- E-portfolios have been used in higher education since the 1990s and over half of US postsecondary institutions now utilize them. They systematically exhibit student work and can take various forms such as documentation of growth, process portfolios, or showcase portfolios. E-portfolios aim to shift assessment from evaluating learning to evaluating for learning.
- The document reviews literature on e-portfolios from 2004-2014 and presents a case study of e-portfolios implemented in the Carolina MPA program. Benefits included encouraging reflection, improving knowledge management, and supporting career development. Challenges included unclear expectations, assessment inconsistencies, and tensions between personal reflection and institutional goals.
Slides Ian Multon recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor.
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Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community.
http://TheProductMentor.com
Putting Personas to Work at IIBA ClevelandCarol Smith
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DIY Usability Testing for Business Analysts (BA)Carol Smith
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Slides Ian Multon recently used in his discussion w/ mentees of The Product Mentor.
The Product Mentor is a program designed to pair Product Mentors and Mentees from around the World, across all industries, from start-up to enterprise, guided by the fundamental goals…Better Decisions. Better Products. Better Product People.
Throughout the program, each mentor leads a conversation in an area of their expertise that is live streamed and available to both mentee and the broader product community.
http://TheProductMentor.com
Putting Personas to Work at IIBA ClevelandCarol Smith
Putting Personas to Work: Getting Personas Adopted Throughout Your Organization.
Presented by Carol Smith at the Cleveland IIBA Chapter meeting on March 12, 2013.
Personas need to be recognized and relied on by the entire team and creating a successful persona program can be a huge challenge. This session covers strategies for making sure that the personas you create become essential to your team.
DIY Usability Testing for Business Analysts (BA)Carol Smith
This presentation provides techniques for business analysts (BA's) to begin conducting their own usability tests. This was presented to the Pittsburgh IIBA Chapter on January 9, 2017.
UX in 10 Minutes - Usability Testing - Presented at SEMPOCarol Smith
A 10 minute presentation about user experience and usability testing that was presented at the Digital Marketing Speed Presentations hosted by SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing, in Pittsburgh, PA) MeetUp on August 12, 2014.
Beyond the screen - UX research methods for novel technologySwetha Sethu-Jones
A tutorial presentation at UX Cambridge 2015 on user experience research methods for novel technology. For example, wearables, Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, and more. Includes case studies from others of implementing a UCD approach with research and prototyping when building novel technology concepts.
Putting Personas to Work at UX PittsburghCarol Smith
Putting Personas to Work: Getting Personas Adopted Throughout Your Organization.
Presented by Carol Smith at the User Experience Designers Pittsburgh MeetUp on February 6, 2014.
Personas need to be recognized and relied on by the entire team and creating a successful persona program can be a huge challenge. This session covers strategies for making sure that the personas you create become essential to your team.
Julie Grundy gives an overview of user experience Design, why it's important, guiding principles, UX research overview, and tactics used by UX professionals. November 2015.
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User-centered UX: Bringing the User into the Design ProcessDave Cooksey
During every design project, everyone involved loves to talk about users. But how often are users actually involved in the design process? In this presentation, we look at practical steps for involving users in the design process and how to employ tried and true user-centric techniques to inform and evaluate our designs.
User-Centered Design and the LIS Curriculum: Reflections on the UX Program at...craigmmacdonald
With its emphasis on users and their experiences with technology, User Experience (UX) is an emerging area of interest for many fields. It is especially relevant to the Library and Information Sciences (LIS) communities, as libraries, museums, archives and other information organizations become increasingly dependent on the web and digital technologies. This presentation describes Pratt Institute's innovative, multi-faceted educational program aimed at preparing students for careers as UX professionals, either outside or within LIS-focused organizations, through blending traditional classroom learning with extracurricular opportunities that provide students with a mix of theoretical knowledge and practical application.
Presented at 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE 2014).
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What is Heuristic evaluation
Background
Benefits
Main advantages and drawbacks of the method
Scenario and methods of evaluation
10 usability Heuristics in usability engineering
How to conduct heuristic Evaluation
Phases of the Evaluation Method
Problems and Evaluators
Seamlessness thought the whole user experience
Introduction to Prototyping - Scottish UPA - June 2011Neil Allison
Presented to the Scottish Usability Professionals Association, Edinburgh, 22 June 2011.
Covering the basics, the benefits, some tools, some tips and a case study.
