Spring 2024 has been another exciting semester for ePortfolio at Connecticut College! A small but mighty group of ePortfolio champions met each week in January and February to discuss current practices and future aspirations for the program. Read on to learn more about our community of practice’s findings!
Students define ePortfolios a lot of different ways, but some general themes emerge.
In onboarding workshops, students are asked to explore ePortfolio exemplars that our group has collected and then choose a word or phrase to define ePortfolio. Over the course of more than a dozen onboarding sessions, we collected a list of these words and noted which ones were used the most.
The fact that words like “narrative”, “personal”, and “identity” appeared so frequently points to students’ understanding that ePortfolios are an opportunity for them to tell the story of their individual intellectual journey at Connecticut College. Students also honed in on words such as “organized”, “structure”, and “collection”, indicating that they are also aware of the need to intentionally design that narrative for a particular purpose or audience. Our group analyzed this small data set to get a general idea of Conn students’ general conceptions of ePortfolio and to create a powerful foundation for future program directions.
Assessment is the next challenge and opportunity
As we met weekly to discuss ePortfolio practices, the question of assessment continued to come to the table. Our group discussed the following potential assessment practices:
- Using VALUE rubrics to assess critical thinking and integration in ePortfolios
- Conducting user surveys more frequently in pathway and center cohorts and courses
- Assessing writing skill development within the ePortfolio
The growth of ePortfolio use on campus is exciting – but needs to be strategic.
The visitors to our community of practice were varied. We had FYS instructors, pathway coordinators, center directors, and more. All visitors were thrilled to hear of the breadth of ePortfolio usage across campus and were excited to see the start of a culture of folio praxis. As we enter the next chapter of the ePortfolio initiative at Conn, our team of ePortfolio champions will seek out strategies to ensure that we are intentionally implementing the practice across campus in a way that will most effectively enhance student learning.
If you are interested in incorporating ePortfolio into your course, Pathway, Center, or program, email Kate Bengtson (kbengtson@conncoll.edu) to discuss ways that ePortfolio can enhance your student’s learning!
