May 19, 2006Cojoined CTC-IT Quarterly Meeting 1 Building a Disciplinary Commons using Course Portfolios Josh Tenenberg Janet Ash, Donald Chinn, Ravi Gandham, Michael Gelotte, Richard Hoagland, Laurie Murphy, Brad Richards, John Staneff, Phyllis Topham, Jeffrey Weiss

2 Teaching behind closed doors  College teaching is unique among the major professions: its practitioners receive no formal education or supervised practice in teaching. And having started, they almost always teach behind closed doors, isolated from other teachers.

3 The Disciplinary Commons Faculty meet on common ground, using scholarly practices to investigate teaching and learning in their own classrooms. The practices and artifacts produced become “common property”, available for use and adaptation by others.

4 Outline  What did we do?  What is a Course Portfolio?  Why do this with others?  Why do this in a single discipline?  How much time does this require?  What did we learn?  Acknowledgements

5 What did we do?  11 Computer Science (CS) teachers meeting face-to-face, monthly for ½ day throughout the academic year  Location rotated among all participant home institutions  Crossing borders: CS faculty from different institutions engaged in common practices and common goals  Talking about teaching: as scholars and practitioners  Parallel construction and mutual critique of Course Portfolios

6 The Disciplinary Commons: A face-to-face Yackpack

7 What is a Course Portfolio?  An organized collection of ideas and principles that guide the design and implementation of a particular course.  Focuses on the course.  It is NOT a student portfolio.  It is NOT a teaching portfolio, although it can be part of one.

8 Sessions & Portfolio Contents Sept:Course Objectives Oct: Institutional and Curricular Context Nov:Course Content Dec: Teaching Methods Jan:Rationale (Situated Teaching Philosophy) Feb: Evidence of Student Learning Mar:Grading Apr:Self- and Peer-Observation May:Conf. Presentation & External Review June:Complete Portfolio

9 Why do this with others?  Begin with the end in mind - sharing  A common framework elicits discipline  Encouragement and camaraderie in the face of a rather large amount of work  Building a community of resources  And besides, it couldn’t possibly be as much fun

10 chemistry philosophy literature geography psychology art biology Why do this in a single discipline?

11 CS software design Java control structure C++ data abstraction Common Language 1.Able to make assumptions about understanding 2.More emphasis on rationale for teaching choices 3.More thoughtful peer observations Why do this in a single discipline?

12 CS traditional students non-traditional students running start students transfer students institutional and individual differences semesterquarter teaching load budgetary constraints Why do this in a single discipline?

13 Course Portfolio CS-211 Bellevue Community College Fundamentals of Computer Science II Why do this in a single discipline? Course Portfolio CSCI144 Green River Community College Java I Course Portfolio CS – 142 South Puget Sound Community College Object-Oriented Prog I Course Portfolio CSCI161b University of Puget Sound Introduction to Computer Science The power of the portfolio approach is multiplied when there are several examples available for a single disciplinary aspect. Course Portfolio CS100 Introduction to Computer Science Course Portfolio CIS 121 Pierce College Introduction to Computer Information Systems Course Portfolio CSCE144 Pacific Lutheran University Introduction to Computer Science Course Portfolio TCSS 390 UW-Tacma Undergraduate Seminar in CSS Course Portfolio CIS 201c Pierce College Intro to Java Course Portfolio CS-210 Bellevue Community College Fundamentals of Computer Science I Course Portfolio Compu 142 Shoreline Community College Intro. to Computer Programming with Java

14 Why you might want to make a Course Portfolio For “permission” to take the time to reflect on what you are doing To focus on the Big Picture  The curriculum/program  The course  The teaching and focus on an element  Testing, lectures, homework …

15 Why you might want to make a Course Portfolio – 2  For “permission” to research  From others  On your teaching  To Document  To Share

16 How much time does this require?  128 Hours per person (average), as we did it  Doing it as a group increased the cost due to meetings and travel time  You can do this by yourself in about 80 hours direct time  Benefit of group interaction far outweighs “extra” cost  It’s probably your time, so the institutional cost is minimal (unless ….)  Benefit to your other courses is immeasurably valuable!

17 What did we learn?  There is “commonality” of teaching contexts and practices – We are all in the same boat!  Benefit from articulating and sharing your teaching practices – Now you know why you do things the way you do them!  Realize that some of your practices do not directly relate to course objectives – A reality check!  Find new ways to enhance the course’s effectiveness from peer insights – A sense of self-accountability and accomplishment!

18 What did we learn? “through our sharing we have learned a lot about where to set the bar on quality.” “I was suprised to realize how private the process of teaching can become... by making it more public and more available to scrutiny I am more accountable for the quality.” “I think we have achieved what many teams envy: that magical balance of collaboration and critique, competition and cooperation, individuality and respect, work and fun.” “It is wonderful to be around all of these teachers - they all know about the performance of teaching. … Teaching is a craft. They learned it - they weren't born like that.”

19 The Commons Portfolios & Resources

20 Acknowledgements  Sally Fincher has been a collaborator throughout this project. She runs a Commons in the UK.  Funding has been provided by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, the University of Washington Tacoma’s Institute of Technology, and the UWT Founder’s Endowment.  Julie Jacob of the SBCTC and Orlando Baiocchi and Larry Crum from UWT have been especially supportive.

21 Participants and Affiliations  Josh Tenenberg University of Washington Tacoma  Janet Ash Green River Community College  Donald Chinn University of Washington Tacoma  Ravi Gandham Bellevue Community College  Michael Gelotte Bellevue Community College  Richard Hoagland South Puget Sound Community College  Laurie Murphy Pacific Lutheran University  Brad Richards University of Puget Sound  John Staneff Pierce College Fort Steilacoom  Phyllis Topham Shoreline Community College  Jeffrey Weiss Pierce College Puyallup