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We know the benefits of User Experience (UX) work include saving time and effort, and potentially increasing profits. How do you persuade the business to integrate (more) UX activities into the process? How do you approach difficult questions about budget, timeline and other major issues?
This presentation gives you the facts to back up your convictions. Carol provides clear and compelling responses to tough questions about UX and usability methods. You’ll leave with facts about the Return on Investment (ROI) of UX, how to respond to UX skeptics, and how to turn your entire team into UX advocates.
Rewarding Your Own Research Panel - Panel Management WebinarQualtrics
Join incentive experts Collin Manaois of Tango Card and Leif Baradoy of Giftbit as we give best practices and automated solutions for incentivizing your panel members.
We'll discuss the best ways to incentivize panel members, automating incentive fulfillment, and the best solutions for incentives.Come learn how to reap the benefits of faster insights, higher response rates, and reduced costs to get the vital data your organization needs.
Putting Personas to Work at UX PittsburghCarol Smith
Putting Personas to Work: Getting Personas Adopted Throughout Your Organization.
Presented by Carol Smith at the User Experience Designers Pittsburgh MeetUp on February 6, 2014.
Personas need to be recognized and relied on by the entire team and creating a successful persona program can be a huge challenge. This session covers strategies for making sure that the personas you create become essential to your team.
Julie Grundy gives an overview of user experience Design, why it's important, guiding principles, UX research overview, and tactics used by UX professionals. November 2015.
Interested in learning how User Experience (UX) design can help you meet your goals? Join the UX designers of EMBL-EBI on Friday, 3 March at 11am in the Kendrew Lecture Theatre to hear about what they do and how they make data services better for researchers.
During this 45-minute seminar we will introduce you to UX design, show how it can be applied and demonstrate how it can make a positive difference. The seminar will be followed by a discussion and refreshments, so you can meet EMBL-EBI's UX designers in person and explore how you might benefit from UX design in your own work.
Speakers: Nikiforos Karamamis, Gabby Yordanova, Revathi Nathaniel & Michele Ide-Smith
Organisers & on-hand for questions: Jenny Cham & Joseph Rossetto
Inside you there is a secret product idea...some problem you are just itching to solve. Yet it falls prey to that deadly statement: “Someday, when I have more time...”
In this action-packed 180 minutes, UX Lisbon participants got their ideas out and into the world. Using Lean Startup principles and these fun and rapid methods, they created a coherent, lo-fi product concept and got peer feedback on it. From identifying the problem it solves for people and understanding the role it plays in customers’ lives to identifying a key metric to indicate traction, they explored the idea in full. They wrapped up with practical, actionable (and simple!) next steps to propel the ideas forward.
User-centered UX: Bringing the User into the Design ProcessDave Cooksey
During every design project, everyone involved loves to talk about users. But how often are users actually involved in the design process? In this presentation, we look at practical steps for involving users in the design process and how to employ tried and true user-centric techniques to inform and evaluate our designs.
User-Centered Design and the LIS Curriculum: Reflections on the UX Program at...craigmmacdonald
With its emphasis on users and their experiences with technology, User Experience (UX) is an emerging area of interest for many fields. It is especially relevant to the Library and Information Sciences (LIS) communities, as libraries, museums, archives and other information organizations become increasingly dependent on the web and digital technologies. This presentation describes Pratt Institute's innovative, multi-faceted educational program aimed at preparing students for careers as UX professionals, either outside or within LIS-focused organizations, through blending traditional classroom learning with extracurricular opportunities that provide students with a mix of theoretical knowledge and practical application.
Presented at 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE 2014).
UX 101: Making Great Human Experiences at Pittsburgh PodCamp 9Carol Smith
Carol Smith provides the tools you need to get started doing User Experience (UX) work right away. She introduces three quick and inexpensive UX research methods that will provide you with rich information about users and designs: interviews; card sorting; and usability testing. You'll learn how this work will influence your design and ways to effectively share and communicate what has been learned to increase stakeholders understandings of customers.
What is Heuristic evaluation
Background
Benefits
Main advantages and drawbacks of the method
Scenario and methods of evaluation
10 usability Heuristics in usability engineering
How to conduct heuristic Evaluation
Phases of the Evaluation Method
Problems and Evaluators
Seamlessness thought the whole user experience
Introduction to Prototyping - Scottish UPA - June 2011Neil Allison
Presented to the Scottish Usability Professionals Association, Edinburgh, 22 June 2011.
