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EDU 210 Participant Learning Portfolio The assignment for this…
EDU 210 Participant Learning Portfolio
The assignment for this course will be for you to compile a participant learning portfolio. This is a cumulative record of your experience of learning in this class. The portfolio assignment asks you to document, in any way you think is appropriate and supportable, what and how you’re learning in the course. I think of it, however, not as an assessment tool but more as a way of helping you to recognize your strengths, challenges, inclinations, and habits as a learner. I also want you to become more aware of the aspects of your learning that need more work in the future.
Avoid using the exact wording of the prompts below as you answer these questions.
I would like you to submit in this portfolio the following elements:
1. An overall summary of the common themes you read in your postings and course workincluding takeaways from the lesson presentations and essay. You may include examples from course writings and the summary should feature some specifics.
2. A description of your contributions to course discussions and activities you were involved in.
What role or roles did you tend to play?
Were you an initiator coming up with ideas, a monitor who kept the class focused, a resource who tracked down support related to class discussions, a cheerleader who kept up others’ morale when energy began to flag? Or maybe you played other roles.
For each role you played and contribution you made, please give as specific a description as you can for what you did. You may want to include quotes or copies of anything that helps me understand your contributions to class.
3. An analysis of what you feel are your strengths as a learner.
What activities (in and out of class) seemed to come easily to you, to be enjoyed, and to be well received by others?
What classroom ideas, content (ideas, theories, factual knowledge), or skills do you think you could help a student new to this class learn?
4. An analysis of what you feel are your challenges as a learner.
What capacities did you notice in other learners that you wish you had?
What tasks seemed to give you the greatest difficulty or to take up most of your time?
Which of your skills and capacities do you think need most work if you are to get more out of a similar course in the future?
5. A summary of your learning in this class.
What can you do no, and what do you know now, that you couldn’t do and didn’t know when you first came into this course?
If I asked you to be coteacher for part of this course next semester, what topic, task, or activity would you volunteer to teach a new student?
What was your most important realization concerning the subject matter of the course?
Why did you judge this to be of particular importance to you?
What did you realize about what this course is not designed to teach you?
What was the most important skill you learned?
Again, what was it that was so significant about this skill?
What is the primary learning that you feel you need to undertake the next time you have the opportunity to study in this area?
6. An assessment of the merits and relevance of the written materials we studied in class.
What readings, authors, theories, or concepts did you find particularly relevant for your own work? Please say specifically what it was about these that was so meaningful. Note the elements in your reading that you found most discrepant (different than) your own experience.
Which were the worst written, least convincingly argued, and most ethically suspect? Please state specifically what it is about these elements that is so disturbing. Again, illustrate what you tell me with references to specific readings, complete with citations.
7. An analysis of how well the course worked, from your perspective as a learner.
Of the content, what should be dropped (and why), what should be kept at all costs (and why), and what should be added (and why)?
Of the way your work was evaluated, what should be dropped (and why), what should be kept (and why), and what should be added (and why)?
What would be the most important advice you would give to me on how to design, conduct, and evaluate the course next time it’s offered?
8. A summary of what you think students in EDU 210 next semester should know about how to survive and thrive in this course.
Some themes you might consider writing about are: “What I know now about this course that I wish I’d known when I came in,” or “The three most important things you should make sure you do to keep you focus in this class,” or “The words that should hang on a sign above your desk about how to make it through this course.” Feel free to discard these themes and to write about whatever comes to mind about the concept of survival.
9. A reflection on how your experiences as a learner in this class will affect your own practice.
What things will you do differently in your own work as a result of spending these months learning new skills and knowledge?
What things have you decided you must add to your practice, and what things you determined to eliminate, as a result of having analyzed yourself as a learner over these months?
Rationale
Given the modest scope of the class, we cannot get into schools or bunch of billboards, observations, or other typical portfolio elements. This is a learning portfolio. It hits the following SLOs from your syllabus:
Explain the responsibilities of educators as leaders within the context of daily decision making.
Examine a variety of teaching styles and models, including those from the historical and philosophical perspectives
Be familiar with teacher-training programs, including degree and state certification requirements.
Explain the social construction of race, class, gender, (dis)ability, and sexuality and the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the educational environment.
Participate in interviews with guest speakers drawn from the field of education.
Take this seriously, but also realize that this is different from a typical portfolio that collects certifications, trainings, etc
