W-5 e-Portfolios for Student Learning, Program Assessment and Institutional Accountability

Participants will explore the use of electronic portfolios in assessment at the student, program, and institution level through practical examples and hands-on activities. Topics to be addressed include educational and policy issues that led to the emergence of e-portfolios; ways in which e-portfolios respond (or not) to these issues; kinds of evidence and materials, especially authentic evidence of student learning, that are included in e-portfolios, both for general education and the major; practices for assessing e-portfolios that lead to improvement; and advantages and disadvantages of e-portfolios, as compared to other forms of assessment. Participants will learn about the multiple purposes and audiences portfolios serve, what it really takes to develop and maintain them, how to use them effectively for assessment, and the life-cycle of electronic departmental and institutional portfolios. They also will have the opportunity to consider whether e-portfolios can help to address their institutions' assessment and accountability needs.