Covering the basics, the benefits, some tools, some tips and a case study.
Selling UX in Your Organization at Cleveland World Usability Day (WUD)Carol Smith
We know the benefits of User Experience (UX) work include saving time and effort, and potentially increasing profits. How do you persuade the business to integrate (more) UX activities into the process? How do you approach difficult questions about budget, timeline and other major issues?
This presentation gives you the facts to back up your convictions. Carol provides clear and compelling responses to tough questions about UX and usability methods. You’ll leave with facts about the Return on Investment (ROI) of UX, how to respond to UX skeptics, and how to turn your entire team into UX advocates.
Rewarding Your Own Research Panel - Panel Management WebinarQualtrics
Join incentive experts Collin Manaois of Tango Card and Leif Baradoy of Giftbit as we give best practices and automated solutions for incentivizing your panel members.
We'll discuss the best ways to incentivize panel members, automating incentive fulfillment, and the best solutions for incentives.Come learn how to reap the benefits of faster insights, higher response rates, and reduced costs to get the vital data your organization needs.
Breaking Down the EdChoice “Surveying State Legislators” ReportEdChoice
In Surveying State Legislators: Views on K–12 Education, Choice-Based Policies, and the Profession, EdChoice Vice President of Research and author Paul DiPerna reports findings from a phone survey of 344 state legislators from across the country. We believe this is the first systematic phone-only survey of this population in more than 15 years. This Slideshare breaks down the findings to better inform educational choice and school choice advocates about state lawmakers’ opinions, behaviors and preferences.
For the full report, visit http://www.edchoice.org/LegislatorSurvey.
Dr. Barbara O'Neill and Attorney Mary Benzinger will present this 90-minute webinar on estate planning on behalf of the Military Families Learning Network's Personal Finance Concentration Area. Topics to be discussed in this webinar include: probate and probate avoidance, the advantages and limitations of wills, trusts, estate taxes, blended families, life insurance beneficiaries, states that have transfer on death for vehicles and real property, poor planning & minor children, testamentary trusts, and estate planning resources.
AWS Partner Webcast - Step by Step Plan to Update and Migrate Microsoft Wind...Amazon Web Services
More than 10 million Microsoft Windows Server 2003 machines will enter End of Life in July 2015, which terminates all product support and updates.
Now is great time to consider how your applications on these servers can be moved to the cloud.
Review this webinar by Cloudnexa, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, to find out how to upgrade your server infrastructure and migrate your critical applications to the cloud, step by step.
Demonstrating Competencies with E-Portfolios: The Carolina MPAStefanie Panke
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describes the conceptual design, instructional development and organizational implementation involved with the transition from a traditional end of program capstone project to a competence-oriented portfolio and oral exam assessment in a public administration graduate program.
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Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfUVijh6hF8
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Concepts discussed will include:
● Constructivism-informed Education Processes
● Reduction of transactional distance
● Collaborative processes
● Principles of PBL Online Facilitation (Savin-Baden, 2007)
The changing nature of learning management systems and the emergence of a dig...Charles Darwin University
A Webinar presented to Faculty and post graduate students at the Model Institute of Education & Research, Jammu, India.
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A short talk introducing the typology of ePortfolio,s and the taxonomy of their functionality. This was delivered as part of a University of West of England Practice Based Learning in Social Wok session.
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In this session, we talk about the mobile and social web, and how it shapes economy, individual behavior and well-being, political events, and society as a whole.
Session 5 was about space for creativity. We talked about how rooms for design thinking should be set up, and went through different ideation exercises to advance your group work.
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Design Thinking Presentation at AppState Free Learning Conference 2018Stefanie Panke
The session discusses design thinking as a conceptual framework and methodological approach for fostering discussion and facilitating ideas that promote intergroup empathy. I provide a theoretical overview of design thinking and related approaches to then discusses two case studies. I give a detailed overview of workshop concept, workshop results and workshop evaluation data. Practitioners will find this presentation a valuable source for design thinking ideas and material. Researchers can use the analysis as a starting point for further investigating the effectiveness of design thinking.
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The session discusses design thinking as a conceptual framework and methodological approach for fostering discussion and facilitating ideas that promote intergroup empathy. I provide a theoretical overview of design thinking and related approaches to then discusses two case studies. I give a detailed overview of workshop concept, workshop results and workshop evaluation data. Practitioners will find this presentation a valuable source for design thinking ideas and material. Researchers can use the analysis as a starting point for further investigating the effectiveness of design thinking.
