This document discusses the use of ePortfolios to support integrative learning in higher education. It begins by outlining several organizations and resources focused on ePortfolio research and implementation. It then discusses how ePortfolios can help students make connections across courses, disciplines, and between their academic and lived experiences. The document provides examples of ePortfolio implementation from various colleges and programs. It finds that ePortfolio pedagogy is aligned with high-impact educational practices and can improve student engagement, learning outcomes, and retention rates when implemented systematically with appropriate support structures.

1. Making Connections
High Impact Practices &
the Integrative ePortfolio
Bret Eynon, Ph.D
LaGuardia Community College, CUNY

3. Building a Field
• AAEEBL (Association for Authentic, Experiential &
Evidence-Based Learning) http://www.aaeebl.org/
• Inter/National Coalition for ePortfolio Research
http://ncepr.org/
• ePortfolio Action & Communication (ePAC)
http://epac.pbwiki.com/
• Making Connections National Resource Center,
based at LaGuardia Community College
http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/connections/
• International Journal of ePortfolio Research
(IJePR) to be hosted by Virginia Tech, launched in
January 2011

4. Current ePortfolio Typologies
Integrative ePortfolios
Career &
Credential
ePortfolios
Assessment
ePortfolios
Learning
ePortfolios

5. ePortfolio as Social Pedagogy
Collaborative
Integrative
Interactive
Recursive
Embodied
Adaptive

6. The Integrative Learning Project
“Fostering students' abilities to integrate
learning -- over time, across courses, and
between academic, personal and
community life -- is one of the most
important goals and challenges of higher
education.”
The Integrative Learning Project: 10 Colleges, including
LaGuardia, Portland State, Carleton College. Sponsored by
Association of American Colleges & Universities and the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
http://www.aacu.org/integrative_learning/index.cfm
http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/ilp/

7. ePortfolio & Integrative Learning
Helps students to:
• Examine links across
courses, disciplines &
semesters
• Consider their own
growth and change
over time

8. ePortfolio & Integrative Learning
•Link academic & lived
experiences
•Develop new sense of self
as learners & emerging
professionals
•Prepare to present
ePortfolio for employment
or advanced education

9. Connecting through ePortfolio
Student
Student
Faculty
& Staff
External
Audiences
Across
Disciplines
Across
Semesters
Academic
Curriculum
Lived
Curriculum

10. ePortfolios and the Challenge of
Reconnecting the Curriculum to a Life
of Practice
Randy Bass (Georgetown University)
AAEEBL Annual World Conference
ePortfolios & the Emergent Learning Ecology
July 20, 2010

12. High Impact Practices
(National Survey of Student Engagement--NSSE)
• First Year Experience
• Learning communities
• Writing intensive courses
• Collaborative assignments
• Undergraduate research
• Global learning/ study abroad
• Internships
• Capstone courses and projects

13. High Impact Activities & Outcomes
High Impact Practices:
• First-year seminars and
experiences
• Learning communities
• Writing intensive courses
• Collaborative
assignments
• Undergraduate research
• Global learning/ study
abroad
• Internships
• Capstone courses and
projects
Outcomes associated with
High Impact Practices
• Attend to underlying meaning
• Integrate and synthesize
• Discern patterns
• Apply knowledge in diverse
situations
• View issues from multiple
perspectives
• Gains in Skills, knowledge,
practical competence, personal
and social development

14. Participatory Culture of the Web
Features of participatory culture
• Low barriers to entry
• Strong support for sharing one’s contributions
• Informal mentorship, experienced to novice
• Members feel connected to each other
• Members sense of ownership of what is created
• Strong collective perception that something
meaningful is at stake
How do we make classroom learning more like participatory culture?
Jenkins, et. al., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture
MacArthur Foundation, 2008

15. Characteristics of High Impact Practices &
Participatory Web Culture
Participatory Culture
 Low barriers to entry
 Sharing one’s
contributions
 Informal mentorship,
experienced to novice
 Members feel connection
to each other
 Students ownership of
what is created
 Strong collective sense
that something is at stake
High impact experiences
 Attend to underlying
meaning
 Integrate and synthesize
 Discern patterns
 Apply knowledge in diverse
situations
 View issues from multiple
perspectives
 Skills, knowledge, practical
competence , personal and
social development

