David Goldstein
Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program
University of Washington, Bothell Campus

Improving the Student Experience

When David Goldstein, a Lecturer at UW Bothell (UWB), first started teaching, he organized his class as many instructors do: his students turned in their papers, he returned them in a timely manner, and by that time they were turning in a new wave of papers—unable to incorporate the comments and feedback he had provided on their earlier papers. Goldstein also recognized that he was out of touch with his students’ needs and where they were in both their abilities and understanding of the course requirements. UWB’s strong emphasis on educational technology encouraged him to come up with a solution that integrated online tools into his classroom in meaningful ways.

Goldstein’s first strategy was to open up the lines of communication with his students through the use of WebQ, Catalyst's survey tool. He wanted to be able to better cater the course to students’ current abilities and goals. By administering an online survey that gauged students’ confidence in their ability to perform the skills necessary to be successful in his course, he became better able to cater the course to students’ needs. In addition, he decided to give the same survey at the end of the course, which not only allowed him to assess growth over the quarter, but it also provided an opportunity for his students to reflect on their progress—a valuable aspect of the writing process.

Changing the Course Structure, Enhancing Course Learning

Next, Goldstein addressed the fact that his course structure was not meeting one of his course goals—to help his students “learn how to become better writers rather than learn how to write a better paper.” To fulfill this need, Goldstein turned to Catalyst’s Portfolio tool as a “one stop shop” for his students in the completion of their final papers. Upon integrating Portfolio into his classroom, he no longer required his students to write a number of papers; instead, he had them work on one paper throughout the quarter, which they submitted at the middle and at the end of the term using Portfolio.

This change in course structure transformed how he instructed and guided his students in the development of their term papers. Where he previously had found that his students’ papers never matured in the way he intended, with the Portfolio process, his students were now able to integrate his feedback and subsequently improve the quality of their writing. Essentially, his new course structure enabled his students to adjust to upper-division university work while still being supported, as they had the chance to revise and submit drafts, all the while receiving constructive feedback. According to Goldstein, Portfolio “buys them some time to build up their confidence and skills. It lets them experience success.” He found that Portfolio provided a forum for his students to look at their work constructively and evaluate their papers throughout the various stages of revision.

Since integrating Portfolio into his courses, Goldstein has found that his teaching has become more efficient and effective. He is now able to provide in-depth comments directly into his students’ work that they can then access immediately by logging into their Portfolio. In addition, he can follow his students’ progress by seeing the evolution of their papers, all conveniently located within Portfolio. Finally, Goldstein finds that he is better able to help his students become stronger writers through the revision process by allowing them the time and place to let their writing evolve.

The implementation of Portfolio not only brought about pedagogical changes for Goldstein, but he also found that Portfolio made it easier for his students and himself to engage in course activities outside of class. His students could now work on their papers anywhere they liked, as all of the versions of their papers were available online, and likewise, he could grade wherever it was convenient—as he put it, “you can work on your portfolio at home, work, or in Paris and all the papers are there.” Finally, Goldstein is finding an unexpected strength in Portfolio’s ability to be easily reproduced and shared with family, friends, or even potential employers, which helps his students when they enter the job market. It is through the use of WebQ and Portfolio that Goldstein feels assured that his students are meeting his outcomes for the course, with an emphasis on preparing his students to be strong writers in upper-division coursework and beyond.

By Kelly Reinhard, March 2007

Editor’s note: David Goldstein was the recipient of the UW Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award for 2007