Francesca Gottschalk - How can education support child empowerment.pptxEduSkills OECD
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Safalta Digital marketing institute in Noida, provide complete applications that encompass a huge range of virtual advertising and marketing additives, which includes search engine optimization, virtual communication advertising, pay-per-click on marketing, content material advertising, internet analytics, and greater. These university courses are designed for students who possess a comprehensive understanding of virtual marketing strategies and attributes.Safalta Digital Marketing Institute in Noida is a first choice for young individuals or students who are looking to start their careers in the field of digital advertising. The institute gives specialized courses designed and certification.
for beginners, providing thorough training in areas such as SEO, digital communication marketing, and PPC training in Noida. After finishing the program, students receive the certifications recognised by top different universitie, setting a strong foundation for a successful career in digital marketing.
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This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
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Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
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E-Portfolios in Higher Education: Case Study & Literature Review
1. Stefanie Panke
University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
Center for Faculty
Excellence
2016
E-Portfolios in
Higher Education:
Case Study &
Literature Review
2. E-Portfolios in Higher Education
Originated in art-related programs, adopted
in multiple domains since the mid 1990s
(Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005).
We are on the ‘brink of an era of expanded
adoption and impact of e-portfolios’ (Kahn,
2014).
57 % of US postsecondary institutions made
some use of e-portfolios (ECAR, 2013).
ECR 2015: e-portfolios as
‘technologies may be
achieving their potential’.
4. Types of Portfolios (Hewett, 2004)
• Documentation
portfolios: growth
toward learning goals
• Process portfolios:
phases of the learning
process
• Showcase portfolios:
accomplishments and
competences
5. From ‘assessment of learning’ towards
‘assessment for learning’
Knowledge imparted
by the instructor
(input)
Competencies
students can
apply (output).
8. Integrated, complex construct of
knowledge, skills and attitudes that
can be used in order to solve arising
problems and succeed in handling
(new) situations (Baartman et al.,
2007).
Combination of knowledge, skills,
understanding, values, attitudes and
desires, which lead to effective,
embodied human action in the
world, in a particular domain.
(Buckingham et al., 2012)
9.
10. • Peer-reviewed
articles
• Higher education
context
• 2004-2014
• Instructional context
information
• Empirical data on
portfolio outcomes
Literature Review
11. Portfolio Goals
• Accreditation standards
• Reflection, self-regulation,
metacognitive awareness
• Reflective leadership /
professionalism
• Community of Practice
• Student autonomy
• Employability
14. Tools and Infrastructure
• Portfolio systems
(Mahara, PebblePad)
• HTML editors
• Blogs
• Wikis
• GoogleSites
• PowerPoint
• Word
15. Assessment
• Why and how to re-assess graded assignments?
• How to establish fair / transparent criteria?
• Rubrics
• Evaluation templates
• Student-developed
criteria
16. Benefits of e-portfolios
• Encouraging reflection
(Roberts, Maor &
Herrington, 2013).
• Promoting self-regulation
(Abrami et al, 2008, Meyer
at al, 2010).
• Improving knowledge
management (Chang, Tseng,
Liang & Chen, 2013).
• Acknowledging diversity
and transfer learning
(O’Toole, 2013).
17. Benefits of e-portfolios
• Fostering digital literacy
/multimedia storytelling
(Wakimoto & Lewis,
2014).
• Supporting career
development (Reese &
Levy, 2009).
• Strengthening
organizational ties (cf.
Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005;
Reese & Levy, 2009).
18. Reflective Leadership
and Professionalism
• Enter shared-goal conversation
that values the leader and his or
her expertise (Hyland & Kranzow,
2012)
• Fostering critical reflection as
means of developing expertise,
critical self-surveillance whereby
professional experiences are
revisited and explored (McNeill,
Brown & Shaw, 2010).
19. Barriers to Implementation & Use
• Implementing e-
portfolios is a complex
process fraught with
challenges and dilemmas
(Chau & Cheng, 2010).
• The promotion of
reflective thinking and
practice are not an
automatic result of
creating a portfolio
(Wray, 2007).
