Praise for High-Impact ePortfolio Practice

“Eynon and Gambino have written the book I’ve been waiting for. It demonstrates
the power of ePortfolios to transform college learning and offers practical strategies
for realizing this potential. As an extraordinarily insightful, comprehensive guide to
designing an effective ePortfolio initiative, High-Impact ePortfolio Practice will take its
place as the reference of choice for campus and program ePortfolio leaders.”
—Susan Kahn, Director, ePortfolio Initiative, Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis

“The Eynon and Gambino book will become an instant classic; readable, authorita-
tive, reflecting the experience of many diverse institutions and finally settling the ques-
tion “What is an ePortfolio?” I recommend this book to anyone in higher education.”
—Trent Batson, Founder of the Association for Authentic,
Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL, the international
ePortfolio organization)

“Challenging the noisy legion of digital gurus who see job-specific training as the
best choice for first-generation learners, Eynon and Gambino provide compelling
evidence that ePortfolios can help underserved students achieve those distinctively
twenty-first century liberal arts: agency as motivated learners, creativity in connecting
myriad kinds of formal and informal learning, and reflective judgment about their
own roles in building solutions for the future. An invaluable resource for all.”
—Carol Geary-Schneider, Fellow, Lumina Foundation; President Emerita,
Association of American Colleges and Universities

“This timely volume shows that ePortfolio is a powerful pedagogical framework at

any type of institution, benefitting all participating students in desirable ways, as with
other High-Impact Practices. Happily, Eynon and Gambino explain how and why by
illustrating the requisite steps and conditions to do ePortfolio well, in the classroom
and beyond.”
—George D. Kuh, Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education Emeritus at
Indiana University; Founder and Senior Scholar, National Institute for Learning
Outcomes Assessment; and author of Using Evidence of Student Learning to
Improve Higher Education

“I have witnessed on three continents the beneficial impact ePortfolio practice has
on learning—when done well. Employability, study abroad, collaborative projects—
the growing number of educational challenges for which ePortfolios are the solution
makes this book timely; the complexity of successful campus implementation makes

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 it indispensable. Eynon and Gambino’s wisdom, collaborative learnings, and vast
experience leap from the pages of this excellent book.”
—Shane Sutherland, Founder, PebblePad

“A handbook of everything educators need to know about the current state of the art,
capped off with a provocative look at the synergy of ePortfolios with other student
success interventions.”
—John N. Gardner, President, Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate
Education; and Betsy O. Barefoot, Senior Scholar, Gardner Institute for
Excellence in Undergraduate Education

“Many years ago I had students in my poetry course develop portfolios, and I sure
wish this volume, with its much larger vision of purpose, had been available then.
This book is the perfect mix of practical examples and research pointing to the many
ways that ePortfolio can transform student learning, how we work as teachers, and
the character of our institutions.”
—Pat Hutchings, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

“Drawing on years of work with campuses nationwide, the authors provide excellent
analyses of best practices in ePortfolio use, and they situate their examples in critical
contexts that demonstrate the role ePortfolios play in facilitating reflection and inte-
gration, essential elements of impactful education. This book will be an indispensable
resource for colleges and universities.”
—Natalie McKnight, Dean, College of General Studies, Boston University

“A call to arms for thoughtful and effective educational reform and renewal. Eynon
and Gambino show us how student ePortfolios have effectively reshaped teaching
and learning in a range of undergraduate classrooms. They describe the successes and
setbacks of the Connect to Learn national network to design and scale up effective
ePortfolio programs on their 24 campuses. With honesty and insight this book
reminds us that digital technologies are only as effective as the pedagogical principles
and practices that undergird them.”
—Steve Brier, Founder, Interactive Technology & Pedagogy program, CUNY
Graduate Center; Co-Author, Austerity Blues: Fighting for the Soul of
Public Higher Education

“The Catalyst Framework constitutes a watershed contribution in our understanding

of ePortfolios ‘done well.’ Each chapter includes engaging vignettes and practical
exercises that will be both enlightening and immediately accessible to readers.”
—Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Associate Director, Center for Advancing Teaching and
Learning through Research, Northeastern University

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 “I enjoyed this book enormously and was delighted to discover that many of my
‘dreams’ regarding ePortfolio practice, like ‘social learning’ and ‘community port-
folios’ are gaining ground. High-Impact ePortfolio Practice eloquently demonstrates
how informed practice can contribute to transforming individual and organizational
learning. Gives me hope!”
—Serge Ravet, Co-Director of Europortfolio (the European network of
ePortfolio practitioners)

“Rich with theoretical grounding and examples of actual practice at a wide variety
of colleges and universities, High-Impact ePortfolio Practice reveals the power of com-
bining reflective pedagogy with a technology that showcases signature work. It is an
essential contribution to the field. Eynon and Gambino lay out a comprehensive
framework that guides the effective design and implementation of ePortfolio initia-
tives at both departmental and institutional scales.”
—David Hubert, Assistant Provost for Learning Advancement, Salt Lake
Community College

“Over the last decade, higher education has learned that the hard part about ePort-
folios isn’t finding a vendor, but fully realizing ePortfolio’s potential to make learning
purposeful, integrative, and visible. It’s a daunting task, but we procrastinate at our
peril; employers, students, and their supporters all want real evidence of our value,
and they deserve no less. In High-Impact ePortfolio Practice we get crucial help, from
leading practitioners in the field.”
—Ken O’Donnell, Associate Vice President, California State University,
Dominguez Hills

“Electronic portfolios have held promise for enhancing student learning and success
for two decades. But on many campuses that promise has not been realized. Thanks
to the work of 24 Connect to Learning institutions, we now have principles and
examples of good practice that will enable more institutions to use ePortfolio effec-
tively. I salute Eynon and Gambino for synthesizing research on authentic assessment
and productively connecting pedagogy that works, professional development, and
outcomes assessment.
—Trudy W. Banta, Professor, Vice Chancellor Emerita, Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis

“At a time when preparing students to address complex, real-world problems is more
critical than ever, Eynon and Gambino offer a compelling case for ePortfolios as
essential to student success. Positioning ePortfolios as High-Impact Practices and
detailing the unique role ePortfolios can play in twenty-first-century learning, this
work is an exceptional resource for faculty and staff committed to helping students

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 connect deep learning across academic and co-curricular experiences as a catalyst for
intellectual growth and development.”
—Lynn Pasquerella, President, Association of American Colleges & Universities

“Eynon and Gambino put inquiry at the center of ePortfolio practice, where it
belongs. Students do not simply document their achievements in ePortfolios. Rather,
they compose themselves as new members of academic and professional communi-
ties. . . . The Connect to Learning campuses undertook ePortfolio initiatives linked
in collective inquiry into student learning and institutional change. With this book,
we can all share in the benefits.”
—Darren Cambridge, Barbara Cambridge, and Kathy Yancey, Co-Directors of
the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolios Research

“Spotlighting Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration, Eynon and Gambino provide a

comprehensive resource for faculty, staff and administrators for all things ePortfolio.
From investigation to implementation to transformation, they outline principles and
practices for ePortfolio success. This book will clearly become the definitive guide on
ePortfolio done well!”
—Alison Carson, Professor of Psychology, Manhattanville College

“This is an essential book for anyone working with faculty and staff colleagues to
improve student learning. Eynon and Gambino provide a practical framework, con-
crete examples, and evidence-based guidance to support individual and institutional
improvement. Their recommendations for professional development are particu-
larly insightful. This book is not just a blueprint for excellent ePortfolios; it offers
an inspiring vision for learning and change in higher education.”
—Peter Felten, Assistant Provost, Elon University; and former President, Professional
and Organizational Developers Network

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 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb i 12/20/2016 1:25:23 PM

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb ii 12/20/2016 1:25:23 PM

 H I G H - I M PA C T
e P O RT F O L I O P R A C T I C E
A Catalyst for Student, Faculty,
and Institutional Learning

Bret Eynon and Laura M. Gambino

Foreword by George D. Kuh

Published in association with AAC&U

STERLING, VIRGINIA

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb iii 12/20/2016 1:25:23 PM

 COPYRIGHT © 2017 BY
STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC.

Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC.

22883 Quicksilver Drive
Sterling, Virginia 20166-2102

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced in any form or by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying, recording, and information storage and retrieval, without permission in
writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Eynon, Bret, author. | Gambino, Laura M., 1968- author.

Title: High impact ePortfolio practice:
a catalyst for student, faculty, and institutional learning/Bret Eynon and
Laura M. Gambino.
Description: Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016029514 (print) |
LCCN 2016049167 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781620365045 (casebound : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781620365052 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781620365069 (library networkable e-edition) |
ISBN 9781620365076 (consumer e-edition) |
Subjects: LCSH: Electronic portfolios in education. |
Education, Higher--Effect of technological innovations on. |
Education, Higher--Aims and objectives |
Universities and colleges--Planning--Technological innovations.
Classification: LCC LB1029.P67 E97 2017 (print) |
LCC LB1029.P67 (ebook) | DDC 371.39--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016029514

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-504-5 (cloth)

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-505-2 (paperback)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-506-9 (library networkable e-edition)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-62036-507-6 (consumer e-edition)

Printed in the United States of America

All first editions printed on acid-free paper

that meets the American National Standards Institute
Z39-48 Standard.

Bulk Purchases

Quantity discounts are available for use in workshops

and for staff development.
Call 1-800-232-0223

First Edition, 2017

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb iv 12/20/2016 1:25:23 PM

 CONTENTS

FOREWORD vii
And Now There Are 11
George D. Kuh

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii

INTRODUCTION 1

PART ONE: HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT

TO LEARNING PROJECT

1. ePORTFOLIO 9
A High-Impact Practice

PART TWO: ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL

The Catalyst Framework

2. THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 27

An Evidence-Based Approach to ePortfolio Practice

3. INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 38

SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN ePORTFOLIO PRACTICES 65

Principles for Design and Impact
Randy Bass

4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT

ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 74

5. OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 95

6. THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 116

ePortfolio as Digital Technology

7. SCALING UP! 134

Six Core Strategies for Effective ePortfolio Initiatives

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 vi CONTENTS

FROM SCALING TO TRANSFORMATION 153

ePortfolio and the Rebundling of Higher Education
Randy Bass

PART THREE: THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

8. WHY ePORTFOLIO? 163

The Impact of ePortfolio Done Well

PART FOUR: ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

9. JOINED AT THE HIP 193

10. NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 208

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS 225

INDEX 227

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 FOREWORD

And Now There Are 11

I
nitially, I was taken aback by the title of this volume, which declares that ePort-
folios are a High-Impact Practice (HIP). Since the introduction of the term HIP
along with data supporting the benefits to students who do one or more, HIPs
have become something of a juggernaut in the United States. The 64-campus State
University of New York (SUNY) system now requires every student to have at least
one “applied learning experience,” its language for a HIP. The 23-campus Califor-
nia State University (CSU) system in partnership with the National Association of
System Heads is working to make more high-quality HIPs available to more CSU
students. Many private institutions including Cornell University, Elon University,
and Hendrix College are also promoting their distinctive versions of such activities.
It is not unusual in my experience to visit a campus and discover that many
faculty and staff are eager to point to something they do with their students to be a
high-impact activity. Most of those who say so, however, are not talking about one of
the 10 practices on the “officially approved” list that appeared in the first HIP publi-
cation1 since promulgated by the Association of American Colleges and Universities
(AAC&U).
I understand the motivation for joining the effort to improve undergraduate edu-
cation; surely more than a few of the activities colleagues claim to be “high-impact”
are thoughtfully designed and well implemented and may well have effects similar to
those on the AAC&U list. At the same time, I and others worry that appropriating
the HIP label in the absence of compelling evidence could dilute and draw attention
away from the important, challenging work institutions are trying to do to scale what
appears to be a most promising set of approaches to enhancing student learning and
success.
Against this backdrop, and with a raised eyebrow, I agreed to pen this foreword,
secretly hoping that the text and supporting documents demonstrated that students
who created an ePortfolio benefitted in ways comparable to the activities on the
AAC&U HIP list. Indeed, it was clear to me that if the ePortfolio did not exist, the
field would have to invent something akin to what it promises to adequately address
current and emerging circumstances to ensure that all students attain a high-quality
credential. I’ll return to this important point later. But first, on what basis can the
authors—Bret Eynon and Laura M. Gambino, who are national leaders of the ePort-
folio movement—claim the ePortfolio qualifies as a HIP?

vii

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 viii FOREWORD

Show Me the Data

The ePortfolio process is conceptually and theoretically sound, drawing on com-
plementary strands of research from the learning sciences and allied areas. Equally
impressive and persuasive is the empirical case the authors make for declaring the
ePortfolio to be a HIP.
Working over several years with colleagues and students at the two dozen colleges
and universities participating in the Connect to Learning (C2L) network, the authors
systematically documented the implementation procedures that ensure high-quality
implementation of the ePortfolio process, what they call the Catalyst for Learning
Framework. In doing so, they empirically demonstrated that, when done well, stu-
dents who create and continue to add to their ePortfolio as intended benefit in ways
similar to students who participate in one or more of the 10 HIPs on the AAC&U
list.2 That is, compared with their counterparts who did not use ePortfolios, students
taking courses requiring ePortfolios were generally more engaged in educationally
purposeful activities, earned higher grades, and were more likely to complete courses
and persist. This pattern of outcomes is widely accepted as key to student success.
And there’s more. C2L and the nature of interpersonal connections required
to do ePortfolio work well as described in this book are levers for student-centered
culture bending.3 That is, the educationally purposeful focused nature of interactions
students have with their teachers, advisors, and other students and those interac-
tions between instructors and other personnel fuel the development of a supportive,
learning-intensive, positively restless ethos mindful of the high-performing institu-
tions featured in Student Success in College.4
To their credit, the authors appropriately note the limitations of their inquiry,
citing the somewhat mixed findings across the wide variety of types of schools in
the C2L consortium. Still, the scope and complexity of the effort are impressive
and the pattern of positive findings are consistent enough to substantiate the claim
that the ePortfolio—when done well—warrants joining the AAC&U HIPs list.
The timing could not be better for extolling the virtues of ePortfolios. Here is why.

The ePortfolio as a Meta HIP

Several years ago, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)
titled one of its publications Knowing What Students Know and Can Do.5 This is the
classic student learning outcomes (SLO) assessment challenge, which continues to
bedevil many colleges and universities and animate accreditation processes. Doing
assessment well enough to adequately respond to accountability expectations and
guide institutional improvement has always been a critical but difficult task. Now
dynamic student enrollment patterns—sometimes referred to as swirl—make ensur-
ing collegiate quality and SLO assessment work even more complicated.
One aspect of swirl is the nontrivial proportions of students—in recent years
more than 60%—who attend two or more institutions on the way to earning a bacca-
laureate degree. Another aspect of swirl is taking courses from two or more different

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 FOREWORD ix

colleges or universities during the same academic term; about one-quarter of students
do so, which is likely a conservative estimate. As the availability of online learning in
various forms increases, this fraction of undergraduates will only grow.
Two more contemporary enrollment features further complicate the challenge of
ensuring that students earn a high-quality credential: (a) the reverse transfer phenom-
enon and (b) the emergence of an expanded credentialing system.
Reverse transfer has multiple manifestations. One version is those students who
start at a four-year college and transfer to a two-year institution; some later may
return to a four-year degree-granting school (but not necessarily the one where they
started). Other students pursue an even more complicated pattern of course-taking
from multiple degree-granting institutions.
The appearance of a broader, more inclusive credentialing system is prompted by
the need to recognize and record the short-term learning that may result in a badge,
certification, or some other nondegree postsecondary credential that represents a
specific set of competencies, especially those sought by employers.6 These learning
opportunities may be independent of or pursued simultaneously with enrollment in
a degree-granting institution.
Taken together, these patterns and trends have made the traditional academic
transcript increasingly less relevant. Moreover, when presented with multiple tran-
scripts, employers cannot easily or adequately discern the proficiencies of a prospec-
tive employee. Graduate school admissions committees face similar challenges. In
addition, these circumstances muddle responding to the larger accountability agenda.
Which institutions are responsible for what aspects of what students know and can
do when they complete their degree?
Bringing coherence to, synthesizing, and integrating one’s learning inside and
outside the classroom are considered markers of a high-quality undergraduate edu-
cation.7 Making connections and creating coherence is difficult enough for those
students who attend only one institution. With an increasing majority of undergrad-
uates aggregating credits from multiple providers, what kind of record-keeping and
quality assurance mechanisms can validate the learning that occurs in these various
venues? Equally important, how can postsecondary institutions help students make
meaningful connections across their many courses and out-of-class activities, includ-
ing employment, to bring some sense of coherence and deeper meaning to their
various learning experiences?
Herein lies the powerful potential of the ePortfolio when done well: It serves
as a portable, expandable, and updatable vehicle for accumulating and presenting
evidence of authentic student accomplishment including the curation of specific pro-
ficiencies and dispositions at given points in time.
But as the authors of this book emphasize, the ePortfolio is much more than a
just-in-time twenty-first-century electronic record keeping system. It is an intention-
ally designed instructional approach that, among other advantages, prompts students
to periodically reflect on and deepen what they are learning and helps them connect
and make sense of their various experiences inside and outside the classroom that—
taken together—add up to more than the sum of their parts.

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 x FOREWORD

In addition, the ePortfolio is especially well suited to document, integrate, and

enhance the positive effects of other HIPs. That is, research shows the unusually
powerful cumulative additive effects of participating in multiple HIPs over the course
of the undergraduate experience.8 In addition, ePortfolios will make the extended
educational transcript (something like a co-curricular transcript on steroids) initia-
tive now being tested even more attractive to employers, institutions, and students
themselves.9
So, count me among those bullish on the potential and promise of ePortfolios.
Indeed, as the field gains more experience with ePortfolios, it is possible that the data
will show that students who begin building their ePortfolio at the start of their post-
secondary education evidence outcomes that warrant the claim that this instructional
vehicle is a “meta HIP.”

So Now We Have 11
In recent years I have encouraged colleagues to identify and document the impact of
additional activities and experiences that qualify as HIPs. Among the activities found
on many campuses that have many or even most of the conditions common to those
on the AAC&U HIP list are writing for school publications and participating in
touring choirs, bands, or other performing groups (theater and dance) that require
major investments of time and energy. I am convinced that even intercollegiate ath-
letic coaches who ascribe to a developmentally powerful philosophy in sync with the
institution’s mission can have nontrivial salutary effects on how athletes connect and
make meaning of their experiences in the classroom and the playing fields. What we
lack are the kinds of quality data the C2L ePortfolio project has produced.
There is much to be gained from scaling ePortfolio work, and this book offers
many important principles for doing so. And there is much to cheer and for which
to thank the authors and their colleagues and students at the diverse set of C2L cam-
puses. One of the main takeaways for me is that good ePortfolio work can be done
effectively at any type of institution. Happily, Eynon and Gambino explain how, by
illustrating the requisite steps and conditions to do ePortfolio well in the classroom
and beyond.
Moreover, all students benefit, especially those who are less well prepared for col-
lege, which is one of the most important and necessary features of a HIP.
The other noteworthy lesson for me personally is that the field now has another
HIP to add to the officially approved list.
My sincere thanks and congratulations to all those involved for producing this
important work and providing the guidance the enterprise needs to strengthen under-
graduate education and enrich and deepen student learning. Bravo.

George D. Kuh
Senior Scholar, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment
Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education Emeritus, Indiana University

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 FOREWORD xi

Notes
1. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to
Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Uni-
versities, 2008).
2. Ibid; George Kuh, Ken O’Donnell, and Sally Reed, Ensuring Quality & Taking High-
Impact Practices to Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universi-
ties, 2013).
3. George Kuh, “Culture Bending to Foster Student Success” in Building Bridges for
Student Success: A Sourcebook for Colleges and Universities, ed. Gerry McLaughlin, Richard
Howard, Josetta McLaughlin, and William E. Knight (University of Oklahoma: Consortium
for Student Retention Data Exchange, 2013), 1–15.
4. George D. Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John H. Schuh, Elizabeth J. Whitt, and Associates,
Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass,
2005/2010).
5. George D. Kuh, Natasha Jankowski, Stanley O. Ikenberry, and Jillian Kinzie, Know-
ing What Students Know and Can Do: The Current State of Learning Outcomes Assessment
at U.S. Colleges and Universities (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University,
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, 2014).
6. Dewayne Matthews, Holly Zanville, and Amber Garrison Duncan, The Emerging
Learning System: Report on the Recent Convening and New Directions for Action, (Indianapolis:
Lumina Foundation, 2016). Retrieved from https://www.luminafoundation.org/resources/
the-emerging-learning-system
7. Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Greater Expectations:
A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College (a national panel report) (Washington,
DC: Author, 2002); Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Our Stu-
dents’ Best Work: A Framework for Accountability Worthy of Our Mission (2nd ed., a Statement
from the Board of Directors) (Washington, DC: Author, 2008).
8. Ashley Finley and Tia McNair, Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-
Impact Practices (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2013).
9. Matthews et al., 2016.

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb xii 12/20/2016 1:25:24 PM
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

H
igh-Impact ePortfolio Practice: A Catalyst for Student, Faculty, and Institu-
tional Learning emerged from the collaborative work and efforts of the
Connect to Learning (C2L) Project, a community of practice of 24 campus
teams that worked together for four years, from 2011 to 2015.
Our most important acknowledgment is to the students, faculty, and staff who
took part in and supported this effort. The Connect to Learning project involved
hundreds of faculty and staff and tens of thousands of students working on the C2L
campuses. Information technology staff, institutional research offices, and campus
executive leadership supported campus innovation and change. Each campus was
represented by a multiperson leadership team of faculty and staff that spent hours
and days and weeks and months in designing, testing, documenting, sharing, and
refining new practices. Participation in the collaborative community of practice
added burdens to already overloaded schedules. This book would not have been pos-
sible without the collective energy and expertise, creativity and commitment of this
community. Thank you for sharing your time, your practices, and your wisdom.
Campus teams worked together with the C2L leadership team in an ongoing
process of collaboration and co-invention. Together we learned and developed and
refined our thinking about transformative ePortfolio practice. The Catalyst for Learn-
ing Framework emerged from our collective work, and for that we are so proud and
thankful.
On the C2L leadership team, we are most pleased to thank our two C2L Senior
Scholars, Stanford University’s Helen L. Chen and Georgetown University’s Randy
Bass. Helen’s expertise as a researcher and her ability to design and guide statistical
analysis added rigor to our research. Randy’s visionary insights into learning, teach-
ing, and change in higher education inspired some of our most productive commu-
nity conversations and profoundly shaped our understanding of the implications of
our findings.
We also wish to acknowledge other members of the leadership team who pro-
vided project management and website development, including Judit Torok, Mikhail
Valentin, Jiyeon Lee, and Niranjan Khadka. At its best, this team carried the project
forward through an arduous but exciting educational journey.
C2L would not have been possible without external funding, supplementing the
internal support provided by campuses. We are deeply grateful to the Fund for the
Improvement of Post-Secondary Education for its sustained support for this grant
project. We also thank the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based
Learning (AAEEBL) and, in particular, Trent Batson and Judy Williamson-Batson

xiii

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 xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

for their support of this project and for their ongoing efforts to advance the ePortfolio
field.
In this vein, we also express our appreciation to Jeff Yan, CEO of Digication, for
donating the use of the Digication platform for our use in the C2L project and to
Alex McCormick at the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for giving
us permission to adapt a set of NSSE questions for use in the C2L Core Survey.
We recognize that our work builds on the intellectual foundation developed by
many across higher education. Most notably, we have learned deeply from the work
of George D. Kuh and others who have advanced higher education with scholar-
ship and advocacy related to High-Impact Practices, including Carol Geary Schnei-
der, Ken O’Donnell, Tia McNair, and Ashley Finley. We are particularly indebted to
George Kuh for asking tough questions and pushing us to deepen our work—and
now generously agreeing to review our manuscript and preparing a powerful and
significant foreword.
We are proud and delighted to acknowledge the Association of American Col-
leges & Universities (AAC&U) for their sustained and essential leadership work
related to High-Impact Practices, ePortfolio, and integrative learning. Guided by
Carol Geary Schneider, Terrel Rhodes and others, AAC&U has made a crucial dif-
ference in American higher education, and our work has benefited significantly from
our long collaboration. As AAC&U enters a new era, we look forward to exciting
future collaborations with its new president, Lynn Pasquerella.
Our debts to other scholars are too many to detail. But we wish to particularly
highlight the work of Dewey scholar Carol Rodgers, who shaped our thinking about
reflection, and Marcia Baxter Magolda, whose work on purposeful authorship we
found deeply insightful. We are in debt to Pat Hutchings, not only for her leadership
of the Integrative Learning Project, sponsored by AAC&U and the Carnegie Founda-
tion for the Advancement of Teaching, but also for her provision of sustained support
and inspiration, modeling what it means to be a thoughtful and generous educational
collaborator. We also thank Eddie Watson, editor of the International Journal of ePort-
folio for his contributions to the field, helping to build and strengthen research on the
impact of ePortfolio on student learning and success.
This project would not have been possible without sustained support from our
home institutions. Bret is pleased to thank President Gail O. Mellow and Provost Paul
Arcario for inspiring and supporting this particular effort and the broader work of
LaGuardia’s Making Connections National Resource Center. The LaGuardia Center
for Teaching and Learning was an invaluable resource; Roslyn Orgel, Priscilla Stadler,
and Dean Howard Wach stepped forward at key moments and made essential con-
tributions. Pioneers in ePortfolio innovation, LaGuardia faculty, staff, peer mentors
and students are the source of new ideas and ongoing inspiration.
Similarly, Laura thanks Tunxis Community College President Cathryn Addy.
Laura began her C2L journey at Tunxis while working as a faculty and ePortfolio
coordinator. She is grateful to Cathryn for encouraging her to pursue this work, even
though it meant leaving Tunxis. And, she thanks her current president at Guttman,

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv

Scott Evenbeck, for always pushing her thinking and for his continual support and
encouragement of this work and her other projects.
Special thanks go to the trusted readers who gave us invaluable feedback as we
developed this manuscript: Peter Felten, Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Trent Batson,
Susan Kahn, and Susan Scott. We thank Priscilla Stadler for the design of the Cata-
lyst Framework graphic. Our thanks also go to Pablo C. Avila for shooting the cover
photo for this volume. We thank our vignette authors, Helen L. Chen, Terry Rho-
des, Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Susan Kahn, Susan Scott, Kati Lewis, and G. Alex
Ambrose. Special thanks, again, to Randy Bass for preparing two significant essays
for inclusion in this volume.
The work of the Connect to Learning project, as represented in this book, is
complete. But the larger work of inventing high-impact ePortfolio practice is
ongoing. In this regard we are pleased to thank all of our readers and all of our
collaborators: past, present, and future. Higher education is in the midst of turbulent
change, with broad and far-reaching implications. But the history of the future is still
being written. Our collective work together can make a difference.

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb xvi 12/20/2016 1:25:24 PM
 INTRODUCTION

E
lectronic student portfolios, or ePortfolios, are an intriguing element of the
emerging digital learning ecosystem. According to an Educause report,1 57%
of U.S. colleges now offer ePortfolios to their students, reflecting dramatic
growth over the past decade. Furthermore, more than half of college students nation-
wide report they have used ePortfolio at some point in their time at college. And yet
systematic knowledge about how to make ePortfolio practice most effective has been
slow to emerge, as has concrete evidence of its impact. This book addresses the need
for deeper understanding of effective ePortfolio practice and its potential benefits for
students, faculty, and their colleges. Based primarily on research undertaken by 24
campus teams in the Connect to Learning project (C2L),2 a national community of
practice, this book outlines the strategies needed to ensure that ePortfolio fulfills its
promise.
Student ePortfolios are Web-based, ePortfolios make student
student-generated collections of learn- learning visible to students them-
ing artifacts (papers, multimedia pro- selves, to their peers and faculty,
jects, speeches, images, etc.) and related and to external audiences.
reflections, focused on learning and
growth. ePortfolio practice builds over time and across boundaries, linking courses
and disciplines, co-curricular and life experiences. ePortfolio’s digital qualities—the
ePortfolio platform and its features—can facilitate the linking process and help make
learning visible to students themselves, to their peers and faculty, and to external
audiences. But meaningful student ePortfolio practice requires much more than an
effective platform. The process of curating the connected collection—making mean-
ing through reflection and thereby developing deeper, more intentional identities as
learners—requires thoughtful student action guided by well-informed faculty and
staff and supported by a broad coalition of college stakeholders. We hope this book
will serve as a resource for faculty, staff, and campus leaders as they work to make
ePortfolio practice meaningful and effective.
In this book, we argue that ePortfolio practice can play a unique role in twenty-
first-century higher learning. We present evidence from C2L campuses demonstrating
that ePortfolio offers powerful avenues for enhanced student, faculty, and institu-
tional learning. In a landscape of proliferating educational services and increasingly

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 2 INTRODUCTION

fragmented learning experiences, we suggest that ePortfolio has demonstrated the

capacity to support coherence and integration. We offer a set of comprehensive, field-
tested strategies for strengthening ePortfolio’s value as a High-Impact Practice (HIP).
Based on the practices of the C2L network, the Catalyst Framework can guide the
work of faculty, staff, and campus leaders who want to mobilize ePortfolio practice to
enhance learning and teaching.
The Connect to Learning network brought together ePortfolio innovators from
a diverse set of campuses, including Boston University, Virginia Tech, and San Fran-
cisco State University as well as LaGuardia, Guttman, Three Rivers, and Salt Lake
Community Colleges. Collaborating over the course of four years, campus-based
teams gathered evidence, shared ePortfolio practices, and discussed what made
ePortfolio practice effective. Together we created the Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research website (see Figure I.1) to share our work with the field.
Reviewing C2L’s broad collection of evidence, our findings suggest that, done
well, ePortfolio practice can help institutions balance aspirations for deep learning
and student success and translate pressures for accountability into meaningful institu-
tional learning. We propose that effective ePortfolio practice can help students engage
more deeply and take ownership of their learning, leading to greater student success,

Figure I.1. The Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research Website

Note. Working together in a community of practice from 2011 to 2015, the 24 campuses in the C2L project cre-
ated the Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research website (c2l.mcnrc.org) to share their work with the
broader ePortfolio field.

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 INTRODUCTION 3

Catalyst for Learning Value Propositions

Proposition 1: ePortfolio practice done well advances student success.
At a growing number of campuses with sustained ePortfolio initiatives,
student ePortfolio usage correlates with higher levels of student success
as measured by pass rates, grade point average (GPA), and retention.
Proposition 2: ePortfolio practice done well makes student learning
visible and supports reflection, integration, and deep learning. Helping
students reflect on and connect their learning across academic and co-
curricular experiences, sophisticated ePortfolio practices transform the
learning experience. Advancing higher order thinking and integrative
learning, the connective ePortfolio helps students construct purposeful
identities as learners.
Proposition 3: ePortfolio practice done well catalyzes learning-
centered institutional change. Focusing attention on student learning
and prompting connection and cooperation across departments and
divisions, ePortfolio initiatives can catalyze campus cultural and struc-
tural change, helping colleges and universities develop as learning
organizations.

including measurable improvements in retention and graduation. We find that ePort-

folio practice can help link a set of fragmented experiences—for example, a set of
High-Impact Practices based in different parts of campus—bringing greater coherence
and meaning. Our findings can be summarized in three related value propositions.
Summarized in Chapter 1 and detailed in Chapter 8, these findings represent
a step forward for the ePortfolio field. Evidence linked to Proposition 1 shows how
ePortfolio practice can advance student success, helping students progress toward
graduation. Evidence related to Proposition 2 suggests that ePortfolio practice helps
educators balance a focus on completion with an emphasis on quality, the deep learn-
ing that makes education meaningful. Proposition 3 outlines the ways that ePortfolio
initiatives have a broader impact, helping colleges become more cohesive and agile
learning organizations. These three propositions organize important evidence for
strategic planning and institutional decision-making related to ePortfolio practice.
They also provide a coherent set of propositions to be tested through further research.
Together, these value propositions undergird our argument that ePortfolio should
be recognized as a High-Impact Practice. Spearheaded by George D. Kuh; the Ameri-
can Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U); and other scholars, including
Ken O’Donnell, Tia McNair, and Ashley Finley, the body of research on HIPs has high-
lighted the broadly demonstrated power of 10 widely used higher education innova-
tions, such as first-year seminars and undergraduate research.3 As we shall see, C2L data
suggest that ePortfolio practice shows a pattern of benefit comparable to other HIPs.
The benefit of all HIPs depends on being done well. First-year seminars can help
new college students persist and thrive, for example, but only if they are instituted

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 4 INTRODUCTION

Figure I.2. The Catalyst Framework.

INQUIRY
RE
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ATIO TI
Pro O
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Dev ss

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IN
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INT
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US

t
A M S & MAJ
N

EGR
GR

P
REFLECTIO

TU
O
M
O

RE
CA DENTS

RS
PR

ATION
TU

S
Catalyst for Learning

lo g y
Assess
O u t co men

FA
C U LT Y

hno
Y

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UIR

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RE
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ATIO CTIO
INTEGR N

with a high degree of attention to quality and depth. Our study of ePortfolio practice
reveals a similar pattern. Done poorly, without insight or careful attention to the
qualities that make ePortfolio practice powerful, ePortfolios will have few benefits for
students or their institutions. Done well, ePortfolio practice can powerfully advance
student, faculty, and institutional learning.
In this book we propose a detailed guide or set of precepts for doing ePortfolio well:
The Catalyst Framework for Effective ePortfolio Practice (see Figure I.2). We highlight
integrative social pedagogy as a key factor for success and provide examples of such
pedagogy in practices designed by faculty nationwide. Drawing on the experiences
of C2L teams, we also discuss the kinds of support that faculty and students need,
addressing professional development, outcomes assessment, and ePortfolio technology
as well as the institutional strategies that advance the power of ePortfolio practice.

Using This Book

This book is designed as a resource for faculty, staff, and administrators who want
to employ ePortfolio practice to deepen and transform student learning. It is not
a teacher’s handbook, but it can provide invaluable guidance to educators seeking
to advance educational improvement at multiple levels, from classroom practice to
institutional outcomes assessment and campus planning and change.

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 INTRODUCTION 5

Chapter 1 introduces the ePortfolio field and its development. It outlines the
work of the C2L project, summarizing what we and the C2L teams learned from each
other and spotlighting the website we jointly created, Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research (c2l.mcnrc.org). Readers interested in a quick overview can
find in this chapter the highlights of our collective findings.
Chapters 2 through 7 illuminate the conceptual and practical qualities of ePort-
folio practice done well. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Catalyst Framework
and highlights the Catalyst design principles: Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration
(I-R-I). Subsequent chapters focus on specific Framework sectors, from Pedagogy
(Chapter 3) to Professional Development (Chapter 4) and Outcomes Assessment
(Chapter 5). Chapter 6 examines the role of ePortfolio Technology in effective ePort-
folio practice. Chapter 7 considers the institutional strategies C2L campuses used to
build and deepen their ePortfolio work. These chapters offer examples of the work
needed in each sector, drawn from C2L campus practices.
Each of Chapters 3 through 7 includes a boxed set of tips titled “Getting Started,”
which list the first steps and issues to keep in mind in launching an ePortfolio pro-
ject. Multiple chapters include short vignettes written by colleagues in C2L and the
broader field, highlighting particular issues and practices. In Chapters 3 and 7, we
are pleased to include two short essays by C2L Senior Scholar Randy Bass, exploring
particular issues related to the Catalyst Framework.
Chapter 8 addresses the following questions: Why ePortfolio? How can ePortfo-
lio practice help students and faculty? What does it offer program directors, deans,
provosts, and other institutional stakeholders? It details our three propositions, dis-
cussing the quantitative and qualitative evidence supplied by C2L teams.
Chapter 9 discusses the ways ePortfolio is used in conjunction with other High-
Impact Practices such as first-year experiences, capstone courses, and service- and
community-based learning. C2L research suggests that effective ePortfolio practice
can deepen the impact of other HIPs and that the longitudinal and connective qual-
ity of ePortfolio facilitates integration of multiple HIPs, helping students understand
and articulate them as a cohesive signature learning experience.
Chapter 10, the book’s final chapter, goes beyond current practice to consider
the future of ePortfolio practice and the ePortfolio field. We argue that connecting
ePortfolio with emergent practices such as e-advising, digital badging, and learning
analytics can advance critical strategies to address the whole student. In a higher edu-
cation landscape marked by disruption and change, next-generation ePortfolio prac-
tice can help colleges and universities become more integrated, agile, and adaptive
learning organizations.
The development of effective ePortfolio practice is an evolving process. We do
not see our work as conclusive; rather, we hope that it contributes to an ongoing
dialogue. More research will be needed and new approaches must be tried if ePort-
folio practice is to serve the needs of twenty-first-century students and faculty. We
invite all readers to join us on the Catalyst for Learning resource site to discuss new
questions and insights, to share best practices, and to build a living resource for this
growing and exciting field.

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 6 INTRODUCTION

Notes
1. Eden Dahlstrom, with D. Christopher Brooks, Susan Grajek, and Jamie Reeves. ECAR
Study of Students and Information Technology, 2015 (research report) (Louisville, CO: ECAR,
December 2015).
2. Bret Eynon and Laura M. Gambino, Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research Website, January 2014, http://c2l.mcnrc.org
3. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them,
and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities,
2008); George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality & Taking High Impact Practices
to Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2013); Jayne
E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner, Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes,
Completion, and Quality (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Univer-
sities, 2010); Ashley Finley and Tia McNair, Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in
High-Impact Practices (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities:
2013).

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 PA RT O N E

H I G H - I M PA C T e P O RT F O L I O
PRACTICE AND THE
C O N N E C T TO L E A R N I N G P RO J E C T

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 8 12/20/2016 1:25:26 PM
 1
e P O RT F O L I O
A High-Impact Practice

E
Portfolios are increasingly common in higher education, and are now used
on more than half of U.S. college campuses.1 As higher education adapts to
the pressures of the twenty-first century, the capacity of ePortfolio practice
to enhance integration and make learning visible can further elevate its value. Yet
key elements of effective ePortfolio practice are often overlooked; as a result, many
campus ePortfolio initiatives struggle. To realize its potential, the field must gather
and examine evidence of ePortfolio’s impact on student learning and generate clear
frameworks for effective practice.
This book directly speaks to these needs. It draws on the work of the Connect to
Learning (C2L) network, 24 teams from campuses with sustained ePortfolio projects
engaged in a national community of practice. It analyzes C2L campus data on the
benefits of ePortfolio practice for students, faculty, and institutions, generating three
evidence-based value propositions. It
also offers the Catalyst Framework, a
linked set of campus-tested strategies Connect to Learning:
for building an effective ePortfolio ePortfolio Value Propositions
initiative, connecting effective peda-
Findings from C2L revealed
gogy to professional development and three mutually reinforcing value
outcomes assessment. In doing so, propositions of the benefits of
it aligns effective ePortfolio practice ePortfolio practice done well.
with the framework George D. Kuh,
the Association of American Colleges 1. ePortfolio practice done well
& Universities (AAC&U), and others advances student success.
2. Making learning visible,
have developed for educationally effec-
ePortfolio practice done well
tive High-Impact Practices.2
supports reflection, integra-
This chapter begins by briefly tion, and deep learning.
reviewing the history of ePortfolio prac- 3. ePortfolio practice done well
tice. It summarizes the evidence gath- catalyzes learning-centered
ered by the C2L project, introduces institutional change.
the Catalyst Framework, and positions

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 10 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

ePortfolio in the growing literature related to educationally effective High-Impact

Practices.

