Office of Instructional and Research Technology

ePortfolios

An eportfolio is an electronic collection of artifacts/evidence that shows learning over time. Portfolios can relate to specific academic fields or lifelong learning. Artifacts/evidence may include writing samples, photos, videos, research projects, observations by mentors and peers, and/or reflective thinking. The key aspect of an ePortfolio is reflection on the evidence, such as why it was chosen and what was learned from the process of developing the ePortfolio. (Adapted from Philippa Butler’s “Review of the Literature on Portfolios and Eportfolios”, 2006)

Why would I want to create an ePortfolio?

An eportfolio is a place where students show what they know. They will collect evidence of what they believe illustrates the integration of experience beyond the classroom with academic work. Students should think of their ePortfolios as a place to learn about themselves. By engaging in reflection and self assessment, students will have an opportunity for continual learning. An eportfolio provides an innovative way to document in-class and out-of-class learning and present work to a wider audience. It also enables students to create professional websites that will contain a number of examples of academic and learning experiences.

ePortfolios provide:

A chance to reflect on a student’s education and to make connections between where they are and where they want to be
A chance to showcase accomplishments to family, friends, and potential employers
A portal that helps students connect with educational goals with lived experiences

All undergraduate students are encouraged to create eportfolios using the Rutgers ePortfolio.

How can faculty get involved with ePortfolios?

Introduce eportfolio projects to students
Provide them with the opportunity to deposit a piece of work from a specific course into their eportfolio
Use the academic development rubric, based on the American Association of College and Universities’ Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education rubrics, to assess the progress that students are making throughout their academic lifespan at Rutgers

If you’re interested in using the Rutgers ePortfolio in your class, please contact Cara Macaluso, caramac@nullecho.rutgers.edu. A group, added by class roster, can be established in the portfolio platform if you would like the ability to assess or provide feedback on student work.

ePortfolios in use at Rutgers

Rutgers Undergraduate ePortfolio

The Rutgers ePortfolio is a learning tool that allows students to collect, reflect upon, connect, and share assignments, documents, videos, and other materials from academic courses, work experience, campus and community involvement, research, and learning communities to showcase their achievements, goals, and personal journey while a student at Rutgers University.

Douglass ePortfolio

The Douglass ePortfolio is for students in the Douglass Residential College, designed to help students cultivate their ideas around their academic journeys, their accomplishments, future goals, and sense of personal evolution while at Rutgers.

Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Portfolio

The portfolio is an organized documentation of personal growth and achievement of the competencies required to be a practicing pharmacist. It provides evidence of achievement of the pharmacy curriculum’s stated objectives and ability based outcomes (ABOs) or skills that should be achieved by the end of the program. Rotations are “capstone” activities where students put in action what they learn in the classroom. The portfolio built during these experiences should provide evidence of a student’s ability to use knowledge in the real world.

Graduate School of Education: Teacher Education Portfolio

The GSE ePortfolio is a tool that is designed to help both students and faculty of the GSE document the progress of students as they complete their program of study. The overall goal of the teacher education programs is to produce graduates who show evidence that they are competent, caring teachers and are qualified to teach.

Candidates and students in the GSE program will be asked to contribute a variety of completed assignments and other examples of their work to their ePortfolios. Some of these assignments will evaluated for course grades by instructors. In addition, however, some of these assignments will also be evaluated to assess the quality and impact of GSE programs. Instructors will provide ratings of the work placed in the GSE ePortfolio in relation to expectations for a seasoned professional.

The assignments contributed to ePortfolios are intended to show that students have:

adequate knowledge of the subject matter they will teach
pedagogical knowledge
knowledge of learners and learning environments
knowledge of appropriate professional practice

These requirements are consistent with NJ Professional Teaching Standards.

Graduate School of Education: Educational Administration Portfolio

Student portfolios, now implemented electronically, address several important needs in the Rutgers Masters Degree in Educational Administration program. First and foremost, portfolios serve as a depository for student work as each student progresses through the program. The portfolio requirement specifies that each student must submit specific course activities, assignments, and projects to their respective portfolio. By examining a uniform set of work, the faculty can monitor student progress and preparation to serve as a school administrator.

Monitoring student achievement is also critical in the process for New Jersey administrative certification as a Subject Supervisor or School Principal. To earn such a certificate, each student must demonstrate mastery of state mandated competencies. The activities (called demonstration tasks) that comprise the portfolio are each designed to assess proficiency in specific competencies.

A third need applies to the accreditation of the overall Rutgers educational administration certification program. In order to maintain accreditation, the program faculty must be able to demonstrate student competency to an outside accreditation agency. Collecting student work in a uniform fashion over time allows for measures of both the effectiveness of program delivery as well as levels of student mastery.