ePortfolios as a Pedagogical Tool for Creative Inquiry

• In Event: 3423 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 1: Assessment and Curriculum

Abstract

AAC&U describes ePortfolios as digital repositories of student work and in 2016, based upon proliferating research examining the efficacy of ePortfolios, they added ePortfolios to the list of High Impact Practices. ePortfolios are the latest addition to AAC&U’s list of high-impact practices, and higher education has developed a range of ways to implement them for teaching and learning, programmatic assessment, and career development. ePortfolios enable students to electronically collect their work over time, reflect upon their growth, and then share selected items with others, such as professors, advisors, and potential employers. Because collection over time is a key element of the ePortfolio process, employing ePortfolios in collaboration with other high-impact practices, such as internships, provides opportunities for students to make connections between various educational experiences. As an example, the Sociology Internships course has been redesigned to utilize ePortfolios in order to engage students in Creative Inquiry. The LEAP challenge set forth by AAC&U through the use of ePortfolios as a cumulative project for students states: “to make signature work a goal for all students—and the expected standard of quality learning in college… A student uses his or her cumulative learning to pursue a significant project…Through signature work, students immerse themselves in exploration, choosing the questions they want to study and preparing to explain the significance of their work to others. The process helps students develop the capacities, e.g., investigation, evidence-based reasoning, and the ability to collaborate constructively, to grapple with problems where the “right answer” is still unknown, and where any answer may be actively contested.” (AAC&U 2015)
In this roundtable discussion, participants can expect to come away with ideas about how to utilize ePortfolios in a wide variety of Sociology courses. In addition, best practices for the use of ePortfolios, as well as challenges will be addressed.

Author

• Shelley S Brown, Tennessee Tech University