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Curriculum Resource Center

THE CDC PILOT COURSE PORTFOLIO PROJECT

The aims of the project: short overview

The CRC Course Development Competition aims to encourage the development and
introduction of innovative university courses in the curricula of the universities of the
region.

Within the CDC program, the Pilot Course Portfolio project aims to develop the tools
for critical-self reflection and scholarly debate on the opportunities and barriers for
introducing innovative practices in university teaching, by investigating the
complexities of course design and course implementation process.

The objectives of the project are:

1. To introduce the scholarship of teaching approach using the course portfolio method
in order to promote the production and delivery of high-quality, student centred
university teaching understood as a scholarly activity an a par with academic
research.
2. To investigate barriers and create opportunities for innovation in university teaching
on the level of course design implementation, teaching and assessment techniques
and evaluation methods.
3. To support innovative teachers and promote their work as examples of best practice
in university teaching on the level of a single course.
4. To contribute to the development of scholarly debate on university teaching among
academic in the region by sharing knowledge on the production of innovative
approaches to designing and teaching university courses.

2. The concept of a course portfolio and the underlying approach

The course portfolio is a relatively new method in professional development of

university teaching, 1 focusing on the unfolding of a single course through all the stages
of course design, course enactment (implementation) and the resulting student learning
(course outcomes). It is an enquiry into the course as a single unit of university

1
It was pioneered by a project of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) involving
faculty of American universities, in the context of public debate on the quality of teaching and the need
for more transparency and quality control of teaching as well as in the context of recognising and
rewarding teaching excellence among university professors.
Curriculum Resource Center: Pilot Course Portfolio Project: Overview 1
education, concerned with stressing and documenting the relationship between the
course concept/content and the teaching practice adopted by the teacher in order to
convey that concept. The teacher is able to compare his or her intentions with the actual
learning outcomes and to evaluate the appropriateness of course design and course
implementation choices he/she had made. Thus, the course portfolio makes critical self-
reflection of teaching possible. However, course portfolio is at the same time a method
of focusing the teacher’s attention on student learning and putting student-centred
education into practice (as it is documented and analysed during and after the
implementation of the course). 2

The underlying principle of the course portfolio is the scholarship of teaching concept,
postulated as an integral part of a faculty member’s work (alongside the scholarships of
discovery, integration and application). As explained by Lee Shulman ‘every course is
inherently an investigation, an experiment, a journey motivated by purpose and beset by
uncertainty. A course, therefore, in its design, enactment, and analysis, is as much an act
of inquiry and invention as any other activity more traditionally called “research” or the
scholarship of discovery.’3 This approach is consistent with a philosophy of student-
centred paradigm in teaching and with the demands for quality control and transparency
in the university teaching.

Thus, the main functions of a course portfolio project can be summarised as:

• professional, personal development/self-reflection of university teacher

• producing evidence of teaching excellency at the course level for the purpose of
distributing awards and promotions
• producing evidence of student learning for the purpose of peer review, quality
control/transparency
• documenting evidence of an innovative approach to the subject matter and teaching
approaches
• creating a resource for the building and sharing of knowledge and debate on
teaching among academics4

A course portfolio can be produced in a print/folder or web-based format, with the

supporting evidence of classroom materials and student work. Although the exact
choice of documents and their length depends on the aims of each individual project,
below are typical portfolio components:

• An essay on the course concept and the questions that the professor aims to answer
by producing a course portfolio (which may be related to the relationship between
the course content and the course context: the particular institution, the background
and skills of the students, position within the curriculum, intended learning
outcomes).
• An extended complex syllabus with information related to the course content,
readings and planned methods of delivery and student assessment.
2
This summary is based on Pat Hutchings, (ed) The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine their
Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve Student Learning, (Washington, DC: AAHE, 1998)
3
Lee S. Shulman, ‘Course Anatomy: The Dissection and Analysis of Knowledge Through Teaching’ in
Pat Hutchings, (ed) The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine their Teaching to Advance Practice
and Improve Student Learning, (Washington, DC: AAHE, 1998), 5.
4
Pat Hutchings ‘Defining Features and Significant Functions of the Course Portfolio’ in Pat Hutchings,
(ed) The Course Portfolio: How Faculty Can Examine their Teaching to Advance Practice and Improve
Student Learning, (Washington, DC: AAHE, 1998), 13-18.

Curriculum Resource Center: Pilot Course Portfolio Project: Overview 2

• A journal/diary/notes on the course implementation carried out on a regular basis
• A documentation of the course outcomes (an appropriate selection and analysis of
various assignments and student work as well as student feedback on the course
implementation and methods of assessment)
• A reflection on the whole project, which answers the questions asked at the
beginning of the project and to draws conclusions for future course design and
teaching practice of the academic)

In short, a course portfolio is an outcome of a research project into ones own teaching,
focusing on a single course, which is evidence-based, available for peer review and able
to stimulate debate among teaching academics.

