MATRIX 2001 Workshops: Course Portfolio Template and Instructions

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Course Portfolio Template and Instructions

A. Teaching Statement

Although you probably already have most of the artifacts you need to create a course portfolio, these materials don’t reflect the thinking process that you went through to create the course, nor the changes that you made as the course progressed. Your teaching statement should provide the context for interpreting the artifacts of the course (e.g., syllabus, lecture notes, teaching materials, images). The replicability of your MATRIX course depends heavily on how well you explain its conceptual framework, and your teaching statement is the vehicle for this kind of in-depth analysis. It allows you to trace the development of the course over time, to account for the decisions you made, and to report on the success or failure of various approaches. For purposes of the MATRIX project, you can also explain how you addressed the Seven Principles in your course and how they relate to your goals and objectives and your teaching methods. For the sake of uniformity, all of the course designers should try to address the following topics in their teaching statements (how you address them is entirely up to you—for example, you may cover several topics simultaneously in your narrative, and not all of the “prompt questions” will be appropriate for your situation):

1. Approach, Rationale, and Overview.

What is your general approach to teaching, and how does the design of this course reflect your approach? What are the course goals and how did you select them? What teaching methods and strategies did you use to achieve the outcomes? How did you assess student achievement of the outcomes? How successful was the course in achieving the goals and objectives?

2. MATRIX Principles.

In general, how do you address the MATRIX principles in your course? How do the course goals relate to these principles?

3. Institutional Context.

Where does the course fit in your institution’s curriculum? Are there any prerequisites? How many students are usually enrolled in the course? What types of students are in the course? Has the course always been taught at your institution? Has the course always been taught in the same way?

4. Course Development.

What is the “story” of the development of your course? What limitations and constraints did you have to deal with in developing this course? What critical decisions did you make that shaped the course? Which elements were successful or unsuccessful (and why do you think so)? What changes did you make as you taught the course? What changes do you intend to make before you teach it again? How did the students react to the course? What did students say about the course in their evaluations or other forms of feedback to you?

B. Course Artifacts

Your teaching statement will refer to specific documents and materials in the “body” of the course portfolio. When your finished portfolio is on the MATRIX Web site, words and phrases will be hot-linked to these materials. For example, when you refer to the course goals in your narrative, clicking on those words will take the reader directly to the goals in this section of the portfolio. The following elements should appear in every portfolio, but you are free to add other things as well:

1. Course Goals.

Course goals should appear in your syllabus (see below). Course goals describe broad, general learning outcomes that students should be able to perform as a result of learning experiences in your course. The goals should be written using action verbs that describe skills and abilities that students will be able to demonstrate by the end of the course. Course goals also usually imply, directly or indirectly, learning activities for the students. (More specific outcomes are addressed by the lesson objectives—see “Modules,” below.) The following examples are adaptations of course goals in the current set of MATRIX courses:

Locate and utilize the basic literature of museum methods, professional museum organizations, and museum reference sources including on-line resources.
Evaluate archaeological arguments on a range of key topics in terms of their theoretical approach, research design, and logic.
Describe basic archeological skills—how to locate, record, investigate, analyze, and interpret archaeological sites.
Prepare an effective advocacy position in order to support and defend the preservation of archaeological heritage.

2. Syllabus.

The syllabus that appears on the MATRIX Web site should be the same syllabus that you give to your students. Good practice suggests that a course syllabus should be a “lab manual” for the course rather than a simple list of topics and readings. A comprehensive syllabus is an effective teaching tool, guiding students through the course experience and keeping them on track. (See attached Syllabus Guide.)

3. Tests and Assessment Strategies

If you use tests in your course, provide copies of the instruments or at least sample questions from the exams. For other kinds of assessment strategies, describe the assignment, provide instructions to the students, and include the criteria for grading or the scoring rubric you use. If you can, provide examples of student work (essays, research papers, projects) to help others understand the nature and scope of student performance.

4. Modules.

Course modules represent discrete “chunks” of instruction in the course, so a module may be the plan for a single class meeting or it may cover an entire unit in the course. The easiest way to discriminate between separate modules in your course is to examine your lesson objectives—if you have the same learning objectives for several classes, then it makes sense to treat those classes as a single “module” in the course. The format for describing a course module is outlined below:

a. Overview. Provide a title for the module and briefly describe the teaching method(s), learning activities, and how this module relates to other modules in your course.

b. Lesson objectives. In contrast to course goals (see above), lesson objectives are very specific outcomes that are derived from the course goals and enable students to achieve the overall course goals. Objectives are written for particular “chunks” of instruction (e.g., modules, units, or lessons). Ideally, objectives should be phrased in such a way that the assessment of the outcome is easy to visualize. For example, in the course Archeological Ethics and Law, the module entitled “National Approaches to Archaeological Heritage Management” has two objectives:

Categorize the fundamental elements of archaeology legislation on a national level.

