Filling the Gaps - Using ePortfolios to Assess Student Learning

If colleges and universities across the nation are in the business of teaching students and developing their skills, why do they have so little, often no, student work to show for their efforts? Lists of names, grades and credit hours hardly suffice to demonstrate that students have really grown intellectually and developed the quantitative, communication, and other cognitive skills they will need in their civic and work lives. ePortfolios give us the opportunity to capture student work throughout their years at Boston University. At CGS, all students (about 1,200) archive their formal and informal work on their ePortfolios. Their postings have been instrumental in keeping track of students’ engagement with their readings, in jump-starting discussions in classes, in gauging an individual’s contribution to group work, and in getting students to reflect on their own learning. Finally, using a rubric based on the stated goals of our program, our assessment committee can assess students’ progress in various areas of competency over their two years in our college and then use what we learn to improve our curriculum and pedagogy. Natalie McKnight, CGS