20. Barriers to Implementation & Use
• Tensions between personal
reflection and institutional
requirements (Tosh, Light,
Fleming & Haywood, 2005)
• Written reflection vs.
metacognitive processes
(McNeill, Brown & Shaw,
2010)
• Unclear expectations and
assessment strategies
• Conflicting portfolio goals
23. Learning Trajectories and Transfer
Learning
• 60% included products created outside class.
• 73% agree that the portfolio brings together
classroom learning with professional
experiences and personal background.
• 2% plan to use the
portfolio in the future.
24. Foster Digital Literacy
% who agree or strongly agree
• Web publishing is an important skill: 73%
• The portfolio has improved
the general technical abilities
to develop a professional
website: 1%
• It was easy to set up
the portfolio in
WordPress: 53%
25. Support Career Prospects
• Only one student shared the
portfolio with a potential employer.
• ‘It's too personal. Changing the
portfolio to be less introspective
would make it a less useful
assignment, though’.
• ‘By the time I could share
the portfolio, I had a job’.
26. Assessment
Students diagreed:
• that the assessment process was fair: 40%
• that they received helpful feedback: 33%
• that the committee reviewed thoroughly: 33%
• ‘a bit of inconsistency with the expectations of
different faculty committees made the process
seem unfair’.
• ‘by allowing us to put as much material in the
portfolio as we wanted, it was simply too much
for them to review’.
27. Reflection
• 80% were proud of their portfolio.
• 93% agreed that the portfolio process prompted
them to reflect their competencies as public
service leaders.
• ‘extremely worthwhile exercise’.
• ‘excellent opportunity to increase self-awareness
and plan for future development’
• ‘Overall, the portfolio did help me reflect on what
I learned in the program’.
• ‘I appreciated the flexibility we were given to
design our portfolios to reflect our strengths’.
28. Summary
• Faux reflection based on
institutional requirements
• Consistency in
assessment: clear and
shared expectations
• Increased ownership:
Roadmap for future use
of portfolio?
• Balance between
structure and autonomy
during portfolio process
• Learning opportunities for
students and program
leadership / faculty
• Dialogue on how to
interpret central learning
outcomes of the program
• Bridge between
classroom reality and
professional experiences
• Reflective Leadership
• Peer Learning Community
through shared portfolios
within cohort
29. Conclusion
• Diverse landscape
• Various infrastructures
• Differences in curricular
integration
• Best practices for
instructional orchestration
• Assessment challenging
• No silver bullet for student
autonomy and reflection
Questions on how to (best) implement e-portfolios and what instructional outcomes to expect are discussed on many university campuses. While it is often proclaimed that e-portfolios have great potential to engage students and promote deep learning, implementing e-portfolios is a complex process. What should administrators, students, faculty and instructors expect when implementing e-portfolios in their program or course? In the following 20 minutes, I will present some highlights of a recent literature review on e-portfolios in higher education.
Though they originated in art-related programs and in disciplines with significant writing components, portfolios have been adopted in multiple domains since the mid 1990s both in secondary and higher education (Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005).
Portfolios are a hot topic. In a recent edition of the magazine Peer Review that is published by the American Association for Universities, Susan Kahn, who is the director of the Indiana and Purdue University portfolio initiative, stated that we are on the ‘brink of an era of expanded adoption and impact of e-portfolios’. Portfolios have gained significant interest as an authentic assessment tool to monitor and demonstrate competence development. According to the 2013 Educause survey on the use of information technology in undergraduate education, 57 percent of US postsecondary institutions state that they made some use of e-portfolios in the past year.
An e-portfolio is a systematically curated exhibition of learning products. Students use their portfolios to collect their work, select and highlight examples they want to showcase, and to reflect, discuss and potentially even advance their learning. The collection as a whole presents the student’s learning goals, learning processes, and learning outcomes. These processes are basically the same for printed portfolios or e-portfolios. The electronic format makes it easy to link artifacts and reflections and allows to include a richer variety of content such as multimedia elements or datasets.
Hewett (2004) distinguishes three basic types of portfolios that support different assessment purposes:
Documentation portfolios show the growth toward achieving specific, pre-defined learning goals. They support diagnostic assessment and allow students and instructors to both plan and check how the learner is progressing.
Process portfolios document the phases of the learning process and reflect upon the students’ journey towards mastery. They make students cognizant of how they learn best and support self-assessment of learning strategies.
Showcase portfolios focus on the students' accomplishments and competences. They include the students' best works and reflections on how and why the work products were selected. They support summative assessment of students’ competences and learning outcomes.