A History of Growth
The spread of ePortfolio practice in twenty-first-century higher education has been
rapid but uneven. Growing numbers of colleges and universities offer ePortfolio ser-
vices. Hundreds of thousands of students use ePortfolio each year. The proliferation
of ePortfolio vendors, journals, networks, and conferences is striking. Yet in educa-
tional technology circles, ePortfolios are often seen as passé, and many campus ePort-
folio projects struggle to grow beyond the pilot stage. While the field has progressed
in significant ways, broad understanding of ePortfolio practice is still limited.
ePortfolios have deep historical roots. Disciplines such as writing and architecture
have long used portfolios to collect student work and present a curated demonstration
of skill and accomplishment. Sophisticated practitioners understood that this process
created opportunities for self-critique and the development of reflective practice.3
In the 1990s three developments energized the transformation of portfolio prac-
tice. First, new research in learning science spurred the growth of learner-centered
and constructivist pedagogies, demonstrating that students learned best by doing and
creating, connecting new knowledge with preexisting frameworks of understanding.
Bransford, Brown, and Cocking’s magisterial synthesis of this research highlighted
the crucial learning role of reflection or metacognitive thinking.4 This research lit-
erature has only continued to grow in size and sophistication, offering important
insights into cognition as well as the noncognitive or affective elements of student
learning and growth, such as grit and resilience.5
Second, the digital revolution empowered students to create and share collec-
tions of text, images, and multimedia artifacts. Although ePortfolios emerged as part
of what was later called Web 1.0, they in some ways anticipated Web 2.0 by focusing
on user-generated content.
Third, federal agencies and accreditation bodies spurred new attention on assess-
ment and accountability, the measurement of student learning. The movement to
advance authentic assessment took an important turn, and colleges and universities
nationwide began to look for ways to satisfy assessment pressures.
These developments fueled the emergence of ePortfolios as a multifaceted prac-
tice that links digital technology with reflective learning, integrative pedagogy, and
authentic assessment. A handful of educators saw the broad potential of ePortfolio
as a student-curated collection of learning artifacts and reflections, which together
made a student’s learning visible to the student and to others. In 2002 Trent Batson
noted with some surprise,

The term “electronic portfolio” or “ePortfolio” is on everyone’s lips. We often hear it

associated with assessment, but also with accreditation, reflection, student resumes,
and career tracking. It’s as if this new tool is the answer to all of the questions we
didn’t realize we were asking.6

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 ePORTFOLIO 11

Batson and others believed ePort-

folio practice could address multiple What Is ePortfolio for Students?
needs. It could help students deepen Campuses define ePortfolio in
their learning by reflecting on their different ways. LaGuardia Com-
own growth. By making artifacts of munity College defines ePortfolio
student learning more visible, it could for its students as the following:
make assessment more meaningful than
For students, ePortfolio prac-
standardized tests, and it had potential tice asks questions, such as,
as a vehicle students could use to present
accomplishments to external audiences, • Who am I?
including employers. Alverno College, • Who am I becoming?
Kalamazoo College, Wesleyan Univer- • Who do I dare to be?
sity, and Portland State University were Asking these questions, ePortfo-
among the early ePortfolio pioneers, lio practice helps students con-
but others soon followed, including nect their past and their future,
LaGuardia Community College and their challenges and their growth,
Indiana University–Purdue University their learning and their lives.
Indianapolis (IUPUI). The broad pos- More than a technology, ePort-
sibilities envisioned for ePortfolio prac- folio is a guided process that
tice led a small but growing number of helps students tell their stories.
Documenting and reflecting on
colleges to launch ePortfolio initiatives,
their learning in the classroom
with growth accelerating after 2009. In and beyond, returning to the
2010 Terrel Rhodes, vice president of process semester after semester,
the Association of American Colleges students transform experience
& Universities wrote, into meaning.
A space for planning, collabo-
Electronic portfolios are emerging rating, and sharing, ePortfolio
on campuses across the country as a not only builds success but also
means for students to reflect systemati- helps students develop more
cally on their own learning; for faculty purposeful identities as learners
to represent and evaluate multimodal and emerging professionals.7
ways for students to demonstrate their
learning through text, performance
and visual or audio media; and for institutions to assess, document and share student
learning through the curriculum and co-curriculum. The growth in student and
faculty interest in electronic portfolios is evidenced by the growth in the varieties of
portfolio software available in the marketplace.8

In the years since Rhodes wrote, new developments have unsettled higher educa-
tion. Pressure over costs and accountability have risen at the same time that growing
numbers of minority and first-generation college students have transformed student
demographics. Massive open online courses (MOOCs), digital badging, online
advisement tools, and other elements of a new digital learning environment exploded
onto the scene, creating opportunities for “unbundling”9 the traditional campus; in

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 12 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

the future, some observers have predicted, students will use digital tools and systems
to “learn everywhere,” not from a single university but from a variety of education
providers, scattered across the country and around the globe.
The future of this upheaval is not yet clear, but change is inevitable. To the extent
that higher education becomes in some way “unbundled,” that learning occurs in and
beyond the walls of the classroom, ePortfolio practice can help students connect and
synthesize those learning experiences. Linking learning in diverse settings, ePortfolio
can support more integrative processes of reflection and assessment. In the emerg-
ing educational ecosystem, effective ePortfolio practice can link digital badges and
learning analytics to broader structures
for student, faculty, and institutional
What Is ePortfolio for Faculty learning. At a time when many forces
and Staff? are fragmenting the educational experi-
LaGuardia Community College ence, what we discuss as next-generation
defines ePortfolio for its faculty ePortfolio practice has the potential to
and staff as the following: create opportunities for strengthening
For faculty, staff, advisors, and connection and meaning.
the institution, ePortfolio prac-
tice asks questions such as the
following:
A Promise Not Yet Realized
• Who are our students?
Despite growing use of ePortfolio and
• What experiences do they
bring to the college?
its emerging role in the new learning
• How can I see and better ecosystem, the full promise of ePort-
understand their patterns of folio has yet to be realized. Campus
learning and growth? ePortfolio projects confront multiple
challenges, from choosing the right
Done well, ePortfolio practice
platform to providing technical sup-
makes learning visible across
boundaries and over time. As
port, building faculty engagement,
students tell their stories, they developing effective pedagogy, and
help faculty understand who sits balancing conflicting goals. There is
in their classes, and how their a deeper issue as well: ePortfolio ini-
classes connect with each other. tiatives require coordinated efforts on
As students craft plans for edu- multiple fronts, cross-institutional col-
cation and careers, they create laborations that can challenge long-
opportunities for faculty and staff standing assumptions. As a result,
advisors to offer deeper, more many campus ePortfolio projects have
informed guidance. been short lived; others have survived
Moving past standardized tests, but never thrived or gone to scale.
students’ ePortfolio work helps
Part of the problem is that many
degree programs assess their own
impact and helps an institution
campuses have launched ePortfolio
become a more integrated and initiatives with limited understand-
adaptive learning organization.10 ing of effective ePortfolio practice.
Many colleges approach ePortfolios as a

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 ePORTFOLIO 13

technology and fail to grasp that their value depends on sophisticated pedagogy and
institutional practice. Campuses lack access to comprehensive discussions of imple-
mentation issues and well-organized collections of campus-tested practices. They have
no guide to help them plan the complex effort needed to achieve success.
This is a significant gap in the field. Although the ePortfolio field has matured,
no comprehensive framework has yet emerged to guide the design of ePortfolio ini-
tiatives. There is a need for an overarching conceptual structure that embraces the
complexity of ePortfolio initiatives, the strategic potential of their integrative nature,
and the rich and evolving nature of ePortfolio itself as an emerging set of practices.
Another gap has also hobbled ePortfolio development. ePortfolio practitioners
have produced surprisingly little evidence regarding ePortfolio’s role in student learn-
ing. Bryant and Chittum reviewed the research literature and found a striking paucity
of hard research; of 118 articles on ePortfolio published in peer-reviewed journals
between 1996 and 2012, they found that most were descriptive or self-reporting in
nature. Only 15% of the articles they reviewed provided empirical evidence related to
student outcomes, and less than 2% used measures Bryant and Chittum considered
reliable and valid.11
Although legitimate questions could be raised about Bryant and Chittum’s cat-
egories and methodologies, the broader point is indisputable. Up until now, relatively
little data have been published on the role of ePortfolio experience in shaping student
outcomes such as learning, retention, and completion. In an era of tight higher edu-
cation budgets and increased attention to student completion and accountability, the
need for evidence of impact is only growing.
Fortunately, new evidence is now emerging. The C2L network gathered evalua-
tion evidence from multiple campuses, showing strong correlations between ePortfo-
lio experience and improved student learning and success. C2L campuses also worked
together to generate a comprehensive framework for effective ePortfolio practice.
C2L findings can support educators nationwide, and those findings are the basis for
our claim that ePortfolio is a High-Impact Practice for twenty-first-century learning.

The Connect to Learning Project: A Community of Inquiry

Active from 2011 to 2015, the C2L project brought together teams from 24 cam-
puses nationwide to respond to questions confronting the field: What difference
can ePortfolio make? Can an ePortfolio initiative improve student learning? Does
ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment really work? Is ePortfolio worth an investment
of institutional resources? What evidence demonstrates the broader value of an ePort-
folio initiative? What strategies have produced success for students and institutions?
Supported by a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary
Education (FIPSE), C2L assembled 24 institutions with established ePortfolio
projects into a national community of practice. Engaged in a recursive knowledge-
generation process, partner campuses represented a cross-section of higher education,
from community colleges to Research I universities, ranging from Boston University

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 14 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

to San Francisco State, IUPUI, and

C2L Partner Institutions Three Rivers Community College.
Boston University C2L was coordinated by the Mak-
City University of New York ing Connections National Resource
(CUNY) School of Professional Center of LaGuardia Community
Studies College, in partnership with the Asso-
Empire State College (State Uni- ciation for Authentic, Experiential, and
versity of New York [SUNY]) Evidence-Based Learning. LaGuardia’s
Georgetown University associate provost for academic affairs,
Stella and Charles Guttman Bret Eynon, was the project’s principal
Community College (CUNY)
investigator; Laura M. Gambino, asso-
Hunter College (CUNY)
Indiana University-Purdue Uni-
ciate dean for assessment and technol-
versity Indianapolis ogy at Guttman Community College,
LaGuardia Community College was the C2L research director. Judit
(CUNY) Torok helped manage C2L. George-
Lehman College (CUNY) town’s Randy Bass and Stanford’s Helen
Manhattanville College L. Chen served as C2L’s senior scholars.
Northeastern University C2L used a hybrid community-
Northwestern Connecticut Com- building model that integrated online
munity College conversations and face-to-face meetings
Norwalk Community College to link teams as they explored the litera-
Pace University ture, exchanged practices, and expanded
Queensborough Community
their campus ePortfolio projects.12 Cam-
College (CUNY)
Rutgers University
pus projects reflected local needs. Some
St. John’s University teams focused on a few disciplines, such
Salt Lake Community College as education, nursing, or art history;
San Francisco State University others used ePortfolio campus-wide,
Stony Brook University (SUNY) sometimes tied to general education.
Three Rivers Community College Many C2L teams linked their ePortfolio
Tunxis Community College work with first-year seminars and cap-
University of Delaware stone courses.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute Each campus team built a portfolio
and State University to represent its ePortfolio story. These
portfolios and a set of cross-cutting
analytical essays form a jointly created website titled Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research (c2l.mcnrc.org). This book draws on that site to make a narra-
tive argument and provide a book-format resource to the field (see Figure 1.1).

The Difference ePortfolio Makes

Each C2L campus team was asked to gather local evidence about the effectiveness of
ePortfolio practice. Teams focused on student learning and success, but made choices
about how to measure it, using indicators appropriate to their campus and students.

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 ePORTFOLIO 15

Figure 1.1. The Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research Website.

Note. Each campus team created an ePortfolio on the Catalyst for Learning site, such as this one from San Francisco
State University, with practices, stories, links to student ePortfolios, and other multimedia resources.

They all used a common survey instrument, the C2L Core Survey, that included
questions used with permission from the National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE). They shared annual reports analyzing the local impact of ePortfolio on
teaching, learning, and assessment.
The groundbreaking research conducted by C2L campuses represents a sys-
tematic, multicampus effort to examine the impact ePortfolio practice can have on
student learning and success, and it generated important evidence suggesting that
sophisticated ePortfolio practice, or ePortfolio done well, makes a difference for stu-
dents, faculty, and institutions. On multiple campuses, ePortfolio-enhanced courses
demonstrated higher student success outcomes than comparison courses. Data on
GPA, retention, and graduation showed similar patterns. Meanwhile, data from the
C2L Core Survey suggested that ePortfolio practice engaged students in deep and
integrative learning. Moreover, the impact documented by C2L campuses was not
limited to students; it indicated that sophisticated campus ePortfolio practice can also
advance faculty learning and institutional change.13
The C2L findings can be summarized in three mutually reinforcing value propo-
sitions, previewed here and discussed fully in Chapter 8.

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 16 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

Proposition 1: ePortfolio Practice Done Well Advances Student Success

At a growing number of campuses with sustained ePortfolio initiatives, student ePort-
folio usage correlates with higher levels of student success as measured by pass rates,
GPA, and retention.
C2L campuses studied the role of ePortfolio in student success. A constellation of
campuses, from Manhattanville College to IUPUI to San Francisco State University,
presented evidence of ePortfolio-related student success such as retention rates and
GPA data.
In the Douglass Women’s College of Rutgers University, ePortfolio was introduced
into a required first semester mission course in the 2008–2009 school year; student
performance improved significantly. The students’ average grade point average (GPA)
in the course improved and, perhaps more important, so did their cumulative GPA
across all courses.
At LaGuardia Community College, data from multiple years show that across
disciplines, the one-semester retention rate for students in ePortfolio courses is
an average of 9 to 11 percentage points higher than the rate for students in compari-
son courses. Students enrolled in ePortfolio courses also had higher course completion
and course pass rates than students in comparison courses.
At Tunxis Community College, a year-long comparison between ePortfolio and
non-ePortfolio sections of developmental English courses showed that ePortfolio sec-
tions had 3.5 percentage points higher pass rates and an almost 6 percentage points
higher retention rate.
San Francisco State University integrated ePortfolio into the Metro Health Acad-
emy, a learning community for high-risk students. Data show that improved success
rates at every stage, including a graduation rate 10 percentage points higher than
university-wide averages.
Detailed in Chapter 8, these studies and others represent an emergent pattern
and provide a suggestive body of evidence for the proposition that sophisticated
ePortfolio initiatives can help campuses improve student success and meet the
challenge of improved rates of graduation and completion.
We must note an important caveat: We recognize that the data from C2L cam-
puses have limitations. Proving causal connections related to learning is always chal-
lenging. C2L teams did not have the capacity to conduct randomized control group
studies. The network spanned diverse campus contexts, marked by differences in
focus, purpose, and level of student preparation. Not all teams succeeded in mobiliz-
ing their campus institutional research team to conduct the study. While the C2L data
are limited in rigor and consistency, they are nonetheless suggestive and intriguing.

Proposition 2: Making Learning Visible, ePortfolio Practice Done Well

Supports Reflection, Integration, and Deep Learning
Helping students reflect on and connect their learning across academic and
co-curricular learning experiences, sophisticated ePortfolio practices transform the

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 ePORTFOLIO 17

student learning experience. Advancing higher order thinking and integrative learn-
ing, the connective nature of ePortfolio helps students construct purposeful identities
as learners.
To go beyond completion and begin to address issues of quality learning, C2L
teams and project leaders worked with Stanford University researcher Helen L. Chen
to develop a survey tool that would help illuminate the effect of sophisticated
ePortfolio practice on the nature of the student learning experience. We incorporated
(with permission) and adapted a set of questions from the widely respected National
Survey on Student Engagement, along with more specific questions about ePortfolio
experience. Used on campuses across the network with a wide range of students
(n = 10,170), the C2L Core Survey sheds important light on the ways ePortfolio
practice can shape student experiences.
On questions about ePortfolio, wide majorities of students reported that build-
ing their ePortfolios helped them “think more deeply” about course content, “make
connections between ideas,” and become “more aware” of their growth and devel-
opment as learners. They also demonstrated high degrees of engagement in what
Laird, Shoup, and Kuh have identified as a deep learning scale—synthesizing and
organizing ideas, engaging in critical thinking, and applying theoretical concepts in
unfamiliar situations.14
Analysis of these data, detailed in Chapter 8, suggests that ePortfolio processes
shaped by integrative social pedagogies help students make connections and deepen
their learning. The data also suggest that ePortfolio practice done well helps stu-
dents take ownership of their learning, building not only academic skills but also the
affective understandings of self critical to student success. In this way, a sophisticated
ePortfolio initiative can help educators address issues of learning quality without sac-
rificing success outcomes.

Proposition 3: ePortfolio Practice Done Well Catalyzes Learning-Centered

Institutional Change
Focusing attention on student learning and prompting connection and coopera-
tion across departments and divisions, ePortfolio initiatives can catalyze campus
cultural and structural change, helping colleges and universities develop as learning
organizations.
Although the first two value propositions focus on students, we found that effec-
tive ePortfolio practice had a broader impact as well, linked to faculty, staff, and insti-
tutional learning. The winds of change now swirling across higher education give
particular importance to our third proposition. How can colleges and universities build
their capacity to respond and adapt to changing conditions and new possibilities? How
can administrators thoughtfully engage faculty and staff expertise to advance campus
innovation focused on student learning? At a time when some argue that higher edu-
cation should be “unbundled,” how can campuses develop a shared purpose, a more
concerted effort to advance student learning and development? How can colleges build
learning cultures and become more integrated and adaptive learning organizations?

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 18 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

Addressing this challenging agenda, our third value proposition is based on sto-
ries and practices shared by the C2L teams that described their multifaceted work
and how it reshaped campus culture. We found that the most effective C2L teams
undertook a broad range of activities, connecting with faculty and staff in diverse
sectors of the campus, from departments and programs to student life, institutional
research and assessment, information technology (IT) and Centers for Teaching and
Learning (CTLs). Bringing together diverse campus groups for collaboration focused
on student learning, we found, helped campuses illuminate the holistic nature of
student learning, spark integrative structural change, and build campus-wide com-
mitment to organizational learning.
All three value propositions are explored in Chapter 8, on the Catalyst for Learn-
ing website, and in peer-reviewed articles.15 While still emergent, they represent an
important first step in documenting the difference that ePortfolio can make in higher
education. We encourage others to gather evidence that can confirm, extend, and
refine these findings. As we move forward, such research will advance our under-
standing of ePortfolio’s multifaceted benefits.

What It Takes to Make a Difference: The Catalyst Framework

The C2L campuses also worked together to document and analyze the strategies
needed to do ePortfolio effectively. While reading literature in the field, including
the research on High-Impact Practices, they also reviewed and discussed each other’s
practices. Out of this conversation emerged the Catalyst Framework (see Figure 1.2).
By the project’s end, campuses were explicitly using the Framework to strengthen
their own campus efforts.
The Catalyst Framework starts with classroom pedagogy, but it extends further.
Because ePortfolio is most effective when it is implemented longitudinally and hori-
zontally across disciplines and semesters, and because effective ePortfolio practice
involves faculty and institutional learning as well as student learning, the Framework
goes beyond the boundaries of the classroom. It speaks to not only the work of stu-
dents and faculty but also that of departments and programs as well as broader insti-
tutional structures. Across these different levels of institutional life, we found that
effective ePortfolio initiatives intentionally structure work in five interlocking sectors:

• Integrative Social Pedagogy: The theory and practice that guide the use of
ePortfolio to support and deepen student learning, including practices related to
ePortfolio for career and advisement. C2L focused particularly on practices that
involve integrative learning and social pedagogy and centered on reflection as a
key to deep learning.
• Professional Development: The active processes (workshops, seminars, online
tutorials, and institutes) designed to help faculty and staff learn about ePortfo-
lio technology and pedagogy and more effectively advance student learning and
growth.

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 ePORTFOLIO 19

Figure 1.2. The Catalyst Framework

INQUIRY
RE
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EC
ATIO TI
Pro O
GR f
y Dev ess

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TE
gog elo io
IN
a pm

na
d
Pe LT U R E & S T R

INT
en
CU UC
US

t
A M S & MAJ
N

EGR
R
P
REFLECTIO

TU
M G O
O

RE
CA
DENTS

RS
PR

ATION
TU

Catalyst for Learning S

lo g y
Assess
O u t co men

FA
C U LT Y

hno
Y

me t
UIR

c
Te
s

IN
NQ

Q
I

UIR
Y
S c a li n g Up
RE
N FLE
ATIO CTIO
INTEGR N

• Outcomes Assessment: The ways campuses use ePortfolio and authentic class-
room work to support holistic assessment of programs and general education out-
comes.
• Technology: The choices campuses make about ePortfolio platforms and related
support mechanisms can have a profound impact on the shape and the success of
a campus ePortfolio initiative.
• Scaling Up: The planning, building, and evaluating of an ePortfolio initiative—
the active role of campus ePortfolio leaders, and the way they work with
students, faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders to build ePortfolio cul-
ture, allocate resources, and make the connections that can catalyze institutional
change.

The Pedagogy sector of the Catalyst Framework is critical, and it is the area that
has the most in common with the literature on High-Impact Practices. But C2L cam-
pus teams concluded that other sectors were also essential. No matter how effective
their pedagogy, faculty acting alone in their individual classrooms cannot realize the
full potential of ePortfolio practice. Broader institutional effort is required. The sec-
tors of the Catalyst Framework suggest a way to conceptualize and organize that effort.

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 20 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

We found that work done in these interlocking sectors can be enhanced by atten-
tion to the three Catalyst design principles: Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration (I-R-
I). C2L research suggests that effective ePortfolio initiatives use these principles in
their pedagogy as well as other sectors, guiding the planning and implementation of
activities campus-wide.

• Inquiry, or inquiry learning, is a well-developed pedagogy involving generat-

ing questions, examining evidence, and solving authentic problems. For stu-
dents, ePortfolios can be understood as an inquiry into their own learning. In
sophisticated ePortfolio-related professional development programs, faculty too
are engaged in collective inquiry into practice. Programs and institutions use
ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment as part of their inquiry into learning and
teaching.
• Reflection, as understood by Dewey and others, stands at the core of deep learn-
ing and is key to processing experience and the generation of meaning.16 Guided
reflective learning is widely understood as essential to powerful ePortfolio prac-
tice, and becoming a reflective practitioner is key to the success of ePortfolio-
related professional development and outcomes assessment efforts.
• Integration, or integrative learning, engages students in connecting learning
across time, space, and discipline, and developing the capacity to transfer knowl-
edge and skill from one setting to another. Faculty and institutions as well as
students must work to advance integration, thereby overcoming fragmentation
and more intentionally applying insights and innovations to the broader process
of building more cohesive and effective educational institutions. ePortfolios and
outcomes assessment practices can be powerful processes in this regard.

To be used effectively as design principles, the overarching concept of Inquiry,

Reflection, and Integration must be understood as connected, not discrete.
Together they form a dynamic cycle, most powerful when recursive and ongoing.
As design principles, they can inform the planning and execution of action across
sectors, deepening cohesive strategies on diverse fronts of a campus-wide ePortfolio
initiative.
The Catalyst Framework can help campuses understand what it takes to do ePort-
folio well. Building an effective ePortfolio initiative is a developmental process that
must unfold over time. Because ePortfolio practice is most meaningful as a process
of connection and integration, ePortfolio “done well” requires cohesive vision and
design. The diversity of the Framework sectors suggests the necessary breadth of the
effort, and the Catalyst design principles help ensure cohesion and quality.

ePortfolio as a High-Impact Practice

The concept of High-Impact Practices is well established in higher education. Under
the direction of the AAC&U, George Kuh and others have conducted, reviewed, and

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 ePORTFOLIO 21

drawn on a wide range of educational

research to identify a set of practices High-Impact Practices
that when done well, “engage partici- First-Year Seminars
pants at levels that elevate their perfor- Common Intellectual
mance across multiple engagement and Experiences
desired-outcome measures such as per- Learning Communities
sistence.”17 The AAC&U and Kuh cod- Writing-Intensive Courses
ified a list of 10 practices that qualify. Collaborative Assignments and
These teaching and learning prac- Projects
tices “have been widely tested and Undergraduate Research
Diversity and Global Learning
shown to be beneficial for college stu-
Service-Learning, Community-
dents from many backgrounds.”18 Evi- Based Learning
dence from multiple institutions shows Internships
these practices “have special benefit” on Capstone Courses and Projects
student outcomes such as engagement,
persistence, retention, higher GPA,
and graduation from college. Moreover, research shows they are particularly valuable
for first-generation and minority students, helping them even more than they help
traditional college students. “While participation in effective educational activities
generally benefits all students,” Kuh writes, “the salutary effects are even greater for
students who begin college at lower achievement levels, as well as students of color,
compared with white students.”19
In this book, we argue that ePortfolio should be recognized as a High-Impact
Practice (sometimes abbreviated in the field and this book as HIP), along with first-
year seminars, undergraduate research, and capstone courses. We believe that ePort-
folio practice meets the criteria laid out in various HIP-related publications. The C2L
data reviewed in Chapter 8 suggest that ePortfolio practice has been widely tested,
shows a recurring pattern of benefit comparable to other HIPs, and meets other HIP
criteria as well.
Key to the discussion of HIPs is the issue of implementation quality. As Kuh
has written, “to engage students at high levels, these practices must be done well ”
(emphasis in the original).20 Research has identified a framework for quality imple-
mentation of each HIP, identifying the essential elements, for example, of a first-
year seminar done well.21 These frameworks are crucial to helping institutions plan,
launch, and sustain any given HIP. The Catalyst Framework establishes a done-well
structure for ePortfolio practice comparable to the equivalent structure for other
HIPs. Extending from the classroom to broader institutional practice, the Catalyst
Framework identifies a developmental process that can help educators develop and
scale high-impact ePortfolio practice.
Finally, Kuh, O’Donnell, and others have argued that there is a set of key opera-
tional characteristics common to varying degrees across HIPs. No one HIP encom-
passes all characteristics, but all encompass some. As Kuh has written, “High-Impact
Practices are developmentally powerful because they combine and concentrate other
empirically validated pedagogical approaches into a single multi-dimensional activity

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 22 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

that unfolds over an extended period of time.”22 Sometimes termed behaviors or

educationally effective practices, these traits can be understood as key dimensions of
high-impact student learning experiences, the qualities that make HIPs high-impact.
These include the following:

• performance expectations set at appropriately high levels

• significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended period
of time
• interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters
• experiences with diversity
• frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
• periodic, structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning
• opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications
• public demonstration of competence23

Throughout this book, we will demonstrate that high-impact ePortfolio practice

embodies many of these characteristics. The core of ePortfolio practice is the act of
making student learning more visible and connected, using the combination of guided
reflection and networked digital technology. This core behavior aligns directly with
two of Kuh and O’Donnell’s dimensions noted previously: periodic, structured oppor-
tunities to reflect and integrate learning; and public demonstration of competence.
As we shall see, it also facilitates learning experiences along many of the other dimen-
sions, including significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended
period of time; experiences with diversity; frequent, timely, and constructive feedback;
and opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications.
Throughout this book, we consider the behaviors facilitated by ePortfolio prac-
tice and do so in the context of the Catalyst Framework, looking not only at integra-
tive ePortfolio pedagogy but also the key factors that support such pedagogy and the
improved learning associated with it.
Done well, ePortfolio practice supports measurably improved student learning
and success as well as the key behaviors common among HIPs. But doing ePortfolio
well is more challenging than many educators realize. Planning, piloting, leading,
and sustaining an effective ePortfolio project takes a careful understanding of what
ePortfolio pedagogy looks like. It also requires attention to professional develop-
ment, assessment, technology, and institutional support. The chapters that follow
provide a sector-by-sector review of the Catalyst Framework, illuminated by an array
of thoughtful practices developed, tested, and shared by C2L campuses.

Notes
1. Eden Dahlstrom, with D. Christopher Brooks, Susan Grajek, and Jamie Reeves,
ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology , 2015 (research report)
(Louisville, CO: ECAR, December 2015).

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 ePORTFOLIO 23

2. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access
to Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges &
Universities, 2008); George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality & Taking High-Impact
Practices to Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2013);
Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner, Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Out-
comes, Completion, and Quality (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Uni-
versities, 2010); Ashley Finley and Tia McNair, Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in
High-Impact Practices (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities:
2013).
3. Darren Cambridge, e-Portfolios for Lifelong Learning and Assessment (Chichester, UK:
Wiley, 2010).
4. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, eds., How People Learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2000).
5. Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel, Make It Stick: The
Science of Successful Learning (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2014); Richard E. Mayer,
Applying the Science of Learning (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2010); Susan A. Ambrose,
Michael W. Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha C. Lovett, and Marie K. Norman, How Learn-
ing Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2010); Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 2004); Richard Keeling, ed., Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student
Experience (Washington DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and
American College Personnel Association, 2004); David C. Hodge, Marcia Baxter Magolda,
and Carolyn A. B. Haynes, “Engaged Learning: Enabling Self-Authorship and Effective Prac-
tice,” Liberal Education, 95, no. 4 (Fall 2009); Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology
of Success (New York, NY: Random House, 2006).
6. Trent Batson, “The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What’s It All About?” Campus Tech-
nology, accessed November 15, 2015, https://campustechnology.com/articles/2002/11/the-
electronic-portfolio-boom-whats-it-all-about.aspx
7. “What is ePortfolio?,” LaGuardia Community College, 2016.
8. Terrel Rhodes, foreword to Electronic Portfolios and Student Success: Effectiveness, Effi-
ciency, and Learning, by Helen L. Chen and Tracy Penny Light (Washington, DC: Association
of American Colleges & Universities, 2010), vi.
9. Randy Bass and Bret Eynon, Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Education for the
New Digital Ecosystem (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities,
2016), 4.
10. “What Is ePortfolio?,” LaGuardia Community College, 2016.
11. Lauren H. Bryant and Jessica R. Chittum, “ePortfolio Effectiveness: A(n Ill-Fated)
Search for Empirical Support,” International Journal of ePortfolio 3, no. 2 (2014): 189–198.
12. Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “Connect to Learning: Using
e-Portfolios in Hybrid Professional Development,” To Improve the Academy 32 (2013): 109–126.
13. Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “What Difference Can ePortfolio
Make? A Field Report from the Connect to Learning Project,” International Journal of ePortfolio
4, no. 1 (2014), 95–114.
14. Thomas F. Laird, Rick Shoup, and George D. Kuh, “Measuring Deep Approaches to
Learning Using the National Survey of Student Engagement” (paper, Annual Meeting of the
Association for Institutional Research, Chicago, IL, May 2005).

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 24 HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE AND THE CONNECT TO LEARNING PROJECT

15. Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “What Difference Can ePortfolio
Make? A Field Report from the Connect to Learning Project,” International Journal of ePortfo-
lio 4, no. 1 (2014), 95–114; Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “Completion,
Quality, and Change: The Difference E-Portfolios Make,” Peer Review 16, no. 1 (2014), 8–14.
16. John Dewey, Experience and Education (New York, NY: Touchstone, 1997); Jack
Mezirow, ed., Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress (San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2000); Bransford et al., How People Learn.
17. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access
to Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges and
Universities, 2008), 14.
18. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices, 9.
19. Ibid., 19.
20. Ibid., 20.
21. Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner, “High Impact Practices: Applying the Learn-
ing Outcomes Literature to the Development of Successful Campus Programs,” Peer Review,
11, no. 2 (Washington, DC: AAC&U, 2009), 28–29.
22. George Kuh, foreword to Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes,
Completion, and Quality, by Jayne E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner (Washington, DC: Asso-
ciation of American Colleges & Universities, 2010), xi.
23. George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality & Taking High-Impact Practices to
Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2013), 8.

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 PA RT T W O

e P O RT F O L I O D O N E W E L L

The Catalyst Framework

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 2
T H E C ATA LY S T F R A M E W O R K
An Evidence-Based Approach to ePortfolio Practice

H
ow can educators best employ ePortfolio practice to improve learning and
teaching? What strategies, both in and out of the classroom, have proven
effective? How can pedagogy, technology, and assessment be synergized?
What issues and questions need to be addressed? Which stakeholders and what
resources need to be mobilized? What does it take to make a difference? This chapter
launches us into a broad examination of what it takes to “do ePortfolio well.”
As discussed in Chapter 1, the work of the Connect to Learning (C2L) net-
work shows that ePortfolio practice can help colleges meet the pressing challenges
of contemporary higher education. Done well, ePortfolio practice plays a valuable
role in improving student success and encouraging deep learning. Through outcomes
assessment and professional development, it spurs faculty learning and institutional
change. C2L senior scholar Randy Bass has argued that although other digital tech-
nologies may be more glamorous, ePortfolio practice has an unmatched capacity to
connect learning across boundaries:

In a landscape of unbundled educational services and increasingly granular learning

experiences, ePortfolios are agents of integration. They are demonstrating the capac-
ity to create an integrative and coherent context for students to make sense of their
learning and for institutions to get an unmatched, holistic view into the impact of
their curricular and institutional designs.1

“Done well,” ePortfolio can serve as a powerful agent of integration, unfolding

over time, linking disciplines and dimensions of learning. But what does ePortfolio
practice “done well” look like? What different facets of ePortfolio practice need to
be addressed? What does it take to make productive links between pedagogy and
platforms, outcomes assessment and campus-wide change? To realize ePortfolio’s
full potential, campus leaders need a comprehensive, evidence-based framework for
addressing the multifaceted tasks of building a successful, high-impact ePortfolio ini-
tiative. There is a broad need for an overarching conceptual structure that explains the
complexity of ePortfolio initiatives; the strategic potential of their integrative nature;
and the rich, evolving nature of ePortfolio itself as an emerging set of practices.

27

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 28 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

The Catalyst Framework addresses this need. It can help campus communities
think through not only their goals but also the collaborative strategies ePortfo-
lio initiatives require to enhance student, faculty, and institutional learning. It is
designed to further the capacity of campuses to use ePortfolio to address press-
ing needs and make a meaningful difference. This chapter provides an overview of
the Framework, outlining its key sectors and discussing the cross-cutting Catalyst
design principles: Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration (I-R-I). And in so doing, it
sets the stage for Chapters 3 through 7, which explore specific Framework sectors
in greater detail.

The Catalyst Framework

In C2L, ePortfolio leaders from our partner campuses worked together to docu-
ment and share their practices, exploring the following question: What strategies and
approaches do successful ePortfolio campuses employ to launch, build, and sustain
their ePortfolio initiatives?
The answer that emerged had multiple layers, linking pedagogy with broader
institutional practices. Any definition of powerful ePortfolio practice must, of course,
be rooted in the design of rich student learning experiences. However, in part because
of the longitudinal and integrative nature of ePortfolio, meaningful initiatives must
encompass not only the practice of individual faculty but also programs, depart-
ments, and other institutional groupings. This brings ePortfolio initiatives into chal-
lenging territory. As Michigan’s Melissa Peet has suggested, much of the conversation
about ePortfolio is “really about organizational change.”2 Successful ePortfolio initia-
tives must be active across many dimensions of campus structure and culture.
The Catalyst Framework addresses the multiple facets of ePortfolio practice and
the ways they connect to build a high-impact ePortfolio initiative. The Framework
consists of a learning core, five interlocking sectors, and three design principles, each
of which is described in the following sections.

Learning Core
The hypothesis emerging from our research states that effective integrative ePortfolio
initiatives address at least three levels of campus life and learning (see Figure 2.1):

• Students and Faculty: the active engagement of students, faculty, and other front-
line staff (advisors, student affairs staff, etc.) who shape core student learning
experiences;
• Programs and Majors: the crucial organizational units campus life and learning
(academic and co-curricular) are most often organized around; and
• Campus Culture and Structure: the broad campus-wide mission, policy, stake-
holders, and culture that conditions educational practice and shapes the learning
experience for all—students, faculty, staff and institutional leaders.

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 THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 29

Figure 2.1. The Catalyst Framework: The Learning Core

LT U R E & S T R
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Catalyst for Learning

FA
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Interlocking Sectors
Our research further suggests that high-impact integrative ePortfolio initiatives
address these core-learning levels with work that takes place in five interlocking sec-
tors (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. The Catalyst Framework: Five Interlocking Sectors

Pro
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Pedagogy
Successful campus ePortfolio initiatives employ ePortfolio as an integrative social
pedagogy that enhances student learning and success. When learning is connected,
or integrated, it is more meaningful and enduring. We argue that such integration is

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 30 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

promoted through systematic and disciplined reflection that helps students make the
cognitive and affective connections that intensify their learning; and that reflection
is more meaningful when it includes social elements, making learning more visible
to others.
Reflective pedagogy encourages students to connect and make meaning from
diverse learning experiences. Helping students deepen and integrate their learning,
reflection is central to powerful ePortfolio practice. Meanwhile, what we call social
pedagogy engages students in communication-intensive tasks where the representa-
tion of knowledge for an authentic audience is central to the construction of knowl-
edge. Social pedagogy transforms ePortfolio learning from a solitary experience to
one in which students engage with and construct knowledge through a community
of learners.
Integrative learning helps students develop their ability to connect and apply
their learning across disciplines and semesters, linking academic and lived curricula.
When it incorporates reflective, social and integrative pedagogy, ePortfolio practice
encourages the types of deep learning and high-impact behaviors that enable students
to be successful and provides opportunities to build the twenty-first-century skills
employers value. Chapter 3 draws on the practices shared by C2L faculty and staff to
analyze and illustrate this pedagogy.

Professional Development
Professional development refers to the active processes (workshops, seminars, online
tutorials, and institutes) that help faculty and staff learn about ePortfolio pedagogy
and technology and the ways they can together encourage behaviors that advance
student learning and growth. Professional development and Centers for Teaching and
Learning play pivotal roles in advancing effective ePortfolio initiatives and develop-
ing an institutional learning culture.
Integrating ePortfolio pedagogy into a course or program can be challenging; in
fact, many consider it a disruptive force. Effective ePortfolio pedagogy requires fac-
ulty and staff to rethink many assumptions about teaching and learning. ePortfolio
is not a plug-and-play technology but one that requires guidance and skill to use its
features effectively.
By engaging participants in planning, testing, and reflecting on ways to integrate
ePortfolio into their work, professional development helps shift ePortfolio from a dis-
ruptive to a transformative practice that enhances student, faculty, and staff learning.
Detailed in Chapter 4, professional development is a central component of high-
impact ePortfolio projects and perhaps the most important of the five Catalyst sectors
in terms of advancing effective classroom use, student learning, and broader scaling
processes.

Outcomes Assessment
During the past decade, discussion of assessment and accountability in higher educa-
tion has grown increasingly charged. Legislators, federal agencies, and accreditation
bodies have pushed colleges to report on the quality of the education they provide.

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 THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 31

For many faculty and staff, assessment is associated with standardized testing, some-
thing done for others that has (at best) no value for their own practice.
But assessment can be entirely different, a meaningful way for educators to
deepen our understanding of our craft. ePortfolio practice can help campuses
ground outcomes assessment in the authentic work of students and faculty. In addi-
tion, the design principles of Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration (discussed further
in this chapter) help campuses make ePortfolio-based assessment more meaningful,
spurring improvement at every level of the learning experience, from students and
faculty to programs, departments, and entire institutions. Framing assessment as an
inquiry into student learning highlights its scholarly nature, making it more engag-
ing. Incorporating reflection helps transform assessment into a collective learning
opportunity and moves the focus from findings to recommendations for change.
And in an assessment context, integration involves “closing the loop,” moving from
recommendations to the active process of changing pedagogy and practice, curric-
ula, and even institutional structure. Chapter 5 draws on the outcomes assessment
stories of C2L teams to suggest strategies that campuses can use to make student
learning visible for collegewide inquiry and reflection and become more adaptive
learning colleges.

Technology
Experienced ePortfolio practitioners know that “pedagogy should drive technology”
and that meaningful ePortfolio practices involve a complex interplay among teaching,
learning, and technology. Effective ePortfolio platforms can, nevertheless, play a criti-
cal role in supporting campus efforts to realize ePortfolio’s transformative potential.
The e in ePortfolio can make a difference for students, faculty, staff, and adminis-
trators. ePortfolios are distinct from traditional learning management systems because
they extend beyond traditional course structures, providing a way for students to
make connections between and among their courses and co-curricular experiences
at an institution. Effective ePortfolio technology helps make student learning visible
to students themselves, to their peers, and to faculty and others across the campus.
High-functioning ePortfolio platforms facilitate students’ interaction with faculty and
peers about substantive matters, which Kuh identified as a high-impact educational
activity.3
An effective ePortfolio platform also supports professional development, where it
can be used as an integral part of workshops and seminars, mirroring and modeling
the types of pedagogy that enhance student learning. And many ePortfolio platforms
provide technical structures to facilitate the outcomes assessment process for faculty,
staff, and assessment leaders.
If an effective ePortfolio platform can facilitate high-impact ePortfolio practice,
a clumsy or poorly functioning platform can, conversely, cause problems, frustrating
users and diminishing the effectiveness of ePortfolio engagement. Campus leaders
need to select platforms carefully and plan for sustained technical support. Distilling
lessons from C2L technology stories, Chapter 6 provides insights about ePortfolio
technology from the C2L network.

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 32 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Scaling Up
Scaling an ePortfolio project is a developmental process. Projects often emerge in
one part of an institution and then grow as more faculty, courses, and programs
start to work with ePortfolio. As they scale, ePortfolio projects increasingly serve
as networks of connections, linking students and faculty, programs and majors, as
well as high-impact practices and campus initiatives such as general education, out-
comes assessment, co-curricular learning, and advisement. Scaling these connections
provides opportunities for greater numbers of students to have access to ePortfolio
and its effective activities and practices. And through such connections, ePortfolio
projects introduce rich views of student learning into the everyday flows of teaching,
assessment, and curriculum design.
Scaling doesn’t happen by itself. Effective campus ePortfolio leaders must be
active on multiple fronts, connecting with faculty and departments, collaborating
with those responsible for professional development, assessment, and instructional
technology. At the same time, ePortfolio leaders must take on a range of additional
scaling tasks, such as gathering evidence of impact, organizing campus outreach, and
building administrative support, all of which nurture the growth of an ePortfolio-
based learning culture. When done well, the scaling process of an ePortfolio initiative
stimulates a network of connections, leading to broader institutional learning and
change. Chapter 7 examines the developmental histories of selected C2L campuses
and distills a set of key strategies for effectively scaling a campus ePortfolio project.
The five sectors of the Catalyst Framework are highly interconnected. ePortfolio-
related professional development can focus on pedagogy, technology, or outcomes
assessment or combinations of the three. The choices made by campuses about
ePortfolio technology can facilitate (or hinder) the growth of integrative ePortfolio
pedagogy and shape the student learning experience. The ability of campus ePortfolio
proponents to effectively involve departments and college leaders shapes the cur-
ricular and cultural context for learning at all levels. The relationships among these
elements are complex and profoundly significant for implementing a high-impact
institutional ePortfolio practice.
We found that the most successful campus ePortfolio initiatives worked at mul-
tiple levels of the institution, from classroom and co-curricular learning to program-
matic and institutional change. Across these levels, their work addressed interlocking
issues in the five Catalyst sectors: Pedagogy, Professional Development, Technology,
Outcomes Assessment, and Scaling Up. And when the work in the various sectors
was guided by the design principles of Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration, institu-
tions were well positioned to attain ePortfolio’s full potential.

Design Principles
Three overarching design principles embrace and help unify sectors of the Catalyst
Framework: Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration. C2L research suggests that the prac-
tices of effective ePortfolio initiatives demonstrate a more or less explicit use of these
design principles in not only Pedagogy, but also other sectors (see Figure 2.3).

