCs’ MPeP ref lections are aimed at two levels: (1) student self -analysis of prof essional growth anddevelopment in relation to each standard; and (2) ref lection on how artif acts represent a student’sachievement of the standard.

Level 1: The MPePs are designed to demonstrate the students’ understanding and application of all thecompetencies obtained throughout their academic program. Through artif act preparation TCs ref lect on theirgrowth and development as teachers throughout the program. Also, TCs document their growth f romprevious student teaching placement experiences to now. When they revisit their teaching philosophystatement they note changes and modif ications over t ime connected to these multiple experiences.

Level 2: Besides TCs‘ personal analysis of the standard, they are also asked ref lective questions about theartif act(s) they selected to demonstrate their competency of the standard. They do so by submitt ing anartif act description, analysis, and ref lection. In their artif act description, they demonstrate relevance andunderstanding by providing pertinent inf ormation that helps the audience understand what they have learnedf rom the assignment. The analysis allows them to show how the artif act supports their understanding of thestandard. The ref lective section helps them assess the artif act’s impact on the children they teach, f amilies,other teachers, the community and themselves.

As this practice is repeated f or each artif act, an “iterative cycle” of engagement with each standard takesplace. Students’ knowing that they have to complete a def ense of their MPeP, strongly engages them in thisprocess and encourages deeper knowledge and understanding of each standard. The TCs have an investmentin the content they include in their ePortf olio.

Impact and Evidence

Below are some excerpts f rom Prof . Lynn Worden’s exit interview.

“Graduates of the program told the prof essor that the def ense helped prepare them f or job interviews. Theystated that the questions they were asked during job panel style interviews were similar to def ense questions.This prior practice in the def ense setting provided teacher candidates with authentic interview preparation thatthey would not have received in a career center mock- interview.”

“Graduates also shared a link to the portf olio with prospective employers, possibly giving them an advantageover other teacher candidates who may not have a similar resource to share.”

Audio excerpt of exit interview:

http://ud.mcnrc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2013/08/earlychildeduc.mp3

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Pract ice Identif iers

Location The MPeP def ense takes place toward the end of the HDFS480: Student Teaching Seminar. Thiscourse is a discussion-oriented and problem-centered seminar with emphasis on the role and contributions ofthe Early Childhood Education prof essional. Students are also student teaching. Student Teaching is a f ull- t imeextended student teaching experience in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade schools. Students are under theguidance and supervision of a cooperating teacher in the classroom and a University of Delaware supervisor.

Scale The creation of the MPeP takes place primarily during the semester students take the Student TeachingSeminar course. Some parts of the ePortf olio are addressed earlier in the program (i.e. writ ing of Philosophy ofEducation) which are then ref ined during the seminar when students are creating a f inished version of theMPeP.

High Impact Practice The Student Teaching Seminar is a capstone experience.

Helping students advance their learning

Mastery ePortf olio Def ense, December 16, 2013

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Format used f or the 2013 def ense was similar to a poster session where students presented their MPePssimultaneously to judges.

Reflection as a form of Integrative Learning:

Make connections within a course

Make connections across courses and semesters

Make connections among academic experiences, co-curricular & lived experiences

Reflection as Systematic and Disciplined form of Inquiry:

A structured and scaf f olded process

The Ref lective Cycle

Connecting their learning to Gen Ed or programmatic competencies

Reflection as Social Pedagogy:

Sharing their ePortf olio w/ and getting comments f rom f aculty

Sharing & engaging in integrative ePortf olio commentary w/ other students

Sharing their eP & getting comments f rom external groups

Reflection as a Process of Personal Change:

Articulating their educational and career goals

Considering their evolving personal relationship to learning and education

Planning/preparing f or transf er or advanced education

Preparing ePortf olio to showcase to potential employers

Professional Development

The ePortf olio team (i.e., technological and pedagogical expertise) met with the f aculty member throughout thepreparation and implementation phases providing f eedback and support. Team members visited the f aculty’sclass, provided training and guidance on the use of the ePortf olio platf orm to the students, and was alwaysavailable f or consultation. The ePortf olio team assisted the f aculty member in creating an introductory video todescribe the purpose and structure of the ePortf olio to the students. This video was posted on the entry pageto the TLA programmatic ePortf olio site.

Video of Prof . Lynn Worden discussing ePortf olio project f or Early Childhood Education

Outcomes Assessment

The MPeP captures the students’ documentation of the National Association f or the Education of YoungChildren (NAEYC) standards. Although the TCs prepare all six NAEYC standards in their MPeP, f or theirdef ense they present one standard that is randomly chosen. The oral def ense allows TCs to demonstrate thestudent learning outcome of communication to an authentic audience comprised of peers, f aculty other thanthe instructor, and guests. Faculty members discussions and ref lections about the students’ presentations areused to f urther discussions of curricular improvement. These discussions are documented so thatimprovement strategies can be monitored and accreditation documentation occurs.

Technology

The transit ion f rom previous paper portf olios to electronic portf olios warranted additional, yet unexpected,support f or both students and f aculty. The f aculty member noticed that students comf ortable with theePortf olio technology emerged as natural mentors to their peers thus creating a learning community; thispractice has been repeating with each cohort.

“We learned that our students needed more support to use technology, which was surprising. Conversely,there have been students who have stood out in their ability to use the ePortf olio technology, but who had notdemonstrated outstanding academic abilit ies in other areas. They served as mentors f or their peers,particularly when they were using the Sakai platf orm. I think some of the students f eel much more competent inwhat they can create using various applications.”

Scaling Up

Because the number of students in the program continues to increase, completing all the students’ MPePdef enses in a t imely manner has become challenging and has raised questions regarding alternatives to thecurrent def ense structure. The f aculty member is now having the students present their MPePs simultaneouslyf ollowing a f ormat similar to a poster session. Teacher candidates share their MPeP on a laptop and thef aculty/guests/and peers walk around and score the presentations using the MPeP def ense evaluation sheet. Ideally, this f ormat would accommodate f or a small group size, f eedback and discussion between students,guests, peers, and f aculty evaluator. The assignment expectations and parameters remain the same whileintroducing the students to the prof essional f ormat of a poster session, a new venue f or the students.

Attachments and Supporting Documents

Course handouts:

Portf olio_Def ense_Assignment_III

Portf olioEvaluationRubric

MasteryPortf olioDef enseEvaluation

Artif actDetails- Instructionsf orNAEYCStandards

Samples f rom a student’s MPeP:

Level 1: NAEYC Standard5 Personal Analysis Student Sample

Level 2: NAEYC Standard4 Artif act Details Student Sample

Randy Bass and Heidi Elmendorf , WhitePaper, “Designing f or Dif f iculty: Social Pedagogies as a Framework f orCourse Design in Undergraduate Education.” 2012; Funded by the Teagle Foundation.

Conclusion

This culminating experience f or teacher candidate students in the Early Childhood Education capstoneprovides an opportunity f or students to publicly present and def end their mastery presentation-styleePortf olio (MPeP) to an authentic audience. So of ten students are asked to create academic work which theymay not always be able to connect to their learning or see its value. Since the MPeP is presentation-based, it iseasily shared with others to establish credibility with colleagues, parents and other stakeholders. The MPePdef ense provides a high stakes setting that replicates a job interview process. This is so relevant to thesesenior students ready to apply f or teaching posit ions. The setting provides a prof essional and collegialatmosphere which underscores the importance and authenticity of the MPeP def ense along with creating astrong sense of community.