We are currently in the process of getting IRB approval for investigating how well our portfolio approach meet the needs of program leadership, faculty and students. Our research focus is twofold: First of all, we want to understand how well different types of portfolio enable specific benefits – and inhibit others. Second, we want to understand what are effective techniques for assessing portfolios.
We do this through a series of online questionnaires, focus groups and interview. We are eager to share our instruments and discuss our results.
Portfolios are a tool for supporting authentic assessment, they allow a shift from ‘assessment of learning’ towards ‘assessment for learning’. Instead of assessing how well students can reproduce knowledge imparted by the instructor (input), the focus is on the competencies students can apply (output).
My personal motivation to delve deeper into the topic of e-portfolios stems from my work as an Instructional Analyst at UNC School of Government. In 2012, our Master of Public Administration Program shifted from a capstone project to an e-portfolio and oral exam process for graduation.
Prompted by a shift in accreditation standards that call for a competency-focused curriculum, the Carolina MPA has undergone a complete curriculum redesign. The faculty committee developed a set of eight broad competencies with 24 intermediary competencies that together define the learning outcomes the program seeks to impart.
Competencies are an integrated, complex construct of knowledge, skills and attitudes. They describe what we can do with what we know and how we can transfer it to handling new situations. Instructors often assume a smooth learning trajectory as students move through the curriculum from course to course, from year to year and eventually into the workplace. However, accomplishments in authentic settings require more than knowledge. Learners need skills, understanding, values, attitudes and desires to apply their knowledge in a particular context.
In the Carolina MPA program the student portfolio is a pivotal piece of the new, competence-oriented curriculum. Students use the portfolio to document their level of competence in central learning outcomes of the program. It needs to pass a three person faculty review committee, before students can move on to the final oral exam. This spring, the first cohort completed the portfolio process. When it came to evaluating and reflecting our portfolio experiences, we asked ourselves – what are the benchmarks of success? Is it enough if our students and our faculty are fairly happy with the process? What experiences do other campuses have?
The body of literature included in this review was accumulated primarily through queries in ERIC, with supporting research in Google Scholar, Science Direct, ResearchGATE and EdITLib, using the search terms ‘electronic portfolio(s)’ and ’e-portfolio(s)’. The criteria for inclusion were
Peer-reviewed journal article,
English language,
Higher education context,
Published between 2004-2014,
Context information on pedagogical goals, instructional design or assessment,
Empirical data on portfolio outcomes in a specific course or program.
Each article was read carefully to document the curricular integration of the portfolio, the subject domain and degree, the institution, the country or region, details on class size or cohort, the goals and motivation for implementing the portfolio, the instructional design of the course or assignment, the portfolio assessment and the infrastructure deployed for generating the portfolios. In addition, the specific research questions and method of inquiry, information on the research subjects as well as outcomes of the research process were documented in a spreadsheet.
Goal and Motivation: Why implement portfolio processes in the first place? Common drivers for portfolio integration at a program level are accreditation standards and the goal to enable competence-oriented assessment. Other frequently stated reasons for using portfolios are fostering reflection, self-regulated learning and development of metacognitive awareness, e.g., ‘creating independent learners able to monitor their own learning’ (Siu, 2013), ‘enhance students' ability to engage in a reflective cycle’ (Pelliccione & Raison, 2009). Related goals are reflective leadership and reflective professionalism: ‘Enter a shared-goal conversation that values the educational leader and his or her expertise’ (Hyland & Kranzow, 2012), ‘Fostering critical reflection as means of developing expertise, as critical self-surveillance whereby professional experiences are revisited and explored’ (McNeill, Brown & Shaw, 2010). Other motives are to increase student autonomy as to what they choose to present or withhold for assessment, offer a digital space where students can present evidence of employability skills and create a community of practice that extends interaction beyond class time.
Curricular Integration: Portfolios differ in their curricular integration. Portfolios can be introduced at the beginning of the program for students’ ongoing engagement with the process of selecting and reflecting on learning products. Students document growth and development as they navigate the curriculum (cf. Hopper, Sanford & Bonsor-Kurki, 2012; Tran, Baker & Pensavalle, 2005). More typically, portfolio courses are offered as a graduation requirement course during the last term. In some cases, instructors use e-portfolios as an individual course assignment in elective or required courses.