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 THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 33

Figure 2.3. The Catalyst Framework: Design Principles

INQUIRY
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ATIO TI
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gog elo io
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REFLECTIO

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S c a li n g Up
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INTEGR N

Inquiry
By inquiry, we mean the investigative, problem-based learning described by David
Kolb and others, a cyclical process that involves asking questions about authentic prob-
lems, analyzing relevant evidence, creating and presenting evidence-based solutions,
reflecting on the learning process, and developing new questions and plans for further
inquiry.4 In contrast to lecture models, where students passively absorb the authoritative
viewpoint of a single professor or textbook, inquiry approaches push students to grap-
ple with conflicting points of view and confront ambiguity and uncertainty. Encourag-
ing students to take responsibility for their learning and giving them freedom to pursue
questions that arouse their curiosity, inquiry practices foster intellectual maturity and
self-authorship. At its best, ePortfolio pedagogy provides students with a way to show-
case the products of their inquiries; at a deeper level, it also engages students in a recur-
sive inquiry into their own learning and their evolving identities as learners.
Inquiry has a rich history in professional development and outcomes assessment.
Professional development programs with an emphasis on collective inquiry ask fac-
ulty and staff to raise questions, explore issues, and use their classrooms as laboratories
for scholarly experiments with new pedagogies. Taken to a deeper level, such inquir-
ies can become the basis for the scholarship of teaching and learning. Meanwhile,

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 34 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment has argued that meaning-
ful outcomes assessment engages faculty and staff in a process of structured inquiry
into programmatic and institutional teaching and learning effectiveness.5 Through
sustained collective inquiry in ePortfolio-related professional development and out-
comes assessment, faculty, staff, and the broader institution construct new knowledge
and understandings about the teaching and learning process.

Reflection
Reflection can build on inquiry but can also stand alone. From a Deweyan perspective,
reflection complements experience. The purpose of reflection is to make connections
among experiences, deepening continuities and empowering the meaning-making
process.

We learn by doing, constructing, building, talking and writing [and] we also learn
by thinking about events, activities, and experiences. This confluence of experiences
(action) and thought (reflection) combines to create new knowledge. Reflection is
then the vehicle for critical analysis, problem-solving, synthesis of opposing ideas,
evaluation, identifying patterns and creating meaning—in short, many of the higher
order thinking skills we strive to foster in our students.6

Reflection is pivotal to meaningful student ePortfolio practice. Guided by faculty,

staff, and peer mentors, as well as carefully crafted questions embedded in ePortfolio
templates, ePortfolio practice can prompt, intensify, and share students’ reflection on
their learning. Students can reflect on specific artifacts and experiences or on broader
processes. Their reflections can be written, oral, artistic, or multimedia in form, and
take place individually or in community. Kathleen Blake Yancey described reflection
as the centerpiece of powerful ePortfolio learning.7 Reflective pedagogy transforms
ePortfolio from a push-button technology into an engaging process of connection,
linking students’ academic learning and life experience to the most profound pro-
cesses of personal growth.
Reflection also deepens professional development and outcomes assessment
processes. In professional development settings, reflective activities help participants
learn from their experiences and develop as reflective practitioners. And reflection can
help move outcomes assessment beyond accountability as individuals and programs
reflect on assessment findings and their implications for curricular and pedagogical
change. In professional development and outcomes assessment, reflection takes place
in the community as well as on an individual level. The combination of inquiry and
reflection in ePortfolio-related professional development and outcomes assessment
helps colleges transform into learning organizations.

Integration
Integration, or integrative learning, has gained new visibility in higher education.
For students, integrative learning involves making connections and transferring
knowledge across courses, disciplines, and semesters, linking academic learning with

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 THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 35

co-curricular and lived experience into a more intentional whole. The AAC&U
suggests giving greater attention to integrative learning as a key priority for Ameri-
can higher education.8 In 2004, the AAC&U and the Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching issued the following statement:

Many colleges and universities are creating opportunities for more integrative, con-
nected learning through first-year seminars, learning communities, interdisciplinary
studies programs, capstone experiences, individual portfolios, advising, student
self-assessment, and other initiatives. . . . A variety of opportunities to develop the
capacity for integrative learning should be available to all students throughout their
college years, and should be a cornerstone of a twenty-first century education.9

In an ePortfolio context, integration has multiple layers of meaning. Guided

by integrative pedagogy, students use ePortfolios to bring together work from mul-
tiple contexts, consider the relationship between their classrooms and their lives
outside of class, and construct new identities as learners. In ePortfolio-related pro-
fessional development, an integrative approach prompts faculty to develop and
test strategies that help students integrate their learning and also help faculty and
staff to transfer knowledge and insight from specific instances to broader contexts
and applications. We see integration in ePortfolio-focused professional develop-
ment practices that move from “my course” to “our program” and “our students,”
turning creative, one-shot experiments into broadly adopted and linked changes
in practice.
In outcomes assessment, integration can be associated with closing the loop, tak-
ing action based on evidence-based recommendations. In professional development
and outcomes assessment, integration ultimately means addressing campus curricula,
structure, and culture, steps that involve campus leaders, budgets, and governance.
As Randy Bass writes,

We must fully grasp that students will learn to integrate deeply and meaningfully
only insofar as we design a curriculum that cultivates that; and designing such a cur-
riculum requires that we similarly plan, strategize and execute integratively across
the boundaries within our institutions.10

As design principles, we see a role for Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration in

every sector of the Catalyst Framework. Some principles have particular resonance in
specific sectors. In ePortfolio Pedagogy, for example, reflection and integration are
particularly critical. Integration is central to Scaling Up efforts. All three principles
combine to deepen the work of Professional Development and Outcomes Assess-
ment. Technology may be a special case. In some sense, the role of technology in
terms of the I-R-I design principles is one of enabler or obstacle. Does the campus
ePortfolio platform facilitate or frustrate individual reflection? Does it support reflec-
tion in community as a social pedagogy? Does it support or hinder integrative learn-
ing by students? By faculty and staff ? Technology that facilitates the deployment

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 36 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

of I-R-I-shaped practices can enhance the transformative potential of an ePortfolio

project and vice versa.
I-R-I is not a magic formula that solves all problems or makes all the challenges
of building an ePortfolio initiative suddenly disappear. But our findings suggest that
if thoughtfully and persistently employed as design principles, Inquiry, Reflection,
and Integration can guide intentional planning and development at all levels, deepen
the power and meaning of ePortfolio practice, and help ePortfolio projects become
catalysts for the transformative changes needed to help colleges and universities move
toward becoming learning organizations.

Conclusion
The Catalyst Framework helps us understand that building and sustaining a successful
and high-impact ePortfolio initiative is in many ways an institutional change effort.
As Bass powerfully argued, “For any large-scale version of ePortfolios to be successful,
they will require at the program and institutional level . . . a goals-driven, systems-
thinking approach that requires multiple players to execute successfully.”11 Building
an integrative ePortfolio initiative involves intentional and far-reaching institutional
change.
Emerging from the examination of campus practices, the Catalyst Framework
helps ePortfolio leaders “plan, strategize, and execute integratively”12 across an insti-
tution as they develop effective ePortfolio initiatives. Analyzing the developmen-
tal stories and practices of C2L campuses, it illuminates specific strategies and the
overarching, coordinated attention to diverse sectors of campus life needed to build
effective ePortfolio implementations. Requiring careful design and cross-campus
collaboration, such initiatives can play a powerful role in advancing the learning of
students, faculty, and higher education institutions.
The Catalyst Framework offers a comprehensive campus-tested conceptual struc-
ture for understanding the developmental work of ePortfolio initiatives. It serves as
the organizing structure for Chapters 3 through 7 of this book, each of which focuses
on one sector of the Framework, analyzing effective practice and offering guided
access to the strategies developed by leading ePortfolio campuses.
ePortfolio practice is not an end in and of itself. Rather, ePortfolio initiatives
represent a rare opportunity, a way colleges and universities can meet pressing edu-
cational needs for student success and deep learning, institutional innovation and
coherence, accountability, and the development of a campus-wide learning culture.
An ePortfolio initiative requires leaders with grounded vision, informed design, and
commitment to thoughtful, adaptive collaboration.
It is our hope that the Catalyst Framework will help new and experienced ePortfolio
practitioners more effectively address what it takes for ePortfolio to make a difference.
We believe this can be a powerful resource, helping us use ePortfolio to advance stu-
dent, faculty, and institutional learning on campuses nationwide.

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 THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK 37

Notes
1. Randall Bass, “The Next Whole Thing in Higher Education,” Peer Review 16, no. 1
(2014): 35.
2. Bret Eynon, “‘The Future of ePortfolio’ Roundtable,” Academic Commons, accessed
June 20, 2009, http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/future-eportfolio-round
table
3. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to
Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges and Uni-
versities, 2008).
4. David Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Develop-
ment (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1984).
5. “National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment: Making Learning Outcomes
Usable and Transparent,” accessed August 10, 2015, http://www.learningoutcomesassessment
.org/
6. Mary Burns, Vicki Dimock, and Danny Martinez, “Action + Reflection = Learning,”
TAP Into Learning 3, no. 2 (2000): 1, http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tapinto/v3n2.pdf
7. Kathleen Blake Yancey, “Reflection and Electronic Portfolios: Inventing the Self and
Reinventing the University,” in Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Research on Implementa-
tion and Impact, ed. Darren Cambridge, Barbara Cambridge, and Kathleen Blake Yancey,
(Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2009), 5–16.
8. “Integrative Learning,” Association of American Colleges & Universities, accessed
August 10, 2015, https://www.aacu.org/resources/integrative-learning
9. Association of American Colleges & Universities and Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching, “A Statement on Integrative Learning,” 2004, accessed August 10,
2015, http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/ilp/uploads/ilp_statement.pdf
10. Randall Bass, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Educa-
tion,” Educause Review 47, no. 2 (March/April 2012): 23–33.
11. Bass, “Disrupting Ourselves,” 32.
12. Ibid.

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 3
I N T E G R AT I V E e P O R T F O L I O
PEDAGOGY

INQUIRY
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I
ntegrative social pedagogy is the core of ePortfolio “done well.” Collecting and
reflecting on learning artifacts, ePortfolio practice prompts students to make their
learning more visible. Connecting and making meaning from diverse learning
experiences helps students develop more purposeful identities as learners. Reflecting
in community—sharing and discussing their learning with others—adds depth and
power to integrative learning. According to the three Catalyst value propositions,
these processes can build student learning and success. To realize this potential, how-
ever, requires thoughtful guidance from faculty, staff, and mentors, informed by inte-
grative social pedagogy. This chapter examines this high-impact ePortfolio pedagogy,
identifies key theoretical frameworks, and spotlights faculty-generated practices that
deepen student learning.
High-impact ePortfolio pedagogy is shaped, of course, by broader tenets of effec-
tive pedagogy. Whether or not they use ePortfolios, students learn best when learning
is active, engaging, and collaborative, addressing their needs and prior knowledge.

38

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 39

ePortfolio-based activities are strengthened by clear directions and feedback as well

as by logical sequence within broader course design. These and other facets of good
pedagogy are applicable in ePortfolio and non-ePortfolio activities alike. What is par-
ticular to ePortfolio pedagogy is the centrality of integrative learning, supported by
reflection, community, and connective ePortfolio technology.
Integrative learning has drawn wide recognition in higher education. Kuh and
O’Donnell identify frequent opportunities to reflect and integrate learning as a sali-
ent characteristic of High-Impact Practices.1 Mary Huber and Pat Hutchings wrote
that “One of the great challenges in higher education is to foster students’ abilities
to integrate their learning across contexts and over time.”2 Noting that students
often experience learning as fragmented, they call for strategies that help students
make connections across courses and semesters, bridging disciplines and linking
academic learning with co-curricular learning and life experience. “Learning that
helps develop integrative capacities is important because it builds habits of mind
that prepare students to make informed judgments in the conduct of personal, pro-
fessional, and civic life.”3 Guiding students as they build new identities as learners,
such strategies help students develop a stronger sense of meaning, motivation, and
long-term purpose.
In “Only Connect,” an often-cited essay on the guiding purposes of education,
historian William Cronon chose one goal as most important. “More than anything
else,” he wrote, “being an educated person means being able to see connections that
allow one to make sense of the world and act within it in creative ways.”4 Surveys
published by the AAC&U show that employers highly value students’ abilities to con-
nect and transfer learning. Indeed, former AAC&U president Carol Geary Schneider
set integrative learning at the top of the learning scale.

Integrative learning is a shorthand term for teaching a set of capacities—capaci-

ties we might also call the arts of connection, reflective judgment and considered
action—that enable graduates to put their knowledge to effective use. . . . It should
also lead students to connect and integrate the different parts of their overall edu-
cation, to connect learning with the world beyond the academy and, above all, to
translate their education to new contexts, new problems, new responsibilities.5

Integrative learning addresses the link between the cognitive and affective aspects
of learning, which has drawn new attention with discussions of grit and growth
mind-set. As discussed later in this chapter and in Chapter 8, integrative pedagogy
can help students not only engage more deeply with course content but also develop
their inner voice, a stronger sense of identity and direction, or what Marcia Baxter
Magolda and colleagues call “purposeful self-authorship.”6
Designed to house a collection of multimedia materials, learning artifacts, and
reflections created in diverse contexts, ePortfolio technology lends itself to these pro-
cesses of connection, integration, and meaning-making. But the technology itself
is insufficient to the task. Even the best ePortfolio platform cannot be a substitute

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 40 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

for thoughtful teaching and guidance. Accustomed to fragmented learning, most

students who are given an ePortfolio and simply told to use it are unlikely to find
it meaningful or integrative. Taking effective advantage of ePortfolio’s connective
capacities requires intentional faculty design and action, guided by integrative peda-
gogy and practice.
The first section of this chapter explores a four-part framework for reflection,
the active process at the heart of integrative ePortfolio pedagogy. It also draws on
the work of C2L faculty and staff to showcase ways that pedagogical framework
can be translated into practice. The examples of practice are drawn from multiple
disciplines and diverse campuses such as San Francisco State University (SFSU), Pace
University, Salt Lake Community College, and the University of Delaware, but they
are by no means definitive. We encourage faculty and staff to use these activities as
springboards for their own creativity, developing integrative practices that fit their
own courses, students, and contexts.
The second section of this chapter focuses on one aspect of reflective learning
that we call social pedagogy. We are pleased to include at the end of this chapter a
discussion of social pedagogy for ePortfolio by C2L senior scholar Randy Bass.

Reflective ePortfolio Practice

If integrative learning is a key goal of student ePortfolio practice, then reflection is
the vehicle, the active process for advancing toward that goal. Reflection is critical
to helping students connect and make meaning from diverse learning experiences.
Cognitive researchers such as John Bransford agree with a long line of theorists
including John Dewey on the importance of reflection or metacognition in helping
students focus on, retain, and take ownership of their learning.7 As noted previ-
ously, Kuh and O’Donnell identify frequent opportunities to reflect on and inte-
grate learning as defining features of high-impact learning.8 Building the habits of
reflection, students integrate specific learning experiences into a larger framework
of education and purposeful self-authorship. As Dewey scholar Carol Rodgers has
written:

The function of reflection is to make meaning, to formulate relationships and con-

tinuities. . . . The creation of meaning out of experience is at the very heart of what
it means to be human. It is what enables us to make sense of and attribute value to
the events of our lives.9

ePortfolio has long been a vehicle for reflection. The slogan of early ePortfolio
advocate Helen Barrett was “Collect, Select and Reflect.”10 Reflection can, of course,
take place in other settings. But ePortfolio’s technology, linking learning artifacts across
time and boundaries, can support and extend reflective processes in ways that deepen
integration. Kathleen Blake Yancey sees reflection as the centerpiece of powerful
ePortfolio learning.11 Reflective pedagogy transforms ePortfolio from a push-button

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 41

technology into an engaging process of

connection, integration of academic Getting Started
learning, life experience, and profound Seven Tips for Designing
processes of personal growth. Effective Reflection
What does meaningful reflec- 1. Give students clear guidance:
tion look like? How can faculty use it Using language that students
effectively? Some faculty are scornful understand, design and scaffold
of reflection as vague musings. Others prompts to focus students on
are more interested but have difficulty key issues and help them build
designing effective ways to use ePortfo- reflective skills.
2. Design backward: Think about
lio to help students develop as reflective
what you want students to learn
thinkers. “Teaching reflection is new from reflection (and how that
to us,” noted one faculty member in a relates to course goals); design
C2L online chat. “I know how to teach your prompt with that in mind.
biology, but I don’t really know how to 3. Strike the balance: Make
get students to reflect.” reflection a regular part of the
Campus teams in the Connect to course, but don’t overwhelm stu-
Learning project spent many hours dis- dents with reflection every day
cussing reflection. We read the literature or week. Be judicious.
on reflective learning and developed a 4. Vary your approach: Use
range of reflective ePortfolio strategies reflection before, during, or after
designed to help students bridge their an activity. Planning forward is an
important type of reflection. Have
inquiry into key academic topics with
students reflect on different types
deeper and more integrative learning. of activities—assignments, expe-
The most helpful definition of reflection riential activities, and so on.
we found that shaped the pedagogy of 5. Make the connection: Reflec-
many C2L teams came from the work tion is about connection. Use it to
of Carol Rodgers. help students see the relationship
Rodgers identifies the following four of the course or activity to the
principles for meaningful reflection: rest of their lives.
6. Build student’s learning
mastery: Use reflection to help
• Reflection as Connection: students review the learning
Dewey saw experience and strategies they used in a given
reflection as the essential ele- activity and identify what helped
ments of learning. As Rodgers them succeed.
writes, “Reflection is a meaning- 7. Feedback matters: Students
making process that moves a want to know that someone is
learner from one experience into paying attention: you, advisors,
the next with a deeper under- classmates, or peer mentors.
standing of its relationship Make sure students get feedback
with and connections to other that validates what they’ve done
experiences and ideas. It is the and encourages growing sophis-
tication.
thread that makes continuity of

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 42 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

learning possible.”12 Reflection is critical to integrative learning, the ability

of students to integrate learning across semesters and disciplines and to see
connections between their coursework and their personal, family, and com-
munity lives.
• Reflection as Systematic and Disciplined: Many people think of reflection
as vague and unstructured musing. But Rodgers, drawing on Dewey, argues
that “Reflection is a systematic, rigorous, disciplined way of thinking, with
its roots in scientific inquiry.”13 She lays out Dewey’s structure for an ideal
reflective process, moving from experience to description, then analysis
and finally application of insight to the development of new, experimental
actions.
• Reflection as Social Pedagogy: Our most familiar image of reflection is
individual and solitary, a kind of meditation. But Dewey suggests that
meaningful reflection often happens in community, in conversation, and in
interaction with others.
• Reflection as an Attitude Toward Change: Reflection is not only cognitive
but also affective, involving attitudes such as openness, curiosity, and a
readiness to reconsider long-held ideas about oneself and the world.
“Reflection” writes Rodgers, involves “attitudes that value the personal and
intellectual growth of oneself and others.”14

Rodgers’ framework helped C2L teams design, test, and refine reflective strate-
gies to enhance integrative learning. These principles do not delineate entirely dis-
tinct categories; many practices that highlight reflection in community, for example,
can also be systematic and scaffolded. On the other hand, incorporating all the prin-
ciples in a single reflective assignment could make it bulky and awkward. Ultimately,
skilled C2L faculty selected the principles applicable to any given situation and used
them in crafting their assignments and activities.
The following sections spotlight each principle, one by one, and provide examples
of ways to translate these principles into meaningful ePortfolio practice with students.

Reflection as Connection
The idea that reflection builds meaningful connection is central to Dewey’s theory
of learning. According to Dewey, education is a “reconstruction or reorganization
of experience, which adds to the meaning of experience.”15 Reflective learning is a
process used to make sense of new experiences in relation to the individual, his or her
environment, and a continuum of previous and subsequent experiences. According
to Rodgers, reflection makes learning visible to the learner, making it available for
connecting and deepening:

The function of reflection is to make meaning: to formulate the “relationships and

continuities” among the elements of an experience, between that experience and other
experiences, between that experience and the knowledge that one carries, and between
that knowledge and the knowledge produced by thinkers other than oneself.16

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 43

This principle underscores the critical role ePortfolio can play in integration, or inte-
grative learning. Meaningful reflection is essentially integrative, helping students
make powerful connections between different types of experiences.
Academic learning is often organized as a series of experiences in the classroom
and beyond, such as reading books, engaging in research or community service,
working with a faculty member, writing a paper, and so on. Reflection helps learn-
ers step back to see a larger picture, connect one experience to others, and consider
their collective meaning. In so doing, reflection not only helps student sustain their
focus on key course concepts and issues (a defining feature of High-Impact Practices)
but also creates a sense of continuity between seemingly disjointed experiences. The
meaning-making process can also include connections to prior learning and earlier
reflections and can point forward to a projected future.
What does this look like in practice, using ePortfolio? As faculty guide students
to use ePortfolio to engage with the connective aspect of reflection, what do they con-
nect? Examining the work of C2L faculty, we found a variety of practices, including
the following:

• Reflection that connects experiences in a course

• Reflection that connects experiences across courses, semesters, and disciplines
• Reflection that builds connection among academic, co-curricular, and lived
experiences

Connecting Experiences in a Course

Students in ePortfolio-enhanced courses use reflection to examine their own learn-
ing, to explore the meaning of specific course activities, and to see how those activi-
ties add up to larger course goals and objectives. In this sense, ePortfolio cannot be
separated from the rest of the course; it must be grounded in course content knowl-
edge, skills, and competencies. For example, when teaching in the Geosciences
Department of Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) Adam Dastrup asks students
to reflect on particular assignments related to geospatial technology to inquire into
their learning processes. In one activity, students use a professional interpretation
framework to examine satellite imagery and then reflect in response to the following
prompt:

Outline the steps you took to analyze each image, and tell me about your thinking at
each step. Describe any problems you had in trying to interpret these images. What
aspects of the Image Interpretation framework were most helpful for you?17

Dastrup asks his students to reflect after a particular learning experience to

examine their learning processes and make a connection to a key theoretical con-
struct. This common reflective strategy sustains and extends student focus on key
concepts. In other practices, rather than waiting until after the learning activity,
faculty positioned reflection as a central element in the middle of the activity. For
example, at Manhattanville College, students in Sherie McClam’s first-year seminar,

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 44 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

“Sustainability: Creating a Future

Inquiry, Reflection, and Integra- We Can Live With,” create photo-
tion permeate students’ Learning graphic essays with embedded reflec-
for a Sustainable Future ePortfo- tions. Reflections connected personal
lios. They were asked to explore
responses to the images with larger
and communicate their under-
standings of what is nature, what
questions about the course content,
is culture, what is the economy focusing on interrelated aspects of
and how these concepts connect sustainability such as nature, culture,
in our daily lives. And, we ask, and the economy. McClam said, “As
how does this new knowledge my students sought to capture, reflect
help them seek and interrogate on and share their interpretations of
solutions for the complex issues nature, culture, economy and the ways
of creating a sustainable future.19 in which these concepts intersect, they
Sherie McClam, were actively involved in reflection as a
Manhattanville College meaning-making process.”18
Experienced ePortfolio faculty
agree that reflection is most effective
when it is a persistent or recursive element of the course rather than a one-shot expe-
rience dropped in (as is all too common) at the end of the course. Some faculty
develop a sequence of staged prompts that scaffold reflection from the beginning
to the end of their courses, connecting different processes at different points. Linda
Anstendig, who teaches English 201, “Writing in the Disciplines,” at Pace University,
asks students to create six reflective postings in their portfolios. In their initial reflec-
tion, students preview the course syllabus and respond to prompts such as

• What assignments or activities look familiar and manageable, and why? What
assignments or activities look more challenging or difficult for you, and why?
• What parts of your reading, writing, research background and skills make you
confident about some parts of the course and hesitant about others?20

Here, reflection comes before the learning activity, helping students get their thinking
started so they begin developing reflective skills right away. While reflecting is often
discussed as looking backward, its forward-looking elements can be equally valuable.
Through the semester, students collect their work in their portfolios. Like Das-
trup, Anstendig embeds task-specific prompts in the ePortfolio, asking students to
reflect on challenges encountered and strategies used. Midterm and final reflections
are more synthetic, asking students to connect their learning across the entire course.
At the end of the course, Anstendig’s prompts include

• What have you accomplished as a writer and learner? What activities, kinds of
feedback and other support have helped you the most? How have your writing
and research skills changed and improved? What kinds of research and revi-
sion strategies did you learn and use?

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 45

• What does this portfolio demonstrate about you as a writer, researcher and
learner? Use an analogy, simile, and/or metaphor to describe yourself as one
of these.21

Building on this reflective writing, Anstendig finally has students create three-minute
videos, “digital stories” that express who they are as learners. The culminating writ-
ing and video process helps students to find meaning in the sequence of assignments
enacted over the course of the semester. Reviewing the artifacts and reflections col-
lected in the portfolio, the narrative construction process helps them recognize their
own growth and identify strategies that can help them in future courses. As Ansten-
dig writes, “In compiling their evidence and examining their own learning and devel-
opment, [students] build their own academic story.”22

Connecting Across Courses, Semesters, and Disciplines

Helping students make integrative connections across courses can be challenging for
faculty, requiring them to address issues and settings they may know relatively lit-
tle about. Similarly, students are not accustomed to focusing on connections across
courses. However, this type of reflection is particularly valuable for helping students
develop more integrative understandings of their education and the skills needed for
lifelong learning.
First-year seminars and other High-Impact Practices may intentionally foster
integrative learning across time and disciplines. Interdisciplinary learning commu-
nities provide a natural setting to invite students to reflect on different disciplinary
ways of knowing. First-year and capstone courses support students as they make
key educational transitions; ePortfolio practice can help students in such courses
to think backward and forward across time. In first-year programs at Guttman
Community College and Virginia Tech, for example, faculty embed prompts in
the ePortfolio that ask students to reflect on prior learning experiences and to think
about the skills, resources, and habits they bring to college. In LaGuardia’s first-
year seminar, students complete a wide-ranging skills inventory and respond to the
following prompt: Where did you learn these particular skills? How do these skills
help you as a student? How might they help you in your career? At times of transi-
tion, reflections that connect past and present can help students think more inten-
tionally about the strategies, habits, and dispositions that can help them succeed in
college and beyond. (For more on ePortfolio’s link to first-year seminars and other
HIPs, see Chapter 9.)
Capstone courses at Boston University, SFSU, LaGuardia Community College,
and other C2L campuses provide a powerful opportunity to use the reflective ePort-
folio to connect learning and make meaning from multiple courses. Here, the transi-
tion is different, but the reflective process is equally valuable. At SFSU, as students
exit the Metro Health Academy, a two-year learning community, they review a state-
ment they wrote in their ePortfolios in their first semester and then write a capstone
reflective essay titled “Letter to a Future Self.”

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 46 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Letter to a Future Self

Imagine you’re writing to yourself, years from now. What do you want
to say to your future self? Think about the type of person you will be,
your place in life, what you would have accomplished then, the kind of
thoughts and feelings you will experience, and so on. What do you want
your future self to be like?

• What are the different dreams and goals you would want to be real-
ized by then?
• What do you hope to be doing or have achieved with respect to your
education, career, or community?
• What specific steps will you need to take or obstacles will you need
to overcome to achieve these goals?
Remind your future self of what you learned in your time in college,
and think about what else you may want to do to reach your goals
academically.23

This reflective assignment asks SFSU students to use the connective capacity of
the ePortfolio to review artifacts from across the entire course of their educational
experience and then make reflective meaning by distilling lessons from this experi-
ence that they want to remember for the rest of their lives. The “Letter to a Future
Self ” helps them think backward and forward in time and gives their lessons learned
a sense of purpose and personal value.
Other capstone faculty use variations of this strategy. In the “Liberal Arts
Capstone” course at LaGuardia, Max Rodriguez asks students to review artifacts and
reflections from his and other courses to write a learning philosophy describing how
they learn best.24 In her business capstone at Tunxis Community College, Amy Feest
has students review their collected artifacts and use reflection and ePortfolio technol-
ogy to connect them with discipline-specific and general education competencies.25
At Virginia Tech in the capstone of the dietetics major, students go over documents
from four years of portfolio work and write a statement that spotlights “the connec-
tions between experiences” and “how you intend to transfer what you’ve learned to
new complex situations beyond graduation.”26

Connecting Learning In and Out of the Classroom

Across higher education, there is growing recognition that learning is not confined to
the classroom, that it also takes place in co-curricular activities, advisement, and a range
of other settings. Students can use a reflective ePortfolio to document these experiences
and integrate them into a larger whole. Study abroad experiences, internships, profes-
sional practica, and community service activities lend themselves to reflection. Through
reflection, students see how these learning instances fit with key academic concepts and
competencies, and how their entire experience is shaping their growth as learners.

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 47

Many faculty use ePortfolio-based reflection to help students link course-based

learning to learning in other settings. At Rutgers University’s Douglass Residen-
tial College, students connect their academic courses to service-learning.27 At Salt
Lake Community College, students use ePortfolios to document their study abroad
experiences and personalize the study of other countries, cultures, and times.28
Similarly, in Global Guttman, Guttman Community College’s study abroad pro-
gram, Katie Wilson has students use the ePortfolio as a daily reflective journal.
Upon returning home students use the following prompts to reflect on the overall
impact of their experience:

1. Describe the similarities and differences between your own cultural heritage and
the culture(s) you experienced while traveling with the Global Guttman program.
2. While traveling with the Global Guttman program, you were inevitably faced
with a perspective other than your own. Briefly explain a particular example, how
you dealt with it, and how that has changed your own thinking.
3. Think about a specific social problem that you learned about while traveling with
the Global Guttman program. Describe how you can really take action in your
community(ies), your city, your country or the global world to address that problem.
4. Describe the ways in which your day-to-day life is connected to global issues.
5. What is the most important thing you learned during your Global Guttman
experience?
6. What did you learn about yourself on your Global Guttman trip?
7. In what ways has your Global Guttman experience changed your thinking about
your academic goals and your professional future? 29

In a second-semester nursing course at Three Rivers Community College

(TRCC), faculty use ePortfolio and reflection to help students connect theory with
practice, classroom learning with clinical application. One TRCC student used her
portfolio to describe her care of an elderly woman and how the experience of care
illustrated her growing understanding of geriatric care:

I chose this patient . . . for a few reasons. She ties into my group’s presentation of
discharge planning and caregiver role strain as well as . . . polypharmacy. . . . As to
polypharmacy, this patient, as is the case with many elderly patients, has been pre-
scribed several different medications. Now, with the recent injuries and surgery, she
has more pharmaceuticals added to her daily regimen.
In completing the geriatric presentations, and watching the other groups present
their topics, I was able to learn effectively about the care of the elderly. Caring for
a geriatric patient in the hospital helped to reinforce this content since I feel that I
learn best by actually seeing the situation in person.30

At Rutgers, Guttman, TRCC and elsewhere, the goal of ePortfolio practice is not
only to help students assemble artifacts from diverse experiences but to use reflection
to examine the connections among them and, in so doing, help students come to new

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 48 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

understandings about key concepts and, perhaps more important, about themselves
as learners.
C2L Core Survey data (discussed in Chapter 8) show that students in these types
of classes develop new insights into such connections and into their own learning.
For example, students were asked to use a four-part scale to agree or disagree with the
statement, “Building my ePortfolio helped me to make connections between ideas”;
68.6% Agreed or Strongly Agreed. Similarly, 66.0% Agreed or Strongly Agreed with,
“Using ePortfolio has allowed me to be more aware of my growth and development
as a learner.” The data suggest that guided by reflective pedagogy and practice, the
ePortfolio experience helps students make integrative connections in and out of the
classroom, and build more holistic self-portraits as learners.

Reflection as Systematic and Scaffolded Inquiry

Integrative reflection is central to ePortfolio pedagogy, but it does not always hap-
pen easily. “Students don’t know how to reflect” is a common faculty complaint.
Faculty who want students to engage in meaningful reflection must develop reflec-
tive scaffolding to help students connect their learning. As C2L faculty worked on
this scaffolding they considered Rodgers’ principle that effective reflection embodies
a systematic and disciplined inquiry process.
Drawing on Dewey, Rodgers defines reflection as a structured, rigorous way of
thinking. In reflection, she said that a thinker moves through a four-stage reflective

Figure 3.1. Carol Rodgers’ Reflective Cycle.

Presence in Experience Description of Experience

Learning to see Learning to describe and
differentiate

Experimentation Analysis of Experience

Learning to take Learning to think from multiple
intelligent action perspectives and form multiple
explanations

Source. Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking,” Teachers College
Record 104, no. 4 (2002). Reprinted with permission of Carol Rodgers.

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 49

cycle based on the scientific method (see Figure 3.1). Experience marks the first stage
in the cycle; carefully prompted reflection moves from description to analysis, plan-
ning and implementing intentional experimentation, and back again to a new, more
meaningful experience.

• Presence in Experience: The first stage is reflection and begins with experience,
our physical, mental, or virtual interaction with the world. As we can perceive
only that which we pay attention to, Dewey urges us to slow down and be more
present in experience.
• Description of Experience: In the second stage, learners describe experience
in detail, including affective responses. Careful and thorough observation is
key. One of the most challenging aspects of reflection is to ensure that one
continuously grounds thinking and description in specific evidence.
• Analysis of Experience: The third stage of the cycle is generating possible
explanations while paying close attention to details and allowing the experience
to emerge in all its complexities. In this stage the learner goes to sources of
ideas beyond herself to deepen understanding of the experience itself. And at
this stage, synthesizing information and deriving meaning from the interplay
between theory and practice are essential tasks.
• Experimentation: The fourth stage in the cycle is experimentation. This stage
cannot be overlooked, Dewey suggests, as reflection must include action. For him,
the notion is that reflection must end in responsible action and experimentation.31

Rodgers spotlights reflection’s potential for deepening students’ inquiry into key
academic concepts and problems. Moreover, supported by ePortfolio, the reflective
process can help students engage in a recursive inquiry into the nature of learning
and their own development as learners. Many C2L faculty adapted parts of Rodgers’
reflective cycle, creating structured reflection prompts asking students to observe,
describe, connect, and apply their learning.
In a service-learning project at Indiana University–Purdue University Indian-
apolis (IUPUI), for example, reflective self-assessment leads to action and then back
to ePortfolio-based reflection. Guided step by step, students gain insight into career
goals and learning processes.

IUPUI: Service-Learning Reflection at First-Year Psychology

Step 1. Students participate in a strengths assessment exercise, fol-
lowed by reflection on it.
Step 2. Information about the service-learning project is distributed
among the students, which leads to a class discussion about
the students’ goals for their education and career.
Step 3. A peer service-learning assistant leads a session utilizing the
Bonner Leadership Compass, which is an exercise in learning
about leadership styles and effective ways to work within groups.

(Continues)

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 50 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

(Continued)
Step 4. As the next step, students participate in their service experi-
ences. Upon completing these tasks, they prepare written
reflective essays about those experiences, connecting them
with the leadership theory and their own self-assessment. Then
they post their reflections in their ePersonal Development Plans
(ePDPs) on their ePortfolios. 
Step 5. Students then have a chance to meet with the faculty members
to discuss their overall ePDP and how the service experience fit
in it. Peers provide feedback on each others’ reflective essays.
Step 6. Finally, each student creates a presentation using peer and
instructor feedback and shares his or her ePDP with the other
members of the class. They showcase how they connected their
service to course materials and to their career goals and how
they changed throughout this process.32

The scaffolded process begins with self-examination and introduction to relevant

theory (Steps 1–3), helping students be more present in the service-learning experi-
ence. Describing and analyzing their experience in their ePortfolios (Step 4), students
reflect on its implications. Sharing reflective learning in discussions with faculty and
peers (Steps 5 and 6) provides a supportive social community that helps students
consider implications for future action.
In Lehman College’s graduate childhood education program, students create an
ePortfolio with an educational philosophy statement and a set of artifacts linked to the
national Interstate Teacher Assessment Support Consortium (INTASC) standards.
Students select and describe artifacts (e.g., lesson plans, student work, and written
assignments), reflect on learning tied to the artifact, and analyze its relationship to the
standards. Instructions lay out the following step-by-step process:

• Describe (information gathering): What is the artifact? When was it collected? In

order to ensure confidentiality, do not use student or teacher full names anywhere.
• Analyze (alignment): How does this artifact relate to the standard? Address the
standard specifically.
• Appraise (evaluation): How does this artifact demonstrate your personal
and professional growth? How does it demonstrate your impact on student
learning? (if applicable)
• Transform (goal setting): Based on your answers to the first three reflection
steps, are there specific ways you intend to use what you have learned in order
to improve your teaching?33

The sequence of prompts guides students’ reflective writing. Although students

are provided with INTASC standards, they are not told which assignments to associ-
ate with a given standard. “The decision to place artifacts is determined wholly by
the student,” according to Alexandria Ross. The combination of structure and choice

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 51

works well for Lehman faculty and students. “In this way,” she continues, “they are
able to affirm that they are indeed prepared for teaching in classrooms. The ePortfolio
is a chance for students not only to reflect on their learning throughout the program
but also to showcase their work and ability to think reflectively.”34
Guided by Rodgers’ reflective cycle, C2L faculty and staff carefully structured
the reflective process. Sustaining students’ attention to substantive course content,
concepts, and learning processes, the process bolsters what Kuh identified as a defin-
ing HIP characteristic: significant investment of time and effort by students over an
extended period of time.35 C2L Core Survey data, discussed in Chapter 8, suggest the
capacity of this approach to engage students and advance deep learning.

Reflection as Social Pedagogy

Reflection is often thought of as a quiet, meditative activity one does alone. And
many practitioners treat the reflective ePortfolio as solitary and private. Some educa-
tors review the ePortfolio, some do not, and reviews often focus on whether assigned
tasks are completed. The audience for the portfolio may be distant and unclear. Stu-
dents hope employers will look at the portfolio after they graduate. Although this
practice has value, it also has the following limits:

• It postpones active audience engagement with the portfolio for semesters or

years.
• It scaffolds no intermediate stages where students can rehearse the process of
engaging with an audience.
• It cuts off portfolio development from the power of social learning.

As social media use exploded, C2L faculty and staff were intrigued to find that
Rodgers’ principles of meaningful reflection included “reflection in community.”36
Drawing on Dewey, Rodgers suggests that reflecting in community deepens the impact
of reflective learning. The process of communicating, she argues, can be understood
to incorporate reflection. As Dewey notes, “the experience has to be formulated in
order to be communicated,”37 and the formulation process can be metacognitive.
Moreover, when reflections are communicated, it creates the possibility for feedback.
Rodgers lists three opportunities generated by reflection in community:

• First, collective reflection processes affirm the value of one’s own experiences.
Getting feedback from others validates our reactions and thoughts.
• Second, reflecting in a group can offer new ways to see things, present
alternative meanings, or broaden our perspectives. The more people are
involved, and the more diverse the group is, the better our chances are to be
challenged, to be questioned, and to compare alternative perspectives.
• Third, collaborative reflection maintains the growth of the reflective practice.
Reflecting within a supportive community serves as a testing ground for one’s
ideas and understanding, while helping all members of the community to
grow and gain insight.38

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 52 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

As our collaboration began, C2L

We define social pedagogies as teams (like most in the ePortfolio field),
design approaches for teaching were not in the habit of thinking about
and learning that engage stu- reflection as a social process. Discussing
dents in authentic tasks that are
Rodgers prompted us to explore this
communication-intensive, where
representation of knowledge for
possibility, first as theory and then in
an authentic audience is abso- practice. We read an unpublished white
lutely central to the construction paper by Randy Bass and Heidi Elmen-
of knowledge in a course.39 dorf on social pedagogy that comple-
mented Rodgers’ work. We then began
Randy Bass and Heidi Elmendorf
to develop and test new strategies based
on these ideas.
According to Bass and Elmendorf, social pedagogy can engage students in
learning beyond the classroom via co-curricular activities and other informal learn-
ing environments. They point to the participatory culture of social media, which
opens new dimensions for listening to, communicating with, and collaborating
with people and groups that have different perspectives, values, and voices than
students. The community aspect of social pedagogies provides a venue for formal
and informal communication, a feedback loop that prompts students’ intellec-
tual growth. It broadens their viewpoints and opens doors for interdisciplinary
exchange.40
C2L teams developed social pedagogy strategies for ePortfolio, positioning port-
folios as collaborative spaces and platforms for interaction. They situated the port-
folio as a liminal space, somewhere between entirely private and totally open to the
public. They created intermediate reflective stages, where students rehearsed what it
meant to use ePortfolios to connect with an audience and consider what their port-
folio looks like to others. Based on C2L experimentation, we concluded that creating
practices in which ePortfolios serve as sites for communication, collaboration, and
exchange is a significant task for the ePortfolio field as a whole.
As a part of this process, Bass reviewed the work of C2L faculty and students and
wrote an insightful essay about ePortfolio and social pedagogy, which is reprinted at
the end of this chapter. Examining faculty-generated practices that combined reflec-
tion and social pedagogy, Bass found faculty using ePortfolio in a range of different
approaches. Guided by faculty, students in C2L-related courses engaged in at least
five types of dialogue and community through their ePortfolios:

• Sharing ePortfolios with and getting comments from faculty

• Sharing and engaging in interactive ePortfolio commentary with other students
• Sharing ePortfolios with and getting comments from external groups
• Linking ePortfolios to other students’ ePortfolios
• Using ePortfolios as a site for collaborative projects with other students41

Bass reviewed each category and discussed activities that demonstrate this approach.
His essay in this chapter offers an in-depth discussion of reflection in community.

