By Cassandra Hendry, TLS Staff Writer
In Janne Cleveland’s first-year English course on how to write an essay, she says she’s seen some students who have been challenged by the course content improve over the semester. One of the reasons behind the improvement? cuPortfolio, Carleton’s new learning tool for students.
Cleveland uses the online portfolio system for her students to submit reflection-based assignments on what they’ve learned over the past week and what they believe they need to improve upon, though she says there’s more learning happening than meets the eye.
Cleveland says that with cuPortfolio, students have an easily accessible way to see their own progress throughout the term. Students control the content, unlike in other online learning formats where they can’t engage with the process of learning.
“Giving students the feeling of having something over which they have direct input and a sense of ownership really helps to instill greater confidence in them, as well as a deeper recognition of their own responsibility in the learning process,” Cleveland says.
“I have ESL students, international students, mature students, and students from different programs who have no idea how to write a humanities paper; a real mix of people in the room,” she says. “Plus, if students are held responsible to go and comment on what they’ve learned and what they’ve picked up, then that gives me feedback when the course is on, not just when it ends.”
Trevor Lapointe, a student in Cleveland’s course, is a new user to cuPortfolio. He’s able to submit his reflection pages as well as essays and annotated bibliographies through the system, which he finds convenient.
“Being a part-time student, and not having a lot of time outside of work, the convenience of being able to submit everything electronically has been very much appreciated,” Lapointe says.
Political science professor Melissa Haussman also has students use the tool for reflection on issues discussed in her class, which is centered on electoral reform around the world and how it relates to Canada.
“Students submit responses to readings and because of the format, it transmits it to me and I can get back to them almost immediately without waiting for a piece of paper to be dropped on my desk the next day. It actually makes the experience much more responsive and more immediate,” Haussman says.
One student from Haussman’s class, Liliane Langevin, has used cuPortfolio for her weekly responses, as well as to prepare and report on her job shadowing experience that is facilitated through the course.
Langevin says that cuPortfolio was “very intuitive and convenient” for her to embed a PDF resume as well as to look back through the work she archived through her job shadowing.
Haussman finds that in general, the reflection papers and assignments students submit through cuPortfolio are better than those submitted in hardcopy.
“I think the quality is actually better, to be honest. It’s a more condensed format. Maybe it’s because it’s more of a job to put it online so there’s less filler and students get to the main points, thinking about what they’re writing,” Haussman says.
Another key aspect of cuPortfolio, according to Haussman, is the option of making student portfolios and the associated instructor comments public.
“[Students] have a bigger stake in the quality and relevance of their weekly responses . . . It’s really made the course more immediate. Students can see the implications much more,” she says.
To learn more about cuPortfolio and how it can be used to promote student-centered learning in your courses, visit the cuPortoflio support page.