Scaffolds: Most portfolio processes include some kind of scaffolding to help guide student development (Fitch, Peet, Reed & Tolman, 2008). Several publications attribute portfolio guides, rubrics, frequent instructor feedback, technical support, portfolio workshops and peer learning opportunities to positive portfolio outcomes. Instructors have a key role to play when students are called upon to construct e-portfolios to enhance deep reflection and analyze what they learned (Brandes, 2008). As Fitch et al. (2008) stated, scaffolding may be especially instrumental in helping students reflect on and integrate their various classroom and field experiences. Few publications provide details on the scaffolds or instructional prompts associated with the portfolio. An exception is a course design described by Brandes (2008), in which students were asked to find metaphors to highlight their understanding of teaching, learning, and the use of technology. The students then used these central metaphors to structure their portfolios. owe
Infrastructure: The systems and tools reported comprised self-developed solutions, specialized portfolio platforms (Blackboard ePortfolio, Mahara, PebblePad, TaskStream, Open Source Portfolio), Microsoft Office components (Word, PowerPoint), HTML-editors (Frontpage, Dreamweaver), and web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, GoogleSites). Half of the articles reviewed did not provide any details about the technical infrastructure deployed for implementing the portfolios.
Assessment: Although portfolios are often praised as an authentic assessment strategy, little is known about how to establish fair and transparent processes for assessing the portfolio itself. Very few publications discuss the assessment aspect and describe how portfolios were evaluated. Rubrics, marking criteria and evaluation templates appear to be a common approach to generate transparency and clarify expectations (Mason, Pegler & Welller, 2004; Rowley & Dunbar-Hall, 2012; Wakimoto & Lewis, 2014; Zawacki-Richter, Hanft & Bäcker, 2011). Brandes (2008) described a course in which students developed criteria for the evaluation of portfolios. As Fitch et al. (2008) reported, faculty may struggle with the idea why one should assess assignments already graded.
To this end, I did a lit review of portfolio outcomes so we can see of we achieve this.
Benefits of e-portfolios documented in the literature include:
Fostering digital literacy and multimedia storytelling: By creating digital exhibitions spaces of their work, students gain technology, writing and multimedia communication skills en passant (Wakimoto & Lewis, 2014).
Supporting career development: The digital collection of work samples and skill demonstrations can be easily shared with potential employers (Reese & Levy, 2009).
Strengthening organizational ties: E-Portfolios may link students to their alma mater even after graduation and can be used to connect alumni and prospective students (cf. Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005; Reese & Levy, 2009).
Encouraging reflection: E-portfolios enable learners to review their learning processes and outcomes by self-reflection and comments from peers (Roberts, Maor & Herrington, 2013).
Promoting self-regulation: Portfolios that stress the reflective component have the potential to raise students’ metacognitive awareness (Abrami et al, 2008, Meyer at al, 2010).
Improving knowledge management. The process of conceptualizing, implementing and developing an e-portfolio involves collecting, arranging, re-organizing and presenting information. E-portfolios can thereby facilitate knowledge management performance (Chang, Tseng, Liang & Chen, 2013).
Acknowledging diversity and transfer learning: Portfolios are a natural fit for assessing networked learners in their personal learning environments Panke, 2013). The e-portfolio brings diverse student outputs from a range of different learning and working contexts into one common format and thus facilitates assessment (O’Toole, 2013).
This makes portfolios sound like the proverbial jackalope. However, not all of the benefits will manifest in every instance of a portfolio centered assessment. It is important to keep in mind that there are different portfolios for different purposes.
To this end, I did a lit review of portfolio outcomes so we can see of we achieve this.
Benefits of e-portfolios documented in the literature include:
Fostering digital literacy and multimedia storytelling: By creating digital exhibitions spaces of their work, students gain technology, writing and multimedia communication skills en passant (Wakimoto & Lewis, 2014).
Supporting career development: The digital collection of work samples and skill demonstrations can be easily shared with potential employers (Reese & Levy, 2009).
Strengthening organizational ties: E-Portfolios may link students to their alma mater even after graduation and can be used to connect alumni and prospective students (cf. Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005; Reese & Levy, 2009).
Encouraging reflection: E-portfolios enable learners to review their learning processes and outcomes by self-reflection and comments from peers (Roberts, Maor & Herrington, 2013).
Promoting self-regulation: Portfolios that stress the reflective component have the potential to raise students’ metacognitive awareness (Abrami et al, 2008, Meyer at al, 2010).