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 53

It is worth noting here that data from our C2L Core Survey point to the effective-
ness of using reflective ePortfolio practice for integrative social pedagogy. Data from the
Core Survey (see Chapter 8) suggest that social pedagogy deepens the impact of stu-
dents’ reflective ePortfolio experiences. When ePortfolio is used with social pedagogy,
students are more likely to report that ePortfolio deepened their engagement with ideas
and course content, and that the course engaged them in integrative learning processes.
For example, Helen L. Chen’s correlational analysis of responses from more than
3,000 students from 14 campuses found that among students who reported only a
low level of peer feedback on their ePortfolios, 32.0% Agreed or Strongly Agreed with
the statement, “Using my ePortfolio has allowed me to be more aware of my growth
and development as a learner.” In contrast, among students who reported a high level
of peer feedback, 94.4% Agreed with the statement, which is a dramatic increase.
These data suggest that social engagement deepens the impact of the reflective
ePortfolio, helping students understand connections and make meaning from their
learning experiences. This is consistent with several of Kuh’s key characteristics of
High-Impact Practices done well, most notably “frequent, timely and constructive
feedback,” but also “interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters”
and, depending on the nature of the activity and the students involved, “experiences
with diversity.”42 Chapter 8 provides a more extensive examination of the evidence,
including more detail about the C2L Core Survey data and their findings related to
ePortfolio and social pedagogy.

Collaborative Self-Authorship in Sophomore Writing Classes

Kati Lewis, Salt Lake Community College
In intermediate writing classes at Salt Lake Community College, stu-
dent writers engage in authentic research, public writing, and multiple
reflective practices to accurately represent diverse conversations taking
place on public issues for external audiences. Students conduct field
research that includes interviews with local leaders, activists, and oth-
ers. Often their research leads to deeper discussions with interviewees
and additional research.
The multimodal results of their field research, along with other
research and writing activities, are presented in a section of their gen-
eral education ePortfolios. This section then becomes a space for play—
an artist’s/writer’s Web 2.0 studio—where students juxtapose their field
research with more polished pieces.
The culminating project for this course is to design and publish a col-
laborative online magazine using a Web 2.0 platform (see Figure 3.2).
Students re-envision multiple pieces from this section of their ePortfo-
lios. Students work together in groups to workshop each other’s pieces,
revise and adapt those pieces, reflect on their research and writing pro-
cesses, and publish their work.

(Continues)

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 54 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

(Continued)

Figure 3.2. eZine Example

Source. Reprinted with permission of Kati Lewis.

Students also craft two hypertext reflections for their magazine: an

Editors’ Note (a group reflection) and an individual course reflection.
The Note (Figure 3.2) is a collaborative response to reflective prompts,
which include the following:
Discuss the following:
• The connectedness of the group members’ political issues
• How the pieces demonstrate the personal as political and the
political as personal
• How and why readers should use your magazine to understand
the upcoming election through your issues and not only the candi-
dates—Try to connect this to our discussions on and readings about
the media.
Describe what the group discovered about collaborative research
and writing processes, using the following:
• What did group members discover about their research and writ-
ing when making revision suggestions and choices as a group?
• What did the group learn about the research and writing process
throughout the genres? 

(Continues)

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 55

(Continued)

• Explain why specific essays were selected for revision over oth-
ers for the project. Offer specific reasons for the group’s choices,
and explain those reasons with evidence from the work.
• Explain why specific adaptation choices were made for other
essays or smaller projects.
• If appropriate, why were specific essays excluded from the maga-
zine?
While the Editors’ Note connects individual pieces to the collaborative
work process, the individual reflection asks students to examine their
own research and writing processes with the following prompts:
• Describe your own writing and research processes. Why did you
select this issue? How did you go about forming your perspec-
tive? Did your perspective on the issue change over the course of
the semester? How? Why? What specific sources helped shape/
reshape your thinking and writing about the issue? Be specific. 
• Why did you choose to write in the genres that you chose (e.g.,
why a profile over a memoir or vice versa; why a position over a
proposal or vice versa; why a report over a review or vice versa)?
Make connections among the different genres, and attempt to eval-
uate how effectively you made choices about genre and medium to
communicate messages on your issue.
This online magazine format and the accompanying reflections give
audiences different ways of interacting with the magazine project. Built
on integrative pedagogy, the project helps students locate their own
space for entering public discourses on issues that matter to them as well
as to make their carefully researched and collaboratively crafted mes-
sages public. They bring together work from multiple writers, situated in
myriad complex personal and political contexts to consider the potential
of their coursework to effect change far beyond classroom borders.

Reflection as an Attitude Toward Change

The last of Rodgers’ four principles is reflection as an attitude toward personal
change. In Rodgers’ framework, this principle highlights the role of the affective
in reflection as well as the integrative connection between reflection and personal
change. Drawing on Dewey, Rodgers suggests that deep reflection shapes the learn-
er’s self-understanding. Being open minded toward change, having curiosity, and
accepting the possibility of error are valuable aids to meaningful reflection. Con-
versely, reflective activities can help develop the learner’s confidence and sense of
self. The courage to face uncertainty and change is a cornerstone of the deepest
reflective processes.43 Dewey wrote that meaningful learning requires the learner
“to consider the consequences.” Learners must examine “the meaning of what they
learn, in the sense of what difference it makes to the rest of their beliefs and to
their actions.”44

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 56 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Change requires one to leave the comfort of the known. Reflection can play a
valuable role in guiding students through changes: personal, academic, professional,
or otherwise. Reflection can deepen the process of planning, helping students to
critically examine past experiences; evaluate goals and options; make educated deci-
sions about strategies to pursue; and get feedback from faculty, advisors, and peers.
Reflective practices that incorporate planning, advising, or goal-setting often address
this criterion.
Reflective activities focused on personal change are key elements of ePortfolio
practice. Such activities aim to help students articulate their educational and career
goals and to trace evolving educational plans. They prompt students to consider
their personal relationship to learning and their changing identities as learners and
emerging professionals. Some C2L teams incorporated the ePortfolio into formal
advisement or peer mentoring; others strengthened the linkage of formal learning,
co-curricular activity, work, and other life experiences.
Some practices discussed earlier in this chapter demonstrate this principle. The
initial reflection in Pace’s “Writing in the Disciplines” course asks students to exam-
ine their feelings about the course and its challenges; the final reflection focuses on
how they’ve changed.45 Nursing faculty at Three Rivers Community College ask stu-
dents to observe their own attitudes and biases, building self-awareness as nursing
professionals.46 Manhattanville’s first-year experience, LaGuardia’s liberal arts cap-
stone, and Lehman’s early childhood education program have students consider the
impact of their learning on their evolving sense of identity.47
At IUPUI, ePortfolio leaders have incorporated into their ePortfolio a reflective
planning tool, the ePersonal Development Plan (ePDP). Used widely in IUPUI’s
first-year-experience program and beyond, the ePDP provides a fully realized struc-
ture for helping students engage in a sustained reflective inquiry into their goals and
their learning (see Figure 3.3).
The ePDP includes seven major sections including About Me, Educational
Goals and Plans, Campus and Community Connections, and My College Achieve-
ments. Each section includes prompts that guide students in considering their lives
and developing a more purposeful approach to their education. Sample prompts
completed in the initial semester include

• Describe yourself so that someone who doesn’t know you gets a good sense
of who you are as a person. Include information about your interests, skills,
values, and personality.
• What is your major (or what majors are you considering)? Why did you select it?
• Give examples of the academic skills, strengths, and/or personal qualities
you will need to be successful in this major. Considering your personal
characteristics and strengths . . . why is this major (or possible major) a good
fit for you? Or not?48

IUPUI uses the ePDP for advisement, helping students reflect to develop a
clearer sense of purpose and pursue what they want from their college experience. As

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 57

the student progresses, he or she gradually completes more of the ePDP. Each section
asks students to include artifacts and provide descriptions of key learning experi-
ences, as in the following example:

What were the most important things you learned in this course? Be sure to think
about and also beyond the course content; think about skills you may have devel-
oped, such as the ability to analyze complex problems or the ability to work in
groups. Why is what you learned in this course significant or important to you?
How does this learning contribute to your academic and career goals?49

Figure 3.3. IUPUI’s ePersonal Development Plan (ePDP) Conceptual Model

Conceptual Model for the IUPUI electronic Personal Development Plan (ePDP)
July 2013

e + Meaning Mak
rpos ing
Developing Hope Pu
(Pathways + Agency)

R ef l e c ti o n
Increasing Awareness

Shaping Education
and Career Plans
of Self and Others

R ef l e c ti o n

ePDP Toward Life-Long,

Life-Wide Learning
Meaningful
College
Experience
Reflection

Setting Self-Concordant Goals

Integ ng
ra t i n g L e a r n i

Source. Reprinted with permission of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis.

As students complete the ePDP, writes Cathy Buyarski, “reflective prompts assist
them in bringing narrative to their lives and aspirations.”50 IUPUI data on retention
and GPA show that the ePDP is particularly beneficial for high-risk students, many
of whom are first-generation college students. For all students, the content of the
ePDP, Buyarski argues, is “in essence the students’ understanding of self. . . . The
student is firmly at the center of this narrative.”51 Conceptually, the ePDP resonates
with the Rodgers framework.

Students . . . use reflection as a form of connection in developing their capac-

ity for integrative learning across curriculum, co-curriculum, and lived experi-
ence. Reflection in response to the ePDP prompts is systematic and inculcates
a disciplined approach to reflection and learning. And certainly the ePDP uses
reflection to support growth and personal change as a core element of student
development.52

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 58 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

The Douglass Women’s College at Rutgers University also uses reflective ePort-
folio processes to help students develop a clearer sense of themselves and their direc-
tion. Guided by a feminist pedagogy, Douglass educators use ePortfolio to help their
students develop a sense of identity, voice, and agency. They explicitly address life
experiences and affective dimensions, helping students “write about and validate the
kinds of personal experiences that are so often discouraged in ‘objective’ academic
settings.”53
The Douglass ePortfolio process starts in a required first semester mission course,
“Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s Leadership.” Although the course had
long been required, ePortfolio was first used in 2008–2009. As discussed more fully
in Chapter 8, student learning immediately began to improve; the average grade for
students in the course went up (from 3.2 in the two semesters prior to ePortfolio
to an average of 3.5 in the next nine semesters in which ePortfolio was used). Stu-
dent success in other first semester courses (as measured by cumulative GPA) also
improved significantly. How did Douglass faculty and staff structure this effective
ePortfolio practice?
In the Douglass mission course, initial assignments ask students to introduce
themselves, define their interests, and articulate an issue that engages them. They also
select “an object, piece of music, drawing, picture, spoken word or poem,”54 put it
into their ePortfolio, and discuss its relationship to their goals and interests.
For example, one Douglass student selected “The Mistress of Vision,” a poem by
Francis Thompson, and used it to highlight the role of connection in her learning—
and in her emerging sense of self. “I find that a ‘neuronal forest,’ that is, the concept
of the interconnected neurons in the nervous system, is an appropriate metaphor for
the interdisciplinary nature of my academic interests,” the student wrote. Discussing
her family background, she noted that her “Chinese name literally means ‘to admire
the forest,’” and she used this to frame her interest in literature, biology, and quan-
tum physics. “Essentially all studies are interdisciplinary,” she wrote. “Similar to the
neurons in the brain’s forest, I am finding connections among my diverse interests so
as to develop a cohesive plan of action for my education.”55 For this student, reflec-
tion helped her connect literature with her interest in science and to find metaphors
that gave her studies a powerful per-
sonal meaning.
The Mistress of Vision In the first semester course at Dou-
All things by immortal power, glass, students meet with advisors and
Near and Far, peer mentors “to think more about the
Hiddenly issues they care about, to connect those
To each other linked are issues to academic pathways and to co-
That thou canst stir a flower curricular programs . . . whether leader-
Without troubling a star ship, service-learning, study abroad, or
Francis Thompson, research.”56 Moving forward, students
“The Mistress of Vision” develop a section of their ePortfolio
called “My Path,” where they track

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 59

their experience, share artifacts, and consider the ways their experiences are shaping,
changing, or deepening their goals and commitments. Sharing and discussing their
learning with others, Douglass dean Rebecca Reynolds writes, helps them develop
their voice and their identity, their ability to see themselves as individuals living and
interacting within community.

The ePortfolio becomes most compelling as students are asked to allow their inner
lives to become outer lives—to incorporate their selves in their studies, their per-
sonal, subjective, social, academic, and disciplinary experiences—that is, to develop
a public self.57

It is from that intersection or integration of inner and public self, Reynolds suggests,
that students develop a more purposeful and empowered sense of themselves as learn-
ers, leaders, and agents of social change.
The work of C2L teams at Rutgers, IUPUI, and elsewhere suggest ways that
reflective ePortfolio practice can not only build student success but also advance iden-
tity formation and what some prominent learning theories discuss as transformative
learning and self-authorship. Richard Keeling, Jack Meizrow, Stephen Brookfield,
and others have argued that reflective learning is transformative when it involves
a fundamental questioning or reordering of how one thinks and acts.58 The lead-
ing expert on purposeful self-authorship, Marcia Baxter Magolda, has explored the
relationship between learning and the learner’s evolving sense of self. She has devel-
oped a widely respected framework for helping learners develop “an internal set of
beliefs that guide decision-making about knowledge claims, an internal identity that
enables them to express themselves in socially constructing knowledge with others,
and the capacity to engage in mutually interdependent relationships to assess others’
expertise.”59 Her strategies for promoting self-authorship in the classroom include

• Providing opportunities for students to reflect on and express their learning

experiences
• Having students reflect on how they learned in addition to what they learned
• Helping students set attainable but challenging goals, visualize and plan for
potential obstacles, and reflect on outcomes60

As the activities discussed previously confirm, purposeful self-authorship can

intersect with the integrative ePortfolio and extend beyond the academic realm, help-
ing each student develop his or her inner voice and the internal commitments needed
to function as an empowered individual. Building a stronger sense of self, the inte-
grative ePortfolio can address a broad range of self-authorship dimensions, building
capacities for initiative and self-direction, risk taking and resilience, critical empathy,
and engagement with difference. Using ePortfolio to build these habits of heart and
mind can not only help our students be more successful in college but also advance
intentional lifelong learning and help our students’ realize their potential for shaping
society and their own lives.

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 60 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Connections to the Catalyst Framework

Although reflection and integrative learning pedagogy are key elements of ePortfolio
practice, they do not stand alone. Broad implementation of effective ePortfolio peda-
gogy depends on and helps shape work in other sectors.

Professional Development
Broad campus use of integrative ePortfolio pedagogy depends on effective profes-
sional development. Educators experienced in using reflection or integrative learning
are rare. Gathering faculty and staff to review integrative theory and practice is crucial
to helping them develop, test, and share reflective prompts. Professional development
can sustain them as they try reflection with students, building their skills as they see
what works. The most sophisticated professional development goes further to embed
reflective social pedagogy practices into the professional development process, mod-
eling the kinds of processes that work best with students and developing reflective
practitioners.

Outcomes Assessment
The connection between pedagogy and assessment is also clear. It is vital for faculty
and staff to effectively address established competencies in specific learning designs.
Integrative social pedagogy helps students see the connections between specific activi-
ties and broader programmatic or general education competencies, empowering them
to develop more cohesive understandings of their education experiences. Conversely,
faculty skilled in integrative ePortfolio pedagogy can help campuses design outcomes
assessment processes that value educating the whole student.

Technology
An effective ePortfolio platform can facilitate or obstruct integrative social pedagogy.
An agile, well-designed platform supports faculty, making it easy to insert reflective
prompts, comment on student work, and track connections across courses. To facili-
tate ownership and self-authorship, an ePortfolio platform should be easy to learn,
and students should be able to customize their portfolios to reflect their evolving
identities. A focus on functions that support reflection, integration, and social peda-
gogy should guide the selection of a campus ePortfolio platform.

Scaling Up
Integrative ePortfolio pedagogy, with its emphasis on connections and growth
across courses and semesters, is most effective not in a single course but as a longi-
tudinal and recursive process. To take full advantage of integrative ePortfolio peda-
gogy requires thoughtful attention to course sequences in a program or major as
well as linkages with general education, co-curricular engagement, and experien-
tial learning in relation to work, family, and community. For faculty to strengthen

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 61

the integrative qualities of their programs, the institution must value teaching and
a focus on holistic student learning. To be most effective, integrative ePortfolio
pedagogy must be matched by integrative practice at multiple levels of campus
life.

Conclusion
The C2L experience confirmed that integrative social pedagogy that engages students
in regular opportunities to reflect and connect their learning stands at the core of
what it means to do ePortfolio well. There are many ways to address this priority,
as suggested in this chapter. Engaged with a growing body of cognitive research and
learning theory, educators across the country are using reflective ePortfolio practices
to help students bridge inquiry and integration, achieve greater success, and deepen
their learning. Scaffolding a reflective activity into the ePortfolio-building process,
they help students sustain their focus on learning, make integrative connections, and
find larger meaning in their educational experiences. Incorporating social pedagogy,
they use the ePortfolio to enhance feedback and structure interaction. Linking the
cognitive to the affective and the social, their practices seek to address the needs of
the whole student. Drawing on the work of thinkers and scholars from John Dewey
to Carol Rodgers and Marcia Baxter Magolda, they aim not only to help students
become more successful in individual classes but also to build vital capacities for
integration and purposeful self-authorship, advancing students’ potential for shaping
society and their own personal lives.

Notes
1. George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality and Taking High Impact Practices
to Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2013).
2. Mary Taylor Huber and Pat Hutchings, Integrative Learning: Mapping the Terrain
(Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2004), 1.
3. Huber and Hutchings, Integrative Learning, 1.
4. William Cronon, “Only Connect . . . The Goals of a Liberal Education,” American
Scholar 67, no. 4 (1998): 73.
5. Carol Geary Schneider, “Liberal Education and Integrative Learning,” Issues in Inte-
grative Studies 21 (2003): 1.
6. David C. Hodge, Marcia Baxter Magolda, and Carolyn A. B. Haynes. “Engaged
Learning: Enabling Self-Authorship and Effective Practice,” Liberal Education 95, no. 4,
(2009): 16–23.
7. John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, eds., How People Learn:
Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Washington, DC: National Academies Press,
2000); John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1916).
8. Kuh and O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality and Taking High Impact Practices to Scale.

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 61 12/20/2016 1:25:33 PM

 62 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

9. Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective
Thinking,” Teachers College Record 104, no. 4 (2002): 848.
10. Helen C. Barrett, “Balancing the Two Faces of e-Portfolios,” accessed August 5, 2016,
http://electronicportfolios.com/balance/Balancing2.htm
11. Kathleen Blake Yancey, “Reflection and Electronic Portfolios: Inventing the Self and
Reinventing the University,” in Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Research on Implementa-
tion and Impact, ed. Darren Cambridge, Barbara Cambridge, and Kathleen Blake Yancey
(Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2009), 5–16.
12. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection, 845.
13. Ibid., 845.
14. Ibid., 845.
15. John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1916).
16. Ibid., 848.
17. Adam Dastrup, “Outcomes Reflection: Reflective Pedagogy in SLCC’s GIS Pro-
gram,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://slcc
.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-3/
18. Sherie McClam, “Learning for a Sustainable Future and Using Social Media for
Social Change,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://mville.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
19. Ibid.
20. Linda Anstendig, “Reflective Thinking and Writing as Systematic Practice at Pace
University,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
pu.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
21. Anstendig, “Reflective Thinking.”
22. Ibid.
23. Alycia Shada, “Knowing Where You Are Going and Where You Have Been: Students
Write a Letter to Their Future Self,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-1/
24. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Faculty Development Practices at LaGuardia: Capstone Courses,
ePortfolios, and Integrative Learning,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/faculty-development-practices-laguardia-rethinking
-the-capstone-experience-seminar/
25. Amy Feest, “The ‘Business’ of ePortfolios,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-3/
26. Susan Clark, Marc Zaldivar, and Teggin Summers, “Reflective Process in the Die-
tetics: Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise ePortfolio,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://vt.mcnrc.org/ref-practice
27. Rebecca Reynolds, “Rutgers University—I Got It Covered: Reflection as Integrative,
Social Pedagogy,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://c2l.mcnrc.org/ru-ref-practice/
28. David Hubert, “Mixed Media Reflection: ePortfolios in an SLCC Study Abroad
Program,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
slcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-1/
29. Katie Wilson and Laura M. Gambino, “Guttman Global Badging Module,”
unpublished ePortfolio, New York, NY: 2016.

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 INTEGRATIVE ePORTFOLIO PEDAGOGY 63

30. Three Rivers Community College, “Connecting Theory to Practice in Gerontology-

Reflective Practice,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://trcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-4/
31. Carol Rodgers, “Seeing Student Learning: Teacher Change and the Role of Reflec-
tion,” Harvard Educational Review 72, no. 2 (Summer 2001): 230–253.
32. Cynthia Clark Williams, “Peer Reflective Feedback in First Year Service Learning,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc
.org/soc-practice-1/
33. Alexandria Ross, “Reflective Pedagogy Practice: About Artifacts,” Catalyst for Learn-
ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-2/
34. Ross, “Reflective Pedagogy Practice.”
35. George D. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access
to Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges &
Universities, 2008).
36. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection,” 856.
37. John Dewey, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education
(New York, NY: Macmillan, 1916).
38. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection,” 857.
39. Randy Bass and Heidi Elmendorf, “Designing for Difficulty: Social Pedagogies as a
Framework for Course Design,” Teagle Foundation White Paper, accessed August 5, 2016,
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/bassr/social-pedagogies/
40. Ibid.
41. Randall Bass, “Social Pedagogies in ePortfolio Practices: Principles for Design and
Impact,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l
.mcnrc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2014/01/Bass_Social_Pedagogy.pdf
42. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices, 8.
43. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection,” 842–866.
44. John Dewey, How We Think (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1933), 32.
45. Linda Anstendig, “Reflective Thinking and Writing as Systematic Practice at Pace
University,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
pu.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
46. Three Rivers Community College, “Connecting Theory to Practice in Gerontology–
Reflective Practice,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://trcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-4/
47. Sherie McClam, “Learning for a Sustainable Future”; Elizabeth Clark, “Faculty
Development Practices at LaGuardia: Capstone Courses, ePortfolios, and Integrative Learn-
ing,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc
.mcnrc.org/faculty-development-practices-laguardia-rethinking-the-capstone-experience-
seminar/; Alexandria Ross, “Reflective Pedagogy Practice: About Artifacts,” Catalyst for Learn-
ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-2/
48. Catherine Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year: A Foundation for Identity and
Meaning Making,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://iupui.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
49. Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year.”
50. Ibid.
51. Ibid.

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 64 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

52. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, University College Program

Review and Assessment Committee Annual Report 2013–2014, accessed August 15, 2015,
http://irds.iupui.edu/Portals/SDAE/Files/Documents/2013-14%20UCOL%20PRAC%20
Final.pdf
53. Reynolds, “Rutgers University.”
54. Ibid.
55. Ibid.
56. Ibid.
57. Ibid.
58. Richard Keeling, ed., Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student
Experience (Washington DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and
American College Personnel Association, 2004); Jack Mezirow, ed., Learning as Transforma-
tion: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2000); Stephen
D. Brookfield, “Using the Lenses of Critically Reflective Teaching in the Community College
Classroom,” New Directions for Community Colleges no. 118 (2002): 31–38.
59. Hodge et al., “Engaged Learning,” 19.
60. Hodge et al., “Engaged Learning.”

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 SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN
e P O RT F O L I O P R AC T I C E S
Principles for Design and Impact
Randy Bass

I
n this essay, Randy Bass provides an introduction to social pedagogy and then
reviews C2L social pedagogy practices, analyzing themes and patterns of use. “As
these kinds of practices become more prevalent and developed,” Bass writes at the
end of this essay, they will “reshape what we think of as the purpose and nature of
ePortfolios, as sites of student sense-making and ‘learning to be.’”

Social Pedagogies in ePortfolio Contexts

In the Catalyst Framework, integrative social pedagogy is a foundational concept for
the ways that ePortfolios make student learning visible. Utilizing ePortfolios in con-
junction with social learning practices expands the boundaries of what we understand
to be the potential and value of ePortfolios. By stressing ePortfolio practice as an inte-
grative social pedagogy, we ask: What might it look like to take the social dimension
of ePortfolios as seriously as integration—and to understand the importance of social
learning for integration? What would it look like to put social learning at the heart
of all the connections that we see as central to ePortfolio learning on our campuses?
Early in the history of C2L, we had a working assumption that social pedagogies
are integral to fostering deep learning. Our C2L Core Survey findings (see Chapter 8)
and the creative emerging practices on campuses bear this out. We take the term social
pedagogies to mean “design approaches for teaching and learning that engage stu-
dents in authentic tasks that are communication-intensive, where the representation
of knowledge for an authentic audience is absolutely central to the construction of
knowledge in a course.”1 This is the “social core” of these practices, an intricate inter-
dependence among three key ideas: (a) constructing understanding (ways that students
deepen their understanding of core concepts by engaging in the ways of thinking and
practicing in a field), (b) communicating understanding (ways that students make their

65

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 66 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Figure 3.4. Core Elements of the Social Pedagogy Model

Design Layer

Constructing
Understanding

Social Core

Constructing and
Communicating Communicating
Understanding for an Understanding
Authentic Audience

Authentic
Audience

knowledge available for others), and (c) authentic audiences, (audiences other than the
instructor), as seen in Figure 3.4.
Social pedagogies are most effective when undertaken by students through “iter-
ative cycles of engagement, often with the most difficult material.”2 Similarly, “social
pedagogies strive to build a sense of intellectual community within the classroom
and frequently connect students to communities outside the classroom.”3 In the con-
text of ePortfolios, social pedagogies are design approaches that help students deepen
their reflections, build links across courses and semesters, and bridge formal curricu-
lar learning with co-curricular experiences.
Social pedagogies can be implemented using all kinds of technologies (as well as
practices that involve no digital technologies). Social pedagogies are associated with
a set of outcomes that help deepen and contextualize learning, strengthen students’
sense of voice and agency, and find intellectual and personal significance in their
learning (see Figure 3.5).
These outcomes, consonant with the kinds of learning associated with ePort-
folios, are intensified when using social pedagogies with ePortfolios, where student
work is lifted out of isolated assignments or bounded courses; learning processes can
be archived and made visible; reflection is the norm; communities are developed, and
courses and experiences, both curricular and co-curricular, are explicitly connected as
part of a larger educational narrative.
And again in the C2L findings discussed in Chapter 8 when social pedagogies
are being used, it suggests, students are more likely to report that ePortfolio deepened

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 SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN ePORTFOLIO PRACTICES 67

Figure 3.5. Social Pedagogy Model With Associated Outcomes

Broad Student
Learning Outcomes
Design Layer
Deepened and contextualized
understanding

Constructing
Understanding
Flexibility with knowledge in
open-ended contexts
Social Core

Constructing and
Voice and a sense of purpose in
Communicating Communicating
a specific domain or community
Understanding for an Understanding
Authentic Audience
Ability to give and get feedback
from multiple perspectives

Authentic
Audience
An integrated sense of
intellectual and personal
significance

their engagement with ideas and course content, and that the course engaged them
in higher order integrative learning processes.
C2L’s fundamental premise is that deepening the integrative qualities of student
learning makes learning more transformative and enduring; integration is promoted
through reflection, by inviting students, in disciplined and systematic ways, to make
connections that intensify their learning; and reflection is more meaningful when it
makes learning visible to others. Integration, reflection, and social learning are at the
heart of C2L’s ePortfolio pedagogy “done well.”
Early in the C2L project, we found few established practices involving ePortfolio
and social pedagogies, especially with respect to the use of reflection in the context of
community. Now there is a growing range of rich examples, as well as a sophistication
and robustness around integrative social pedagogies in ePortfolio contexts. This essay
describes some of the principles of design and characteristics of these exemplary prac-
tices in order to better promote social pedagogies within the ePortfolio community.

Principles for Design and Impact: Social Pedagogies in

ePortfolio Contexts
In April 2013 we asked faculty on C2L campuses to share social pedagogy practices
with these questions in mind: What makes these practices work? What might make
them more successful? What else is taking place in ePortfolio practice that makes

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 68 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

these particular practices effective (thinking about the larger ecology)? What prelimi-
nary insights can we draw from these practices about the core principles of a social
pedagogy for ePortfolio?
Here is some of what we’ve learned from these campus practices, grouped
under three headings: Process and Audience, Purpose and Identity, and Learning
Culture.

Process and Audience

ePortfolios enable social pedagogies, providing an intermediate space between pub-
lic and private. ePortfolios are particularly well suited for social learning interactions
because they can be situated as intermediate spaces, somewhere between entirely
private and openly public. Guided by faculty, students rehearse what it means to
connect with an audience and consider what their ePortfolio looks like to others.
Inventing ways in which ePortfolios can serve as sites for communication, collabo-
ration, and exchange is a significant task for the ePortfolio field as a whole. This
intermediate space of ePortfolio learning and interaction enables students to engage
in stages of reflection and layers of social learning. This helps students realize the
impact of one of the principles of reflection—“reflection in community.” Com-
munity is critical to reflection—as Carol Rodgers stresses in her synthesis of John
Dewey—because it allows for the affirmation of one’s ideas, helps learners benefit
from diverse perspectives and new ways to see, and provides a testing ground for
ideas and understanding.4
Social pedagogy practices have at least four distinct layers or versions of “authen-
tic audience” that can play out in ePortfolio contexts. Working with this idea of
ePortfolios as an intermediate space, faculty at C2L campuses devised practices that
engage at least four different kinds of audiences and interactions.

Faculty and peer feedback. The most common social pedagogy associated with
ePortfolios is the use of faculty and peer response and social interaction to deepen
individual work. Faculty feedback (frequent and targeted feedback) is one of the
most important factors for improving learning in any context. C2L Core Survey
findings corroborate this, showing that high levels of faculty feedback correlated
with deeper engagement. Faculty feedback by itself is important, but it is not fully
a social pedagogy in the way we use the term.
When peer feedback is introduced, it significantly enhances the experience.
As argued in Chapter 8, the addition of peer feedback helps elevate this point to
a broader understanding of the importance of the social element in student learn-
ing. Examples on the Catalyst for Learning website are plentiful. For example, in an
assignment at Guttman Community College connected with their integrative course,
“Arts in NYC,” students “respond to each other’s comments via the course ePortfolio
and use each other’s ideas to generate insight and analysis into their own writing.”5
Northeastern’s master’s-level education courses use a layered, or staged, reflection
approach, where “social pedagogy precedes individual reflection.”6 In both examples,

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 SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN ePORTFOLIO PRACTICES 69

ePortfolios provide a context for testing, refining and ultimately deepening under-
standing that then informs individual reflection and analysis.

Collaborative work. Another powerful form of audience and social learning is

team-based work to create a collaboratively produced artifact. For example, in Bos-
ton University’s College of General Studies’ second-year capstone team projects,
“students spend the last four weeks of their sophomore year working in groups of
five to seven to research a contemporary problem and write a paper that describes
the problem and its contexts and proposes a real-world solution.”7 ePortfolios play
a crucial and unique role in the process by allowing students to “keep logs of their
progress (what they read, who they interviewed, what they wrote), and they also
archive all drafts they write on their portfolios.”8 This kind of sharing and archiving
enables the students to make their thinking visible to each other (creating a more
coherent end product) and to the faculty, who can better mentor the projects as a
result.
At Lehman College, students preparing to become science educators
“co-construct” a collaborative portfolio that “uses evidence to document and illus-
trate shared professional practices in the context of . . . an audience they select.”9 The
emphasis in the collaborative process is to provide real evidence (baseline and post-
baseline) of personal and professional development that integrates learning science
with learning how to teach science.10

External audiences. Some social pedagogies make use of an external audience, which
raises the stakes on production and intensifies the way students learn to be accountable
for their thinking and communication. For example, at the University of Delaware
“teacher candidate students” have a “defense of mastery presentation-style ePortfolio”
that provides “a high stakes setting that replicates a position interview process.”11
At Hunter College, students in an “Advanced German Through Translation” course
“develop their understanding of themselves as learners by posting in-depth reflections
on the challenges they have faced as translators and the problem-solving strategies
they have developed to meet those challenges.”12 In the end, the portfolios are public,
and the instructor strives to “simulate an authentic audience for each translation that
the students do, providing them with translation briefs based on ‘real-life’ commis-
sions that translators receive.”13

Knowledge communities. Another powerful kind of audience—one that builds on all

the previous ones—is the formation of students into an expert-like “knowledge com-
munity of practice.” For example, in a microbiology course, Pace University students
spend eight weeks developing an “expertise” on a specific kind of bacteria, develop-
ing and presenting through an ePortfolio.14 Peer commentary and hyperlinked cross-
references generate networked, collaborative practice and product. In IUPUI’s art
history capstone, students engage in extensive “peer review . . . to begin to understand
a singular paper as part of a wider research possibility” and “to understand research as
a way of thinking rather than as a page and word limit.”15 At Northeastern,

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 70 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

In the EdD program, one faculty member who teaches Entrepreneurial Leadership
involves groups of students in the development of ePortfolio case studies. Toward
the end of the course, groups use Google Hangouts to broadcast and record a panel
discussion with educational innovators about the case, and the recording is also
embedded in the ePortfolio. These cases become part of a library that future students
can draw upon in their learning.16

At Virginia Tech, they created a program called Zip Line to Success that quickly
integrates transfer students in part by involving them in a final group research project
“where students combine their interests and their disciplinary backgrounds to pur-
sue a research topic from multiple perspectives. The students present their research
through the medium of an electronic portfolio.”17
The creation of a true knowledge community of practice has not been a com-
mon strategy in ePortfolio practices; yet, as social learning and networked knowl-
edge play an ever greater role in higher education, these kinds of practices represent
an important—if not profound—emergent area, in the development of integrative
social pedagogies.

Purpose and Identity

Integrative social pedagogies contribute to giving students a sense of purpose. Across
the different activities, high-impact ePortfolio practice helps students find a sense
of purpose in their learning. You can see it from the very first year—for example, at
Manhattanville College, where Sherie McClam uses ePortfolio and social media to
help her students work for “social action and social change.”18 And several master’s-
level ePortfolio practices use social pedagogies and ePortfolio assignments to galva-
nize their students’ sense of agency in a given field.19
This primary objective—to develop a sense of purpose—helps remind us that
social learning pedagogies are not only about process (peer review, revision, etc.)
but also about learning processing. In particular, it is especially powerful to see how
social pedagogies help students find new meaning in their learning experiences—by
connecting and reframing them. It is a foundational premise of social pedagogies that
helping to make sense of an idea or an experience for others is critical to making sense
of knowledge and experience for oneself.

Social pedagogies help students “learn to be” in a discipline or professional area. The
role of social pedagogies in addressing learning outcomes is nowhere more evident
than when practices make explicit connections between thinking in a field and learn-
ing to embody that field. This is captured, for example, in the description of the
IUPUI art history capstone, where “the social pedagogy of peer feedback and sub-
sequent discussion thus serves an important purpose of the course: strengthening
students’ professional identities by helping them learn to be peer reviewers of others’
writing about art.”20 This connection—elsewhere expressed in the IUPUI case study
as the synthesis of metacognition and professional-identity development—is one
powerful way to articulate the relationship between “constructing understanding”

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 SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN ePORTFOLIO PRACTICES 71

and “communicating understanding,” the core precepts of social pedagogies as laid

out earlier in this essay.
Several of the social pedagogy practices shared on the Catalyst for Learning: ePort-
folio Resources and Research website address the relationship among knowledge build-
ing, metacognition, and identity quite explicitly. What is especially powerful here
is knowledge development through social pedagogies—where students understand
how to translate their ideas for others, negotiate with peers around meaning, and
internalize standards for quality and excellence that belong to communities of prac-
tice.

Learning Culture
Social pedagogies are typically integrative of multiple learning goals and outcomes. We
usually talk about social pedagogies being integrative because they help students
make connections across knowledge areas and connect disparate learning experiences
(coursework, co-curricular, etc.). But it is also clear in these practices how social
pedagogies often help students (and faculty) meet more than one learning goal for a
course or a program—often meeting many at once. For example, at LaGuardia, stu-
dents make video presentations on anatomy knowledge that “explicitly supports three
core competencies: oral communication, critical literacy and technological literacy.”21
Or, to take an extreme case, the University of Delaware teacher candidate portfo-
lios lead students to demonstrate the “application of all the competencies obtained
throughout their academic program.”22

Social pedagogies are especially powerful when they are distributed throughout the learn-
ing culture. Nowhere is social learning more pervasive than in Three Rivers Com-
munity College’s use of integrative social pedagogy throughout its nursing program,
from current students sharing letters of orientation with entering students, to infor-
mation literacy assignments, to presentations on content and reflections on clinical
growth. In assignment after assignment, horizontally and vertically across the cur-
riculum, a social ethos permeates the program.23

Social pedagogies lead to a distinctive kind of evidence in ePortfolios themselves. In

LaGuardia’s practice outlining the anatomy video assignment, Preethi Radhakrishnan
describes her experimental design, carried out in parallel sections, one with the social
learning assignment and one without; a comparison of exam scores showed that
“reflection and critical thinking does boost and deepen learning of ‘hard concepts.’”24
That’s one compelling form of evidence of impact. A few practices speak directly
about what the evidence looks like in the ePortfolios themselves. For example, in the
Northeastern social pedagogy practices, “The ePortfolio helps the teacher see how a
student distills and derives individual meaning from the large body of work generated
in a fully online course, using that experience to negotiate the development of indi-
vidual and professional identity. Sometimes this process is observed in the student’s
writing, but the evidence can also be visual.”25

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 72 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Social Pedagogies as a Growth Area for ePortfolios

Overall, social pedagogies intensify the impact of ePortfolios as sites for integrative
student learning. As these kinds of practices become more prevalent and developed,
they will also reshape what we think of as the purpose and nature of ePortfolios,
as sites of student sense-making and “learning to be.” Although still emerging on
campuses, we are starting to see social pedagogies as a critical influence on the way
that ePortfolio practices are evolving for a new paradigm of learning and knowledge-
sharing at the heart of higher education and indeed our whole culture.

Notes
1. Randy Bass and Heidi Elmendorf, “Designing for Difficulty: Social Pedagogies as
a Framework for Course Design,” excerpt from a Teagle Foundation White Paper, accessed
August 5, 2016, http://c2l.mcnrc.org/pedagogy-resources/, p. 2.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective
Thinking,” Teachers College Record 104, no. 4 (2002): 842–866.
5. Nate Mickelson, “Social Pedagogy: Using Comment Streams to Analyze Visual Art,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc
.org/soc-practice-2/
6. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Zooming In and Out,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
7. Robert Wexelblatt, “Social Pedagogy and General Education: The CGS Capstone
Project,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
bu.mcnrc.org/bu-soc-practice/
8. Ibid.
9. Wesley Pitts, “Social Pedagogy: Engaging with Professional Colleagues,” Cata-
lyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lc.mcnrc.org/
soc-practice/
10. Ibid.
11. Lynn Worden, “Mastery ePortfolio Defense,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://ud.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
12. Lisa Marie Anderson, Gina Cherry, and Wendy Hayden, “Social Pedagogy in the
Advanced Foreign Language Curriculum,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research, January 25, 2014, http://hc.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
13. Ibid.
14. Andrew Wier, “Getting Social with Bio,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
15. R. Patrick Kinsman, Susan Kahn, and Susan Scott, “Social Pedagogy: Working
Together to Develop Metacognition and Professional Identity,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfo-
lio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/soc-practice-2/
16. Laurie Poklop, “Social Pedagogies Jam,” (unpublished internal discussion board
post), Connect to Learning Project (2012).

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 SOCIAL PEDAGOGIES IN ePORTFOLIO PRACTICES 73

17. Jill Sible and Gary Kinder, “Social Pedagogy Practice: Zip Line to Success ePortfolio,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://vt.mcnrc.org/
soc-practice/
18. Sherie McClam, “Learning for a Sustainable Future and Using Social Media for
Social Change,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://mville.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
19. Pitts, “Social Pedagogy”; Matthews-DeNatale, “Zooming In and Out.”
20. Kinsman et al., “Social Pedagogy.”
21. Preethi Radhakrishnan, “Video Presentations to Demonstrate Anatomy Theory and
Oral Communication Skills,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January
25, 2014. https://lagcc-cuny.digication.com/eportfolio_sampler/Radhakrishnan_-_Video_
Presentations_to_Demonstrate/published
22. Lynn Worden, “Mastery ePortfolio Defense,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://ud.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
23. Three Rivers Community College ePortfolio Leadership Team, “Who We Are—A
Connect to Learning Campus ePortfolio,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research, January 25, 2014, http://trcc.mcnrc.org/
24. Radhakrishnan, “Video Presentations.”
25. Matthews-DeNatale, “Zooming In and Out.”

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 4
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
F O R H I G H - I M PA C T
e P O RT F O L I O P R AC T I C E
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Catalyst for Learning

lo g y
Assess
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INTEGR N

G
uided by integrative social pedagogy, a sophisticated reflective ePortfolio
practice can advance student success, deepen student learning, and help
students develop more robust and resilient identities as learners.1 In a fast-
changing learning ecosystem marked by digital innovation and calls for unbundling,
ePortfolio practice can help us build more integrative and adaptive universities.2 But
high-impact ePortfolio practice will never gain wide traction in higher education
without effective professional development. This chapter examines effective profes-
sional development strategies for advancing and deepening ePortfolio practice.
Professional development is critical for advancing any educational innovation.
To move beyond what Phil Hill has called the “purgatory” of pilot programs, colleges
must support professional development with resources equivalent to those commit-
ted to developing new digital systems.3 Although this priority is often acknowledged,
robust support for faculty learning still lags. This is true even with digital courseware.