3. The need for the project and the use of the concept

The particularities of our target region require a re-examination and re-working of the
traditional tools in teaching and learning. For some time, we have attempted to find a
‘middle ground’ which reflects best practice and local problems. But this has often
resulted in an uneasy compromise that does not give sufficient space to individual
reflection but simply promotes ‘best practice’ as an ‘opt in-opt out’ bag of tricks. This
intersection of needs with the teaching ‘canons’ should instead put the various
paradigms into a critical tension, allowing us to re-identify and re-work.

To change this situation, we have decided to adopt and revise the Course Portfolio
approach. The main purpose of the project is to develop the tools for critical-
self reflection and scholarly debate on the opportunities and barriers for
introducing innovative practices in university teaching. The pilot (which will
no doubt be one of several as we move our parameters) will experiment with a
variety of Portfolio approaches – from the guided to the free, and we will also
construct or ‘angle’ several guided Portfolios to promote understanding of the
relationship between the ‘transmission’ and the production of knowledge.

The concept of the Course portfolio will be adapted to match the specific needs of our
region. It will allow for the deepening of the participant’s application of the
received training in their classrooms. For instance, we will put more emphasis
on course design process, the institutional challenges in introducing new
courses and teaching practices, particularly at the level of teaching methods
and assessment techniques. Apart form providing space for discussion on the
course portfolio projects, the workshops will allow the participants to
gain/refresh their insight into all areas relevant to contemporary university
teaching (planning of courses, complex lesson planning and complex teaching
skills, peer and student evaluation and various methods of student assessment).

The participating university teachers will be supported by the CRC office throughout
their grant period by means of special training sessions, webforum and email and will
receive an additional 5 month-long grant extension

Curriculum Resource Center: Pilot Course Portfolio Project: Overview 3

4. Design of the project

Basic contents of the course portfolios:

• Extended syllabus with an annotated bibliography and clear indication of course

goals and learning outcomes, the choices in course design, a clear course structure
and description of all teaching units, teaching methods and assessment techniques.
This syllabus is a central part of the course portfolio and it needs to be detailed and
clear.
• Journal of course design ( in the form of a diary with aims of the project, clear
statement of expectations for the course and the process of course design captured in
an ongoing narrative)
• A project website with links to all the important documents, uploaded on an ongoing
basis
• A diary of course implementation (week by week, or class by class) describing the
ongoing process of course implementation, the problems encountered and the
reactions of students: what has worked, what has not worked, etc.
• An analysis of student work with examples selected by the grantee and included in
the portfolio)
• Ongoing student evaluation data, various forms of evaluation are to be used
regularly and the results should be analysed and included in the portfolio. Spot
questionnaires, mid-term and final questionnaires and some student journals are
recommended.
• End of project self-evaluation (a narrative reflection on the project outcomes, the
relationship between initial expectations and the project outcomes, lessons learned
during the implementation process with conclusions for future course design,
response to peer evaluation and conclusions of the whole project)

Possible experiments and innovations:

• Experiment with the course structure, by means of considering two different ways to
explore the topic of the course or of a section of the course during course design
• Introduce at least one new form of assessment
• Introduce one form of ongoing (formative) assessment
• Include at least one transferable skill into the course design
• Experiment with at least two new teaching methods during the course
implementation
• Experiment with at least two forms of student evaluation
• Involve one colleague from the department to provide a commentary on the course,
to be included in the portfolio

Additional reflective essay examples

1. Free topic
2. Provide a reflective essay on your course and its innovations in relation to federal or
national educational standards (on curriculum and assessment standards)
3. Reflect on your own learning of the course content that was the result of the
teaching experience
4. Reflect on any possible changes of your own ideas about teaching and learning as a
result of the project experience
Curriculum Resource Center: Pilot Course Portfolio Project: Overview 4
5. Reflect on the relationship between your research and your teaching in this
particular course (if applicable).
6. Reflect on all the barriers you encountered in introducing the required innovations
during the course design and course implementation stage and on the ways you tried
to overcome them

Preliminary program for the course portfolio project sessions:

I. Initial course portfolio session (during CDC workshop)

1. Presentation of the organisation and administration of the project

2. Presentation of the underlying concept and the tasks required in the project
3. Introductions of participants and exchange of expectations of the project and course
proposal presentation
4. Discussion of communication and review/reporting methods and future meetings

Web-page creation training

II. Progress course portfolio session (during CDC workshop):

1. Presentation of the work in progress, particularly the course concept and course
syllabus
2. Peer review and mutual evaluation of progress made
3. Discussion of plans and expectations for the teaching implementation stage

III. Final course portfolio session (during CDC worskshop):

1. Presentations of the draft portfolio and the course implementation stage
2. Peer feedback into the project
3. Discussion on the project outcomes
4. Discussion of publication and outreach plans

Project outcomes

The Pilot CDC Course Portfolio project will result in the production of the following:

• Print and web-based course portfolios and collection of evaluations and critical
remarks on the projects
• CRC working paper publication, possible as an edited volume of course portfolios
and commentaries
• The created courses (developed, taught and improved over a two-year period)
documented in the extended syllabi.
• Presentations of the course portfolio project outcomes at the participants’
universities and at appropriate conferences
• A course portfolio project methodology to be developed by the CRC office

Curriculum Resource Center: Pilot Course Portfolio Project: Overview 5