16. The Traditional
Curriculum
Informal
Learning
Participatory
culture
High Impact
Practices
Experiential
Co-curriculum

17. The Traditional
Curriculum
Informal
Learning
Participatory
culture
High Impact
Practices
Experiential
Co-curriculum
Proposition: College-based ePortfolios are a
space for creating an identity that links the
experiences of the traditional or formal
curriculum with the pedagogical and co-
curricular experiences that engage and
transform learners.

18. 30 campus teams:
15 CUNY,15 non-CUNY,
10 Community College, 20
BA and Graduate
programs
FIPSE-funded Mini-Grant & Seminar Program
Sustained professional learning community
Campus teams plan and implement ePortfolio
http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/connections/
Two new US DOE grants ($4.4 million) designed
to deepen impact and broaden national reach

19. • Rutgers University (NJ)
http://www.douglass.rutgers.edu/index.php?page_name=eportfolio_portal
SUNY--Empire State College
http://www.esc.edu/esconline/online2.nsf/ESChome.html
• Lehman College, CUNY
http://eportfolios.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2010/07/21/student-leadership-reflection-and-
assessment-at-lehman-college/
• Queensborough Community College, CUNY
http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/eportfolio/

21. Douglass Advising Framework
•Integrative learning: pathways connect our students’
learning experiences across multiple domains
•Self-authorship: students reflect on their own experience
(ePortfolio, Mission course, dialogue with advisors)
•Feminist principles: power to create knowledge and the
power to make decisions resides with student, not the
advisor
“In terms of feminist pedagogy, the authority of the feminist
teacher [advisor, mentor] as intellectual and theorist finds
expression in the goal of making students themselves
theorists of their own lives by interrogating and analyzing
their own experience”
Weiler, K. "Freire and a feminist pedagogy of difference." Harvard Educational Review 61.4
(1991): 449. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.

22. Kae Yamane, Integrating interests

23. Degree Planning:
SUNY-Empire State College ePortfolio Pilot, 2009-2010:
3 Linked Studies
• ESC 101: Introduction to College Learning and Preparation for
Degree Planning (4 credit transition to college study group
initiated in Manhattan, 2009; expanding to Brooklyn, SI in Fall
2010)
• Crafting the Prior Learning Essay (2-credit study group to
help students assess/articulate experiential learning; initiated
in Manhattan 2010; expanding to Brooklyn, SI in Fall 2010) )
• Career Building through ePortfolio (4 credit study students
learn to design, publish and maintain an ePortfolio for
personal or career purposes; initiated in Manhattan in 2009)
Metropolitan Center

24. Metropolitan Center
Crafting the Prior Learning Essay
• 2-credit study group for students beyond
their first term, many of whom have
gotten “stuck” in the system;
• Macro: Explores the often political
relationship between formal education
and experiential learning;
• Micro: Uses process pedagogy,
rhetorical concepts and guided reflection
to help students identify and describe
“college level learning”;
• Objective is for each student to complete
one polished PLA essay

25. Crafting the Prior Learning Essay 1.0 (Spring 2010): The
Role of Eportfolio
• Instructor publishes assignments, worksheets and
sample texts in her eportfolio; updated every week and
shared with group
• Students add iterative assignments as artifacts to Angel;
publish and share eportfolio periodically; opportunity to
comment on each other’s developing PLA drafts
• Students publish a final eportfolio including all written
work and a final assigned reflection
• All assignments print based; privileges alphabetic and
essayistic literacy
Metropolitan Center

26. Metropolitan Center
Crafting the Prior Learning Essay: The Students
“Dan”
Over my career in the theatre and film I have appeared in
over 150 plays and musicals…
During the multi-year stint in Cabaret, I began to work on a
script for a one man theatre piece with music. …I learned
new skills as a writer, performer, and producer….
Tourette’s Syndrome has been my greatest challenge and
very possibly, a gift. It is very difficult to live with, but I have
learned more from having it than almost anything I have
done thus far.