Improving knowledge management. The process of conceptualizing, implementing and developing an e-portfolio involves collecting, arranging, re-organizing and presenting information. E-portfolios can thereby facilitate knowledge management performance (Chang, Tseng, Liang & Chen, 2013).
Acknowledging diversity and transfer learning: Portfolios are a natural fit for assessing networked learners in their personal learning environments Panke, 2013). The e-portfolio brings diverse student outputs from a range of different learning and working contexts into one common format and thus facilitates assessment (O’Toole, 2013).
This makes portfolios sound like the proverbial jackalope. However, not all of the benefits will manifest in every instance of a portfolio centered assessment. It is important to keep in mind that there are different portfolios for different purposes.
Tensions between personal reflection and institutional requirements: Tosh, Light, Fleming & Haywood (2005) criticized that oftentimes portfolios offer pseudo-authentic student voices, and are viewed as ‘just another assignment’. Instead of valuable reflection, students produce what they think the instructor or program requires. As Chau & Cheng (2010) observed: “students may conceive and shape written messages based on institutional requirements” (475).
Discrepancy between written reflection and metacognitive processes: McNeill, Brown & Shaw (2010) questioned whether recorded reflection is a true picture of the cognitive process involved. Specifically, the authors raised the question as to whether participants who did not have fluent writing skills were able to fully convey the cognitive processes involved in reflection, or indeed, whether participants who were accomplished writers could appear to attain deeper levels of reflection.
Difficulties with portfolio expectations and assessment: Although portfolios are often praised as an authentic assessment strategy, little is known about how to establish fair and transparent processes for assessing the portfolio itself. As Fitch et al. (2008) reported, faculty may struggle with the idea why one should assess assignments already graded.
Conflicting portfolio goals: It remains an open question how well different types of portfolio enable specific benefits – and inhibit others. For instance, a portfolio that emphasizes reflection and fosters metacognitive awareness may not be the best tool to support career development – and vice versa.
We obtained IRB approval for evaluating the portfolio process in a mixed method approach that included (1) a faculty focus group, (2) the course evaluation results of PUBA 746 and (3) online survey for students, administered 2 month after graduation.
Two month after graduation, the research team administered an online survey with the survey software Qualtrics. We reached out to the 18 students in the first MPA cohort in the portfolio condition to learn about how they viewed the process in retrospect. We offered a $10 gift certificate to enhance the response rate and as a token of appreciation for the students’ willingness to provide ongoing feedback and endure uncertainty and change as the portfolio pilot group. The survey comprised a total of 25 items, most of them with a six point likert scale in order to obtain clear trends. In addition, we included 3 open-ended questions to get suggestions for improvement and other qualitative input.
Reflection: In what ways can e-portfolios contribute to reflective practices? Many portfolio projects stated the goal to ‘create reflective leaders’, ‘reflective professionals’ or ‘engage students in a reflective cycle’. As Chau & Cheng (2010) observed: “Regardless of whether or not writing is in the form of self-reflection or peer feedback, students may conceive and shape written messages based on institutional requirements” (475). McNeill, Brown & Shaw (2010) stated that further research is needed to explore factors that enable or inhibit the use of the e-portfolio for reflection and whether recorded reflection is a true picture of the cognitive process involved. The authors raise the question as to whether participants who did not have fluent writing skills were able to fully convey the cognitive processes involved in reflection, or indeed, whether participants who were accomplished writers could appear to attain deeper levels of reflection.
Learning: It seems that the reception of portfolios is a crucial aspect of the portfolio process: “We must consider viewing the e-portfolios as learning opportunities for the students who construct them, as well as those who view them” (Brandes, 2008). Experience with portfolios across different settings suggest that students learn from other students’ portfolios, e.g. Wakimoto & Lewis (2014, 57): “Students were also encouraged to share access to their eportfolio with their fellow cohort members. This created an interactive community of practice where students could discuss, reflect, and evaluate individual understanding of professional practice”. Portfolios offer insights into the ways how students perceive, interpret and transform the learning objectives underpinning the curriculum. They provide the faculty with means to support and monitor student learning toward expected standards of the program (Parker, Ndoye & Ritzhaupt, 2012).
In 2011, Virginia Tech’s Center for Instructional Development and Educational Research established an electronic, open access International Journal of ePortfolio. The journal typically publishes two issues per year, in April and October and employs a rolling submission process, though it seems to have switched to an annual publication in 2015. The current CFP ends June 1st.