ePortfolios from the Ground Up: Planning, Creating, Implementing

Bret Eynon & J. Elizabeth Clark

AAC&U National Conference

25 January 2012

http://youtu.be/o-qaYUa6Szg

Who is Doing ePortfolio Today?

• A Fast Growing Field: As many as 400 universities nationwide

• A Global Movement: Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia

• Many Different Approaches: different goals, strategies, styles

• A Higher Education Movement: AAC & U’s Integrative Learning Project & Project VALUE

percentages by sector reporting ePortfolio services on the campus Web site, 2003-2010

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Community College Public 4-year College Private 4-yearCollege

Public Universities Private Universities

2003 2005 2007 2010

The Campus Computing Project

ePortfolio Structures

Course ePortfolio

Documents student learning in a single course(s) in a single semester.

Documents student learning over time and make connections across courses and experiences

Integrative ePortfolio

ePortfolio Goals

Showcase/ Credential ePortfolio

Assessment ePortfolio

Learning ePortfolio

For transfer, employment, registration, credentialing

For program review and/or to evaluate student competencies

For metacognition, deepening learning, making connections

Showcase & Credential ePortfolios• Florida State

• Minnesota–eFolio,120,000 statewide

• Career Wales -- 150,000+ Users

• U of Nebraska, Faculty Course Portfolio

Assessment-Focused ePortfolios

• Alverno College

• Bowling Green State University

• Oral Roberts University

• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Learning ePortfolios

• Clemson University

• Johns Hopkins University

• San Francisco State University

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.

Kae Yamane, Integrating interests

Three Rivers CC (Nursing)Lily Raefeldt and Colleagues

14

N101 N102 N201 N203 N205

Three Rivers CC: Making Reflection “Social” From the Beginning

Reflection as social pedagogy begins with entry level courses

“Students write a letter to future students of the course”

15

Three Rivers CC: Iterative Design

16

Three Rivers CC: Making Reflection “Social” and Public

17

ePortfolio @ LaGuardia:A Case Study

Connecting @ LaGuardia

Collect. Students collect their work,Select samples of work that show their learning,Reflect on that work identifying and articulating skills and content in the artifacts,growthConnect their experiences, course work, personal and professional goals.

Student Centered, Life-Long Learning:

An Integrative Approach

Across Semesters

External Audiences

Lived Curriculum

AcrossDisciplines

Faculty

Academic Curriculum

Student

Student

ReflectionIntegrationInquiryEngagementLife-long LearningTransitionWhy “e” in ePortfolio?

Intentional, Integrated Learning Design

Goals

for

Stu

den

ts Build student engagement: more reflective, self-motivated learners

Link classroom & lived experience

eResume for career & transfer

Build technology & web-authoring skills

Goals for Faculty• Richer understanding

of the learning process

• Improve advisement & career guidance

• Support outcomes assessment: more nuanced data than standardized tests

• Deeper insight into the meaning of our student diversity

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. Reflection is a

key element of integration.

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.

ePortfolio @ LaGuardiaCollege-Wide Project

• Supported by rigorous faculty development

• Integrated into the curriculum

• Integrated into the classroom as part of the pedagogy

• Integrated into the assessment process

• Making connections across courses & disciplines

2003-4 2004-5 2005-6 2006-7 2007-8 2008-9 2009-10

370

1,868

5,024

6,339

8,249

9,325

12,503Students Enrolled in ePortfolio Classes,

2003-2010

Documented Benefits for Students

Sustained multi-modal evaluation correlates ePortfolio use with advances in student learning:

• CCSSE data shows higher levels of engagement in key academic behaviors (critical thinking, writing, collaboration, connecting classes to self-understanding)

• Higher course pass rates

• Improved next semester retention

A Learning College:

Adjusting for Student

Growth & Development

Faculty Read & Assess Student Work• Faculty provide appropriate developmental guidance and a final assessment of the work

Programs Read & Assess Student Work• Programs can make changes based on what they find & with support through the CTL (if they choose)

The College Reads & Assesses Student Work• The college is able to assess progress in core competencies across the curriculum, not just in a program.

