What Are Students Learning? Using E-Portfolios

What Are Students Learning? Using E-Portfolios Allison Bridgeman Director of Residence Life Elizabethtown College

Example #1 At the end of the leadership retreat you ask students to complete a survey. One of the questions is: How satisfied were you with the quality of the presentations at the leadership retreat?

Example #2 At the end of the weekend leadership retreat you ask students to complete a survey. One of the questions is: The leadership retreat has helped me have a better understanding of individual and group identities.

Indirect Assessment of Student Learning Indirect evidence shows us signs that students are probably learning. Indirect evidence is less clear and convincing than direct evidence. More examples of indirect evidence of student learning are: • retention and graduation rates, • student ratings of their knowledge and skills and • reflections on what they learned over the course of the program.

Example #3 Also at the leadership retreat you presented a conference session on the Social Change Model of Leadership. At the end of the retreat you ask students write a reflection on the following question: Do you consider yourself to be a leader? Why or why not? In what ways are you a leader? A good answer will use specific components of either the Social Change Model of Leadership or the Relational Leadership Model in your rationale.

Student Reflection On the paper about the Social Change Model of Leadership that was given to us during training, there is a line that says, “A leader is not necessarily a person who holds some formal position of leadership or is perceived as a leader by others. Rather we regard a leader as one who is able to effect positive change for the betterment of others.” Because of that statement, I know I am a leader. Not because of the clubs I’m involved in, or the positions I hold in those clubs, but because I have been a part of several changes that have been for the betterment of others.

Direct Assessment of Student Learning Evidence of student learning is tangible, visible, self-explanatory, and compelling evidence of exactly what the students have and have not learned.

Articulate what the program intends to accomplish in regard to its services, research, student learning, and faculty/staff development programs • The faculty and/or professionals then purposefully plan the program so that the intended results (e.g. outcomes) can be achieved • Implement methods to systematically - over time – • Identify whether end results have been achieved; and • Finally use the results to plan improvements or make recommendations for policy considerations, recruitment, retention, resource allocation, or new resource requests. • - Marilee Bresciani

When we use e-portfolios our focus is on three things: • What do you want students to know? • What do you want students to be able to do? • What do you want students to care about or value?

Four Aims of Portfolio Development • Engage students in the process of inquiry into what they have learned • Provide students with a model for demonstrating outcomes of their learning • Establish a reflective learning environment that helps students go beyond accumulation of knowledge to analysis of how, when and why they learned. • Promote thinking about what lies ahead for improvement and future learning

Portfolio Contents • Reflection – information from self, reflective narratives, personal learning goals • Documentation – Products of your learning / artifacts • Collaboration – Info from others; feedback and evaluation statements from advisors

Reflection Collaboration Documentation

AACU VALUE Rubrics

Tips for embarking on an e-portfolio project: • Start slow and small • Streamline feedback • Use technology • Develop rubrics • Be careful, clear and deliberate in planning a portfolio • Incorporate portfolio work into other course work or responsibilities

Resources A Faculty and Staff Resource Guide to Creating Learning Outcomes by Jimmie Gahagan, John Dingfelder, and Katherine Pei Introduction to Rubrics by Danielle Stevens and Antonia Levi The Learning Portfolio by John Zubizaretta

What Are Students Learning? Using E-Portfolios