Compare and contrast the national approaches to archaeological heritage management of two different countries.

c. Matrix Principles. Discuss the connections between this module and the MATRIX principles. (Does it address one or more principles explicitly? Does it involve various principles indirectly?)

d. Instructional Procedures. For the MATRIX project, the description of instructional procedures must be written in such a way that another Archaeology instructor could theoretically teach the same module without any additional instructions or materials (although in practice it is unlikely that anyone would teach one of these modules without changing it to suit local conditions). You might even suggest alternative ways of teaching the lesson or alternative materials or technologies that others might use to teach the lesson.

What instructional techniques and methods do you use (e.g., lecture, discussion, small-group activities, fieldwork, lab work, etc.)? Are there particular requirements for the lesson or for the learning environment that are unique or indispensable?

What kinds of materials do you use for the lesson (e.g., lectures, discussion questions, images, textbooks, readings, handouts, maps, instruments, laboratory equipment, etc.)? For purposes of the MATRIX project, it is important to include as many of these materials as you can. At a minimum, it would be a good idea to at least provide a source where the materials may be acquired or purchased.

What kinds of instructional technologies do you use (paper, blackboard, computer spreadsheet, CD-ROM, modeling clay, etc.)?

What instructions do you give the students?

How do you assess student learning of the lesson objectives? [If the evaluation of a given module will be conducted via exams or projects that cover more than one module, a reference to the appropriate assessment in #3, above (“Tests and Assessment Strategies”) will suffice.]

Instructions for the Course Syllabus

Traditional syllabi are very brief and often omit much of the information that students need to succeed in a course. In keeping with the model of the course syllabus as a “course guide” or even a “lab manual,” it makes sense to develop your syllabus as a teaching tool in itself. The checklist “Syllabus Guide” (see below) suggests a number of important elements that a syllabus should contain. Here are a few criteria for judging how well your syllabus approaches a the standard of a “course guide.”

The course has clearly specified goals—learning outcomes that describe what the student will know and be able to do by the end of the course.
The course goals include higher-order learning outcomes (e.g., analysis, synthesis, evaluation).
The syllabus addresses all the important “housekeeping” issues in your course (e.g. absences, late papers, honor code, etc.).
Specific lesson objectives are provided for each unit or class meeting, stated in terms of measurable knowledge and skills. The objectives should derive from the course goals and enable students to achieve the overall goals.
The evaluation scheme (tests, exams, assignments, projects, etc.) provides appropriate ways to measure achievement of the goals and objectives.
The evaluation scheme provides adequate (and reasonably frequent) feedback to students on their performance.
The instructional methods are appropriate for teaching the knowledge and skills specified by the course goals. (E.g., critical thinking outcomes require extensive use of student-centered, active-learning methods.)
The structure of the course follows a logical pattern of development and appears to be realistic in terms of time spent on each section.
The course topics, readings, texts, and associated materials show evidence that the course will be an interesting, rigorous, and meaningful educational experience.
The amount of work expected of students is challenging but not excessive, appropriate to the level of the course.

Syllabus Guide

Although every syllabus is unique to the course it represents, you should strive for a syllabus that provides a complete picture of the course for your students.

Basic Information

Name of the instructor, names of teaching assistants, e-mail addresses, office location, office hours, and telephone number. Also, the specific circumstances under which students have permission to call you at home.
Title of the course, course number, semester, and year.
Building and room in which the class meets; days and hours of class meetings.

Course Description

Statement of course goals (written in terms of student learning outcomes).
The teaching methods and strategies you will use and their implications for students’ preparation and study.
A detailed explanation of course procedures for papers, homework assignments, other outside activities, lab work, field trips, etc.
All required texts, readings, workbooks; other materials they will need for the course (e.g., dissecting kits, calculators).
Grading procedures and scales. List the activities that will be graded (e.g. projects, quizzes, exams, homework, papers, lab work, class participation), how each will be graded, and the percentage of the final grade each one represents. Also, explain the procedures by which you will determine the final grade.
A description of the types of questions you will use in quizzes and exams. Some teachers append examples of test questions from previous semesters. If you intend to use unannounced quizzes, you should tell students about them in this section.
Policies about class absence, lateness, missed exams, late papers, cheating, and plagiarism. For example, clearly delineate the types of source materials and the extent of collaboration permitted on homework and other assignments. Try to avoid a scolding tone in this section, but be specific and firm.
Strategies for success in the course. If you were a student in this class, how would you approach the course? What pitfalls can you warn the student against? How would you prepare for the quizzes and exams? How would you budget your time? What would your note-taking strategy be? Many undergraduates have poor study skills, and anything you can teach them about how to study and learn will improve their performance.
The schedule of classes, with meeting dates, topics, and appropriate readings; deadlines for papers, projects, and assignments; school holidays; and test dates.

Additional Material

Guidelines for writing reports, research papers, reviews, etc. These guidelines should include the preferred format for each assignment, advice on how to research and write papers, and the criteria which will be used to grade them.
Handouts and readings.
Examples of test questions.
Samples of written assignments.