Using Student-created e-Portfolios to Assess Degree-level and University-level Learning Outcomes

• In Event: 2322 - Activities and Techniques Poster Session

Abstract

Increasingly, we are expected to clearly state the learning outcomes of a course and a degree, and then develop systematic methods of assessing whether these learning outcomes have been met. Disciplines that have centralized and longstanding accreditation standards such as engineering and nursing, have been doing this well for years. Social scientists who have embraced notions of academic freedom at the level of individual courses and instructors are less experienced in doing these systematic and standardized assessment activities. This presentation will explore one program’s attempt to 1) revise our degree-level learning outcomes to more closely align with larger university-level learning commitments, 2) develop parallel activities to be done in both an intro and capstone course that directly map the learning outcomes to our curriculum, and 3) have students use an e-portfolio to curate and demonstrate their most significant learning. This presentation will demonstrate the software we used (Pathbrite) to create a simple three-section template that assesses both degree-level and university-level learning outcomes, and will show examples of e-portfolios created by students. Pedagogically, allowing students to define their own learning within an e-portfolio has proven beneficial, as they are able to uniquely define and reflect upon their learning and how it has prepared them for opportunities beyond the undergraduate classroom. Programmatically, it has also been useful as it allows individual instructors to maintain their academic freedom, while allowing the program to efficiently and effectively see specific (and often very unique or creative) examples of how students define their most significant learning within the frameworks developed to assess learning outcomes. The audience for this presentation is any instructor, faculty, or administrator who is curious about how an e-portfolio can be implemented in a social science curriculum and who is thinking about ways to assess degree-level or university-level learning outcomes.

Authors

• CoCo M. James, University of Utah

• Rebecca L. Utz, University of Utah