Using ePortfolios for Evidence-Based Research

Kristin Norris, Instructional Technology SpecialistKathy Steinberg, Assessment Specialist

IUPUI Center for Service & Learning

Goals of the session

•Provide a general overview of ePortfolios (types, purposes, differences)

•Demonstrate how ePortfolios can be used for research purposes.

•Illustrate how CSL is using ePortfolios as well as various other activities in conjunction with ePortfolios on our campus.

Agenda

•Introductions•Overview of ePortfolios•ePortfolios for Research•How to get started – baby steps•Questions? Comments?

Overview of ePortfoliosHarness the power of the pedagogy

ePortfolios is both a process and product

• Process: a series of events (time & effort) to produce a result▫ Portfolio as a workspace▫ Working Portfolio (digital archive, repository of

artifacts, collaboration space, reflective journaling)▫ Primary purpose: learning or reflection▫ Organization: chronological

• Product: the outcome/results of an activity/process▫ Portfolio as a showcase▫ Presentation Portfolios (the “Story” or narrative,

multiple views, varied audiences & purpose)▫ Primary purpose: Accountability or showcase for

employment▫ Organization: thematic

Barrett, Eifel, July 2011(www.slideshare.net/eportfolios)

Processes

Portfolios Social Networking Technology

Collection Connect (‘friending’) Archiving

Selection Listening (reading) Linking/Thinking

Reflection Responding (commenting)

Digital Storytelling

Direction/Goals Share (linking/tagging)

Publishing

Presentation

Feedback

Example of a Product ePortfolio

Example of a Process ePortfolio

Power of the Pedagogy

“Stories help us organize our experience and define our sense of ourselves” (Roger Schank, Tell Me a Story)

Why ePortfolios?

• Reflecting• Celebrate learning• Personal planning & goal setting• Employment applications• Accountability (prove what you have learned)• Capture and store evidence (repository)• Give and receive feedback• Collaborate• Present what you know to an audience• Exploring your personal and professional

identity

ePortfolios as a Purpose

the “overarching purpose of ePortfolios is to create a sense of personal ownership

over one’s accomplishments, because ownership engenders feelings of pride,

responsibility, and dedication.”

Paris & Ayers (1994)

Managing Oneself

• What are my strengths?• How do I perform?• What are my values?• Where do I belong?• What should I contribute?• Responsibility for Relationships?

“Success in the knowledge economy comes to those who know themselves – their strengths, their values, and how best they perform” –Peter Drucker (2005, Harvard Business Review)

Why should you use ePortfolios

•Facilitate Reflection•Enable students to create something that

demonstrates their knowledge, skills, abilities, dispositions – often times the things they have yet to articulate in any other way

•Gather evidence of student knowledge (and maybe growth)

•Because it is of value to the students

Choosing an ePortfolio Platform

https://sites.google.com/site/choosingeportsoftware/

Latest Blog by Trent Batson

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2011/10/12/a-survey-of-the-electronic-portfolio-market-sector.aspx#

ePortfolios for Research

Assessment vs. EvaluationStudent Assessment

• Individual or group of learners

• Understand learner through performance of a specific learning task/standard

• Provide feedback to students

• Diagnostic tool for instruction

• Formative• Ex: Reflections

Student Evaluation

• Individual/group of learners• Understand learner through

performance of a specific learning task/standard

AND• Judge the quality or worth of

the assessment results• Provide feedback to students• Based upon multiple sources

of assessment information. • Formative/Summative

Research vs. Evaluation

Research, especially fundamental or basic research, differs from evaluation in that its primary purpose is to generate or test theory and contribute to knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Such knowledge, and the theories that undergird knowledge, may subsequently inform action and evaluation, but action is not the primary purpose of fundamental research. (Patton, 2002, pp. 10-11)

Value of ePortfolios for Service Learning

•Most assessment tools are self-report instruments (nationally and locally)

•Eportfolios provide “authentic” assessment evidence/data

•Draw on strengths of Service Learning ▫critical reflection

•Eportfolios can be used for research▫also for course use and program

assessment▫designs can be simple or complex

Important Considerations

•Confidentiality (FERPA)•Ownership of materials; permissions•Access to materials and platform after

student leaves or graduates•IRB Issues

▫Informed consent

Examples of Research on Service Learning using ePortfolios

• Project 1: Civic development of students in a Service Learning Assistant program

• Project 2: Development of civic

learning in freshmen taking service learning classes versus non-service learning classes

Project 1Service Learning Assistant Program Overview

• Scholarships recognize IUPUI students selected by faculty or professional staff to:▫assist in the implementation of a service learning

class, ▫collaborate with faculty in their community-based

research, ▫expand the capacity of campus departments to

increase the number of students who participate in service-learning, or

▫complete a service project in and with the community.