74

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 75

The Tyton Group found that 60% of faculty surveyed said that at their institutions,
faculty “are encouraged to use digital courseware.” However, “far fewer reported
being trained (30%) or incentivized (15%) to do so effectively.”4
Professional development is particularly critical for ePortfolio practice. ePortfolio
technology can be simple to learn, but integrative ePortfolio pedagogy takes time and
support to master. Because ePortfolio practice is most effective when students use
it to connect learning across courses, disciplines, and semesters, ePortfolio projects
must move beyond early adopters, engaging a broader group of faculty and staff to
construct shared purpose and coordinated design.
Sophisticated integrative ePortfolio pedagogy is key to high-impact ePortfolio
practice. But few faculty or staff are familiar with such pedagogy, and even expe-
rienced ePortfolio practitioners benefit from opportunities to deepen their craft.
Studying our Connect to Learning (C2L) campuses, we found that the development
of thoughtful, sustained professional development processes was perhaps the single
most crucial indicator for success.
By professional development, we mean structured engagement of faculty and staff,
focused on improved student learning. On some campuses, professional development
means sending faculty to conferences to present disciplinary research. This can be
valuable, but in this chapter we focus on sustained, pedagogy-centered engagement.
Through professional development seminars, workshops, and online programs, fac-
ulty and staff develop and test new ideas, collaborate on projects, and reflect on
professional growth. Professional learning can help faculty, peer mentors, and student
life professionals integrate innovative pedagogies into their practice across settings.
Working together in a structured process, professional development encourages col-
laboration; innovation; and productive, sustained engagement.

Figure 4.1. Engaging Faculty and Staff

Note. Professional development provides opportunities for faculty and staff to engage in collaborative conversations
about teaching and learning.

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 76 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

ePortfolio-related professional de-

Getting Started velopment can address issues from effec-
Seven Tips for Effective tive classroom teaching with ePortfolio
ePortfolio-Based to training on ePortfolio platforms;
Professional Development
linkages with co-curricular learning or
1. Focus on pedagogy: Technol- outcomes assessment; exploring dis-
ogy is important to ePortfolio, ciplinary modes of inquiry and reflec-
but pedagogy is crucial. tion; and making connections with
2. Form a partnership: Work with other HIPs, such as first-year experience
your campus Center for Teach- programs. It can build understanding
ing and Learning, which can add of the broad usages of ePortfolio and
experience, expertise, and conti- connect faculty and student life profes-
nuity to your ePortfolio work.
sionals in a concerted focus on student
3. Build faculty leadership:
Faculty insight and faculty voice
learning and growth. Guided by the
energize powerful professional design principles of Inquiry, Reflection,
development. and Integration, professional develop-
4. Design for sustained engage- ment can support powerful ePortfolio
ment: Changes in practice take practice and build student, faculty, and
time; integrative ePortfolio institutional learning.
pedagogy can be particularly This chapter begins by spotlight-
challenging. ing key points found in the professional
5. Model integrative ePortfolio development literature. Drawing on
pedagogy: Help faculty experi- campus stories published on the Catalyst
ence the strategies you want to for Learning site, it reviews professional
nurture.
development structures used by different
6. Connect with and across
departments: Respect discipline
C2L teams. It then discusses ways that,
structures, but don’t be limited across strategies, successful teams used
by them. Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration as
7. Support faculty engagement: design principles in planning and guid-
Recognize and reward faculty ing effective professional development.
focus on ePortfolio innovation. Finally, it points to ways that professional
development depends on thoughtful
work done in other Catalyst sectors.

Drawing on the Literature

ePortfolio-focused professional development shares much with the broader profes-
sional development field, and the professional development literature is robust. We
touch on four threads in this literature that proved helpful to C2L teams.
In C2L cross-campus seminars, teams discussed Thomas Angelo’s essay in which
he asked, “If producing high-quality student learning is American higher education’s
defining goal, how can faculty development best contribute to its realization?”5 At the
article’s core, he lists seven guidelines for productive professional learning communities:

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 77

1. Build shared trust: Begin by lowering social and interpersonal barriers to

change.
2. Build shared motivation: Collectively determine goals worth working toward and
problems worth solving, and consider the likely costs and benefits.
3. Build a shared language: Develop a collective understanding of new concepts
(mental models) needed for transformation.
4. Design backward and work forward: Work backward from the shared vision and
long-term goals to determine outcomes, strategies, and activities.
5. Think and act systematically: Understand the advantages and limitations of the
larger systems we operate in and seek connections and applications to those larger
worlds.
6. Practice what we preach: Use what we have learned about individual and organi-
zational learning to inform and explain our efforts and strategies.
7. Don’t assume, ask: Make the implicit explicit. Use assessment to focus on what
matters most.6

These guidelines, which directly apply to ePortfolio initiatives, highlight the

importance of faculty engagement. Understanding faculty as active subjects who
shape the professional development process, Angelo seeks to mobilize their crea-
tivity and expertise. He sees educational innovation as multilayered and suggests
that careful professional development design must take into account not only
goals and evidence of impact but also processes of professional inquiry and indi-
vidual change. Thinking strategically, he points to the importance of contextual-
izing faculty practice in broader awareness of systems thinking and organizational
learning.
In C2L, the importance of institutional context was emphasized when teams
read an essay by Pat Hutchings.7 Examining campuses that worked to advance
integrative learning, Hutchings finds that professional development helps faculty
study integrative learning concepts and begin to change their practice. However,
she suggests, this is only one of the essential tasks accomplished by effective profes-
sional development. She also discusses the powerful role professional development
can play in generating interdisciplinary community, a powerful component in
motivating and supporting faculty doing the hard work of changing their practice.
And she emphasizes the ways that professional development should also build a
campus culture focused on learning and teaching, a key success factor for ePortfo-
lio projects.

Workshops on classroom approaches that promote connection-making, work on

curriculum design, and exchange around assessment and the scholarship of teach-
ing and learning are important contexts for getting smarter about the character of
integrative learning and how to promote it. But just as important is the creation of
a campus culture where the academic community faculty, staff, and, importantly,
students is engaged in the hard but joyful work of integration.8

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 78 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Mary Deane Sorcinelli and her

Getting Started coauthors have suggested that effective
Tip 1: Focus on Pedagogy professional development depends on
ePortfolio-focused professional the ways that a college recognizes and
development should focus on supports it. “Successful programs,” they
helping faculty and staff under- argue, tend to demonstrate features that
stand, adapt, and test effective include “administrative support that
integrative pedagogy and prac- encourages faculty development; a for-
tice with their students. mal, structured, goal-directed program;
Helping practitioners learn the connections between faculty develop-
ins and outs of ePortfolio plat-
ment and the reward structure; fac-
forms can be important. If faculty
and staff don’t know what a
ulty ownership; and collegial support
platform can (and can’t) do, and for investment in teaching.”9 Reading
develop a level of comfort using Sorcinelli helped C2L teams recognize
it, their ePortfolio practice can be that all these factors play crucial roles
obstructed. But learning about in shaping the success of professional
the technology alone is unlikely development and high-impact ePortfo-
to enrich student learning. lio practice.
Professional development that Finally, C2L teams reviewed
focuses on integrative pedagogy scholarship that describes professional
helps educators connect ePortfolio development leaders as active agents of
to what they do every day: teach institutional change. Debra Dawson
students and help them learn. A
and her coauthors discuss ways faculty
focus on pedagogy means explor-
ing concepts and best practices
developers increasingly manage institu-
related to reflection and integra- tional change, translating campus-wide
tive learning, but it also draws on goals and initiatives into classroom prac-
and respects what participants tice. Moving from the details of specific
already know. Positioning the practices to a more macro level, they sug-
classroom as a site for experi- gest, involves professional development
mentation with new ePortfolio leaders in shaping the “institutional
approaches, pedagogy-focused approach to teaching and learning,” and
professional development helps “shifting the teaching culture.” Faculty
faculty and staff explore the con- developers, they conclude, “seem poised
nection between the strategies to take on a seminal role in the trans-
they design and use and their ulti-
formation of the university, given their
mate goal: transformative student
learning.
strong skills in communication, team
building and collaboration.”10
Building on faculty expertise, gen-
erating community, changing the cam-
pus culture, attracting administrative support, linking to the reward structure, and
consciously attending to issues related to systemic institutional transformation are
best practices that can strengthen professional development related to ePortfolio.
Educators seeking to build high-impact ePortfolio projects must attend to such issues
as they envision, design, and guide their professional development programs.

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 79

Structures for ePortfolio-Related

Professional Development Getting Started
Tip 2: Form a Partnership:
Professional development was a key Work With Your Campus Center
component of the most effective C2L for Teaching and Learning
campus projects. Between 2011 and Growing numbers of colleges
2015, across our 24-campus network, nationwide have established
C2L teams led professional development Centers for Teaching and Learning
for more than 4,700 faculty and staff. (CTLs) on their campuses. When
Outreach events, such as presentations they are robust, these profes-
at department meetings, reached 6,700 sional development centers can
faculty and staff. be valuable partners for an ePort-
Across the network, campuses em- folio initiative.
CTLs are often led by faculty
ployed a range of different professional
and staff with extensive experi-
development structures, often calibrat-
ence leading professional learn-
ing their strategies to campus-specific ing processes. They are familiar
cultures, resources available to support with models, strategies, and
professional development, and the insti- mechanisms for offering mean-
tutional priority placed on teaching. ingful professional develop-
Some C2L teams focused on workshops, ment. They may or may not have
and others developed summer institutes, specific ePortfolio experience,
teaching circles, and longer seminars. but their valuable skills can be
Some experimented with mini-grants, adapted to address integrative
online professional development, and social pedagogy. Connecting
digital training modules. Before we exam- an ePortfolio initiative with the
resources represented by a CTL
ine ways that teams applied the Inquiry-
can be a critical factor in deter-
Reflection-Integration design principles,
mining its success.
it is helpful to understand the different
structures they used.

Workshops and Institutes

A number of C2L campuses offered short two- to three-hour workshops for faculty
and staff. Some workshops focused on ePortfolio technology, and others included
introductory discussions on integrative pedagogy. Some workshops complemented
more extended processes. The Hunter College C2L team described faculty work-
shops they ran for the master’s program in literacy education in the following:
Before the revamped ePortfolio was launched in the fall of 2011, the Literacy faculty
met to learn about the design structure of the revamped ePortfolio and provide feed-
back and suggestions, and more importantly, to lend their support. This workshop
was essential, as faculty need to understand the importance of building an organiza-
tional culture that values reflective and integrative learning. After it was launched,
workshops were held for the Literacy faculty to navigate Digication, focusing more
on empowering them as they learn to contribute to the ePortfolio process and expe-
rience the outcome of ePortfolio learning communities.11

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 80 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Hunter and other C2L teams also sought to go beyond one-shot workshops. Most
teams saw that a two- to three-hour workshop could, at best, introduce participants to an
ePortfolio platform and point toward integrative ePortfolio pedagogy. A workshop offers
little time for building community and thinking systemically. Consequentially, the most
effective teams sought to extend the time span of the professional development process
and move from introducing possibilities to supporting implementation. One approach
was to create a workshop series, asking faculty and staff to commit to attending two or
three sessions. An alternative approach was to hold an intensive, one-time-only, multi-
day workshop. C2L teams at Norwalk Community College and Virginia Tech used this
approach. The Norwalk team explained how it worked, recounting the following:

Through experience, we have learned that the most effective structure for our faculty
ePortfolio training is a two day “boot camp,” which includes, later in the semester,
one or two roundtable workshops where past/present users share successes and chal-
lenges as well as their student ePortfolios with the new practitioners. . . . The format
is highly interactive, incorporating readings that provide the theoretical basis (dis-
tributed prior to the training), small and large group discussion, reflection, hands-
on technical instruction, and some fun activities such as the “Digitective” virtual
scavenger hunt, which requires that they search the Internet for key information
about ePortfolios, and their own ePortfolio “mini” showcase.12

Teaching and Learning Circles and Seminars

One variation on this approach was to organize a workshop series called a Teaching
and Learning Circle (TLC). A highly flexible structure, Teaching and Learning Cir-
cles tend to be small and relatively unstructured. Usually, in a TLC, a group of 8 to
10 faculty meet monthly for roughly an hour to informally discuss a teaching issue of
common interest and share experiences. As the Manhattanville team tells us,

TLCs were designed to strike a balance between having enough sessions and enough
time on task to really get involved and engaged in the learning process, and not cre-
ating a program so intimidating that no one would willingly sign up. The balance we
agreed upon was a four-session, face-to-face format of [90 minutes] each.”13

In this “boot camp” approach, the emphasis was on faculty practice. Receiving a
small stipend, every participant committed to using ePortfolio in his or her classes,
often in the following semester. “We designed each session to include a mixture of
discussion, based on a reading or readings focusing on new pedagogy, hands-on train-
ing utilizing the Digication platform, and sharing of results.”14
The team from Pace University took a similar approach, saying

We have continued to hold teaching circle seminars in fall and spring. Participants
in the three-session seminars read about and discuss ePortfolio pedagogy and assess-
ment and agree to incorporate ePortfolios into their courses the following semes-
ter. They earn stipends and get one-on-one support from the ePortfolio “e-terns”
in building their ePortfolios and developing assignments. This is a very important
means of expanding our ePortfolio program.15

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 81

The advantages of the Teaching

and Learning Circle model are flex- Getting Started
ibility and low start-up costs. The dis- Tip 3: Build Faculty Leadership
advantage is that it does not provide Effective ePortfolio-related pro-
structured support for faculty as they fessional development depends
use ePortfolio with students. It can be a on faculty engagement. It must
good step on a campus where an ePort- respect faculty expertise, recog-
folio initiative is in its early phase. nize faculty realities and concerns,
and address faculty needs. Taking
this seriously means involving
Sustained Pedagogy Seminars faculty as partners in designing,
Seeking more sustained engagement, some leading, and assessing profes-
sional development processes.
C2L campuses offered professional
There are meaningful profes-
development that combined intensive
sional development roles for
summer and midyear institutes with staff. Professional development
monthly seminars. One advantage of staff from a Center for Teaching
this approach is that it offers greater and Learning, IT staff, advisement
time for exploration, helping faculty professionals, and ePortfolio
and staff learn more deeply about ePort- specialists can all play key roles.
folio and carefully redesign courses and But they cannot be a substitute
co-curricular processes to integrate for vocal faculty leaders who can
ePortfolio practice. Sustaining the com- mobilize their experiences using
munity of practice while participants ePortfolio with students.
implement ePortfolio-enhanced courses The most effective ePortfolio
initiatives link faculty and staff
and events offers opportunities for cele-
as partners in leading profes-
brating successes, troubleshooting prob-
sional development processes.
lems, gathering evidence, and building The demands on faculty time
reflective practice. Often organized make seminar leadership chal-
with a campus Center for Teaching and lenging. Faculty leaders need not
Learning, most sustained seminars pro- only reassigned time but also
vide participants with incentives such as staff partners who can handle
stipends or reassigned time. logistics, ensure continuity, and
Aiming to help faculty and staff provide additional expertise. A
plan, share, teach, and reflect on inte- partnership model combines
grative ePortfolio practices, LaGuar- the vital contributions of faculty
dia Community College has used a leaders with the sustained effort
essential to ePortfolio success.
year-long seminar model for more
than a decade with considerable suc-
cess. LaGuardia’s ePortfolio-focused
seminars are part of a broader professional development effort, deeply embedded
in LaGuardia’s campus culture. Each year, the LaGuardia Center for Teaching and
Learning offers 10 to 15 concurrent year-long seminars, focusing on different issues
in teaching and learning, ranging from designing learning communities to strength-
ening advisement practice, global learning, and writing in the disciplines. Faculty

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 82 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

and staff apply to take part and receive

Getting Started stipends for participation; they can
Tip 4: Design for report on their work in applications for
Sustained Engagement promotion. Each year, more than 200
Changes in practice take time and faculty and staff successfully complete
mastering integrative ePortfolio a year-long seminar.
pedagogy can be particularly Over the past decade, one stream
challenging. The most effective of LaGuardia seminars has focused on
ePortfolio professional develop- ePortfolio pedagogy. ePortfolio-related
ment unfolds over time, creating seminars have included “The ePortfo-
opportunities for faculty to care-
lio Explorer”; “ePortfolio in the Profes-
fully explore, consider, design,
test, and reflect on new pedagog-
sions”; “New to College: Rethinking
ical strategies and practices. the First-Year Seminar”; “The Art of
One-shot workshops can Advisement”; “Rethinking the Cap-
introduce faculty to ePortfolio stone Experience”; and “Connected
practices. But they don’t support Learning: ePortfolio and Integrative
faculty as they move from abstract Social Pedagogy.” “Through partici-
exploration to concretely testing pation in these seminars,” the team
ePortfolio practices with their stu- noted, “faculty enjoy the opportunity
dents. Putting new strategies into to review, revise, experiment, and then
practice and observing the results implement new pedagogies in targeted
can only take place over time. And courses to be taught in the Spring I
bringing faculty back together to
semester of the academic year.”16 In
discuss what they did and what
students learned in their ePortfolio
its C2L portfolio, the LaGuardia team
assignments plays a critical role in described the Capstone seminar, which
helping faculty take ownership of served faculty teaching the capstone
ePortfolio practice. course in different disciplines and
Connected Learning, open to faculty
teaching any course college-wide, pro-
viding them with an introduction to the basics of ePortfolio practice.

Connected Learning: ePortfolio and Integrative Pedagogy brings together faculty from
across the disciplines to learn about ePortfolio and to develop new approaches to using
it as an integrative tool in their classes. Faculty in the seminar create ePortfolios to
document their professional growth, learning through this hands-on process and dis-
covering new ways of implementing ePortfolio meaningfully and effectively with their
students. The result is a greater attention to connections—between students and their
classmates, between students and faculty, and between students and audiences outside
of the classroom—made visible through the ePortfolio.
In Rethinking the Capstone Experience, the College’s faculty take stock of exist-
ing capstone courses in their respective departments and redevelop them based on
national best practices in the field. Faculty in this seminar strike a balance between
the content and professional standards of their disciplines and established models
for capstone learning grounded in integration, reflection, transition, and closure. In

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 83

this setting, ePortfolio offers a useful medium through which students can represent
the totality of their “capstone experience.17

Two notable trends have added new variations to LaGuardia’s practice. The first is
that the Center for Teaching and Learning has begun to offer more professional develop-
ment for staff. Seminars on advisement bring faculty together with professional advisors
and peer mentors to share expertise. At the same time, the Center has begun incorporat-
ing ePortfolio use as a subtheme in seminars that primarily focus on other topics such as
advisement, as well as seminars focused on LaGuardia’s new first-year seminar. In these
seminars, ePortfolio practice is contextualized as one element in a complex combination
of issues, tools, and pedagogies. The focus on ePortfolio is less intensive, but the new
seminars assist faculty and staff in seeing new uses for ePortfolio and advance the process
of making ePortfolio a pervasive part of the student experience at LaGuardia.

Hybrid/Online Training
Some C2L teams tested variations on these structures. Two campuses offered profes-
sional development resources and conversation online; others used a hybrid format,
blending face-to-face and online activities. These formats were most attractive to
campuses offering online courses and training adjunct faculty.
Offering most of its courses online, the City University of New York (CUNY)
School of Professional Studies offers its professional development in a hybrid for-
mat, which reaches a wide audience, including part-time faculty. The process begins
with a day-long face-to-face meeting, followed by an online discussion that spans
two months and focuses on reflective pedagogy. Faculty examine extensive online
ePortfolio resources as part of this structured conversation. The final session is,
again, face-to-face, and serves as a celebratory reunion.18
Northeastern University offers fully online faculty development targeted to reach
adjunct faculty. “Because many of our faculty teach online and/or are adjuncts, our
faculty development has taken place virtually,” the Northeastern team wrote. “We
have offered several webinar workshops that have also been archived and made avail-
able to all faculty.”19 Despite the difference in delivery mode, Northeastern’s goals are
similar to those of other C2L programs.

The core issue, when it comes to professional development, is to extend faculty vision
beyond the technology (ePortfolio as tool) to perceive it as a driver for improvement
of student learning and curricular integrity. Our core accomplishment is that profes-
sional development surrounding ePortfolios leads to faculty investment in improv-
ing the integrity of the program.20

Online professional development was also used as part of the C2L project itself,
creating a hybrid community of practice linking our 24 campuses in ongoing con-
versation about ePortfolio practice. C2L’s hybrid professional development struc-
ture effectively used ePortfolios to document and share practices, modeling for

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 84 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

participants professional development

Getting Started strategies they could implement on
Tip 5: Model Integrative their campuses.21
ePortfolio Pedagogy
Effective ePortfolio-focused pro- Mini-Grants
fessional development not only
Some C2L teams use professional
addresses integrative pedagogy
development Mini-Grants. LaGuardia
but also models it for faculty,
embedding integrative practice offers a Mini-Grant Program for out-
and experience into the profes- comes assessment work, helping faculty
sional development process itself. use ePortfolio in programmatic learn-
Angelo suggests professional ing and change. Professional develop-
development leaders must prac- ment helps program faculty “close the
tice what they preach.22 To get loop” designing and implementing
faculty to learn how to use col- change based on analyzing data in their
laborative learning with students, Periodic Program Review (PPR):
a PowerPoint presentation won’t
work. A seminar that engages During the PPR process in the busi-
faculty in collaborative learning ness program, students were found
and helps them think about the to be underachieving in oral commu-
implications of their experience nication. Using a CTL Mini-Grant,
will be much more powerful. the business faculty paired with fac-
Similarly, professional devel- ulty from the communication area to
opment focused on integrative revise introduction to business courses
ePortfolio practice must prompt to incorporate activities to improve
faculty to use reflection and business-appropriate oral communica-
make connections, helping them tion skills.23
experience an integrative pro-
cess. Having faculty plan, docu- The University of Delaware team
ment, reflect on, and share their offered Mini-Grants to programs to
teaching experience in their own
integrate ePortfolio into degree curric-
digital portfolio can be a valuable
ula. Faculty in the Mini-Grant program
professional learning experience.
completed a reflective semi-structured
faculty interview as part of this pro-
cess.”24 Through these interviews, campus leaders obtained feedback on ePortfolios in
academic programs and suggestions on institutional modifications. At the same time,
these interviews helped faculty learn from their experiences: “Faculty participated
enthusiastically and demonstrated deep reflection and thought in their responses.
Many stated that they welcomed the opportunity to talk with us as it helped them
deepen their understanding of the portfolio purpose, process, gains and challenges.”25

Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration in Professional Development

As this survey suggests, C2L campuses shared a wide range of professional develop-
ment practices, demonstrating a range of structures used to support faculty and staff

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 85

learning and advance sophisticated

integrative ePortfolio practice. Across Getting Started
all approaches and different levels of Tip 6: Connect With and
engagement and intensity, we found Across Departments
that effective professional development Departments are powerful cent-
practices employed the design principles ers of campus life. Disciplinary
of Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration. concepts and habits of mind
shape faculty practice. The depart-
ment is where faculty spend
Professional Inquiry most of their time on campus
In a professional development con- and is often the site of promotion
text, inquiry provides opportunities and tenure processes as well as
for participants to ask questions and everyday interaction. Connecting
to departments, recognizing their
explore their own teaching practices and
significance, and helping them
their relationship to student learning.
adapt ePortfolio practice to their
Inquiry-based professional develop- needs can deepen the impact of
ment asks faculty and staff to use their ePortfolio initiatives.
classrooms and co-curricular events At the same time, it is valu-
as laboratories for experiments with able to engage faculty in cross-
new pedagogies and practices. Inquiry disciplinary professional
approaches encourage participants to development. Linking faculty
grapple with pressing questions and across disciplines can spark peda-
contrasting points of view on teach- gogical creativity and build the
ing and learning, pedagogy, curriculum cross-campus community often
design, and assessment. Inquiry helps missing in higher education.
Powerful ePortfolio initiatives
to ground discussion of these questions
connect student learning across
in the real-life experiences of faculty,
semesters, linking discipline
staff, and students. courses with first-year seminars,
ePortfolio-related professional deve- general education, internships, co-
lopment incorporates inquiry by asking curricular learning, and capstone
participants to explore ePortfolio peda- experiences. To realize the poten-
gogy, consider how to fit ePortfolio into tial of integrative ePortfolio prac-
their own practice, and investigate the tice, professional development
impact on student learning. While serv- designers must bring faculty and
ing as the subject of inquiry, the ePort- staff together to build cohesive
folio can also make changes in student vision and connected practice.
learning visible for examination in the
professional development space. Shared
review of students’ ePortfolios creates opportunities to consider the complex dynamic
between teaching and student learning. Using ePortfolio to contextualize pieces of stu-
dent work with an understanding of the student’s broader experiences can help faculty
and staff think in new ways about students.
Most C2L teams combine individual and collective inquiry in the professional
development process, asking faculty to jointly explore relevant literature, generate

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 86 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

questions, experiment in their class-

Getting Started rooms, and return to the group for
Tip 7: Support Faculty shared conversation. For example, a
Engagement group of faculty in a seminar might
When faculty engage in consider ways to use social pedagogy
ePortfolio-related teaching and with ePortfolio, help each other plan
professional development, they experiments in their courses, and then
are committing precious time meet to discuss findings. Or faculty and
and attention. To sustain that staff might, through professional devel-
commitment, institutions must opment linked to assessment, explore
find ways to reward faculty focus
the types of student learning taking
on ePortfolio innovation.
There are many ways to sup-
place in a particular program. Through
port faculty engagement in the this process, faculty and staff can iden-
professional development pro- tify gaps in curriculum and instruction.
cess. Stipends or honoraria for Collective inquiry is sometimes
participation in sustained pro- directly connected to outcomes assess-
cesses are common. Recognition ment. An authentic outcomes assess-
in departmental or collegewide ment process that involves guided
communications are welcome. inquiry on student learning outcomes
Creating faculty showcases at the often becomes an opportunity for pro-
end of seminars where faculty can fessional learning. When this process
share and discuss their work with generates recommendations for change
the broader campus can help fac-
in programmatic practice, professional
ulty feel that their time is valued.
The most powerful way to
development is often needed to imple-
recognize faculty participation in ment the recommendations.
ePortfolio-related professional Manhattanville College uses col-
development is through the ten- laborative, cross-disciplinary inquiry to
ure and promotion process. When shape their ePortfolio-focused Teach-
these reward processes recognize ing and Learning Circles. Driven by an
faculty commitment to improving inquiry-oriented design process, they
teaching and learning, faculty are reported the following:
much more likely to take the risk
of trying out new approaches. We ask faculty and staff to participate
in a needs assessment process in which
they are first asked to identify their instructional/programmatic goals and outcomes.
With goals and outcomes in place, participants are asked to reflect on the degree to
which their current practices work to meet those goals. Identifying gaps between
where they want to be and where they are sets up an inquiry process in which they
can ask genuine questions about the ways in which ePortfolio can be used as a peda-
gogical tool to help bridge that gap or to transform ineffective strategies/practices.26

Sophisticated inquiry requires focused time. Investigative teams may start with a
set of questions about teaching and learning and systematically explore them together;
alternatively, the inquiry structure could be more exploratory and self-directed,

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 87

as participants review relevant research and develop their own research questions.
Year-long professional development seminars at LaGuardia use a model of extended
inquiry, slowly unfolding inquiry processes across several months or semesters.
Professional development sometimes incorporates professional portfolios as a
space for documenting inquiry and supporting reflection. Faculty in LaGuardia’s pro-
grams often build a seminar portfolio where they share initial designs for teaching with
ePortfolio. They use the commenting functions of the ePortfolio platform to give each
other feedback and help sharpen draft plans. And as students create portfolios, faculty
can link to their students’ ePortfolios, using evidence to deepen the inquiry process.27
This type of inquiry can connect with the scholarship of teaching and learning
(SoTL), a systematic inquiry into one’s practice. Spurred by the Carnegie Founda-
tion for the Advancement of Teaching, SoTL has gained wide currency in higher
education. Rigorous SoTL helps faculty gain deeper understanding of their craft and
publish their findings.28 Linking ePortfolio to SoTL opens new possibilities for deep-
ening practice and advancing the field.

Reflective Practice
Reflection is fundamental to powerful professional development. Building directly
on inquiry, reflection helps participants make meaning out of their own experiences
and those of their students. Reflective professional development deepens faculty
and staff learning and helps them develop as practitioners. As Dewey scholar Carol
Rodgers explains:

The power of the reflective cycle seems to rest in the ability first to slow down teach-
ers’ thinking so that they can attend to what is, rather than what they wish were so,
and then to shift the weight of that thinking from their own teaching to student
learning.29

As discussed in Chapter 3, Rodgers outlined a four-stage cycle for scaffolding

reflection: (a) being present in the experience, (b) describing the experience, (c) ana-
lyzing the experience, and (d) shaping plans for new experiences (see Figure 4.2).
When used in professional development, this inquiry process grounds reflection in
faculty’s own classroom experiences. At the same time, it can help participants move
past presenting lesson plans and highlighting successes to engaging in a more produc-
tive professional learning process.30 “I have two goals when using the reflective cycle
in my work with teachers,” Rodgers notes:

The first is to develop their capacity to observe skillfully and to think critically about
students and their learning, so they learn to consider what this tells them about teach-
ing, the subject matter, and the contexts in which all of these interact. The second goal is
for them to begin to take intelligent action based on the understanding that emerges.31

In a professional development context, reflective activities help participants doc-

ument and share their learning, becoming more reflective practitioners. Reflections

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 88 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Figure 4.2. Carol Rodgers’ Reflective Cycle.

Presence in Experience Description of Experience

Learning to see Learning to describe and
differentiate

Experimentation Analysis of Experience

Learning to take Learning to think from multiple
intelligent action perspectives and form multiple
explanations

Source. From Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective Thinking,” Teachers
College Record 104, no. 4 (2002). Reprinted with permission of Carol Rodgers.

can be written, oral, artistic, or multimedia in form, taking place individually or in a

community. Reflection allows participants to connect experiences and integrate new
knowledge. Through reflection, participants think in new ways about High-Impact
Practices, integrative pedagogies, and classroom-based ePortfolio assignments.
Professional reflection can take different forms. Workshops often use brief reflec-
tive activities such as an open-ended post-seminar survey. Longer, more intensive
professional programs allow for staged written and oral reflections, giving faculty and
staff time to make meaning of their successes and challenges. The common process of
lesson sharing creates possibilities for reflective thinking, particularly when the pro-
cess is scaffolded to encourage faculty to move from “what I did” to “what students
did,” from pedagogical design to the complex realities of classroom implementation,
and from a description of teaching to an analysis of student learning and grounded
consideration of implications.
Peer mentorship programs and retreats can also create opportunities to reflect.
Reflection in community can move beyond making meaning at the course level to
spotlighting broader challenges, such as gaps in disciplinary curricula, college-wide
approaches to new technologies, and cross-disciplinary strategies to address general
education and integrative learning goals.
C2L teams used a variety of reflective professional development practices. Teach-
ing and Learning Circles are often reflective by design. The Pace University team

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 89

notes, “Reflection and Integration are two key principles of the TLC curriculum.
Regarding reflection, we highlight Mahara’s [Pace’s ePortfolio platform] journal fea-
ture. Participants create their own journals to reflect on each session.”32
Reflection is also an important component in Northwestern Connecticut Com-
munity College’s professional development seminars. To allow enough time for richer
and more meaningful reflections, Northwestern’s team extended the seminar pro-
gram to span the entire academic year. According to one member of the team, “if
utilizing ePortfolio can help faculty become more effective reflective practitioners,
then they will be able to both model and guide students in meaningful reflection to
enhance learning.”33
Guttman Community College uses institution-wide collective reflection to
strengthen professional development and outcomes assessment. At two-day-long
meetings built into the College’s annual calendar, faculty and advisors work together
to assess student achievement and reflect on the alignment of outcomes at the assign-
ment, course, and program level. The Guttman team reported:

The Assessment Days reflect Guttman’s commitments to using ongoing assessment

to guide professional development and improve institutional practice and to main-
taining student learning as the driver for all decisions made throughout the insti-
tution. The Days have three main purposes: 1) assessing student achievement of
learning outcomes in their work on integrated assignments; 2) reflecting on the
alignment of assignment, course, program, and institutional outcomes; and 3) eval-
uating student progress as a guide for planning and revising curricula and determin-
ing course offerings for subsequent semesters.34

Reflection deepens ePortfolio-focused professional development. Linking reflec-

tive professional learning with the power of ePortfolio to make student learning
visible, ePortfolio-based professional development can not only help participants
become more proficient with ePortfolio pedagogy; done well, it can also help them
become more focused on students, develop as reflective practitioners, and support
transformative student learning campus-wide.

Integrative Learning
Integration, or integrative learning, helps students make connections and transfer
knowledge across disciplines, semesters, and experiences. In a professional learning
context, integration takes on new meaning. Here it helps faculty and staff trans-
fer specific knowledge from a particular experience to broader contexts, extending
to sustained practice, adaptation to other courses, and changes in departmental or
college practice. Integration is operative when faculty and staff apply insights from
one experience to another, deepening innovations and turning creative, one-shot
experiments into broadly adopted changes.
Integration as backward design is a feature of Manhattanville’s teaching circles.
Participants discuss integrative learning strategies and ways to apply these strategies
in their classrooms and curriculum.

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 90 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Integration is one of the most important goals of the teaching circle. Rather than
simply use ePortfolio as an add-on, we encourage participants to think about how
they might re-envision their curriculum, possibly do some “backward design” in
order to incorporate the ePortfolio as both a space for students to process their learn-
ing (do the “intermittent thinking” that Randy Bass refers to), and to showcase the
products of their learning (and develop some rubrics).35

Cross-disciplinary programs provide an opportunity for integration as faculty

and staff build interdisciplinary communities of practice for change at the depart-
mental or institutional level. These communities allow participants to critique each
other’s assignments, course designs, and assessments in a collegial manner, integrating
new learning into their practices. Integration provides an opportunity to implement
pedagogical innovations in broader classroom contexts.
Integration that fosters interdisciplinary collaborations between faculty and staff
can spur institutional change by deepening the learning that takes place beyond
the classroom. LaGuardia’s year-long professional development seminar, “Art of
Advisement: Learning and Implementing Holistic Advisement Skills,” creates a
professional learning community consisting of faculty and student affairs staff. The
community explores ePortfolio’s role in helping students integrate their curricular
and co-curricular learning and the use of ePortfolios for improved advisement. Fac-
ulty and staff work together to apply their shared learning to advance a meaningful
and effective advisement structure for students. According to the LaGuardia team,
“The integration of faculty and staff in this seminar stresses the idea that it takes an
entire college community to support a meaningful and effective advisement structure
for students.”36
Integration is key to developing a broad and effective ePortfolio initiative. Fac-
ulty and staff are expert learners; they have mastered the ability to transfer knowl-
edge from abstract to specific in their own disciplines. Professional development
can leverage these expert learning skills to help faculty and staff connect theories
about integrative, reflective ePortfolio pedagogy to their courses and co-curricular
experiences. Conversely, integration encourages faculty and staff to transfer lessons
learned to new settings. Insights developed through classroom-based inquiry can
be extended when faculty apply them to new courses. Taking those insights into
broader conversations about programmatic curricula and institutional policy creates
opportunities to design for coherence and create more integrative learning experi-
ences for students.

Connections to the Catalyst Framework

Pedagogy
Professional development and pedagogy are mutually dependent. To build a high-
impact ePortfolio initiative, faculty need guided opportunities to explore integra-
tive ePortfolio pedagogy and incorporate it into their practice. At the same time,

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 91

integrative pedagogy should inform the design of ePortfolio-related professional

development, or “practicing what we preach.”37 Modeling integrative processes in the
professional learning context adds depth and resonance to the professional learning
process.

Outcomes Assessment
On campuses with robust ePortfolio initiatives, we found that professional develop-
ment substantially overlapped with outcomes assessment. Meaningful professional
development incorporates attention to evidence, helping faculty think about learn-
ing as well as teaching. Building a culture of evidence, in which faculty think about
the impact of their designs, professional development can help faculty value out-
comes assessment. Meanwhile, dynamic outcomes assessment programs often use
professional development as a key step in closing the loop. Grounding assessment in
artifacts of student learning can facilitate this linkage, making it easier for faculty to
use professional development processes to identify and design the changes needed to
improve student outcomes.

Technology
ePortfolio-focused professional development must significantly focus on pedagogy.
But it must also address technology. If faculty aren’t comfortable with an ePortfolio
platform, they cannot guide students in using it. Faculty need to be comfortable not
only designing ePortfolio activities but also reviewing and commenting on students’
ePortfolio work. Having faculty build their own ePortfolios and use them for shar-
ing, commentary, and exchange is one way of helping faculty become increasingly
familiar with the platform they and students will use.

Scaling Up
Professional development advances the broad faculty and staff engagement that is
crucial to scaling an ePortfolio initiative. At the same time, the success of professional
development is in many ways dependent on the broader campus context. Professional
development requires a commitment of resources to compensate leaders and incen-
tivize participants. A campus culture that values teaching and rewards faculty who
focus energy on learning-centered innovation can facilitate the effective professional
development needed for ePortfolio success.

Conclusion
Professional development is a critical component in the cultivation of a robust campus
ePortfolio initiative. C2L research shows that effective ePortfolio-related professional
development activities are guided by the design principles of Inquiry, Reflection, and
Integration. These principles come to life when collective classroom-based inquiry

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 92 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

and recurring reflections help faculty and staff generate deeper understanding about
teaching and learning. Thoughtful professional development, in combination with
attention to the other Catalyst sectors, can advance the development of vibrant learn-
ing organizations. When that happens on a broad scale across higher education, the
potential of ePortfolio practice for building student learning and transformative
change will begin to be realized.

Notes
1. Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “What Difference Can ePortfolio
Make?: A Field Report from the Connect to Learning Project,” International Journal of ePort-
folio 4, no. 1 (2014): 95–114.
2. Randy Bass and Bret Eynon, Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Education for
the New Digital Learning Ecosystem (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges &
Universities, 2016).
3. Phil Hill, “Pilots: Too many ed tech innovations stuck in purgatory,” e-Literate,
August 12, 2014, http://mfeldstein.com/pilots-many-ed-tech-innovations-stuck-purgatory
4. Emily Lammers, Gates Bryant, Adam Newman, and Terry Miles, “Time for Class:
Lessons for the Future of Digital Courseware in Higher Education,” accessed August 20,
2015, http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/EGA009_CourseWP_Upd_Rd7.pdf
5. Thomas A. Angelo, “Doing Faculty Development as If We Value Learning Most:
Transformative Guidelines from Research to Practice,” To Improve the Academy 19 (2001):
225.
6. Angelo, “Doing Faculty Development,” 225–237.
7. Pat Hutchings, “Fostering Integrative Learning Through Faculty Development,”
2006, http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/ilp/uploads/facultydevelopment_copy.pdf, 6
8. Hutchings, “Fostering Integrative Learning,” 6.
9. Mary Deane Sorcinelli, Ann E. Austin, Pamela L. Eddy, Andrea L. Beach, Creating
the Future of Faculty Development: Learning From the Past, Understanding the Present (San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005), 28.
10. Debra Dawson, Joy Mighty, Judy Britnell, “Moving From the Periphery to the Center
of the Academy: Faculty Developers as Leaders of Change,” New Directions for Teaching and
Learning (2010): 69–78. doi:10.1002/tl.399
11. Gina Cherry, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: Hunter College,” (unpublished
annual report, 2014).
12. “Norwalk CC—Reflecting to Learn: Professional Development Practice at NCC,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l.mcnrc
.org/ncc-pd-practice/
13. Alison Carson, Jim Frank, Gillian Greenhill Hannum, Kate Todd, and Sherie
McClam, “Professional Development Practice—Teaching and Learning Circles,” Catalyst
for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://mville.mcnrc.org/
pd-practice/
14. Carson et al., “Professional Development Practice.”
15. Beth Gordon, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: Pace University,” (unpublished
annual report, 2014).

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 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR HIGH-IMPACT ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 93

16. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Faculty Development Practices at LaGuardia: Capstone

Courses, ePortfolios, and Integrative Learning,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/faculty-development-practices-
laguardia-rethinking-the-capstone-experience-seminar/; Howard Wach, “Faculty Develop-
ment Practices at LaGuardia: Connected Learning Professional Development Seminar,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc
.mcnrc.org/pd-practice-3/
17. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Faculty Development Practices at LaGuardia: Capstone Courses,
ePortfolios, and Integrative Learning,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/faculty-development-practices-laguardia-rethinking
-the-capstone-experience-seminar/; Howard Wach, “Faculty Development Practices at
LaGuardia: Connected Learning Professional Development Seminar,” Catalyst for Learning:
ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/pd-practice-3/
18. CUNY School of Professional Studies “Hybrid/Online Professional Development
Practice,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sps
.mcnrc.org/pd-practice/
19. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: Northeastern
University,” (unpublished annual report, 2014).
20. Ibid.
21. Bret Eynon, Laura M. Gambino, and Judit Torok, “Connect to Learning: Using
e-Portfolios in Hybrid Professional Development,” To Improve the Academy 32 (2013): 109–126.
22. Angelo, “Doing Faculty Development.”
23. Stacy Provezis, “LaGuardia Community College: Weaving Assessment Into the
Institutional Fabric,” June 2012, http://www.learningoutcomeassessment.org/documents/
LaGuardiaCC.pdf, 7.
24. Kathleen Pusecker and Nancy O’Laughlin, “Connect to Learning Annual Report:
University of Delaware,” (annual report, 2014).
25. “Faculty Development via Reflective, Semi-Structured Interviews,” Catalyst for Learn-
ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://ud.mcnrc.org/ud-pd-practice/
26. Sherie McClam, “Faculty Development Offered With a Lot of ‘TLC’,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://mville.mcnrc.org/pd-
story/
27. Wach, “Faculty Development Practices.”
28. Pat Hutchings, Mary Taylor Huber, and Anthony Ciccone, The Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning Reconsidered: Institutional Integration and Impact (San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass: 2011).
29. Carol Rodgers, “Seeing Student Learning: Teacher Change and the Role of Reflec-
tion,” Harvard Educational Review 72, no. 2 (Summer 2001): 231.
30. Rodgers, “Seeing Student Learning,” 231.
31. Ibid, 231–232.
32. Pace University, “Professional Development Practice: ePortfolio Teaching Circles,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc
.org/pd-practice/
33. Catalyst for Learning, “Northwestern Connecticut Community College—Profes-
sional Development in Action—Building Opportunities for Habitual Reflective Practice,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l.mcnrc
.org/nccc-pd-story/

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 94 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

34. Laura M. Gambino, “Putting Students at the Center of Our Learning: Connecting
Assessment and Professional Development,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research, January 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc.org/pd-practice/
35. Alison Carson, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: Manhattanville College,”
(unpublished annual report, 2014).
36. Craig Kasprzak, “Advising With ePortfolio: Professional Development,” Catalyst
for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/pd-
practice-2/
37. Angelo, “Doing Faculty Development,” 225.

