Cohort V of the Coalition (2008-2011) constitutes a wide range of institutional teams with exciting projects. The teams begin their work building on their own past experience and the research of other Coalition members. Teams are interested in such topics as student engagement, benefits of eportfolio use for faculty, reflective prompts, comparison of the CLA and eportfolios' abiity to trace student learning, eportfolios that support oral communication, and eportfolios linking to professional identity. Read below for more details and a contact person for each project.
Kapi’olani Community College
“Engaged in Education” is a customized professional development program. Participants develop an ePortfolio or traditional portfolio. Research questions include whether ePortfolios impact learning and teaching. We can also compare participants from the pilot project, who did not produce a portfolio. We will consider the ePortfolio’s effectiveness for instructors vs. counselors vs. coordinators.
Final report: Report
Contact: Susan Inouye,
University of Akron
Using case study methods, we will examine characteristics of reflective prompts that yield evidence of student development of professional and or social values as they enter a community of practice. Portfolios will be used by diverse curricular programs, both undergraduate and graduate, including courses, project teams, and experiential learning opportunities.
Final report: Report
Contact: Sylvia White, , or Kevin Butler,
University of Cincinnati
Data from the Collegiate Learning Assessment and evaluated reflective essays collected in e-portfolios will provide comparative information on how baccalaureate competencies at the University of Cincinnati are effectively adding value as measured over time and across disciplines. Does this comparison warrant the adopting the CLA as a university-wide assessment instrument?
Final report: Report
Contact: Wayne Hall, , or Richard Robles,
Website: http://www.uc.edu/cetl/tchtech/eport.html
University of Denver
By analyzing student portfolios and interviewing students and faculty, we’ll address two questions: 1. “Under what conditions do portfolios generated for programmatic assessment support learning?” 2. “What student perceptions about their writing—its development, strengths, and preferences—are revealed through introducing a selective and reflective component into a longitudinal study?”
Final report: Report
Contact: Doug Hesse,
Website: http://www.du.edu/writing
University of Oregon
Our project examines the broad question: "What eportfolio process and system can best address student-centered assessment, diverse curricular requirements, and professional development?” We will work with three academic units to elicit student learning outcomes in the eportfolio process, focusing on complex skills such as leadership, teamwork, verbal and visual communication.
Final report: Report
Contact: Lori Hager,
Virginia State University
Our first study asks what difference an electronic format has on the writing skills demonstrated in the senior e-portfolio. Our second study will build on previous studies examining the ways Black students express their voices in an electronic format. We will examine students’ perceptions of their voices as expressed in their e-portfolios.
Contact: Freddy Thomas,
Virginia Tech
How do we best make the transition between mining student portfolios for our research purposes and inviting students to join us as research partners? What are the obstacles to successful student / faculty research collaborations? What strategies and best practices lead to success?
Final report: Report
Contact: Marc Zaldivar,
