Heidi Denzel
Senior Lecturer
German Studies
Summary
This case illustrates how Professor Heidi Denzel supported learner engagement by replacing the final exam with a portfolio assignment in a German language course at Dartmouth College. Noticing her learners' commonly experienced exam anxiety, Heidi focused her work at the UDLi on redesigning this final assessment. Perceiving the assessment activity as an opportunity to continue exposing learners to real-world applications of the German language, Heidi contextualized the assignment as a portfolio where learners would document their interactions with authentic German content, applying the studied grammar and vocabulary. Through the five portfolio categories (campus immersion, digital immersion, auditory immersion, wellbeing, and interest), learners engaged with and responded to German language experiences, including on-campus events, movies, podcasts, meditations, and music. Honoring learner diversity, Heidi provided multiple activity options for each portfolio category, recruiting learners by enabling them to engage in a way that felt relevant and meaningful to them.
Although the portfolio demanded a higher time commitment from learners, they still expressed a strong preference for this form of assessment, appreciating its relevance to their learning and even voicing their enjoyment of its activities - a positive emotional contrast to their formerly experienced exam anxiety. From Heidi's instructional perspective, the increased learner engagement was made evident through the learners' eagerness to discuss their chosen portfolio options. In their work, learners shared dialogues about their interests and challenges, ultimately supporting Heidi in her own process of getting to know her learners and thus enabling her to recruit learner interest and optimize their engagement even further.
UDL Strategies
- Design assessment activities that demonstrate the authentic applications of the learning content by replacing a final exam with a portfolio assignment.
- Design assessment activities that allow for active exploration of the learning content, such as interacting with real-world German media.
- Provide options for how to engage with each portfolio activity, allowing learners to choose those they deem most relevant and meaningful to them.
- Promote emotionally positive learning experiences and create a safe learning environment by creating assessment activities that are enjoyable and alleviate exam anxiety.