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 5
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one well, guided by integrative pedagogy and sustained professional devel-
opment, ePortfolio practice can deepen student learning. But ePortfolio
practice can also advance faculty and institutional learning, helping colleges
engage in iterative cycles of improvement. This chapter examines the ways high-
impact ePortfolio practice supports authentic assessment and helps build what we
will call “learning colleges.”
Focused on the Outcomes Assessment sector of the Catalyst Framework, this
chapter begins by setting the stage, contextualizing assessment in the currents of
change sweeping higher education and explaining what we mean by authentic
assessment and learning colleges. We then look at examples of effective ePortfolio-
based assessment practice, drawn from C2L campuses, that illuminate the power of
the Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration (I-R-I) design principles, and the ways these
principles can guide the development of meaningful assessment processes. Through-
out the chapter, in our Getting Started boxes, we discuss key steps campuses can take
to launch and sustain an effective ePortfolio-based assessment program.

95

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 96 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Outcomes assessment is, of course, a charged topic in higher education. Legisla-

tors, federal agencies, and accreditation bodies push colleges to assess and report on
the quality of the education they provide. Faculty often associate assessment with
standardized testing, something done for others that has no value for their own prac-
tice. But assessment can be entirely different; a meaningful way for educators to
deepen their understanding of their craft. High-impact ePortfolio practice can play
an important role in helping shift the ways educators approach assessment.
Based on national surveys, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assess-
ment (NILOA) released a report that pointed to significant progress on key mecha-
nisms of outcomes assessment: identification of outcomes, development of rubrics,
and communication of findings.1 The vital next step, NILOA found, is the need to
more effectively engage faculty in the assessment process:

First and foremost, attention needs to be directed to involving more faculty in

meaningful ways in collecting student learning outcomes data and using the results.
. . . Indeed, if there is one matter on which almost everyone agrees—administrators,
rank-and-file faculty members, and assessment scholars—it is that faculty involve-
ment is essential both to improve teaching and learning and to enhance institutional
effectiveness.2

ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment work can help colleges not only meet
accountability needs but also engage faculty and staff in powerful professional and
institutional learning processes. Using ePortfolio can help campuses ground assess-
ment in the authentic work of students. Examining student work in an ePortfolio
can help faculty and staff take part more fully in the assessment process, connect-
ing institutional learning outcomes to everyday practice and considering curricu-
lar (and co-curricular) improvements based on assessment findings. Done well,
ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment creates a transformative learning cycle,
spurring improvement for students, faculty, programs, and the entire institution.
Connecting ePortfolio to assessment is critical to realizing the full potential of high-
impact ePortfolio practice.

Accountability, Assessment, and Institutional Learning

At least since the 2005 Spellings Commission on the Future of Higher Education,3
outcomes assessment has been shadowed by debate over accountability. In higher edu-
cation, accountability involves the pressure put on colleges to prove they are effective.
According to the National Council of State Legislatures,

States are looking at ways to increase the efficiency and productivity of their postsec-
ondary institutions. . . . States are setting goals for higher education, creating metrics
to measure performance, and holding colleges and universities accountable for meet-
ing state goals. Some states are taking their accountability system a step further and
are awarding state higher education funding based on institutional performance.4

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 97

This pressure grew under President

Barack Obama. In July 2015 Secretary Getting Started
of Education Arne Duncan spoke about Seven Steps to Effective
the need to pay more deliberate and ePortfolio-Based Assessment
increased attention to accountability in 1. Identify outcomes: Develop
higher education. He argued that edu- clear, measurable outcomes at
cators should continue to “concentrate the course, program, or institu-
on boosting student success through tional level.
shared responsibility and accountabil- 2. Develop rubrics for each
ity for outcomes.”5 outcome: Create a set of criteria
Many accountability advocates call and levels of achievement for
for standardized national examinations each learning outcome.
3. Complete a curriculum map-
and so-called “institutional report cards”
ping process and organize
that require colleges to report on out- assignment design workshops:
comes such as graduation or job acqui- Identify which learning out-
sition. Assessment that focuses narrowly comes are assessed in each
on accountability is sometimes referred course and work with faculty to
to as assessment OF learning. Faculty design assignments that address
and staff who see assessment as a means those outcomes.
of satisfying accountability demands 4. Identify mechanisms and
often resist it, seeing no benefit to their structures for assessment:
everyday work with students. In part, as Consider who, what, where, and
a result, assessment remains a conflicted when in relation to assessment.
activity on some campuses. 5. Create a pilot process that
engages faculty and staff: Start
Other assessment leaders argue for
6 with a small group of interested
more authentic forms of assessment. participants.
Rather than focus on standardized 6. Showcase successes: Build
tests, this type of assessment practice broad understanding, accept-
engages faculty and staff in an exami- ance, and engagement by
nation of classroom-generated student sharing what you learn with
work in relation to institutional learn- others on campus.
ing outcomes. Faculty and staff can 7. Develop an assessment plan
then learn from this examination and and timeline: Create an assess-
consider the implications of the assess- ment plan that aligns with
ment for their own practice, making institutional goals and plans and
changes to improve student learning. share with campus stakeholders
to ensure buy-in.
We refer to this type of assessment as
assessment FOR learning.
Assessment for learning helps move institutional improvement to a more central
place in faculty and staff work. According to Linda Suskie, assessment for learning
“engage[s] faculty and staff, so the assessment becomes a useful part of the fabric of
campus life.”7 Done well, this type of assessment engages participants in a process of
Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration. There is a shift from thinking solely about “my
course” to considering how a course or program is situated in a larger institutional

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 98 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

context. As Peggy Maki explains, when “driven by internal curiosity about the nature
of our work, assessment becomes a core institutional process, embedded into defin-
able processes, decisions, structures, practices, forms of dialogue, channels of com-
munication, and rewards.”8
ePortfolio practice is an effective method for involving faculty and staff in assess-
ment for learning, and its use in such assessment is growing. A study showed that
the number of campuses using ePortfolio for programmatic and general education
assessment has exploded, more than tripling between 2009 and 2013.9 As Kuh and
colleagues wrote, “Portfolios are a form of authentic assessment that draw on the
work students do in regular course activities.”10
Moreover, because integrative ePortfolio pedagogy encourages deep learning
and holistic thinking, ePortfolios can offer richer artifacts for authentic assessment.
As Suskie notes, the combination of ePortfolio pedagogy and ePortfolio-based out-
comes assessment “encourages students, faculty, and staff to examine student learning
holistically—seeing how learning comes together—rather than through compart-
mentalized skills and knowledge.”11
Done well, ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment meets the needs of external
and internal stakeholders, complementing student success data with assessment evi-
dence grounded in authentic student work. It helps engage faculty and staff in the
assessment process, connecting institutional outcomes to classroom and co-curricular
practices. Guided by the I-R-I principles, ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment can
spur student, faculty, and institutional learning, helping colleges develop a culture of
learning and advance as learning organizations.

ePortfolio and the Learning College

The concepts of learning organizations, organizational learning, and learning cul-
tures are well documented in the research literature. Peter Senge discusses organi-
zational learning, identifying the need to make learning a social process integrated
into institutional culture.12 Organizational learning, according to Argyris and Schön,
takes place when members of an organization act for it and learn for it, pursuing an
inquiry process that leads to organizational knowledge. That learning and knowledge
then become part of the organization’s culture.13
How does this concept of a learning organization translate to higher education? In
a learning college, student learning has to be the central, enduring focus of attention;
yet, students are not the only ones who learn. Faculty, staff, and executive leadership
are also learners, engaging in an ongoing examination of what can be done to advance
student learning and success. According to Central Piedmont Community College,

A learning college places learning first and provides educational experiences for
learners any way, anywhere, anytime. Its mission is not instruction, but to pro-
duce learning with every student by whatever means work best. The college itself is
a learner, continuously learning how to produce more learning with each entering
student.14

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 99

In a learning college, student learn-

ing is the subject for recursive cycles Getting Started
of Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration Step 1: Identify Outcomes
at the student, faculty, program, and The first step toward building
institutional levels. This ongoing pro- an ePortfolio-based assessment
cess creates a culture of learning. High- process is to identify at what
impact ePortfolio practice can play a level you will conduct your initial
key role in supporting this process. It assessment—course, program,
can help colleges become more agile or institutional—and the out-
learning organizations, better able to comes you will assess.
Campuses often build an
navigate today’s changing higher edu-
ePortfolio-based assessment
cation landscape. structure by beginning at the
To become true learning organi- individual course level, using
zations, colleges must focus outcomes Inquiry, Reflection, and Integra-
assessment on authentic student work, tion processes to identify curricu-
connected to real classroom and co- lar needs in classroom teaching
curricular activity. ePortfolio practice and learning practices. ePortfolio
helps campuses collect and organize and assessment leaders then
student work for general education and look for opportunities to con-
programmatic competencies. Review- nect these course-level efforts
ing student ePortfolios, faculty and to broader program or general
staff can more easily make concrete rec- education outcomes assessment
efforts.
ommendations to improve curriculum
Other institutions begin work
and pedagogy. This makes it easier to at the program or major level,
close the loop and implement changes engaging small groups of faculty
that improve student learning. As these and staff in assessment using
processes are woven into the fabric of program-level outcomes. Many
an organizational culture, institutions of these schools also incorporate
move toward becoming true learning development or collection of stu-
colleges. dent ePortfolios for assessment
in a capstone course.
Challenges of an ePortfolio-Based Some schools begin with
assessment of institution-level
Assessment Structure
student learning outcomes.
Developing an ePortfolio-based assess- Getting started at the institution
ment process can be challenging. In the level can be challenging. In this
Getting Started boxes throughout the case, we recommend assembling
chapter, we share a set of strategies that a small group of participants to
will help campus leaders get started on begin working with and scaling
the path to effective ePortfolio-based up assessment efforts over time.
No matter which option you
outcomes assessment.
begin with, you will want to
Using authentic student work in
ensure that learning outcomes
assessment creates opportunities to see are clear and measurable.
inside courses and programs and to

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 100 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

look closely at student learning. Although valuable in many ways, this experience can
be uncomfortable for faculty used to working in isolation. It is important to acknowl-
edge concerns and build in time and space—through professional development and
other opportunities—to help faculty and staff see the value in this work for their own
teaching and learning practices.
Overcoming faculty and staff resistance to assessment doesn’t happen overnight.
Creating a meaningful assessment process takes time—time to build the mechanisms;
engage student, faculty, and staff in assessment activities; and integrate improvements.
There is much work involved as well. Assessing portfolios, reflecting, and designing
recommendations takes effort. College leaders must value the time and effort required
to do authentic assessment and close the loop.
Effective assessment requires a whole college effort. It cannot be relegated to a
single assessment leader or small group of faculty. ePortfolio-based outcomes assess-
ment, when done well, engages all areas of an institution, connecting faculty and staff
across disciplines and departments; it encompasses curricular and co-curricular stu-
dent learning experiences and connects academic affairs, student affairs, Centers for
Teaching and Learning, and institutional research in a sustained conversation about
learning. To manage this requires careful attention as well as ongoing connection and
coordination between campus ePortfolio and assessment leaders.

ePortfolio-Based Outcomes Assessment and Learning

Most campuses in the Connect to Learning project used ePortfolio to integrate the
review of authentic student work into outcomes assessment. Some focused on assess-
ment of particular programs, others on general education. On some C2L campuses,
this work was in a rudimentary stage; on others, it was advanced, attracting support
from administrators along with participation from key faculty and program leaders.
We found that the C2L campuses doing the most effective assessment work used the
following practices that embodied the design principles of Inquiry, Reflection, and
Integration:

• Framing assessment as an inquiry into student learning highlights its scholarly

nature, making it more engaging and rewarding.
• Incorporating reflection helps transform assessment into an individual
and collective learning opportunity and moves the focus from findings to
recommendations for change.
• In an assessment context, integration involves closing the loop, applying the
recommendations emerging from reflective assessment to the active processes
of changing pedagogy and practice, curriculum, and even institutional
structure.

If we think of assessment as an ongoing cycle, these three principles align with a

cyclical assessment process of gathering and evaluating data, recommending action,

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 101

Figure 5.1. LaGuardia Community College’s Core Competency Assessment Cycle.

Source. Reprinted with permission of LaGuardia Community College (CUNY).

and implementing changes based on evaluation findings (see Figure 5.1). Let’s more
closely examine the ways inquiry, reflection, and integration support the assessment
cycle, looking at practices from some of the C2L schools.

Inquiry
Inquiry is central to effective, learning-focused outcomes assessment implementation.
Assessing for learning, according to Maki, “is a systematic and systemic process of
inquiry into what and how well students learn over the progression of their studies and
is driven by intellectual curiosity about the efficacy of collective educational practices.”15
On C2L campuses where ePortfolio-based assessment is well established, assess-
ment is understood as a structured inquiry process, focused on questions related to
student learning and improvement. Assessment leaders engage faculty in an inquiry
process, based on evaluating student work. The ePortfolio functions as the vehicle to
provide access to specific artifacts of student work; in some cases, the ePortfolio itself
serves as evidence for evaluation. Groups of faculty and staff examine and score student
work in relation to either program or institutional outcomes using assessment rubrics.
The C2L network offers multiple examples of this inquiry process. At Boston
University, ePortfolio-based assessment takes place in the College of General Studies,

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 102 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

a two-year program. Using ePortfolio

Getting Started to gather student work, college lead-
Step 2: Develop Rubrics for ers launched an assessment process to
Each Outcome evaluate how well students achieved
To effectively assess student program outcomes. The university’s
learning, most institutions cre- C2L team worked with a small group
ate rubrics for their learning of faculty in an inquiry process: “The
outcomes. Some schools use assessment committee in charge of this
the Association of American project, made up of 11 faculty mem-
Colleges & Universities VALUE bers, met once a month for a year to
Rubrics, others modify those
assess student ePortfolios as a group.”16
rubrics, and some develop their
own rubrics.
As part of an ongoing process, faculty
Rubrics are most effective when members now assess student ePortfolios
they are clear, concise, and easy each summer.
to use. The best rubrics are devel- Similarly, in the nursing program
oped through iterative processes at Three Rivers Community College,
of development and testing ePortfolio practice is integrated across
against authentic student work. the curriculum, helping students artic-
ulate and illustrate their development
as twenty-first-century nursing pro-
fessionals. Using these rich portfolios, faculty and staff analyze student work using
standardized rubrics to measure attainment of program outcomes as well as qualita-
tive statement analysis. Data are shared, reviewed, and discussed at faculty retreats.17
At IUPUI, “most, if not all, of the approximately 40 programs that have adopted
ePortfolio are making some use of it for assessment,” using rubrics and practices
calibrated to programmatic needs.18 IUPUI’s C2L team notes that assessment is con-
ceptualized as “a faculty-led inquiry into student learning. . . . A key value that ePort-
folios add to common practice is that they can support nuanced understandings of
strengths and areas for improvement.”19
LaGuardia uses ePortfolio-based artifacts for assessment of college-wide general
education and its majors. LaGuardia has collected more than 130,000 artifacts of
student learning, which are sampled and examined against rubrics by faculty teams
that identify recommendations and action plans for improvement. In the assessment
process, faculty explore key questions such as, “What do we want students to learn,
why, and how can we measure that learning?” The philosophy for outcomes assess-
ment at the college is one of “appreciative inquiry” that asks the questions, “What do
you do well? What can you do better?”20
At Guttman Community College, where ePortfolio is used with all students
across their curricular and co-curricular experiences, all faculty and staff take part
in mid- and end-of-semester Assessment Days, built into the academic calendar. On
these days, faculty and staff use ePortfolios to assess the Guttman Learning Outcomes
(GLOs), following a systematic, intentional inquiry and reflection process: “Our
Assessment Days provide the community ample opportunities to use ePortfolio-based

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 103

outcomes assessment as a point of inquiry

for asking the larger questions about stu- Getting Started
dent learning.”21 Step 3: Complete a Curriculum
On all these campuses, framing assess- Mapping Process and Organize
Assignment Design Workshops
ment as an inquiry into student learning
and then using ePortfolios to examine If you are assessing program
authentic student work creates an engag- or institutional learning out-
ing environment for faculty and staff. This comes, creating a curriculum
process connects institutional assessment map is a key step for align-
to everyday classroom and co-curricular ing courses and artifacts with
learning outcomes. A curricu-
practices and sets the stage for the reflec-
lum map is a matrix that identi-
tion phase of the assessment cycle. fies the learning outcomes that
are assessed in each course
Reflection in a program or major. Some
institutions identify the particu-
Once faculty have analyzed student lar assignment that aligns with
work for evidence of learning, they turn the outcomes identified for
to interpretation. Reflection is critical each course.
in this process, helping faculty to make Once the mapping process is
meaning from their findings and iden- complete, organize assignment
tify recommendations for curricular and design workshops. These work-
pedagogical change. The reflection phase shops can help faculty and staff
develop and revise assignments
of ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment
to address the outcomes identi-
spurs faculty and campuses to move
fied in the curriculum map.
beyond accountability, deeply reviewing Led by Pat Hutchings, NILOA
assessment findings and their implica- has developed an assignment
tions. Reflection on evidence and findings design charrette workshop
can help transform outcomes assessment model22 that can be useful for
into professional and institutional learn- this effort. Charrettes provide a
ing, and support change in practice at structure that is collaborative
multiple levels. and reflective, with opportuni-
Following Rodgers’ framework, we ties for participants to discuss
find reflection conducted in the assess- and receive constructive feed-
ment cycle is systematic and disciplined, back on their assignments.
carefully scaffolded, and takes place on a
regular basis at the course, program, and
institutional levels.23 We also see campuses reflecting in community, as groups of fac-
ulty, staff, and administrators join in a collective conversation. When fully realized,
the process embodies an attitude toward change, often generating organized efforts
to implement new curricula and pedagogy.
At Guttman, every Assessment Day includes time for reflective conversation.
Based on data and observations from the ePortfolio assessment, faculty and staff dis-
cuss strengths and areas for improvement. GLO assessment teams, subsets of the

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 104 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education

Terry Rhodes, AAC&U
One of the most widely examined and used assessment instruments in
the United States currently is the Valid Assessment of Learning in Under-
graduate Education (VALUE) rubrics. As the Spellings Commission called
for educational accountability and generated resistance from multiple
higher education organizations and institutions, the AAC&U received a
grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education to
create the VALUE rubrics as an alternative to standardized tests.24
Available for free download at www.aacu.org/value-rubrics, the 16
VALUE rubrics address key competencies for higher learning, including
Inquiry and Analysis, Creative Thinking, Written Communication, Quan-
titative Literacy, Problem Solving, Civic Engagement, Global Learning,
and Integrative Learning.
The rubrics were created by teams of multidisciplinary faculty from
a wide array of institutional types, tested through three rounds of
campus-based faculty assessing their own students’ authentic work,
revised based on the feedback, and finally released in fall 2009.
The VALUE rubrics were premised on the following five primary
suppositions:

1. Faculty (absent in the focus of the Spellings report) share expertise

and a broadly based consensus on the key components of learning
outcomes for undergraduate students essential for success as civically
engaged, global citizens and productive contributors to the economy;
2. Learning is enhanced when faculty articulate for themselves and
their students their expectations for learning on all the shared out-
comes, such as with rubrics and performance descriptors;
3. Learning is not something that occurs once and is done but rather
is an iterative and progressively more complex process that occurs
over time and in multiple instances;
4. The best demonstration of student learning is most likely to occur
in response to assignments from faculty in the student’s formal cur-
riculum and co-curriculum; and
5. Assessment is about formative improvement for learning, which,
when done well, also can provide necessary evidence for summa-
tive accountability purposes without additional testing or work for
students or faculty.
Since their release in the fall of 2009, the rubrics have gained wide
campus use.  As of December 2015, the rubrics have been accessed by
more than 42,000 individuals from more than 4,200 unique institutions,
including more than 2,800 colleges and universities.
AAC&U is now engaged in a new phase of the VALUE initiative. With
support from major foundations, AAC&U is strengthening the psychomet-
ric reliability of the rubrics and partnering with state education systems to
advance comprehensive use of the VALUE rubrics in authentic assessment.

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 105

larger group, are then responsible for harvesting that conversation and creating rec-
ommendations for improvement.25
Similarly, Northeastern University faculty in the Graduate School of Educa-
tion held an all-day reflective retreat to discuss the ePortfolios they assessed. This
became an opportunity for faculty to express concerns about what they observed in
the portfolios, specifically discussing “observations that could not be gleaned from
the demographic data typically gathered about students.”26 They wrestled with the
implications of their findings in relation to the following questions:

Did we need to reconsider program admittance and/or realign the curriculum to

the needs of pre-professional students? Were we missing the mark in achieving inte-
grated program learning outcomes? Was there a problem with the ePortfolio require-
ment implementation? The consensus was that it was a combination of all three, and
this informed subsequent reformulation of the program.27

This reflective retreat gave faculty the

time and space to consider what they
learned from their ePortfolio review and Getting Started
identify next steps for their collective Step 4: Identify the Mechanisms
work in the program. and Structures for Assessment
LaGuardia engages faculty in Before conducting any sort
annual collegewide Benchmark Read- of assessment, ePortfolio and
ings for general education and organizes assessment leaders must work
majors into sustained three-year conver- together to identify the mecha-
sations for Periodic Program Reviews. nisms for gathering ePortfolios
Both processes build in reflection: and distributing them to faculty
faculty “examine artifacts of learning, and staff conducting the assess-
ment. Many ePortfolio platforms
reflect on the teaching and learning pro-
have assessment systems that
cess, and consider changes in pedagogy automate this process and help
and curriculum needed to close the gap faculty access rubrics as well.
between what students already know It is always helpful to think
and what they need to learn.”28 about the who, what, where,
The assessment committee at BU’s and when questions in relation
College of General Studies reflects as a to assessment. Will faculty and
community on its assessment data. They staff be doing this outside their
discuss how to interpret these data and everyday responsibilities? If so,
translate the information into improve- how will that work be recognized
ments in the program.29 They have also by the institution?
considered their student learning find- Thinking through the steps of
the assessment process will help
ings in relation to other national studies
eliminate potential roadblocks.
of student performance.30 Addressing potential questions
As shown by these C2L examples, ahead of time will also result in
ePortfolio-based assessment processes smoother implementation.
incorporate reflection and encourage

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 106 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

grounded, collective conversation

Getting Started about student learning. As faculty and
Step 5: Create a Pilot Process That staff consider the implications of assess-
Engages Faculty and Staff ment findings and recommend specific
Many schools introduce curricular and co-curricular changes,
ePortfolio-based outcomes assess- the process supports individual and
ment as a pilot activity. Pilots build institutional learning and change.
experience with the use of ePortfo-
lio in a holistic assessment process, Integration
demonstrating the effectiveness of
the process before systematizing The integration and application of
a long-term implementation plan. new understandings emerging from
Are programs interested in assess- inquiry and reflection advances the
ment or ePortfolio or both? Schools assessment cycle. In outcomes assess-
often begin with programs that ment, integration is associated with
already use assessment as part of closing the loop, taking action based
an external accreditation process, on evidence-based recommendations.
such as allied health, business, Designing and implementing new
or engineering, as they are more
curricula or pedagogical strategies to
familiar with assessment activities.
improve student learning is central
It’s important for leaders to
consider how the I-R-I design prin- to assessment that emphasizes inte-
ciples help systematize a learning- gration. Integration can also require
based practice and develop a addressing institutional structure,
process to steps that involve campus leaders,
budgets, and governance. Assessment
• bring faculty together to exam- that emphasizes integration is part of
ine ePortfolios, a continual process of institutional
• reflect in community about improvement.
what they learned, Across the country, most out-
• recommend curricular comes assessment programs fall short
improvements, and of closing the loop, failing to turn
• integrate those assessment findings into effective edu-
recommendations into practice.
cational change. In 2009, Trudy Banta
examined the assessment programs of
This process can prepare the
150 colleges and found that only 6%
ePortfolio team and other key
provided evidence that their processes
stakeholders for scaling up your
campus assessment work as out- advanced student learning.31 On C2L
lined in Steps 6 and 7. campuses where ePortfolio practice
was done well, we found a number of
campuses successfully taking this step.
On some C2L campuses, the most fully realized assessment work tends to take
place in a specific major. At Three Rivers Community College, the nursing program
integrated ePortfolio practice into its curriculum and its assessment process. “Exam-
ining students’ artifacts, reflections and ePortfolio designs, we found validation for

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 107

our work—but also surprises,” the C2L team

wrote. “This important process added life and Getting Started
meaning to student learning and engaged fac- Step 6: Showcase
ulty in the effort to deepen our curriculum Successes
and our teaching.”32 They go on to tell us that What did you learn from
your pilot? Did faculty and
Our outcomes assessment process integrated staff make improvements to
General Education Core Values and pro- their courses or programs
gram outcomes. Using rubrics calibrated based on assessment data?
to our scaffolded assignments, we reviewed Showcasing successes and
student work, assessing for critical thinking, sharing what was learned
information literacy, communication, profes- is a key step in building
sionalism, reflective and integrative learning. acceptance and support.
This inquiry process supported faculty reflec- Encourage pilot partici-
tion that highlighted areas where change was pants to remain involved
needed, and development of integrative action in the assessment process,
plans. In one semester, for example, when helping to define an assess-
we assessed the process recordings stored in ment plan and to lead and
student ePortfolios, we found the scores did engage their colleagues.
not reach therapeutic communication levels.
Meanwhile, in student reflections, we found
that students had expressed discomfort with patient communication. Reflect-
ing on these findings, we decided that students needed additional experiences to
develop their communication skills. To “close the loop,” we implemented a set of
interventions: faculty development related to process recordings; student exercises in
class; and the development of a new clinical experience in a senior center. Similarly,
information literacy reviews led us to generate an online module for constructing
annotated bibliographies.33

Northeastern University’s graduate education faculty engaged in a similar process.

Focusing on their master’s program, they moved from examining student ePortfolios
and reflecting on the implications to taking integrative action. According to Gail
Matthews-DeNatale, faculty engaged in comprehensive curriculum redesign and
“transformed the program from a collection of courses into an intentionally designed
learning experience. Features of the new program include: co-designed cognitive
apprenticeship, orientation to the professional context, integrated opportunities for
connected experiential learning, variation nested within continuity, and looking back
to look ahead.” The impact on curriculum integration was particularly striking:

The first three to four courses in each concentration have been co-designed by fac-
ulty as an integrated suite that takes students through a ‘cognitive apprenticeship’ in
the skills, understandings, and capabilities of professionals within the field. They are
designed to foster connected learning, in which each course builds upon and com-
plements the rest, and the faculty have a clear understanding of how “their” courses
intersect with and reinforce other courses in the program.34

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 108 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Engaged in a similar process on a college-wide scale, LaGuardia was recently com-

mended by the Middle States Commission for Higher Education for its exemplary
outcomes assessment process that closed the loop:

As the faculty in a major complete their PPR [Periodic Program Review] Report,
they can apply for an ePortfolio/Assessment Mini-Grant to help them implement
their own recommendations for program-wide pedagogical and curricular improve-
ment. The Mini-Grants are often used to support curricular change and faculty
development, refining and implementing pedagogies and assignments that build
students’ General Education Core Competencies.35

LaGuardia’s outcomes assessment team provided multiple examples of how mini

grants support closing the loop, such as this from the business department:

When Business Administration and the Business Management programs assessed

student work around the general education oral communication competency in
2010, they found that students did not perform well. Using a Mini-Grant, they
partnered with faculty from Communication Studies to revise the Introduction to
Business courses to address oral communication skills. Students gave an initial oral
presentation, which was taped and deposited into the ePortfolio. Then, a faculty
member from Communications Studies did a one-hour intervention about how
to conduct more effective presentations. Students reviewed their presentations and
redid them taping them a second time for a pre/post comparison. 60% of students
showed improvement on oral communication, and overall scores improved from
3.05 to 3.675. As a result, this intervention is mandated in all Introduction to Busi-
ness courses, and the program plans to extend it to other courses as well, making it a
more sustained and scaffolded effort. Other Business-related programs are learning
from their efforts and making efforts to include more oral communications assign-
ments in their business-specific courses.36

In spring 2013, LaGuardia’s assessment leaders took another step toward greater
transparency and shared learning. At a college-wide faculty meeting, six programs
that had recently completed ePortfolio-based PPRs reported on their work, shar-
ing findings, recommendations, and action plans. This public discussion of concrete
examples of closing the loop is another key step in the ongoing efforts to cultivate a
culture of learning at LaGuardia.
At Boston University, faculty and staff engage in the reflection process with their
faculty and identified areas of improvement specifically related to the College of Gen-
eral Studies’ quantitative reasoning outcome. Based on their findings, they refined the
curriculum to more intentionally integrate quantitative reasoning in courses across
the program (see Figure 5.2).37 Taking the lessons learned from this assessment pro-
cess one step further, ePortfolio leaders at BU now have an assessment framework
that can be applied to other curricular and co-curricular programs.
As these examples illustrate, C2L teams that have been most successful at imple-
menting ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment build the I-R-I design principles into

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 109

Figure 5.2. Boston University’s College of General Studies Assessment Results.

4

3.5
2.93 2.88 2.92 2.89
3 2.83 2.8
2.5
2.5 2.23 2.32 2.34
Rubric Score

2.27 2.29 2.22

2 Term 1
2
Term 4
1.5

0.5

0
Written & Oral Communication

Analyzing & Documenting Information

Awareness of Historic & Cultural Contexts

Awareness of Rhetorical & Aesthetic

Critical Thinking & Perspective Taking

Integrative & Applied Learning

Quantitative Methods
Conventions

Source. Results from Boston University’s ePortfolio assessment comparing first-semester student work with fourth-
semester student work. Reprinted with permission of Boston University.

specific campus practices. The employment of these strategies as part of an integra-

tive, high-impact ePortfolio practice spurs institutional change, leading to a culture
of institutional learning grounded in authentic student work.

Connections to the Catalyst Framework

The power of the Catalyst Framework emerges from the interconnection of the five
sectors, as well as the I-R-I principles. On its own, ePortfolio-based outcomes assess-
ment has value. Connections to other Framework sectors can enhance the power of
assessment to inform student, faculty, and institutional learning, helping institutions
become adaptive learning organizations.

Pedagogy
Used with the I-R-I design principles, ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment enables
faculty and staff to identify and implement recommendations for curricular and ped-
agogical improvements. Often these recommendations encourage the use of integra-
tive, reflective, and social pedagogies to deepen student learning. Using ePortfolio in

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 110 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Transforming Teaching Culture With Integrative Outcomes Assessment

Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Northeastern University
ePortfolios provide a window into student meaning-making and self-
perception. Viewed as a whole, an ePortfolio is a construct of identity
created by the student. Viewed as a collection, ePortfolios depict a
community of learners, making it possible to spot patterns that are not
readily apparent in enrollment statistics.
This process of discernment is best positioned as an evidence-
informed conversation among students, faculty, and administrators
about the impact of program design on learner growth, and about
opportunities for improvement (assessment for learning as opposed to
assessment of learning). The conversation is intentional and leads to
decisions about next steps, but it is also an ongoing process and not a
one-time evaluative task.
This is the philosophy that informed the master of education pro-
gram’s process for curriculum revision in 2011. We kicked off the rede-
sign with a faculty retreat. Prior to that gathering each person was given
a set of ePortfolios for review. The inquiry prompt for discussion was
simple: What do you observe in the ePortfolios?
The faculty retreat provided an opportunity for community reflection.
There were many surprises. For example, our curriculum was designed
for education professionals who had at least several years of experience,
but many of our students were fresh out of college or career changers.
The content of some portfolios revealed deep misconceptions about
systems for education, and many were not presenting themselves in a
professional manner.
These insights increased our sense of direction and purpose as we
integrated recommendations from the retreat into the curriculum rede-
sign process. We created a mission statement and articulated outcomes,
the aspirations that we held for our students. We revised and developed
new courses designed to enculturate students into the profession of
education. Each course in the new curriculum includes one or two sig-
nature assignments, authentic work that maps to program outcomes.
Students incorporate these assignments into their ePortfolios, and the
eLearning and Instructional Design Program also requires its students
to include a final reflection for each course.
This program redesign process is in accordance with the Inquiry,
Reflection, and Integration design principles that are central to the learn-
ing of students, educators, and organizations. What can we learn from
a review of the ePortfolios generated by our students (inquiry)? What
insights do we gain from the review about the strengths and opportu-
nities for improvement in our work (reflection)? How can we leverage
those insights to improve our course, curriculum, program design, and
facilitation (integration)?

(Continues)

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 111

(Continued)

The revised curriculum launched in fall 2013. Students complete the

program in one to two years, and so we had our first in-depth review of
the postrevision ePortfolios in spring 2015.
We were happy to see that student portfolios from the revised cur-
riculum are more polished and represent a much deeper understand-
ing of education as a profession. However, we also noted that students
are still not making as many connections across courses as we would
like. Following the meeting we revised the capstone course to guide
students through an intentional process of mining their ePortfolios to
look for connections across coursework. The signature assignment for
that class is to author an integrative professional portfolio, a showcase
site for public readership that makes explicit connections between the
author’s strengths in life, learning, and work.
There is an energy and excitement to doing something new. However,
provisions must be made to engage newcomers, people who weren’t
there when the innovations were instigated. Dialogue about the pur-
pose of ePortfolio also needs to be shared and ongoing, or over time the
I-R-I process can be perceived as top-down and routinized.
For example, during a review, faculty found it more difficult to assess
program impact when students’ signature work was not accompanied
by reflection. The master’s program includes four concentrations; some
stress reflection more than others. The review discoveries sparked a dis-
cussion about the value of embedding reflection in all ePortfolio work,
such as prompting students to reflect on curricular connections and
their development in relation to program outcomes.
If the assessment conversation is grounded in inquiry, in genuine curi-
osity, then gaps can be perceived as opportunities instead of failures.
Insights, however challenging, are an opportunity to take programs to
the next level of excellence, with the shared goal of invigorated learning.

the assessment process can also allow faculty and staff to see models of these practices
in action.
Ironically, the twin power of ePortfolio pedagogy and assessment can create
a dilemma for campus ePortfolio leaders. Is it better to focus first on working to
integrate ePortfolio pedagogy into courses and programs? Or is it better to have
assessment drive the ePortfolio initiative, hoping that it will, in turn, spur interest in
pedagogy? Is it possible to tackle both at once?
There is no one right answer to such questions. The decision will depend on a
number of factors related to institutional situation and context. From our work with
C2L campuses, we’ve seen that any of these approaches can be successful.
Some schools begin their ePortfolio work focused on reflection, integrative learn-
ing, and student success and introduce ePortfolio-based assessment later. LaGuardia’s
ePortfolio team emphasized pedagogy first and began with assessment after several years.

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 112 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

As they did so, they were able to draw on

Getting Started the expertise and the faculty leadership
Step 7: Develop an Assessment developed in the earlier phases.38
Plan and Timeline In contrast, Salt Lake Community
As you scale up your assess- College’s ePortfolio work began with an
ment work, you will need a plan institutional mandate to use it for gen-
and timeline to guide the assess- eral education assessment. ePortfolio
ment process. A plan should and assessment leaders focused initially
consider details such as overall on having students use the ePortfolio to
goals, stakeholder expecta- document their learning in their gen-
tions, necessary resources, and
eral education courses. Once that pro-
training and support structures.
Additionally, outline the steps
cess was established, ePortfolio leaders
of the assessment process and began working with faculty to under-
the ways results will be used to stand the ways ePortfolio pedagogy
guide change and improvement. could enhance student learning.39
It will be helpful to engage
key stakeholders in the develop- Professional Development
ment of the assessment plan to
Professional development is critical to the
get their buy-in before sharing it
institution-wide. Some schools success of an ePortfolio-based outcomes
use their governance structures assessment process. Assessment activities
for formal endorsement of the can be a professional learning process in
assessment plan. Other cam- and of themselves, particularly when fac-
puses build assessment activi- ulty and staff come together to reflect on
ties into the college’s strategic their review of student portfolios. But,
planning process, signifying professional development is also critically
institutional recognition of the important to the integration phase of the
importance of assessment. assessment cycle. Professional develop-
Whether or not you use either of ment can help faculty and staff to close
these routes, having a plan and
the loop and integrate course, curricular,
sharing it broadly will help sup-
and co-curricular improvements. Pro-
port the series of steps needed to
scale up a high-impact ePortfolio- fessional development workshops such
based assessment initiative. as assignment design charrettes can also
help faculty and staff improve assign-
ments and activities, making outcomes
more transparent to students.40 As discussed in Chapter 4, using ePortfolio in the pro-
fessional development process can model pedagogies that enhance student learning and
support an effective outcomes assessment process.

Technology
ePortfolio-based assessment is difficult without an effective ePortfolio platform.
Highly functional ePortfolio technology not only provides the space for students to
connect, reflect, and self-assess on their “whole” student learning experience but also
serves as a vehicle for faculty and staff to evaluate student work. Many ePortfolio

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 113

platforms also provide the technological mechanisms to organize ePortfolios for

assessment, distribute those portfolios to assessment participants, and facilitate data
tracking. Assessment leaders can then use the ePortfolio platform to analyze assess-
ment data.

Scaling Up
Institutional stakeholders are much more likely to endorse an ePortfolio project if it
supports effective outcomes assessment, in part because of growing pressures around
accreditation. But assessment also supports other aspects of Scaling Up. Effective
assessment processes involve the whole college, encouraging cross-campus connec-
tions. ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment can generate collective conversation
about learning, helping faculty and staff break out of traditional siloes. And suc-
cessful assessment processes can encourage additional faculty, majors, and programs
to adopt ePortfolio practice, adding breadth to campus ePortfolio use. Using stu-
dent ePortfolios in the assessment process makes learning visible across campus
boundaries, builds connections among different areas, and supports shared attention
to changes that improve student learning.

Conclusion
C2L findings highlight the important role ePortfolio practice can play in outcomes
assessment at the course, program, and institutional level. ePortfolio practice not only
offers students the ability to integrate disparate student learning experiences but also
provides an institution with a holistic picture of the ways learning takes place across
the different sectors of their college. Our findings suggest that ePortfolio’s capacity
to make student learning visible can play a major role in facilitating authentic assess-
ment. Used in conjunction with an I-R-I framework, effective ePortfolio-based out-
comes assessment has the potential to spur learning and improvement at the course,
program, and institutional levels, enabling campuses to move beyond accountability
as they focus on becoming learning colleges.

Notes
1. George D. Kuh, Natasha Jankowski, Stanley O. Ikenberry, and Jillian Kinzie, Know-
ing What Students Know and Can Do: The Current State of Student Learning Outcomes Assess-
ment in U.S. Colleges and Universities (Bloomington, IN: National Institute for Learning
Outcomes Assessment, 2014).
2. Kuh et al., Knowing What Students Know and Can Do, 34.
3. Margaret Spellings, A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education.
(Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education, 2006), http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/
list/hiedfuture/reports/final-report.pdf
4. Brenda Bautsch, “Higher Education Accountability: Briefing Document Prepared
for the California Legislature,” December 3, 2012, http://www.ncsl.org/documents/educ/
AccountabilityBrief.pdf

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 114 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

5. Arne Duncan, “Toward a New Focus on Outcomes in Higher Education” (speech,

University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Baltimore, Maryland, July 25, 2015). http://
www.ed.gov/news/speeches/toward-new-focus-outcomes-higher-education
6. Linda Suskie, Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass, 2009); Trudy W. Banta and Catherine A. Palomba, Assessment Essentials Plan-
ning, Implementing, and Improving Assessment in Higher Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
2015); Peggy L. Maki, Assessing for Learning (Sterling, VA, Stylus, 2010).
7. Suskie, Assessing Student Learning, 37.
8. Maki, Assessing for Learning, 29.
9. Kuh et al., Knowing What Students Know and Can Do.
10. George D. Kuh et al., Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve Higher Educa-
tion (San Francisco, Jossey-Bass, 2015), 36.
11. Suskie, Assessing Student Learning, 204.
12. Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organiza-
tion (New York: Doubleday/Currency), 1990.
13. Chris Argyris and Donald Schön, Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Per-
spective (Reading MA: Addison-Wesley, 1978).
14. Central Piedmont Community College, “About the Learning College,” accessed,
August 20, 2015, https://www.cpcc.edu/learningcollege/about-the-learning-college
15. Maki, Assessing for Learning, p. xix.
16. Natalie McKnight, John Regan, Amod Lele, and Gillian Pierce, “Assessing General
Education at Boston University’s College of General Studies,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://bu.mcnrc.org/bu-oa-story/
17. Lillian A. Rafeldt et al., “Reflection Builds 21st Century Professionals: ePortfolio and
Nursing Education at Three Rivers Community College,” Peer Review 16, no. 1 (Winter 2014).
18. Susan Scott and Susan Kahn, “Assessment Is Everyone’s Business,” Catalyst for Learn-
ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
19. Scott and Kahn, “Assessment Is Everyone’s Business.”
20. Howard Wach, “The Story of a Learning College: The Evolution of Outcomes
Assessment at LaGuardia,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25,
2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
21. Laura M. Gambino, Chet Jordan, and Nate Mickelson, “Outcomes Assessment:
Making Student Learning Visible,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
22. Pat Hutchings, Natasha A. Jankowski, and Peter T. Ewell, Catalyzing Assignment Design
Activity on Your Campus: Lessons from NILOA’s Assignment Library Initiative (Urbana, IL: Uni-
versity of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment
[NILOA], 2014). http://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/documents/Assignment_
report_Nov.pdf
23. Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective
Thinking,’ Teachers College Record ,104, no. 4 (June 2002): 842–866.
24. Margaret Spellings, A Test of Leadership.
25. Gambino et al., “Outcomes Assessment.”
26. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Are We Who We Think We Are?” Catalyst for Learning:
ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
27. Matthews-DeNatale, “Are We Who We Think We Are?”
28. Wach, “The Story of a Learning College.”