27. Lehman College Title V SI Program
• Provides Supplemental Instruction for
gateway courses in business,
mathematics, and science
• Employs 18-24 SI Leaders + 4-8 SI
Assistant Supervisors each term
• Serves to 3,000 students and 110 faculty
members each term.
• SI Leaders build reflective ePortfolios to
focus training, build leadership skills,
and process the peer mentoring
experience

28. SI in Action

31. Results:
• Improved time management skills
• Improved self-assessment skills
• Improved quantitative and
qualitative analysis skills
• Increased program quality and
consistency
• Increased creativity

32. SI Leader ePortfolios & Student Growth
My understanding of the leader role has
changed over the course of this semester:
not only was I able to better help others
achieve; I was better able to help myself.
Viollca Kurtaj
This process helps me see time in linear and
cyclical ways. Making small deadlines and
dividing big tasks into smaller and easier to
accomplish tasks (divide and conquer or
jigsaw), my goals get easier to tackle.
Jinnie Lee

33. Making Connections:
“The characteristic of
artistic design is the
intimacy of relations
that hold the parts
together.”
John Dewey:
Art and Experience
Student Learning Spaces:
Cornerstone Integrative Learning Projects

34. “Songs of Our Fathers”
Illustrative Gifts to a Freshman Composition Student

35. Interdisciplinary Wiki

36. Queensborough Digital
Storytelling Example:
Process followed in Interdisciplinary Wiki Collaboration Project:
• English 103 Student – writes an essay and shares it with
ENG099 students and a capstone Theater student
• ENG099 students give comments and gifts
• The Theater Student "PRESENTS" the composition
• The English Student REFLECTS on the collaboration process
• Based on the project's collaboration, the English Student
revises/finalizes his essay and creates a DIGITAL STORY

37. The Project as a High Impact Practice
• Common Intellectual Experience
• Cornerstone Course
• Global/Diversity Learning
• Service Learning
• Virtual Learning Commmunity

38. Think, Learn and
Understand
“In the beginning I
thought „wow‟ this is
hard. Then as one step
led to another I saw it
was easy. This project
made me see I can do
more than I think.”
Student #7
EN101 - Darcy
-10.0%
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
While doing this project, I considered how I think, learn and understand
information.
Survey #1
Survey #3
Difference
Survey #1 Survey #3 Difference
Never 0.9% 2.2% 1.3%
Not Often 3.5% 1.1% -2.4%
Sometimes 26.1% 16.5% -9.6%
Often 39.6% 50.5% 10.9%
Always 30.0% 39.7% 9.7%

39. FallSpring Retention
• Fall First Time/Full Time ’09:
88.0%
• Fall First Time/Full Time’09, Project Cohort:
92.6%

40. • CUNY 2 Yr College
• 15,000 credit students
(+ 35,000 non-credit)
• Dizzying diversity:
70% non-native born,
from 160 nations, 119
primary languages
• Majority female, low
income, first generation
college-goers
City of the World
• 2/3 non-native English speakers
• 80-90% must take developmental skills

41. LaGuardia’s Integrative Strategy
Enrich Student Learning
• Build Student Engagement
• Reflection & Metacognition to
deepen learning process
• Advance Student Outcomes
Assessment:
• Faculty and staff deepen
understanding of who students are
and how they learn
• Re-think outcomes assessment,
use authentic classroom work
eResume
• Students showcase achievements for career & transfer

42. 0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000
370 1868 5024 6339 8249 9325
2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9
9,325Students Enrolled in ePortfolio Classes, 2008/9

43. ePORTFOLIO
INTENSIVE
COURSES
selected by
faculty and
programs
CAPSTONE COURSES IN THE MAJOR
Students Complete Graduation ePortfolio
FIRST YEAR ACADEMY (1st semester)
Students begin Basic ePortfolio in Introduction to the Major course
FUNDAMENTALS OF PROF’L
ADVANCEMENT
Students build Intermediate ePortfolio in
required career development course

44. The Evolution of Student
ePortfolios
Mature, capstone ePortfolios that contextualize
learning in a major, connect courses and personal
interests, and integrate learning across the curriculum.
Limited course-focused ePortfolios in a single set of courses
in learning communities that set a context for basic skills
learning or for initial, college-level work.