• Faculty development focus makes it unique.

Guiding Research Questions

•To what extent do ePortfolios support the civic development of students?

•What types of ePortfolios best facilitate student civic learning and assessment?

•What factors contribute to student civic development as a result of participation in a service-based scholarship program? (Kristin’s research)

Program Specific Research Questions

•To what extent do students who participate in service scholarship programs (compared to their SL peers or non-SL peers):▫develop a greater capacity/ability to

articulate an integrated sense of their personal, civic, professional identity?

▫develop enhanced civic learning KSAs, compared to other students who do not participate in these types of interventions?

Using ePortflios to gather evidence•Civic-Minded Graduate Scale•Complete reflection on a professional

development activity•Complete end-of-award period reflection

(CMG Narrative/Scale)•Faculty mentor rates the end-of-award

reflection (CMG Narrative Rubric)

Project 2

•Development of civic learning in freshmen taking service learning classes versus non-service learning classes

•High-impact practices: ▫First-year seminars▫Themed Learning Communities

•ePortfolios are both a high-impact practice and a tool for gathering evidence

•Evaluate ePortfolios using rubrics

Why Civic Learning ePortfolios? How are we approaching this at IUPUI?

Value of ePortfolios for Service Learning & Civic Engagement

•Most assessment tools are self-report instruments (nationally and locally)

•Eportfolios provide “authentic” assessment evidence/data

•Draw on strengths of Service Learning ▫critical reflection

•Eportfolios are not just for research▫also for course use and program

assessment▫designs can be simple or complex

Various forms of Portfolios at IUPUI

•Course-based (ex - First Year Seminars , capstone)

•Process (Matrix)•Assessment/Evaluation (Matrix with

Evaluation tools and report functionality)•Presentation (both students and faculty)

Service Learning Assistant Example

Process Matrix

Activities around ePortfolios

•Faculty Development•Partnering with other campus units•Course-related activities•Program-related activities•Workshops available to our scholars,

faculty, & students

Activities around ePortfolios

• Faculty Development▫ Recruited a cohort of instructors teaching a First-

Year Seminar, using our campus-level ePDP (Personal Development Planner through an ePortfolio)

▫ Created a Civic Learning Working Group – how were they incorporating Service Learning into their curriculum and how could the ePDP make that more visible?

▫ Gave them funding for an SLA (we trained the students on the ePDP) so the faculty could focus on teaching

▫ Conducted a faculty workshop on scaffolding, reflection and the ePDP

Activities around ePortfolios

•Partnering with other units on campus▫University College (entry-point for more first

year students)▫Assisted them in developing the sections for

the ePDP and the associated reflection prompts and rubrics

▫Helped with training faculty using the ePDP

▫Other ideas – Common Theme Book, Study Abroad, Undergraduate Research, Student Affairs, Programs with a great deal of Service Learning

Activities around ePortfolios

•Course Related Activities▫Identify courses already using SL▫Introduce small activities – digital stories

Helps to facilitate the critical reflection process

Produces a product students can include in an ePortfolio if they already have one, or use to start their own

Engages them in an activity that yields a great deal for the students

Activities around ePortfolios

•Program Related Activities▫Scholarship program related digital stories

Alternative breaks trips Social justice issue Focused on issues in the community

▫Departments with a great deal of service learning

Activities around ePortfolios

•Workshops available to our scholars, faculty, & students▫ePortfolios: The Basics▫ePortfolios: Making Meaning & Sharing

with Others▫Faculty Consultations▫Classroom sessions

Questions? Comments?Feel free to contact us!Kristin Norris (norriske@iupui.edu)Kathy Steinberg (ksteinbe@iupui.edu)