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 OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT THAT CLOSES THE LOOP 115

29. McKnight et al., “Assessing General Education.”

30. Ashley Finley, Making Progress? What We Know About the Achievement of Liberal
Education Outcomes (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities,
2012).
31. Trudy Banta, Designing Effective Assessment: Principles and Profiles of Good Practice
(San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2009).
32. Lillian A. Rafeldt, Heather Jane Bader, Nancy Lesnick Czarzasty, Ellen Freeman,
Edith Ouellet, and Judith M. Snayd, “Reflection Builds 21st Century Professionals: ePort-
folio and Nursing Education at Three Rivers Community College,” Peer Review, 16, no. 1
(Winter 2014).
33. Ibid.
34. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Are We Who We Think We Are? ePortfolios as a Tool
for Curricular Re-design,” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 17, no. 4 (2014): 10.
35. Wach, “The Story of a Learning College.”
36. Paul Arcario, Bret Eynon, Marisa Klages, and Bernard A. Polnariev, “Closing the
Loop: How We Better Serve Our Students Through a Comprehensive Assessment Process,”
Metropolitan Universities Journal 24, no. 2 (2013): 21–37.
37. McKnight et al., “Assessing General Education.”
38. Wach, “The Story of a Learning College.”
39. David Hubert, “Assessing General Education Outcomes With ePortfolios at SLCC,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://slcc.mcnrc
.org/oa-story/
40. Hutchings et al., Catalyzing Assignment Design Activity.

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 6
T H E “e” I N e P O RT F O L I O
ePortfolio as Digital Technology

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“W
hat ePortfolio platform will be best for our campus?” This question
inevitably arises at regional and national ePortfolio-related events.
Beneath this seemingly simple question, however, lays a range of
complex questions, such as, “What features of a platform are most important in
supporting high-impact ePortfolio practice? How is ePortfolio technology different
from other educational technologies, such as learning management systems? What’s
a smart process for selecting a platform and engaging students and faculty with its
use?” This chapter explores such questions and clarifies the ways the Technology sec-
tor connects to the other sectors of the Catalyst Framework.
ePortfolio platforms are not new to higher education. Emerging in the late
1990s, ePortfolio platforms have since become more sophisticated with the inte-
gration of Web 2.0 functionality and are now easier for students and faculty to use.
Our understanding of ePortfolios’ role and purpose has also become more sophis-
ticated. But even in those early days, some saw that their potential went beyond a

116

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 117

simple digital storage device. As Trent Batson wrote, “[ePortfolio is] not a simple
add-on to existing courses; if it is, students may not see the value. Indeed, if ePort-
folio tools become just a simpler way to log student work, we’ve missed the boat.”1
Most experienced ePortfolio users now understand ePortfolio as much more
than a technology add-on. We have a much clearer sense of ePortfolio’s potential
in terms of improving student, faculty, and institutional learning. As Randy Bass
argued, “ePortfolios are at heart a set of pedagogies and practices that link learners to
learning, curriculum to the co-curriculum, and courses and programs to institutional
outcomes.”2 Because of these linkages, ePortfolio technology is not a “plug and play
solution” but one that requires collaborative planning.3
Although an effective ePortfolio project takes more than a platform, there are
specific ways the technology shapes high-impact ePortfolio practice. How does an
ePortfolio platform help engage students with Bass’ set of interconnected pedago-
gies and practices to demonstrate a full range of contextualized, connected learn-
ing experiences? And how can it help them take ownership of their learning and
develop richer conceptions of themselves as learners? In other words, what differ-
ence does the e make? We argue that the e in ePortfolio is vitally important to a
successful ePortfolio initiative and must be included as one of the five key sectors
of the Catalyst Framework. An awkward platform can frustrate users and stall an
ePortfolio initiative. Conversely, an effective platform helps students leverage many
elements of a high-impact ePortfolio practice. It does this in two salient ways.
First, effective ePortfolio technology helps make student learning visible. Mak-
ing learning visible to students themselves, ePortfolio platforms enable students to
reflect on and take ownership of their learning, becoming constructors of knowl-
edge and active agents of their learning experience. Meanwhile, ePortfolio technology
enhances faculty, staff, and institutional learning by making student learning visible
to the entire institution as well as to viewers outside the walls of the academy. Fami-
lies, external education providers, transfer institutions, and potential employers can
all examine parts or wholes of a student’s ePortfolio in order to better understand,
contextualize, validate, support, and build on the learning they see in a student’s
ePortfolio. As the boundaries of higher education become more permeable, this latter
capacity may take on new importance.
The second value of the e in ePortfolio technology is the way it creates a space
for students to make connections among their different learning experiences inside
and outside of classrooms. Most traditional demonstrations of learning focus on
isolated, course-level learning experiences. A student’s ePortfolio, on the other hand,
has the potential to exist outside a single course experience, spanning courses and
semesters. It can create a space for students to link academic and life experience and
shape new identities as learners. Having a sustained, holistic learning space makes it
easier for students to see and make connections among diverse learning experiences,
in and beyond the classroom. It helps students to more easily connect, reflect on, and
share diverse elements of their learning, bringing together curricular, co-curricular
and experiential learning across the breadth and depth of their academic experience.

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 118 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

ePortfolio practice engages a student’s learning over time across semesters, and
an ePortfolio platform must effectively facilitate this. It is this fundamental capacity
of ePortfolio technology that distinguishes it from a learning management system
(LMS). An LMS can help make learning visible for connection and interaction, but
it does so within the confines of a course. While connecting to courses, ePortfolios
live outside a course environment. They are student-centric rather than course-
centric; as such, they can span a student’s entire learning experience from entry
through graduation and beyond. This unique capability creates opportunities for
students to evaluate and connect their learning across course, co-curricular, and
lived experiences.
When these two capabilities—making learning visible and making connec-
tions—work in combination, students are able to see the ways they have grown and
changed over time as they progress to earning their degree. The co-joined ability of an
ePortfolio technology platform to make learning visible and serve as a comprehensive
and connective space for learning helps to make ePortfolio powerful and in some
ways unique in today’s higher education digital ecosystem.

The Evolution of ePortfolio Technology

Before we examine the ways ePortfolio technology supports high-impact ePortfolio
practice, it helps to briefly review the evolution of ePortfolio platforms. At the begin-
ning of this century, platforms provided basic functionality—the ability to upload,
reflect on, and organize artifacts of stu-
dent work. Many of these initial plat-
Getting Started
Five Steps for Making Your
forms also provided the ability to share
ePortfolio Platform Work ePortfolios with different audiences:
faculty, students, and external viewers.
If you’re launching an ePortfolio They were difficult to use, however, for
initiative, following are five early, students and faculty and offered little if
platform-related steps you can
any interactive capacity.
take that support a high-impact
ePortfolio practice:
As Web 2.0 functionality emerged,
ePortfolio vendors began to incorporate
1. Collaborate with stakeholders new features. In addition to upload-
to establish goals and needs. ing artifacts, students could create and
2. Design and configure your embed photos and videos. Enhanced
ePortfolio platform. formatting and customizing an ePort-
3. Conduct pilot testing; folio became more common; connec-
develop an implementation plan.
tions to social media tools and capacity
4. Offer professional develop-
ment that links technology and
for commenting slowly emerged. Many
pedagogy. ePortfolio vendors also integrated
5. Develop support structures for assessment management systems, pro-
students, faculty, and staff. viding a powerful combination for
institutions.

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 119

Aligning with new understandings of ePortfolio practice, today’s ePortfolio plat-

forms have growing capacity for customization and interaction along with the ability
to create multiple ePortfolios and to hide different sections of a portfolio. New assess-
ment management systems streamline and simplify outcomes assessment. Many plat-
forms integrate with LMSs or provide basic LMS capabilities. Some platforms can
also connect to institutional student information services and other digital systems,
although full integration with degree planning tools and other technology services is
still on the horizon.

Which Platform Should We Getting Started

Choose? Step 1: Collaborate With
Stakeholders to Establish
Selection of an ePortfolio platform must Goals and Needs
go beyond examination of technical
As you consider platform
specifications and involve faculty, staff,
options, do your best to establish
and students, as well as information
campus goals and needs for your
technology experts. Campuses must ePortfolio work. What are you
evaluate platforms in relation to their trying to accomplish? Who are
key pedagogical and learning priorities. the different users? What do you
No platform does everything well; the hope they’ll do?
challenge is to find an ePortfolio plat- You’ll need to get input from
form that balances a range of priorities. a broad range of stakeholders
To strike that balance, campuses with and potential users. It helps to
successful ePortfolio initiatives engage have a selection committee that
multiple stakeholders in a collaborative includes a range of perspectives,
process that considers campus goals for such as faculty, students, and
assessment leaders, as well as IT.
learning, teaching, and assessment as
Agreement with campus leaders
well as the overall campus technology
on a preliminary set of goals for
environment. ePortfolio is important.
A clear sense of goals and
Collaboration needs will help your campus
review the range of possible
The process of selecting an ePortfolio platforms. Develop criteria,
platform requires collaboration among share them with your review
an array of campus stakeholders, committee, and actively use
including key faculty and staff, assess- them in interviewing vendors
ment leaders, IT managers, and other and reviewing platforms. You
campus administrators. Reports from won’t find any one platform that
C2L campuses suggest that a collabora- does everything well. But your
tive process for selecting an ePortfolio chances of getting a platform
platform not only improves the chances that’s right for your institution
of selecting an effective platform but increases if you can articulate
and agree on your goals.
also helps these stakeholders focus on

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 120 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

student learning. Such a process can help deepen pedagogy, professional develop-
ment, and outcomes assessment, and it can lay groundwork for broader institutional
change.
At Pace University, for example, after experimenting with several different ePort-
folio tools, the ePortfolio leadership team wanted to select a single platform to use
across the institution. The ePortfolio team reports they

formed an ePortfolio advisory board and under the guidance of our CIO, created
a “bucket list” of what we wanted our ePortfolio tool to do and look like. . . . The
advisory board consisted of about 25 faculty and staff from across the institution.4

Guttman Community College also “convened a task force including faculty and
administrators to review and recommend ePortfolio platforms.”5 Tunxis Community
College, LaGuardia, and Virginia Tech used similar processes. The value of this col-
laborative process goes beyond the task of identifying an effective platform. It can also
spark a productive conversation about technology, pedagogy, and student learning.
At its best, this process engages all participants in thinking about the role technology
plays in supporting and enhancing teaching and learning. Putting student learning at
the center of technology-focused conversations can help campuses develop a broader,
learning-centered culture.

Goal Setting and Evaluation

In addition to involving the right people in decision-making, it’s important to con-
duct a needs assessment and then prioritize essential technology features. To advance
this process, many C2L campuses created lists or rubrics, what the Pace team called a
“bucket list.” At Manhattanville College, ePortfolio leaders began the selection pro-
cess by

developing a matrix of features that we thought were important and examin[ing]

these features in the products of a number of different vendors. These features
included: ability to support accreditation reporting, ADA compliance, cost and cost
structure, compatibility with our Student Information System and existing LMS
(Blackboard), assessment capabilities including rubrics and reports, ease of use, flex-
ibility in the interface, portability capabilities, social networking/media integration,
storage allotment, training and support for faculty and students, the visual look and
feel of the interface, and file management and organization capabilities. We then
prioritized these features for Manhattanville.6

In 2012, IUPUI joined other campuses in the Indiana University system in

considering their next generation of learning technologies. A committee on ePort-
folio platform review worked to prioritize ePortfolio technology needs and review
potential platforms. As the largest user of ePortfolios in the system, IUPUI was well
represented, and the committee was cochaired by one of the C2L project directors.

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 121

The committee produced a detailed list

of requirements, ranging from basic Getting Started
functionalities for document manage- Step 2: Design and Configure
ment to those that support social and Your ePortfolio Platform
reflection-based pedagogies and those Once you’ve selected your plat-
that enable assessment management. form, ePortfolio leaders should
Improved user experience and ability work closely with IT administra-
to integrate with other enterprise sys- tors to configure your system.
tems were also high priorities.7 Many platforms integrate with
Criteria for ePortfolio platforms student information systems to
automate the creation of student
must address issues of teaching and
and faculty accounts. In addition,
learning. An effective ePortfolio plat- platforms with assessment man-
form helps students to document, agement features also allow you
connect, reflect on, and share diverse to automatically import course
elements of their learning. As discussed enrollment information, learning
later, it builds student engagement by outcomes, and rubrics.
offering opportunities for customi- Your campus ePortfolio team
zation and interaction. An effective will want to consider whether
platform also helps faculty and staff and how to structure stu-
examine ePortfolios and focus on stu- dents’ ePortfolio experiences.
dent learning. Facilitating the integra- Some campuses ask students
tion of ePortfolios and related artifacts to use templates as a starting
point when they create their
into professional development and
ePortfolios. Educators disagree
outcomes assessment processes, effec- on how much to structure a stu-
tive platforms help deepen faculty, dent’s experience with technol-
staff, and institutional learning. On ogy. Some argue that students
C2L campuses with thriving ePortfolio should have total control over
initiatives, these complex goals guide sharing and showcasing informa-
the selection and management of an tion. Proponents for this suggest
ePortfolio system. For example, ePort- that ownership and creativity will
folio leaders at San Francisco State enhance learning. Others believe
University (SFSU) report, that structure not only supports
students and helps them develop
First [we] conducted a needs assess- the technological literacies they
ment, polling the Chairs of depart- need but also enables faculty to
ments in 2006 to discern how more easily integrate effective
widespread the use of portfolios for technology-rich pedagogies into
formative/summative assessment of their courses and practices. If you
student work was. . . . We had a small opt for the latter, it will be impor-
committee comprised of 2 faculty, 1 tant to design templates before
department chair and academic tech- launching your ePortfolio project.
nology manager who began experi-
menting with a variety of platforms.8

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 122 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

IUPUI’s Platform Selection Process

Susan Kahn and Susan Scott
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
In fall 2012 after more than a decade with the Sakai LMS, Indiana Uni-
versity technology leaders decided the time was ripe to explore new
possibilities for supporting teaching and learning at the university’s
eight campuses. At the same time, a search was begun for a successor
to the open source portfolio in Sakai that IUPUI and several other Indi-
ana campuses had been using.
A Joint Committee on ePortfolio Platform Review was charged with the
task of developing ePortfolio platform recommendations for the Univer-
sity Information Technology Services unit (UITS). Carefully composed
to represent a range of roles (faculty, staff, program leaders, learning
technologists, IT administrators) and of ePortfolio uses and priorities
(assessment, student development, integrative learning, academic and
career advising), the committee was cochaired by a member of the UITS
learning technologies unit and the director of the ePortfolio initiative at
IUPUI, the campus with the most use of ePortfolios across academic and
co-curricular programs.
Work proceeded in several overlapping stages over the next 18
months.
• Committee members reviewed online demonstrations of leading
ePortfolio platforms archived on the AAEEBL website as premeeting
homework and attended live or webinar-style demonstrations of
several other platforms. Using a shared online document, individ-
ual members noted the strengths and weaknesses of each platform,
then discussed these as a whole group.
• As the work was proceeding, the UITS cochair developed a detailed
functional requirements matrix including such categories as reflec-
tion, Web presentation, assessment, reporting, collaboration, social
networking, and mobile support. Committee members suggested,
discussed, and reached consensus on additions and changes. The
final matrix document was shared online. Each committee member
individually rated each requirement as must have, should have, nice
to have, or not needed; the whole committee then discussed and
voted on final ratings for all requirements.
• UITS issued a request for information in June 2013, and seven ven-
dors sent detailed responses.
• Committee members individually rated each response, using the
shared requirements matrix document. The full committee then dis-
cussed the ratings and voted to narrow the pool to four finalists.
• With committee input, the UITS cochair and a committee member
from IUPUI developed two scenarios drawn from real-life IUPUI
projects, one geared to learning outcomes assessment and the

(Continues)

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 123

(Continued)

other to student reflection and development. UITS invited the final-

ists to offer two-hour online presentations that were recorded and
archived. All committee members either participated in or viewed all
four archived sessions.
• Committee members individually scored the vendor presentations,
again using the shared requirements matrix. The full committee then
discussed and agreed on a rank-ordered platform recommendation
to UITS, which issued a final request for proposals, negotiated the
vendor contract, and announced the selection in August 2014.
Most of these steps will no doubt sound familiar to those acquainted
with evaluating and selecting learning technologies for large institu-
tions. We believe that two aspects of our process were especially impor-
tant and distinctive.

• Committee leaders and members clearly understood ePortfolios as

a set of pedagogical practices, not as just technology tools.
• The two scenarios we developed enabled us to base our evaluation
of the finalist platforms on customized responses to our teaching
and learning needs, rather than canned demonstrations.
Although the committee work demanded significant time from commit-
tee members—and several did fade away over the course of the lengthy
process—a core group of faculty, staff, and administrators remained com-
mitted and engaged throughout. We believe it was time well spent; we
now have a platform we expect to serve our needs for some years to come.

Factors such as ease of use, customization, cost, vendor support, and assessment
tools were among the criteria used in the selection process at SFSU and other C2L
campuses. Knowing the goals of the ePortfolio project and the needs of the faculty,
staff, and student users allows teams to select the most appropriate platform for an
institution.

Connecting to the Field

External resources can assist campuses in their platform selection process. The Elec-
tronic Portfolio Action Committee community of practice maintains an active list of
ePortfolio-related tools and technologies.9 The Association for Authentic, Experien-
tial and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) regularly hosts webinars where ePortfo-
lio providers and educators discuss current ePortfolio platforms.10
More informal resources can also be useful. C2L teams found it helpful to draw
on the insights of experienced campuses. City University of New York’s School of
Professional Studies and Lehman College worked with colleagues at Bronx Com-
munity College when evaluating different platforms. C2L leaders at Northwestern
Connecticut Community College report that it was helpful to learn that two of their

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 124 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

“sister community colleges in Connecticut were using Digication and seemed to be

particularly pleased with the platform.”11
Selecting an ePortfolio platform is a critical campus decision. An effective plat-
form that aligns with campus needs and goals will help position a project for success.
A platform that is not a good fit undermines broad acceptance and use by students,
faculty, and other stakeholders. C2L campus stories suggest that the best way to select
an effective ePortfolio platform is an inclusive process involving stakeholders from
across the institution. Working collaboratively and learning from other campuses are
key steps. These steps help generate acceptance for ePortfolio, which can, in turn,
advance the growth of an ePortfolio initiative across a program, college, or institution.

Connections to the Catalyst Framework

Meaningful ePortfolio practices involve a complex interplay among teaching, learn-
ing, and technology. The technological aspect of ePortfolio plays a critical role in
supporting high-impact ePortfolio pedagogy. Effective technology also facilitates
work taking place in every Catalyst sector, and work in those sectors must in turn
incorporate a thoughtful understanding of the technology. As the C2L team from
Northeastern University noted,

It’s important to embed conversations about technology into all other dimensions of
the Catalyst (e.g., Pedagogy, Outcomes Assessment, Professional Development, and
Scaling Up). It’s also important for technology specialists to develop sophisticated
understanding of the other domains, so that they can participate as collaborators
and partners in the process.12

Pedagogy
Asking students to demonstrate their learning through activities, experiences, and
assignments is an essential aspect of the college experience. Ineffective technology,
or a poor fit between technology and pedagogy, can distract users and impede the
digital advancement and demonstration of learning. Supporting thoughtful peda-
gogy with effective ePortfolio technology can enhance the demonstration of learning,
making that learning visible to students themselves across multiple learning experi-
ences and providing opportunities for integration.
C2L campuses understood ePortfolio technology as a way to support reflection
and integration. At IUPUI students use ePortfolio in their first-year seminar course
to create a personal development plan (PDP); a campus team recognized the peda-
gogical value of making the PDP digital.

The PDP was originally developed as a paper binder; one of the reasons for pursuing
an alternate strategy was that students often perceived the plan as a series of discrete
exercises, rather than a unified, coherent document, and were thus not particularly
invested in the resulting plan.13

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 125

Similarly, at Guttman where ePortfolio

pedagogy is integrated throughout its Getting Started
curriculum, “reflective pedagogy is cen- Step 3: Conduct Pilot Testing;
tral to student learning . . . . The ePort- Develop an Implementation Plan
folio makes learning visible; students It is vital that key stakeholders
and faculty are able to see ‘change over collaborate to develop a clear
time’ as students progress through their and manageable initial imple-
first year at the college and beyond.” 14 mentation plan. An important
Fostering an integrative experience component of this initial plan
where students see their own learning will be piloting the system with
a small control group, making
improve over time, effective ePortfolio
sure that it is operating smoothly.
platforms support ongoing reflection Feedback from this group can
and recursive revision. Nearly all ePort- help sharpen the implementation
folio platforms allow students to cre- plan and increase the platform’s
ate longitudinal ePortfolios, spanning effectiveness in meeting the
multiple semesters and existing outside needs of students, faculty, and
of any single course or co-curricular staff.
activity. This gives students the ability
to continue to revise their ePortfolios as
they move through their educational experiences, sustaining attention to key con-
cepts, skills, and content. Curating an ePortfolio is not a once-and-done assignment
but an ongoing process. ePortfolio leaders at Pace argue

the most important reason for advocating for the electronic use of portfolios is that
it can be continually reviewed and revised. A paper portfolio gives the impression of
being complete once submitted, whereas an electronic portfolio is always ready to
be enriched and changed.15

Feedback from faculty and peers is a key characteristic of HIPs and an invalu-
able element of ePortfolio pedagogy. Effective ePortfolio platforms provide flexible,
easy-to-use commenting features for students and faculty, opening opportunities for
feedback and interaction. As discussed in Chapter 8, C2L data show that engage-
ment increases when students know that faculty and peers are commenting on their
ePortfolios. At CUNY’s School for Professional Studies, an online institution that
relies on Blackboard’s LMS, ePortfolio leaders see benefits in creating opportunities
for interaction outside an LMS.

ePortfolio can be seen as a way to extend conversations beyond and across individual
courses and sections. . . . ePortfolio also allows students to pull other artifacts and
interests into a space they can share with others, promoting authorship, ownership,
and metacognition.16

ePortfolios can be used by students for the collaborative construction of knowl-

edge. Through project ePortfolios, students work together to develop a shared

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 126 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

demonstration of learning. At Virginia Tech, transfer students in the College of Sci-

ence participate in a ZipLine to Success Program:

The final project for the course is a group research project, which is presented
in the ePortfolio. For the research, students combine their interests and their
disciplinary backgrounds to pursue a research topic from multiple perspectives.
The various perspectives are represented throughout the organization of the
portfolio, including a bio for each contributing member of the group; three or
more secondary pages representing each of the different perspectives of research
on their topic; three or more reflections on each of the research perspectives;
resources for each of the perspectives; and a Works Cited section for each of the
perspectives.17

Some ePortfolio platforms integrate with other social media applications, such as
Twitter and YouTube. LaGuardia faculty link social media technologies with ePortfolio.

Unlike a paper-based format, an ePortfolio allows students to connect social media

with social pedagogy practices. Through this, students are equipped with the nec-
essary knowledge and tools to make relevant connections between the learning
that is happening in their academic, professional, and personal lives.18

ePortfolio technology supports High-Impact Practice behaviors, facilitating pub-

lic demonstration of competence and making learning visible to authentic audiences,
including other students, family, potential employers, and transfer institutions. In a
typical course setting, or with a paper portfolio, the demonstration of learning is a
private exchange between instructor and student. The ePortfolio extends that learn-
ing to a broader audience. As one C2L team noted, “The e factor provides a wider
and more authentic audience, one that goes beyond simply the teacher.”19
Using ePortfolio technology in conjunction with effective pedagogies help stu-
dents take ownership of their learning and become more active agents in the learning
process. With many ePortfolio platforms, students technically own their ePortfolio;
they have rights to its content and can take it with them when they graduate or
leave the campus. But ownership has other, subtler aspects. Do students really feel
that their ePortfolio is theirs? Does it visually express their personality and how they
see themselves? Helping students develop a sense of ownership is a critical way that
effective ePortfolio technology can enhance student learning.
At Boston University, Tunxis, LaGuardia, Salt Lake Community College, and
other C2L campuses, students are encouraged to customize their ePortfolio using
color, images, and design to express their identities in visual form. The capacity to
customize a portfolio can be a meaningful consideration in platform selection. Visual
customization allows students to use color and images to express who they are as
learners and as individuals. It also encourages a sense of ownership, not just of the
visual aspects of the ePortfolio, but of the content itself, and, in turn, the student’s
entire learning experience. As the IUPUI team explains:

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 127

One of the main reasons for digitizing the electronic Personal Development Plan
(ePDP), the focus of our C2L project, was to support not only the literal ownership
of a presentation style portfolio, but more importantly to foster students’ sense of
agency, self-authorship, and ownership of learning from the start of their under-
graduate experience.20

Customization can pose challenges for campuses. Customizable ePortfolios are

often more difficult to manage than standardized ePortfolios. Training and techni-
cal support can also become more difficult with these additional features. Campus
teams often work to strike a balance between standardization and customization,
balancing the ability to easily manage an ePortfolio system with student autonomy
and ownership.
Thoughtful discussion of ePortfolio ownership must consider the public/private
dimensions of digital learning environments. Some ePortfolio platforms allow stu-
dents to choose which sections of their portfolios will be public and which will remain
private. Students can often create multiple portfolios for different public audiences.
As Gail Matthews-DeNatale from Northeastern University states, “ePortfolios make
it possible to share, but to share within limits. This combination of privacy and shar-
ing could not be accomplished in a paper-only format.”21
Using ePortfolio practice to help students examine their own learning has long
been a major focus of LaGuardia’s ePortfolio initiative. As the LaGuardia C2L team
explains,

For students, being able to see learning and the process of learning are key ingre-
dients that can lead to change and success. At LaGuardia, students take pride in
who they are, what they have learned, and who they want to be. Digication allows
students the opportunity to learn, create, share, and own a roadmap for their suc-
cess—academic, career, and personal.22

Effective ePortfolio platforms help students situate their learning in more vis-
ible, holistic, and longitudinal contexts. They help ePortfolio practice extend beyond
course and co-curricular boundaries spanning the entire student learning experience.
And they help students take ownership of their learning and become active agents
in the learning process. Used this way, ePortfolio technology supports a practice that
requires a “significant investment of time and effort by students over an extended
period of time.”23

Professional Development
The linkage of ePortfolio technology to professional development starts with the nec-
essary training on the platform. Learning the ins and outs of a platform is important,
yet it is only the beginning. It is equally, if not more, valuable to support faculty as
they learn how to use the platform with integrative social pedagogy and figure out
how to incorporate reflective ePortfolio practices into their curricula.

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 128 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Some faculty developers see a ten-

Getting Started sion between emphasizing technology
Step 4: Offer Professional and exploring pedagogy. Others see the
Development That Links introduction of new technology as an
Technology and Pedagogy
opportunity to spur faculty and staff
As with any new technology, pro- learning. Engaging faculty in exploring
fessional development is essen- the capacities of ePortfolio technology
tial for building high-impact is a process they can use to spark con-
ePortfolio practice. Connecting versation about pedagogy and purpose.
technology and pedagogy in this A shift from “How do I do this?” to
process can help make it more
“What do I want to do in my class—
effective, particularly for faculty.
Simply showing faculty where
and why?” focuses faculty and staff on
to click has limited value. Discuss- the ways to rethink the teaching and
ing pedagogy and giving faculty learning process. At SFSU, professional
time to think about how and why development that began as technology
they might use the technology to workshops evolved to focus increas-
enhance teaching and learning ingly on pedagogy and design:
can make a much bigger impact.
This kind of professional devel- Most of our professional development
opment usually means going work is now focused on pedagogy.
beyond one-shot workshops. Through our grant program from
Recursive opportunities to plan, 2006–2011 we grew to understand the
test classroom use, and reflect extent to which we were asking faculty
on the experience can make it to transform their practice. In almost
more likely that faculty will use every case, faculty begin with the idea
the platform effectively. Join of learning how to use a technology
forces with your Center for Teach- tool to accomplish their goal. Through
ing and Learning! consultations, symposia, and support
of travel to present at inter/national
conferences, we worked to help them move beyond focusing on the technology to
emphasize curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment principles.24

ePortfolio technology can help bring student work into professional develop-
ment processes, connecting discussion of teaching strategy to examination of stu-
dent work. Some campuses also use ePortfolio to host discussions of professional
development topics. At CUNY’s School of Professional Studies, for example, leaders
“created a workshop ePortfolio to house support materials and information. . . . we
also created a shared ePortfolio ‘sandbox’ where each workshop participant com-
pleted a number of tasks.”25 Similarly, Guttman ePortfolio leaders work to integrate
ePortfolio into professional development practices, using ePortfolio to

practice what we preach. For example, we developed professional development

ePortfolios for our “ePortfolio and the Arts” and “ePortfolio Peer Mentor/Grad Coor-
dinator Bootcamp” workshops. While sharing materials, participants engage in social

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 129

pedagogy, commenting and engaging with each other via the ePortfolio before and
during workshops.26

Some campuses model effective ePortfolio pedagogy through portfolio build-

ing; professional developers ask participants to maintain a professional ePortfolio. In
ePortfolio-related seminars, participants build their portfolios, showcase best teaching
practices, describe research projects, and reflect on classroom experiments. Professional
portfolios can then be shared with colleagues, serving as spaces for feedback. Building
an ePortfolio helps faculty and staff not only become familiar with the technology itself
but to also understand more deeply the power of making learning visible for students.

Outcomes Assessment
The most effective ePortfolio platforms provide mechanisms to gather, save, and use
artifacts of student work or entire ePortfolios for outcomes assessment. Platforms
with assessment management components also allow institutions to upload learning
outcomes and rubrics. Stored artifacts or portfolios are linked to these outcomes and
distributed to faculty and staff to assess, using the rubrics. Data from this assessment
are aggregated and analyzed. ePortfolio platforms can facilitate this process and pro-
vide a streamlined system to manage the entire assessment process.
For campuses that use ePortfolio for outcomes assessment, these features can help
engage the institution in a conversation about learning. Examining ePortfolio-based
evidence of student learning and reflecting on ways to improve pedagogy and cur-
riculum is a powerful process. When the use of ePortfolio in this process becomes
part of institutional practice, it strengthens an institutional learning culture.

Scaling Up
Building an ePortfolio platform into
a college’s technology infrastructure
brings with it challenges and oppor- Getting Started
tunities. One challenge is cost. Most Step 5: Develop Support
ePortfolio platforms calculate costs Structures for Students,
based on enrollments or the number of Faculty, and Staff
students using the system. As campus Professional development can
ePortfolio use grows, so will the cost only go so far in helping address
for maintaining that ePortfolio solu- technical training needs. Both
tion. Campus leaders must plan for faculty and students will need
the ongoing costs of an ePortfolio plat- help as they actually begin using
form, thinking about sustainability. your ePortfolio platform. Con-
Another challenge is the integra- sider how you will build and offer
tion of ePortfolio technology with support structures for students
and faculty, including videos and
the campus technology suite. Some
other tutorials, peer mentor sup-
ePortfolio platforms integrate with port, and/or ePortfolio labs.
institutional LMSs. Platforms also use

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 130 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Students as ePortfolio Mentors

Using students as technology mentors can help address some of the
technology challenges related to ePortfolio. Student mentors spur stu-
dent engagement with ePortfolio by supporting their peers. At many
C2L campuses, ePortfolio consultants and student technology mentors
work in ePortfolio labs and provide personal assistance to students. As
Arcario, Eynon, and Lucca explained, at LaGuardia,

We had previous experience with students as technology

teachers—in our Student Technology Mentor (STM) program,
specially trained students worked with interested faculty,
helping them learn the tools needed to integrate Web-based
resources into their courses. We took this concept (and some of
our successful STMs) and created a cohort of ePortfolio consult-
ants, who would run a dedicated computer lab, the “ePortfolio
Studio.” The ePortfolio consultants and the ePortfolio studio not
only provide students with drop-in assistance but also come to
classes and provide workshops, based on faculty requests.27
Student mentors also work with faculty members. Pace, Manhattan-
ville, and LaGuardia assign peer mentors to assist faculty in teaching
their first-year experience courses, where students are introduced to
the ePortfolio. At Manhattanville, eTerns—ePortfolio student interns—
support faculty as they participate in the college’s teaching and learning
circles, with an eTern assigned to each cohort. At LaGuardia, Arcario
and colleagues reported that their ePortfolio consultants “play an even
larger role in some classes, which have an attached weekly hour in the
studio—the ‘Studio Hour’—where consultants are responsible for guid-
ing an in-depth ePortfolio construction process.”28
In addition to formal peer mentors, informal student mentoring
takes place as well. C2L ePortfolio leader Lili Rafeldt reported that in
the nursing program at Three Rivers Community College: “The stu-
dents actually have been able to mentor themselves. . . . There’s not a
formalized peer mentor program, but there is an informal peer mentor
program in that sense, that they do help each other.”29
Whether their role is formal or informal, student mentors help increase
acceptance and participation from other students. In addition, when stu-
dents work with and support faculty, they support advancement of the
project by encouraging faculty interest and engagement in using ePort-
folio at the course and/or program level.

data from student information systems to automate the creation of student and
faculty accounts. At some institutions, such as Tunxis and Guttman Community
Colleges, IT staff created login portals for students and faculty, providing a single
sign-on and authentication solution for their ePortfolio platforms.

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 131

Yet another challenge is providing necessary support for students and faculty.
While ePortfolio platforms have become increasingly user friendly, teaching students
how to use the platform still requires attention. Few faculty want to spend significant
class time teaching students the nuances of any ePortfolio platform. Some C2L cam-
puses, such as Pace, Manhattanville and LaGuardia, address this issue by hiring student
mentors to run workshops and provide one-on-one guidance, helping other students
become comfortable using their ePortfolio platforms. Student mentors not only sup-
port the technological elements of portfolio build, but also help their peers reflect on
their experiences and develop future plans.
C2L campuses used other strategies as well. Tunxis and many other C2L campuses
have dedicated ePortfolio labs where students can seek help building their ePortfolios.
CUNY’s School of Professional Studies created online tutorial materials and videos.
Many teams, such as Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), tell us they combine
these approaches. At SLCC students have had the option of choosing from multiple
open source ePortfolio platforms. To support these choices the ePortfolio leadership
team reports that they “have online tutorials for all three platforms. The second sup-
port structure consists of free introductory workshops for students. . . . We’ve added a
third support structure, . . . two ePortfolio labs.”30 Campuses must provide necessary
resources to intentionally design and build appropriate support structures into their
ePortfolio scaling process.
While challenges inevitably arise, the technological aspect of scaling an ePortfolio
initiative can bring opportunities for college-wide collaboration. An effective platform
selection process must bring together faculty, advisors, IT staff, and administration.
Once a platform is selected, launching and supporting its use will benefit from close
collaboration between IT staff and ePortfolio leaders. Integrating ePortfolio practice
into curricular and co-curricular learning experiences provides valuable opportunities
for faculty and staff collaboration across disciplines, majors, departments, and pro-
grams. Through professional development and outcomes assessment, ePortfolio can
bring distinct areas of a campus together. Collaborative platform planning, profes-
sional development, and assessment can all blossom into shared conversations about
student learning goals and realities. These conversations can bear long-term fruit, in
the form of an increasingly cohesive college-wide learning culture.

Conclusion
ePortfolio technology, because of its longitudinal capacity, plays a unique educational
role. Unlike learning management systems, ePortfolios exist outside of a single course
experience, spanning courses, experiences, and semesters. Effective ePortfolio tech-
nology, used well, has the potential to enhance student, faculty, and institutional
learning in significant ways.
The e makes a difference across the various layers of an institution—for students,
faculty, staff, and administrators—in two key ways. First, it makes student learning
visible to students themselves, as well as to their peers, faculty, and other audiences.
Students are able to see a holistic picture of their academic learning experience and

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 132 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

the ways they have developed from entry to graduation. Second, ePortfolio serves as
a space for students to make connections among their different learning experiences,
turning a set of disparate courses and co-curricular activities into a cohesive whole
that spans the breadth and depth of their time at an institution.
To realize this potential, campus leaders must pay attention to the digital aspects
of ePortfolio—and at the same time, understand that effective ePortfolio practice
goes well beyond the technology itself. Building cross-divisional partnerships and
carefully weighing the ways platform technology can address campus goals is critical
to success. Understanding the connections among Technology and the other sectors
of the Catalyst Framework will enhance the likelihood of building and scaling high-
impact ePortfolio practice.

Notes
1. Trent Batson, “The Electronic Portfolio Boom: What’s It All About?” Campus Tech-
nology, November 22, 2002, https://campustechnology.com/articles/2002/11/the-electronic-
portfolio-boom-whats-it-all-about.aspx
2. Randall Bass, “The Next Whole Thing in Higher Education,” Peer Review, 16, no.
1, (Winter 2014): 35.
3. Bass, “The Next Whole Thing,” 35.
4. Pace University, “Mahara: From Bucket List to Implementation,” Catalyst for Learn-
ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January, 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
5. Laura M. Gambino, Tracy Daraviras, Chet Jordan, and Nate Mickelson, “Using
Technology to Connect Our Learning,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January, 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
6. Alison Carson, Jim Frank, Gillian Hannum, and Sherie McClam, “Our Technology
Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://mville
.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
7. Susan Kahn and Susan Scott, “Technology: There Are No Silver Bullets,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/tech-
story/
8. San Francisco State University, “eFolio Platform Since 2005: Accessible and Eco-
nomical,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
sfsu.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
9. “Evolving List of ePortfolio-Related Tools,” January 5, 2015, http://epac
.pbworks.com/w/page/12559686/Evolving%20List%C2%A0of%C2%A0ePortfolio-
related%C2%A0Tools
10. Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning, “Screen-Side
Chats; AAEEBL ePortfolio Webinars 2015, 2015,” accessed August 20, 2015, http://www
.aaeebl.org/?page=2015_SSChats
11. Northwestern Connecticut Community College, “Northwestern Connecticut Com-
munity College—Technology and Pedagogy,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l.mcnrc.org/nccc-tech-story/
12. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “The Ecology of Support,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/tech-story/

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 THE “e” IN ePORTFOLIO 133

13. Catherine Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year: A Foundation for Identity and
Meaning Making,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://iupui.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
14. Gambino et al., “Using Technology.”
15. Pace University, “Mahara.”
16. City University of New York School of Professional Studies, “Technology Story,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sps.mcnrc
.org/tech-story/
17. Virginia Tech, “Social Pedagogy Practice: Zip Line to Success ePortfolio,” Catalyst
for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://vt.mcnrc.org/soc-
practice/
18. Craig Kasprzak, “The Evolution of ePortfolio Platforms at LaGuardia: Our Technol-
ogy Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
lagcc.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
19. Norwalk Community College, “‘The Awkward Age’: The Technology Story at
NCC,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l
.mcnrc.org/ncc-tech-story/
20. Catherine Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year: A Foundation for Identity and
Meaning Making,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://iupui.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
21. Matthews-DeNatale, “The Ecology of Support.”
22. Craig Kasprzak, “The Evolution of ePortfolio Platforms at LaGuardia: Our Technol-
ogy Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
lagcc.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
23. George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality & Taking High Impact Practices to
Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2013), 8.
24. Ruth Cox, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: San Francisco State University,”
(unpublished annual report, 2014).
25. City University of New York School of Professional Studies, “Technology Story.”
26. Gambino et al., “Using Technology.”
27. Paul Arcario, Bret Eynon, and Louis Lucca, “The Power of Peers: New Ways for Stu-
dents to Support Students,” in Making Teaching and Learning Matter Transformative Spaces in
Higher Education, eds. Judith Summerfield and Cheryl C. Smith (New York, NY, Springer:
2011): 197.
28. Arcario et al., “The Power of Peers,” 197.
29. Lili Rafeldt, interview by Judit Torok, March 8, 2012.
30. Salt Lake Community College, “Variety and Student Choice: SLCC’s Technology
Story,” San Francisco State University, http://slcc.mcnrc.org/tech-story/

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 7
SCALING UP!
Six Core Strategies for Effective ePortfolio Initiatives

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hat does it take to build a large, robust campus ePortfolio initiative? Most
ePortfolio projects start small, with a few faculty, staff, or administrative
leaders. What strategies do these innovators use to expand and deepen,
or scale, their work? When we use the terms scaling or scaling up, we refer to the pro-
cess in which ePortfolio projects begin in small segments of an institution and then
expand, as additional faculty, courses, and programs begin to work with ePortfolio.
This chapter draws on the experiences and scaling up stories of Connect to Learning
(C2L) campuses to spotlight effective scaling strategies.
Scaling any technology-based innovation in higher education is challenging. As
Phil Hill wrote:

Getting a new idea adopted, even when it has obvious advantages, is difficult. Many
innovations require a lengthy period of many years from the time when they become

134

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 SCALING UP! 135

available to the time when they are widely adopted. Therefore, a common problem
for many individuals and organizations is how to speed up the rate of diffusion of
an innovation.1

Everett Rogers discussed the notion of diffusion, or scaling, arguing that organiza-
tions go through a five-phase innovation-decision process: knowledge, persuasion,
decision, implementation, and confirmation.2 Hill suggested that in higher educa-
tion, most innovations are stuck in the persuasion stage and never achieve main-
stream adoption across an institution. Colleges and universities often have great
difficulty moving innovations, even ones that appear to be working well, past the
pilot or early implementation stage.3
The challenge of innovation diffusion holds true for ePortfolio initiatives. Evi-
dence of the benefit of ePortfolio practice is growing, and the latest Campus Com-
puting Survey shows that 64% of U.S. colleges use ePortfolio at their institution, yet
very few of them have most or all of their students using ePortfolios.4 Many ePort-
folio projects remain at the pilot stage and never fulfill their promise. What do the
most effective campus ePortfolio leaders do to broadly diffuse or scale up ePortfolio
practice, moving from pilot adoption to mainstream integration? And, how can that
scaling up be “done well?”
Scaling is particularly essential to a high-impact ePortfolio initiative. Based in lon-
gitudinal and integrative processes, ePortfolio practice is most beneficial for student,
faculty, and institutional learning when it has a strong, well-established cross-campus
presence. Using ePortfolio in the context of a single course or program has benefits,
but it is only when it is scaled broadly across the entire student learning experience
that ePortfolio’s true potential can be realized.
The Catalyst Framework can guide campus efforts to expand and deepen high-
impact ePortfolio practice. Campuses that want to scale their ePortfolio initiatives
must support faculty and staff ’s use of integrative ePortfolio Pedagogy. They must
use their Centers for Teaching and Learning to offer Professional Development that
supports ePortfolio Pedagogy and Outcomes Assessment. There must be a Technol-
ogy platform that meets pedagogical and assessment needs, and adequate support for
students, faculty, and staff. To work in these Framework sectors, scaling also requires
attention to issues of institutional culture and structure, leadership, evaluation, plan-
ning, and resources.
Having previously discussed the four other Framework sectors, here we intro-
duce six additional strategies for scaling an ePortfolio initiative, developed from our
research with the C2L network. These strategies range from developing an effective
leadership team to making use of evidence and aligning with institutional planning.
Together with the Catalyst Framework, these strategies provide a powerful tool kit for
ePortfolio and institutional leaders to advance broad use of high-impact ePortfolio
practice.