45. A Digital Archive Becomes an ePortfolio

46. A First Course Experience: Becomes a Basic ePortfolio

47. Becomes a Multi-Semester Record of Student Learning,
Artifacts & Reflections

51. LaGuardia ePortfolio video

52. Engagement & Critical Thinking
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
57.7% 67.8%
National LaGuardia
Engagement & Critical Thinking: How much has your coursework
emphasized synthesizing & organizing ideas, information, or experiences
in new ways? % of students responding Quite a Bit or Very Much. n=1,506

53. Engagement & Critical Thinking
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
57.7% 67.8% 78.9%
National LaGuardia ePortfolio
Engagement & Critical Thinking: How much has your coursework
emphasized synthesizing & organizing ideas, information, or experiences
in new ways? % of students responding Quite a Bit or Very Much. n=1,506

54. 66%
68%
70%
72%
74%
76%
78%
Comparison 72.6% 70.2%
ePortfolio 77.7% 77.9%
FALL 2007
(ePortfolio n= 2525)
SPRING 2008
(ePortfolio n = 2330)
Course High Pass Rates
From Engagement to Learning

55. 64
66
68
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
Non-ePort 70.7 72.5 70.4
ePort 75.1 78.3 82.1
2005-8 Collegewide 2009 Collegewide
2009 Faculty in
Seminars
Next Semester Retention Rates
ePortfolio vs. Comparison Courses

56. Professional
Programs,
Employers,
& Career
ePortfolios

57. A Learning Faculty
• Outcomes Assessment
via Periodic Program
Reviews
• Nuanced assessment
Real student work and
faculty-developed
rubrics
• Measure growth over
time, across disciplines

58. Extensive & Intensive Support
Multiple Faculty
Seminars (ePortfolio
Explorer, ePortfolio
in the Professions,
ReThinking the
Capstone, etc.)
• ePortfolio Studio
• Student Technology
Mentors
• ePortfolio
Consultants

59. Practical Tips for Integration & Impact
1. Pedagogy Guides Technology
2. Engage the Whole Student (Co-Curriculars,
Life Experience, Identity)
3. Design Backwards for Critical Reflection and
Higher Order Thinking
4. Support Faculty Development as a Sustained
Classroom Inquiry

60. 5. Student Support via Peer Mentoring generates
Peer Learning
6. Use Multiple Media to enhance Creativity, Self-
Expression, and Interaction
7. Frame Assessment as Faculty Research.
Focus on Student Learning
8. Prepare for College-Wide Change
Practical Tips for Integration & Impact

61. Connected Learning
Integrative Institutional Structures:
Curricular, Co-Curricular,
Assessment, Faculty Development
Integrative Pedagogy:
Guiding & Prompting Reflection
Intentionally Integrative
Curriculum Design, by
Departments & Majors
Student Work &
Reflection:
Actively Making
Connections

62. Resources
Kathleen Blake Yancey, Barbara Cambridge, and Darren
Cambridge, eds., Electronic Portfolio 2.0: Emergent Research on
Implementation and Impact (Stylus, Jan. 2009).
Randy Bass and Bret Eynon, “Capturing the Visible Evidence of
Invisible Learning,” in Academic Commons, January 2009
http://www.academiccommons.org/issue/January-2009
Bret Eynon, “It Helped Me See a New Me: ePortfolios, Learning &
Change at LaGuardia,” in Academic Commons, January 2009.
http://www.academiccommons.org/issue/January-2009
J. Elizabeth Clark and Bret Eynon, “ePortfolio @ 2.0: Surveying
the Field,” Peer Review (Winter 2009)
AAEEBL World ePortfolio Conference, Boston July 25-28, 2011
http://www.aaeebl.org/

63. Thank You
http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/connections/

64. Video shown in presentation:
http://www.eportfolio.lagcc.cuny.edu/video/video.html