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ePortfolio and PDP at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Kim Hauville. About QUT. Approximately 40,000 students 4 campuses – Gardens Point, Kelvin Grove, Carseldine, Caboolture 9 Faculties. QUT’s ePortfolio Team. Project Sponsor – Tom Cochrane DVC TILS Project Director – Wendy Harper
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ePortfolio and PDPatQueensland University of Technology(QUT)Kim Hauville
About QUT • Approximately 40,000 students • 4 campuses – Gardens Point, Kelvin Grove, Carseldine, Caboolture • 9 Faculties
QUT’s ePortfolio Team • Project Sponsor – Tom Cochrane DVC TILS • Project Director – Wendy Harper • Project Team Leader – Kim Hauville • Project Strategic Partner – Col McCowan, Manager Careers and Employment • Project Reference Group • Faculty Champions and committed Academic staff
Purpose of the QUT Student ePortfolio To enable students to record, reflect on, catalogue, retrieve and present their experiences, activities, and things they produce both inside and outside of university life as evidence of the skills developed while at QUT that contribute significantly to their lifelong learning and career development.
Major purposes • Collecting and recordingin a single structure • Knowingabout the generic skills employers seek • Connectingskills and experiences to the curriculum • Learning through reflecting and evidence-based writing • Understandingand self auditing skills and experiences • Planning where and how to develop skills • Reviewing content and progress by self and others • Showcasing slices of personal evidence • Preparing evidencefor academics and employers • Preparing and building confidencefor applications & interviews
Steps to Introduction at QUT • Strong project management • Integration with existing systems • Obtained QUT-wide acceptance • Addressed key issues before building the system • Managed and staged release • Pilot with sub-groups and used feedback • Identified and addressed key future developments
Features of QUT’s Student e-Portfolio • Available to all students and staff • Student-centred • Automatically appears on each student’s Intranet “Home” page • Similar features and feel to all other activities • Linked to other corporate data systems • Mapped/linked to specific student capabilities • Tailored to suit Faculty / Industry issues • Legitimises activities undertaken outside QUT • Easy to use • Form based • Limited number of steps • Lots of tips, help buttons, word count guides • Lots of self-help resources • Consistent look and feel
Key Activities in Student ePortfolio Add Experiences to the portfolio Add Artefacts to the portfolio Create a View of the portfolio Release a portfolio View • Students can: • Undertake a self-assessment • Upload files to their web-accessible space • Students can add: • Academic History • Resume • Photo • Students can: • Export their View • Check visits to their View
Three Styles of Student ePortfolios QUT aims to incorporate all three recognised styles • Structured • predetermined framework of objectives to meet external / internal needs • Learning / Dynamic • opportunity for self-audit, recording, reflection, feedback and on-going development • Showcase • collect together, organise and present accomplishments
QUT Student Capabilities • In the mid 90’s QUT developed a set of Student Capabilities in response to: • a need to consolidate specific lists from individual Faculties/Schools • a need to respond to business and industry requirements • a need to meet industry specific accreditation processes • a need to infuse into teaching & learning documents and practice, and • a desire to get ATN agreement on student capabilities across like universities in Australia.
Examples of QUT Student Capabilities • knowledge and skills pertinent to a particular discipline or professional areaencompassing: • coherent theoretical and practical knowledge in at least one discipline area at the level of entry to a profession • technological skills appropriate to the discipline • critical, creative and analytical thinking, and effective problem-solvingincluding: • the ability to critique current paradigms and contribute to intellectual inquiry • the capacity to exhibit creative as well as analytical ways of thinking about questions in at least one discipline • the ability to identify, define and solve problems in at least one discipline area • effective communication in a variety of contexts and modesincluding: • effective written and oral communication with discipline specialists and non-specialists and in cross-cultural contexts • the capacity for life-long learningincluding: • searching and critically evaluating information from a variety of sources using effective strategies and appropriate technologies • the ability to work independently and collaborativelyincluding: • managing time and prioritising activities to achieve goals • demonstrating the capacity for self-assessment of learning needs and achievements • being a cooperative and productive team member or leader
Mapping of QUT Student Capabilities QUT has mapped its Student Capabilities to: • Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry / Business Council of Australia Employability Skills Framework • Specific Professional Association listings eg for Nursing, Teaching • Specific Faculty/Schools listings for curriculum purposes eg Business – Port of Brisbane Corporation, Law, Nursing, Education TPA’s… • Student ePortfolio Skill Areas
Helping students to reflect on their experiences S ituation Situation is where you had the experience. Describe the environment, and the type of people or equipment you worked with. This gives employers background information and puts the experience into context. T ask The task is what was required of you. When addressing a Task, it may be the project itself, a presentation you had to deliver, or a problem that arises within a project, such as personal differences. A ction When addressing Action, think about what you did to resolve a problem or perform a task. Ask yourself “what did I actually do?” R esult When addressing Result, think about how your actions affected the outcome of the situation and the status of the task. L earnt When addressing the things learnt, highlight skills that came out of the process and how they can be applied in other situations. This will show employers growth in your personal development as well as the skills you possess.