Using the ePortfolio

• Site for collecting student work• Makes work accessible to faculty for

classroom assessment purposes• Makes work accessible anonymously to

programs for Program Assessment and for the Benchmark Assessment Readings

• Connects the assessment process and the classroom

• Provides flexible data: by course, by program, by competency—can be aggregated in a variety of configurations

Keys to Successful Programs

Pedagogy

Faculty Development

Curricular Integration

Relationship to Assessment & Advisement

Technology

Policies & Procedures

Platforms

Training & Support

Infrastructure

Shared Leadership

Faculty

Administration

Students

Technology

Institutional Research

Development

Resources

Planning

Sources: e.g. Institution,

Grant, Student Funding

Uses: e.g. Staff and

Faculty Time

Mission and Goals

Tailored to College Mission

College-Wide Coordination

Visibility

Sustained Commitment

What Do You Want Your ePortfolio Project To Do On Your Campus?

ePortfolios On Your Campus (15 minutes)

• What does an ePortfolio like at your campus?

• What would be in it?

• What are your goals for students?

• What are your goals for faculty?

• What are your goals for your institution?

• Who & what do you need to make this happen?

• What are your concerns?

Small Group Sharing (25 minutes)

• Briefly share your campus case study

• What questions do you have?

• What questions/topics are similar across campuses?

• Do you have ideas/approaches/answers?

• Please post 3 common questions on the poster paper on your table.

Common Questions/Topics/Themes (Group Generated at Tables)

• What criteria should/could be used for determining a platform?

• Good developments of faculty models?

• Good elements of a student learning ePortfolio?

• How do you manage the different levels of privacy?

• Who owns the work?

• How long does it stay “there”?

• What about faculty fear?

Common Themes/Questions, cont’d

• Are there models for integrating curricular & co-curricular aspects of student life?

• How do we know if it works?

• Faculty buy-in?

• What are people’s experiences with platforms?

• How much uniformity across disciplines (and related to general education)?

• What does a peer to peer model look like?

• Who validates student work?

What Makes a Successful ePortfolio Project?

Visualizing Our Hypothesis And Our Model

Emerging Data from the National C2L Project

Hypothesis: Successful Integrative eP

implementation is advanced by active

attention to practices on all 4 levels

Overview

Institutional Needs & Support

Programmatic Connections

Faculty & Staff

Student Learning

Hypothesis: Successful Integrative eP

implementation is advanced by active

attention to practices on all 4 levels

Overview Layer

Institutional Needs & Support

Programmatic Connections

Faculty & Staff

Student Learning

eP as M

eans for Outcom

es

Assessm

enteP

as

Technology

eP a

s In

tegra

tive

Soc

ial

Ped

agog

y

Sca

ling U

p: Pla

n’g

& E

val’n o

f eP

Pro

ject

s

These 4 levels can be examined from different angles or

sides.

Characteristics of

Successful ePortfolio Projects• Develop a unique look & feel, tied to mission & culture

• Facilitate ownership & customization by students, faculty & programs

• Support college-wide innovation with time, resources, prof’l development & public recognition

• Build patiently and persistently with an adaptive long-range strategy

• Value the ePortfolio as more than an assessment vehicle and/or more than a tool for student success—understanding that it’s a shared learning journal for the student, the faculty, and the institution

An Emerging Community of Practice

• Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research

• ePortfolio Consortium

• EPAC Community of Practice

• The Association for Authentic Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning

• Project VALUE

• Making Connections/Connect to Learning

• International Journal of ePortfolio (iJEP)

• OSPI (Open Source Portfolio Initiative)

• Handbook of Research on ePortfolios (Jafari & Kaufman, 2006)

• Electronic Portfolios 2.0 (Yancey, Cambridge & Cambridge, 2009)

More About LaGuardia & the Connect to Learning National Research Project

• LaGuardia ePortfolio’s YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/ePortfolioLAGCC/videos

• Connect to Learning Project

http://www.connections-community.org/

• Public Connect to Learning ePortfolios

https://c2l.digication.com

**Public ePortfolios are at the bottom of the page.

Thank You!Bret Eynon, beynon@lagcc.cuny.eduJ. Elizabeth Clark, lclark@lagcc.cuny.edu