Accessing Student ePortfolio • On the main page of QUT Virtual students can access: • Student Portfolio application • Resume Builder tool • QUT Virtual File Manager where they can upload 128MB of their files
Usages Business Advantage(4 x 2hour course): • Self Assessment and ePortfolio Module, Career Planning Module First Year: • introduction, requirement, pre-assessment Work Integrated Learning: • Nursing, Education, Co-op & Internships, Paramedic , Pharmacy Post – grad: • professional course, pre-employment preparation, supervision journal Discrete elements only: • Resume, Artefacts (eg dance clip), Self-assessment Year 11’s in a Secondary College Creating and monitoring development of Learning Objects
Findings Students • find easy to manage IT • can allocate to 10/11 Skill Areas easily • find it difficult to write first experience • after first experience, others follow easily • liked working with 1500 character limit • good for self-audit, selection criteria, interview preparation • good for storing wide range of artefacts Staff • accepted matrix, good for work integrated learning activities, improved communication skills Employers • students better organised / prepared, good access to artefacts, increase in confidence, excellent second stage selection tool
Developments Recent • Web-accessible storage space (128mb), Alumni, Multimedia Tutorials Current • Lifelong access for Alumni • Export portfolio to CD, Third party access, Online feedback • Use of portfolio data to address selection criteria, Career Plans • Professional Staff ePortfolio Future • Use of Palm Pilots? • Learning Journal • Learning Objects (CI/IT Faculty) • Capacity to increase personalisation
Challenges • Conducting system load trials • Storage • Privacy, Security • QUT endorsed • Training • Tailoring • Scope creep • Evaluation • Funding
Some key considerations • Supporting the reflection process • Emotional engagement • Purpose – first year versus third year • ‘Bubbling along’ / mentoring • Short term versus Long term (life-long) • Multiple purposes, multiple audiences • Inter-operability before and after QUT eg My future, Qld Learning Accounts….
As soon as I began using the Portfolio, it became evident to me that the process was going to be as valuable as the final product. After writing just one experience according to the “formula” suggested by the Portfolio team, I could notice a change in my thinking. I was learning to consider my experiences from an employer’s perspective and to identify - in all facets of my life -examples of skills that employers would value. A Third Year Library Science Student……..
Learning about the Student Portfolio was also fantastic. I think it is an amazing tool that will greatly benefit me in preparing job applications in the future. Getting to know my personal strengths and weaknesses, and doing the online portfolio. Now I can work on my weaknesses and plan how to strengthen my strengths. Second Year Business student
I think the e-portfolio is very relevant and useful to me at university, because it encourages thought about what skills and experiences I have that others may not have and gives me a very user-friendly and well-structured means for me torecord these for future reference. First Year Business student
Reflections required me to commit course content to long-term memory. Reinforcing my learning and making it clearer and more permanent in my mind. First Year Bachelor of Education student
The good thing about the Portfolio is that it’s your own, it’s for yourself so – I’ve just been realising this over the last week, I’m like, Yes, it makes it so much easier. Because there is no pressure then, you don’t have to be like somebody else and that’s what I was worried about. When I was trying to navigate it myself I was like, what if I’m doing it wrong. What if I’m not doing it the way we have to. So it’s almost like taken the pressure off a bit realising that it’s not an assignment. …well I think my writing will be a lot better because there’ll be meaning behind it now instead of I have to do it, so it’s changed. My view on it has changed a lot. I actually went home and I went MUM, it’s not an assignment. The pressure is off. First Year Bachelor of Education student
From a recruiters perspective the Student Portfolio is a great innovation. It allows students to be able to present information from their studies and about themselves in a way that they have total control over. Queensland Treasury – Graduate Coordinator
I think what the Student Portfolio has the potential to do is to encourage students to focus on a wider range of graduate capabilities than they sometimes do; particularly in content based disciplines. The focus that they have I think then will extend through to an opportunity for academics to promote authentic learning experiences and use field, project, clinical, problem based approaches which cover a wide range of graduate capabilities in one holistic pattern. Dr Al Grenfell Director of Academic Programs - QUT
Writing up my experiences in my Student Portfolio is better for the soul than 10 episodes of Oprah Winfrey……. A Third Year Information Technology student