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 136 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

To understand these strategies, it’s

helpful to first visualize the scaling pro- Getting Started
cess. In the next section, we offer a set Six Scaling Strategies
of vignettes from C2L campuses that for an ePortfolio Initiative
have scaled their ePortfolio initiatives. 1. Develop an effective campus
This is followed by a detailed descrip- ePortfolio team: Building a
tion of each of the six scaling strategies. cross-institutional leadership
Following this chapter, Randy Bass dis- team helps create broad accept-
cusses the transformative potential of a ance and sustain engagement as
scaled ePortfolio initiative. an initiative scales.
2. Connect to departments and
programs: ePortfolio’s integrative
and longitudinal qualities align
What Does Scaling Look Like? with cohesive degree programs.
Working directly with programs
All C2L campuses have addressed
and departments helps scale and
the process of scaling in one way or
build institutional acceptance.
another. Some campuses, such as 3. More deeply engage students:
LaGuardia Community College and Students are at the center of any
IUPUI, have robust, well-established ePortfolio initiative. Engaging
ePortfolio projects involving hundreds students as active voices of an
of faculty and serving thousands of ePortfolio project through show-
students across their campuses each case events and as peer mentors
year. They started with small ePortfo- builds support from stakeholders
lio pilots; over time, they successfully campus-wide.
scaled their initiatives to where they are 4. Make use of evidence:
today. It’s helpful for all of us to under- Collecting, analyzing, and
sharing evidence of the impact of
stand these success stories as well as the
ePortfolio on student learning can
stories of other campuses at different
garner campus support.
points on the scaling pathway, con- 5. Leverage resources:
sidering where they began, how they ePortfolio leaders must seek
grew, and the challenges they encoun- external funding and work with
tered along the way. campus administrators to
No two scaling stories are exactly the leverage internal resources.
same. We’ve seen that some ePortfolio 6. Align with institutional
initiatives start in a single course or set planning: Connecting to
of courses, focusing on ePortfolio as an key institutional initiatives,
integrative, social pedagogy, and build governance structures, and
from there. Others begin with assess- strategic planning processes
helps solidify ePortfolio as an
ment before delving into ePortfolio ped-
essential component of the
agogy. Still others begin at the program
college’s work, broadening
level, focusing on pedagogy and assess- support and advancing the
ment across a single program; that pro- scaling process.
gram then serves as a model for others to

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 SCALING UP! 137

follow. Successful ePortfolio projects, as depicted in Figure 7.1, have a scaling trajectory
that increases the depth and breadth of their work over time. That trajectory may or
may not be linear and may have starts and stops along the way. What the scaling stories
of the most successful ePortfolio campuses have in common is that they are all moving
toward the upper-right quadrant where ePortfolio practice is “done well” on a broad
scale. Following are brief excerpts from scaling stories of successful C2L campuses.
When Three Rivers Community College (TRCC) began testing ePortfolio in
2004, the “focus was initially on technology” and ePortfolio’s use for assessment in
the nursing program.5 In 2006 campus ePortfolio leaders realized they needed to shift
their focus from technology and assessment to pedagogy; they began building reflective
practice into the nursing program, course by course; “each semester through a planned
progressive addition of the next nursing course, ePortfolio was integrated through-
out the program.”6 In the years that followed, while continuing to use ePortfolio for
programmatic assessment, the Three Rivers team began to share their scaffolded use
of ePortfolio pedagogy with colleagues to improve student learning. In 2012 they pre-
sented their experience and evidence to the TRCC General Education committee, and
in the 2013–2014 school year TRCC began moving toward cross-campus ePortfolio
implementation. The TRCC team keeps student learning at the center and uses profes-
sional development to deepen ePortfolio pedagogy as the college enters this new phase
of scaling up.7
Boston University’s (BU’s) College of General Studies (CGS) is a two-year liberal
arts college that began using ePortfolio for assessment in 2009. Since that time, “each
CGS student has maintained a single ePortfolio for all CGS courses” and the CGS
program has successfully used these ePortfolios for assessment.8 Taking part in C2L
from 2011 to 2015, BU’s ePortfolio leaders realized that student and faculty ePortfo-
lio use was uneven and began to focus on pedagogy and professional development. In
2012 they formed a partnership with BU’s Center for Excellence and Innovation in
Teaching to offer professional development on integrative ePortfolio pedagogy. BU’s
team noted its plans to extend “efforts to meet with faculty and staff across campus
to encourage them to have their students use ePortfolios.”9 CGS’s use of ePortfolio
for assessment has gained institutional attention at BU, which may lead to broader
implementation on other parts of the university.
A small group of faculty and instructional designers at San Francisco State Uni-
versity (SFSU) launched an ePortfolio initiative in 2005, initially using reflective
pedagogy to deepen student learning. In their scaling story, they tell us about their
growth, how they expanded from “one graduate program” to implementation in 22
programs.10 SFSU leaders made a conscious decision to only work with programs,
believing that in a programmatic context they could drill down and focus on effective
practice. In 2009 they began working with SFSU’s Metro Academies Program, a two-
year, structured learning community that brings together a number of High-Impact
Practices. As SFSU took part in C2L, every student in the Metro Health Academy and
the Metro STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Academy programs
was given an ePortfolio to use in course work. SFSU leaders have gathered evidence

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 138 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Figure 7.1. A Developmental Trajectory of ePortfolio Practice.

Effective ePortfolio Practice:
A Developmental Trajectory

Small, Pockets
Approaching
of ePortfolio
Scale
Use
III IV

Sophisticated Sophisticated
Depth of ePortfolio Practice
Practice: ePortfolio Practice
ePortfolio
“Done
Small, Pockets
Well” Approaching
of ePortfolio
Scale
Use II
I
Emerging,
Emerging,
Unsophisticated
Unsophisticated
ePortfolio Use
ePortfolio Use

Breadth of Practice: Growing to Scale

Note. Although institutions may begin at different points and in different quadrants on this trajectory, the goal
should be to develop an implementation plan and time line that will lead to the fourth quadrant, sophisticated, high-
impact ePortfolio practice approaching or at scale.

demonstrating that the combination of ePortfolio and other High-Impact Practices

in the Metro Academies has a powerful benefit for student success, building retention
and graduation rates (see Chapter 8). SFSU leaders have used that evidence to mobilize
support for further scaling. “The vision is to expand to 4 new departments in the next
5 years with 24% of the incoming freshmen (1,000 students) being tracked annually
into a Metro program (STEM, child development, health, etc.).”11 To accomplish that,
the SFSU ePortfolio team identified four needs: funding, high-level administrative
support, capacity building for Metro Academy teams, and space for labs and other
student support structures.12
When Stella and Charles Guttman Community College (CUNY) welcomed its
inaugural class in 2012, every Guttman student began using ePortfolio for learning
and assessment. Guttman was the first college in the country to build ePortfolio into
its structure, at scale, from its inception. Guttman’s ePortfolio initiative has strong
institutional support. Each year, 10 Assessment Days are built into the academic
calendar, dedicated to faculty and staff assessment of ePortfolios. But even with high-
level support, there are challenges. Although used widely, ePortfolio practice remains
uneven. Guttman’s ePortfolio leaders have developed a sustained focus on ePortfolio
pedagogy, working to ensure that ePortfolio is used to create an integrative, reflective
learning space and not just as a repository for student artifacts. As Guttman grows,
ePortfolio leaders must bring in new faculty and staff each year, introducing them to

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 SCALING UP! 139

ePortfolio as a technology, pedagogy, and its role in the assessment of student learn-
ing. In its scaling up story, the Guttman team wrote:

There is much work still to be done developing and sustaining a pervasive culture of
ePortfolio and assessment for learning at Guttman. We continue to work across the
multiple layers of the institution (students, faculty, programs, institution) engaging
our students and developing and deepening our use of ePortfolio as an integrative
social pedagogy as well as for institutional assessment of authentic student work.13

IUPUI’s ePortfolio initiative began in 2000, with a goal of using ePortfolio to

assess student achievement of the institution’s Principles of Undergraduate Learn-
ing. With few examples to follow, ePortfolio leaders forged ahead with the ambitious
task of a campus-wide ePortfolio initiative. They didn’t anticipate “the magnitude of
the paradigm shift that ePortfolios represented, and, consequently, underestimat[ed]
faculty development and support needs.”14 When their initial attempts faltered, they
persevered; with ongoing institutional support they refocused and started at a more
granular level. “Beginning in 2005–06, ePortfolio leaders offered incentives to depart-
ments and programs that themselves identified a need related to the ePortfolio.”15
Working at this smaller scale, the IUPUI team moved forward by recognizing the
importance of two sectors of the Catalyst Framework: Professional Development and
Pedagogy. A pivotal event in the team’s story is the development of a student personal
development framework embedded in ePortfolio, the ePDP (described in Chapter 3).
The success of the ePDP and institutional participation in several national projects
(including C2L), helped propel broader use of ePortfolio across IUPUI. After a long
history of working with the Sakai ePortfolio platform, which students and faculty
found difficult to navigate, the school began a transition to the Canvas platform
in 2014. “Today, the campus ePortfolio team supports a diverse array of ePortfolio
projects in academic and co-curricular units across the campus, rather than a single
ePortfolio initiative with a uniform approach and a shared set of purposes.”16
LaGuardia’s ePortfolio program dates from 2002. Since then, the college has
grown and refined its use of ePortfolio, moving from 800 ePortfolios to a cumulative
total of more than 130,000 (see Figure 7.2). The first effort was a faculty research team
studying the possibility and making recommendations. Then came a pilot, focused on
reflective pedagogy:

Twenty-two faculty from across the disciplines helped to pilot LaGuardia’s first
ePortfolio platform, a homegrown FTP system, experimenting with ePortfolio peda-
gogy in the classroom and sharing their experiences. The seeding of ePortfolio con-
tinued via attachment to First-Year Academies, learning communities for basic skills
students, whose faculty honed their approaches through participation in a year-long
professional development seminar.17

Based in LaGuardia’s robust Center for Teaching and Learning, the team devel-
oped professional development activities to involve faculty in integrative pedagogy and

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 139 12/20/2016 1:25:41 PM

 140 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Figure 7.2. LaGuardia Community College Student ePortfolio Use by Year.

12,503
Going to Scale
Numbers of Students in ePortfolio-intensive courses, by year

9,325

8,249

6,339

5,024

1,868

370

2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–2009 2009–2010

Note. LaGuardia’s ePortfolio initiative has grown steadily since 2003. With careful planning and implementation,
it now has broad institutional use. From J. Elizabeth Clark, “Growth and Change at LaGuardia: Our Scaling Up
Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/scaling-story

student learning. In 2009, as an institutional accreditation visit approached, ePortfolio

leaders took on the task of authentic assessment; linking programs and general educa-
tion, they built a nationally recognized assessment process. However new challenges
emerged: faculty and students began to express frustration with the college’s ePortfolio
platform, which, as of this writing, has yet to fully support social pedagogy. And some
faculty began to associate ePortfolio primarily with assessment, not integrative pedagogy.
In this context, the ePortfolio initiative at LaGuardia recently entered a period
of renewal. The integration of ePortfolio practice into a newly redesigned, disci-
pline-based, required first-year seminar (FYS) has attracted new faculty interest and
revitalized the focus on pedagogy. Each year, 7,000 students are now introduced to
ePortfolio as they begin their careers at LaGuardia. Building on the FYS and taking
advantage of a new college emphasis on “alignment”—improved linkages between
student affairs and academic affairs, a connection focused on better serving the
“whole” student—campus ePortfolio leaders launched efforts to use ePortfolio in
advisement and co-curricular learning (using ePortfolio-based digital badges). Mean-
while, LaGuardia ePortfolio leaders formalized a broad campus-wide ePortfolio lead-
ership team designed to build engagement and deepen campus ePortfolio culture.
Scaling an ePortfolio initiative is different on every campus. And some scaling
stories are not as positive as LaGuardia’s. Across the country, many ePortfolio projects

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 SCALING UP! 141

remain stuck at the pilot phase. Sometimes there are setbacks. A Manhattanville Col-
lege proposal to mandate ePortfolio as a graduation requirement, advanced at a time
of fiscal uncertainty and threatened cutbacks, met with faculty resistance; the campus
ePortfolio team had to re-group. They are now moving forward with a more patient
approach, tailored to the current campus context.
Even the successful scaling stories shared here are distinct and varied; each col-
lege had its own initial goals and followed different growth paths. But these stories
have in common a couple of related themes: (a) The most successful campuses started
with either a focus on assessment or on pedagogy, but eventually saw the importance
of doing both in tandem; and (b) effective use of professional development plays a
central role in most success stories.
Both themes reflect an underlying emphasis on the ability to learn and adapt
evolving strategies to meet challenges as they arise. Moreover, these stories are ongo-
ing. Scaling is a continual process, requiring ongoing effort. When attention is paid
to all sectors of the Catalyst Framework, that ongoing process is more likely to gener-
ate a high-impact ePortfolio initiative.

Getting Started: Six Scaling Strategies for an ePortfolio Initiative

As we’ve seen, attention to the entire Catalyst Framework supports efforts to deepen
and expand a campus ePortfolio initiative. Are there effective strategies native to
the Scaling Up sector itself ? In our work with C2L campuses, we observed an array
of additional strategies that effective ePortfolio project leaders employ to expand
their work. We’ve distilled our findings to a set of six Scaling Strategies. Some focus
on ways to engage and work with specific stakeholder groups, and others highlight
campus-wide connections that help foster learning-centered collaboration.
In reviewing these strategies, there are several considerations: (a) although any
one of these strategies will help support an ePortfolio initiative, attention to all six will
be more likely to help an institution develop a high-impact ePortfolio practice; and
(b) while these strategies are particularly useful to consider in the early stages of an
initiative, they can also benefit campuses at more advanced stages of implementation.

Scaling Strategy 1: Develop an Effective Campus ePortfolio Team

Leadership is key to the success of any ePortfolio implementation. And although
many institutions have one designated point person, such as an ePortfolio director,
that person needs to work with a strong team of faculty and staff from across the
institution.
The members of an effective leadership team should have strong communication
and collaboration skills, budgeting and resource management abilities, and the habits
of adaptive learning. Team members should understand ePortfolio pedagogy. Faculty
and staff should be active ePortfolio users, modeling good pedagogy and practice. It
helps when multiple members are involved in the larger ePortfolio field, participating
in ePortfolio conferences and staying abreast of current research.

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 142 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Faculty play key roles on a leadership team. Based on their classroom experience
with students, faculty leaders can model effective ePortfolio pedagogy. As professional
development leaders, they can engage peers in designing effective ePortfolio practices.
Faculty leaders are persuasive spokespeople for an ePortfolio initiative, building buy-in
from faculty colleagues and campus leaders. Effective ePortfolio teams must gather a
strong group of faculty leaders and involve them in key stages of the planning process.
An effective ePortfolio leadership team should also include members who can
connect with key areas of the college, including the Center for Teaching and Learn-
ing, Student Affairs, information technology, assessment, and institutional research.
Each area plays a vital role in scaling an ePortfolio initiative. If the leadership team
does not include an upper-level administrator, the ePortfolio director must have regu-
lar access to key members of the campus administration. Keeping campus admin-
istration informed about ePortfolio activities, accomplishments, and challenges is
essential to ongoing funding and resources.
In their scaling up story, IUPUI ePortfolio leaders discuss the importance of their
ePortfolio leadership team:

Developing an Effective Campus ePortfolio Team is an ongoing process, evolving

along with our understanding of what it means to be “effective.” From the outset,
[our] ePortfolio team members have represented diverse segments of the institution,
including academic administration, the faculty, the Center for Teaching and Learn-
ing (CTL), and Planning and Institutional Improvement (PAII), the division that
coordinates assessment.
The core ePortfolio leaders come from the campus-level divisions that contrib-
ute to the ePortfolio budget or provide other resources: Academic Affairs (including
the CTL), PAII, and UITS. Each member of the coordinating group brings to bear
a background in two or more areas important to the effectiveness of the ePortfolio
Initiative: assessment, faculty and professional development, communications, cur-
riculum and instructional design, and management of technology-related change.
In addition, over the past decade, ePortfolio team members have become seasoned
ePortfolio leaders who have experience with both success and failure of ePortfolio
efforts. They are deeply familiar with the ePortfolio literature, have worked with
academic programs in many disciplines, have participated in multiple national and
international ePortfolio projects, have advised other campuses undertaking ePortfolio
initiatives, and have used ePortfolios in their own teaching and learning practices.18

ePortfolio leadership teams incorporate and nurture their capacity to work with
a range of campus stakeholders, showing how ePortfolio connects their efforts with
the larger work of the institution.

Scaling Strategy 2: Connect to Departments and Programs

Because of its longitudinal and integrative nature, ePortfolio practice works best
when it is incorporated across a program or major. When fully integrated into the
curriculum and practice of a degree program, ePortfolio practice enables students to

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 SCALING UP! 143

more easily make connections among courses in the program and between general
education and the major. ePortfolio teams must find ways to connect with the needs,
goals, and daily practices of departments and programs.
ePortfolio practice can benefit degree programs by providing a structured context
for program leaders to consider alignment of program goals, course goals, course
assignments, and student work. Effective ePortfolio teams work with chairs or pro-
gram coordinators to integrate ePortfolio into program curriculum and support
implementation. Making connections to other initiatives, such as outcomes assess-
ment, also helps in this process. At LaGuardia, for example, working directly with
program coordinators to connect ePortfolio with program assessment strengthened
the ePortfolio and outcomes assessment work.
Many C2L campus teams began their pilot programs by working with key faculty
in degree programs. Those initial pilots then served as models for other programs.
For example, Tunxis Community College began with pilots in computer information
systems and dental hygiene. ePortfolio campus leaders then used those programs as
examples to encourage ePortfolio use by other programs, including business admin-
istration and early childhood education.
Establishing strong connections with departments and degree programs helps
campus ePortfolio teams advance the scaling process. Strategically determining which
faculty, departments, and programs to begin with and then cultivating ties accord-
ingly will help root ePortfolio practice in fertile soil. Building strong relationships
with some programs encourages other departments and programs to understand and
adopt ePortfolio practice.
In addition to degree programs, our C2L research revealed that many ePortfolio
teams connect with the High-Impact Practices used on their campus. Effective lead-
ership teams build ties not only with individual HIP faculty but also with programs
charged with guiding a HIP initiative, a first-year experience office, for example, or a
community-based learning program.
The SFSU team, for example, connected with Metro Academies, the first-year
experience program, in 2010. Building connections with these programs, often out-
side traditional departments, ePortfolio teams strengthen purposeful, interdiscipli-
nary cooperation.

ePortfolios in Metro are seen as an additional High-Impact Practice in a model pro-

gram with national attention and the potential to grow. The faculty learning com-
munity model provided a rich opportunity within the C2L project to introduce and
integrate portfolios & leverage assessment/rubric development with specific applica-
tion to GE disciplines.19

SFSU ePortfolio leaders use that connection as they scale ePortfolio across their
institution.
Perhaps because of their emphasis on innovation and experiential learning, high-
impact practices provide a natural home for ePortfolio practice. Meanwhile, inte-
grative ePortfolio practice can enhance the value of a specific High-Impact Practice

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 144 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

and create opportunities to connect multiple high-impact learning experiences. We

explore this connection in Chapter 9.

Scaling Strategy 3: More Deeply Engage Students

Students are key stakeholders in any successful ePortfolio project, and effective lead-
ership teams partner with them to advance scaling. Although our main focus with
students is on enhanced learning and success, students are also active players on campus.
They can be dynamic voices in the scaling process, making ePortfolio learning visible
in ways that engage their peers and attract faculty, staff, and administrative attention.
Student ePortfolio mentors support ePortfolio learning by assisting their peers in
building their ePortfolios. On some campuses, mentors work in ePortfolio labs, pro-
viding drop-in assistance to any student working with ePortfolio. Student mentors
can also support faculty by offering technical assistance as well as working directly
with a particular class. Mentors also serve as spokespeople for ePortfolio, encouraging
peers and faculty to use ePortfolio in a meaningful way. To learn more, please read the
vignette, Why Student Mentors?

Why Student Mentors?

Here’s What LaGuardia Students Say
In “The Power of Peers: New Ways for Students to Support Students,”
Arcario, Eynon, and Lucca discussed the importance of student technol-
ogy mentors and ePortfolio consultants. In this excerpt from that arti-
cle we hear ePortfolio students report that the peer consultants work
to encourage and motivate them. “They understand what you’re going
through. All the things you’ll go through in college. . . . And they help
you try to achieve it.”20
As a consultant put it, “I try to give them a lot of encouragement in
general” and “I always show my ePortfolio and encourage them to cre-
ate a good ePortfolio.”21 Consultants also tried to encourage students by
being role models, conveying the idea that if a consultant can do it, then
all the students can as well:

One more thing is that I’m like a role model for students. I tell them,
“I’m an international student, I started to work as an STM and then I
graduated and started to work this job.” And they’re like, “Wow, I can do
that, too.” . . . Because sometimes half of my class comes from all dif-
ferent countries. So they think, “I can do it, too.” So I just want to show
them they can do all this stuff. So that’s really it, for me. That’s really it.22

Many ePortfolio teams regularly host ePortfolio showcase events. Having stu-
dents present their ePortfolios to the campus honors exemplary students. It also makes
ePortfolio practice visible to stakeholders. Showcases can generate student interest
in ePortfolio learning, encourage faculty ePortfolio practice, and build administra-
tive support. At Tunxis, students are recognized in an annual student showcase each

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 SCALING UP! 145

spring in which they present their final portfolios at a faculty-wide meeting. Faculty
hear students discuss their ePortfolios and reflect on what they learned.23 Tunxis also
holds annual showcases for programmatic advisory boards in computer information
systems, business administration, and dental hygiene, involving external stakeholders
and helping students link their academic learning to career planning.24
Engaging students as active players in the scaling process helps make ePortfolios
visible and tangible in ways that faculty, staff, and other stakeholders cannot ignore.
The student voice is a powerful one and can be a positive force in the scaling up
process.

Scaling Strategy 4: Make Use of Evidence

Effective ePortfolio leaders collect and analyze evidence of ePortfolio’s impact on stu-
dent learning and share their findings with institutional stakeholders. Across higher
education, there is growing emphasis on the importance of evaluating the impact of
educational innovations. Funders, accreditation agencies, and academic administra-
tors increasingly want to see evidence and use it in decision-making. In this context,
ePortfolio leaders have found that evaluation evidence also strengthens their own
insights and helps garner needed resources.
Gathering and analyzing meaningful evidence of impact can be challenging.
Evaluation takes planning, persistence, and skill. Proof of impact in education is rare,
and rigorous control group studies are expensive and difficult to set up and manage.
ePortfolio leaders often lack the training and resources to take on meaningful evalua-
tion along with everything else they’re doing. And on underresourced campuses, the
institutional research office is often too overloaded to help. All too often, ePortfolio
teams fall back on anecdotal evidence.
In C2L, the most effective campus teams were able to overcome the obstacles
and gather evidence, indicating that ePortfolio use correlates with improvements in
student learning and success (see Chapter 8). We found that careful planning was
key to the work of these teams. Following are the four main steps in planning and
implementing a meaningful and manageable evaluation process:

1. Consider and articulate project goals

2. Identify multiple measures for each goal
3. Collect and analyze evidence, identifying improvements and next steps
4. Share evidence and analysis with institutional stakeholders.

1. Consider and articulate project goals. In C2L effective ePortfolio teams considered
project goals in order to identify the appropriate outcomes or measures. These leaders
weighed what was important for their campus in terms of issues, needs, and institu-
tional outcomes. They considered what stakeholders valued, what funders required,
and what their ePortfolio project might reasonably accomplish. In most cases, these
goals included improvements in student engagement and student learning as well as
other goals important to their campus.

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 146 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

2. Identify multiple measures for each goal. Having articulated project goals, teams
selected appropriate quantitative or qualitative measures for each goal. Depending
on goals, outcomes, and needs, measures used included surveys, outcomes data, and
qualitative evidence of student learning from ePortfolios. Using student work as
evidence helps complement retention and other quantitative data by bringing the
authentic student work and student voice into the evaluation process (see Table 7.1).
When evaluating an ePortfolio initiative, challenges arise around the questions
of comparison groups and isolating the impact of ePortfolio. Isolating variables and
scientifically proving causality in education are difficult tasks. Because the value of

TABLE 7.1
Make Use of Evidence: Tunxis Community College’s 2011 to 2012 Evaluation Plan
Goal Measure
1A. Create a vibrant teaching and learning • Faculty Training Survey
community using ePortfolio • Number of faculty using ePortfolio in
1B. Design a comprehensive faculty develop- courses
ment plan centered on ePortfolio • Number of faculty who participate in
the ePortfolio Seminar Series
• Number of faculty who participate in
the ePortfolio Continuing Conversations
series
• Faculty reflection narratives
2A. Student engagement with ePortfolio • ePortfolio student survey
2B. Increased student understanding of (2009–2010)
ePortfolio • Capstone student survey (2009–2011)
2C. Student awareness of integration of • Number of student ePortfolios created
knowledge within a degree program
3. Increased student success and retention • Comparison of success (C- or better)
rates in ePortfolio/non-ePortfolio
sections in developmental English
• Retention rate comparison in
developmental English
• College-wide retention rates based on
number of ePortfolio courses
• Examination of student work
4. Effective use of ePortfolio for assessment • Percentage of students using ePortfo-
lio to demonstrate program outcomes
• Percentage of students using ePortfo-
lio to demonstrate general education
outcomes
Note. From the beginning of their ePortfolio initiative, ePortfolio leaders at Tunxis worked to identify, gather, and
analyze evidence of impact that aligned with project goals. From Laura M. Gambino, “Tunxis Community College
Evaluation Plan” (Evaluation Plan, 2011). Reprinted with permission of Laura M. Gambino.

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 SCALING UP! 147

ePortfolio practice emerges from its ability to connect multiple learning experiences,
eliminating multiple variables (or a randomized controlled trial) is virtually impossible.
Given these challenges, evaluation plans often include mixed or multiple measures,
used to identify correlations between ePortfolio use and gains in student success.
3. Collect and analyze the evidence, identifying improvements and next steps. Once data
sources and measures are identified, the next step is to gather and analyze the data.
C2L teams considered what collection and analysis they could do on their own and
when and how to collaborate with their campus Institutional Research (IR) Office.
IR can assist with planning evaluations, and with data collection and analysis. Some
teams develop sustained partnerships with these offices; others incorporate someone
from IR on their ePortfolio team. Either way, teams benefit from working with some-
one who brings sophisticated training in interpreting a range of data sources.
After the data are analyzed, teams must consider what they show in terms of
project goals. What impact has ePortfolio practice had on student learning and suc-
cess? Do the data reveal bottlenecks? Emergent strategies? Are there ways to improve
ePortfolio pedagogy and practice? Given the evidence, what next steps can be taken
to advance project goals? It is important to consider these questions when sharing
findings with institutional stakeholders.
4. Share evidence and analysis with institutional stakeholders. When sharing find-
ings and recommendations, effective ePortfolio leaders consider what evidence will
be most meaningful to each stakeholder group. Faculty, for example, may be most
interested in qualitative evidence of improved student learning, such as case studies.
Administrators may want to focus on outcomes data; retention, success, and gradua-
tion rates, for example. This evidence can be used to garner resources needed to scale
an ePortfolio initiative.
Making effective use of evidence is important to long-term project sustainability.
Effective ePortfolio leaders do this early in a thoughtful, sustained, and systematic
process. Leaders must also recognize that positive impact rarely occurs overnight; it
can take several semesters or longer. In the long run, attention to evidence is vitally
important to help stakeholders see the value of scaling up ePortfolio practice.

Scaling Strategy 5: Leverage Resources

Like any campus innovation, an ePortfolio project needs resources to thrive. Effective
ePortfolio leaders work with key administrators to obtain funds from their college’s
budget; they also pursue external funding to advance scaling.
Across C2L, ePortfolio teams worked with administrators to obtain the resources
to support ePortfolio leaders, professional development, and effective technology. Some
campuses used faculty reassigned time or stipends to support the work of the ePortfolio
leaders. Others went further to fund ePortfolio positions. Support for ePortfolio-related
professional development is also critical. Funds are required to purchase an ePortfolio
platform and provide technical support, even if it involves peer mentors. Physical space
to house peer mentors and ePortfolio lab space are important as well.

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 148 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

In times of cutbacks, attracting internal funds can be challenging, and external

funding can help. Grant funding helped some C2L teams expand their projects.
LaGuardia’s grant-writing success helped build its ePortfolio initiative. LaGuardia’s
ePortfolio work was launched in 2001 with a five-year grant from the Title V program
for Hispanic-serving institutions of the U.S. Department of Education. ePortfolio
leaders at LaGuardia have connected ePortfolio to other sources, such as Carl D.
Perkins funds from the U.S. Department of Education (enhancing the success and
technical literacy of vocational education students) and CUNY sources (supporting
general education and assessment). A subsequent Title V grant focused on strengthen-
ing capstone education and helped build ePortfolio use in that area.25 Boston Univer-
sity obtained funding from the Davis Educational Foundation to begin its ePortfolio
initiative in the College of General Studies; subsequent Davis funding has allowed it
to deepen assessment and pedagogical work.26
When seeking internal or external funding, evidence of impact is invaluable.
Being able to demonstrate the positive impact of ePortfolio practice on student learn-
ing and success greatly strengthens funding requests. Using evidence and connecting
to stakeholders are key elements of a successful funding strategy.

Scaling Strategy 6: Align With Institutional Planning

High-impact ePortfolio practice requires engagement and support from a broad range
of campus stakeholders, from faculty to student affairs staff to administrators. To
facilitate this, effective leadership teams connect ePortfolio work to key institutional
initiatives, such as general education, outcomes assessment, and improving student
success. To work across these areas, effective ePortfolio leaders ensure that ePortfolio
is part of broader institutional planning efforts. They build partnerships with college
administration and work with governance structures and strategic planning processes.
In C2L many campus ePortfolio leaders connected with institutional leaders who
served as allies in their ePortfolio work. In their scaling up stories, C2L teams repeat-
edly emphasize the importance of having a good working relationship with a key
administrator. In some cases academic leaders support the project from its initiation.
Even if administrative support is not initially strong, successful ePortfolio leaders
continually work to build administrative connections.
Effective ePortfolio leaders also work with college governance structures. Getting
governance approval solidifies the role of ePortfolio practice. At Salt Lake Commu-
nity College, after a successful pilot ePortfolio project, leader David Hubert took on
this task and noted the following:

[We] worked with an interested group of faculty, staff and administrators to develop
a proposal to make ePortfolios a course-level requirement in all General Education
courses. The initial proposal passed the General Education committee, but was
defeated in the Curriculum Committee. A revised proposal later passed the Curricu-
lum Committee and the Faculty Senate, and was approved by the President’s Cabinet
in the Fall of 2009. Six years later, SLCC has a vibrant and robust ePortfolio project.27

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 SCALING UP! 149

Seeking to scale beyond the nursing program, the Three Rivers Community Col-
lege team worked with the college’s General Education Task Force as they developed an
institutional assessment plan. According to Hubert, “Through an open dialogue with
faculty, administrators, and students, we have reached a consensus: ePortfolios will now
be used college-wide for general education and programmatic assessment of student
learning.”28
At Pace University, ePortfolio leaders saw an opportunity to introduce faculty to
ePortfolio through the promotion and tenure process. They developed a plan to have
faculty submit promotion and tenure applications using ePortfolios. These leaders
spoke with the provost, and after gaining support, received approval from the faculty
council and the college’s promotion and tenure committee. As of this writing, every
faculty member seeking promotion or tenure submits an ePortfolio.29
Effective C2L campus leaders also worked to incorporate ePortfolio into their
institution’s strategic planning process. Achieving this milestone serves as a visible
sign of long-term institutional commitment. And having ePortfolio in the strategic
plan helps project leaders obtain needed resources and support. When a strategic plan
guides the work of a college, incorporating the ePortfolio project in that plan can
prompt departments to consider ePortfolio practice. In some smaller colleges, such as
Tunxis and Guttman, ePortfolio is included in the institution-wide strategic plan. In
larger universities, ePortfolio is more often included in college or departmental stra-
tegic plans that connect to broader institutional planning goals. One way or another,
effective ePortfolio teams pay attention to strategic goals and plans, and it helps them
build stakeholder support and scale their projects.
Each of the six strategies we have discussed can help strengthen and scale an insti-
tution’s ePortfolio initiative. Many of these strategies work best in tandem. For exam-
ple, gathering evidence can strengthen a team’s ability to secure resources. Developing
a diverse leadership team can help build connections with departments and programs
and align an ePortfolio project with institutional planning efforts. Used together, the
six Scaling Strategies can help institutions scale high-impact ePortfolio practice and
advance toward an institutional learning culture.

Connections to the Catalyst Framework

The Scaling Up sector relies on each of the other sectors of the Catalyst Framework.
Scaling an ePortfolio initiative cannot take place without focusing on Pedagogy and
Professional Development, connecting to Outcomes Assessment, and making sure
there is an effective Technology platform to support an institution’s needs.

Pedagogy
Employing integrative social pedagogy to guide ePortfolio practice in courses and
advising can make ePortfolio practice more effective, improve student learning, and

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 150 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

engage faculty and staff. Evidence that ePortfolio practice advances student success
can build campus support for scaling.
Effective C2L leaders use insight into pedagogy to advance scaling. Highlight-
ing pedagogy invites faculty to see ePortfolio in new ways. C2L teams help faculty
and staff share ePortfolio pedagogy through faculty showcases, mini conferences,
and publications. Faculty leaders are crucial to this dialogue. When faculty leaders
share effective ePortfolio practices and their impact on student learning, it sparks
the interest of other faculty and staff. Supported with professional development, this
increased interest can broaden campus use.
Perhaps most important, connecting scaling efforts with pedagogical innovations
can focus campus attention on teaching and learning. Used well, ePortfolio’s capac-
ity to make student learning visible and the data on ePortfolio-enhanced student
learning can help deepen understanding of the connections between teaching and
learning, between student-centered pedagogy and improved outcomes. Highlight-
ing innovative pedagogies encourages faculty to consider new ways of learning for
students and for themselves, and it spurs institutions to keep student learning at the
center of campus-wide decision-making.

Professional Development
ePortfolio initiatives grow when supported by thoughtful professional development
that enables faculty and staff to explore ePortfolio pedagogy and practice. From work-
shops to year-long seminars, professional development processes help educators root
ePortfolio activities and reflection practices in their course goals. Done well, profes-
sional development increases faculty understanding of ePortfolio as an integrative social
pedagogy. Effective professional development helps to not only broaden campus ePort-
folio use but also deepen its campus-wide impact on student learning and success.

Outcomes Assessment
Campuses face wide pressure to improve outcomes assessment. ePortfolio practice
can enable an ecosystemic view of assessment and function as a circulatory system,
giving multiple stakeholders a richer and more continuous flow of evidence (student
work, student reflection, and faculty and staff reflection) on how students achieve key
competencies. C2L leaders who connect ePortfolio with outcomes assessment tend
to be successful in expanding campus ePortfolio use. Yet such connections must be
approached with care to avoid obscuring ePortfolio pedagogy and its value in build-
ing student learning.
Assessment can advance scaling of an ePortfolio project by helping to attract
campus resources and support. External accreditation requirements may add lev-
erage. Alternatively, if there is already a strong connection between assessment
and ePortfolio, this connection can catalyze growth in other sectors of the Catalyst
Framework such as Pedagogy. Demonstrating the effectiveness of ePortfolio-based
outcomes assessment with programs can encourage adoption across academic
programs.

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 SCALING UP! 151

Technology
An ePortfolio platform that effectively meets a broad range of campus needs is critical
to scaling. When selecting an ePortfolio platform, it is important to ensure that it will
support institutional needs, from effective pedagogy to authentic assessment.
Scaling ePortfolio practice requires appropriate levels of support for using the
technology. As mentioned earlier, student mentors are one way campuses provide
technical support to students, faculty, and staff. Tutorial materials, videos, and other
multimedia resources can also support users. Having a dedicated student ePortfolio
lab is another valuable component of technology support. In their planning pro-
cesses, successful campuses provide the financial and infrastructure resources needed
to support the effective use of their ePortfolio platform.
Scaling requires attention across the Catalyst Framework sectors. Increasing fac-
ulty and staff use of effective ePortfolio pedagogy relies on Professional Development.
Meaningful Outcomes Assessment that “closes the loop” depends on Technology
and Pedagogy. And when faculty and staff know that the appropriate Technology
supports are in place for students, they are more likely to integrate ePortfolio into
their teaching and learning practices. Positioned at the intersection of all five sectors,
ePortfolio leaders can more effectively plan and act to scale their ePortfolio project,
growing from pilot to a broader, more well-established institutional use.

Conclusion
Scaling innovation is challenging. Building a robust and successful ePortfolio initiative
demands thoughtful, sustained effort. Careful attention must be paid to work in each
sector of the Catalyst Framework. The most successful ePortfolio teams intentionally
work across sectors, developing reflective social pedagogies, managing new technolo-
gies, and guiding professional development and outcomes assessment processes.
Effective ePortfolio leaders also attend to a range of other tasks, issues, and pro-
cesses that build campus engagement and institutional support. The most successful
C2L campuses deployed most or all of the six Scaling Strategies reviewed in this
chapter, from engaging students as stakeholders to focusing attention on evidence
of impact and aligning with campus strategic planning. Used in combination with
attention to the Catalyst sectors, these strategies help leaders scale their ePortfolio
initiative and build campus-wide integration.

Notes
1. Phil Hill, “Pilots: Too Many Ed Tech Innovations Stuck in Purgatory,” e-Literate
(blog), August 12, 2014, http://mfeldstein.com/pilots-many-ed-tech-innovations-stuck-
purgatory/
2. Everett M. Rodgers, Diffusion of Innovations (New York, NY: Free Press, 2005).
3. Hill, “Pilots.”
4. Campus Computing Project, “The 2015 Campus Computing Survey,” accessed
August 19, 2015, http://www.campuscomputing.net/item/2015-campus-computing-survey-0

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 152 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

5. Lillian Rafeldt, “Scaling Up Is a Process,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources

and Research, January 25, 2014, http://trcc.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
6. Rafeldt, “Scaling Up Is a Process.”
7. Rafeldt, “Scaling Up Is a Process.”
8. Natalie McKnight, Gillian Pierce, Amod Lele, and John Regan, “Our Scaling Up
Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
bu.mcnrc.org/bu-scaling-story/
9. McKnight et al., “Our Scaling Up Story.”
10. San Francisco State University, “Scaling Up While Drilling Down: How an Expand-
ing ePortfolio Initiative Dives Into the First-Year Experience,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
11. San Francisco State University, “Scaling Up.”
12. Ibid.
13. Laura M. Gambino, Chet Jordan, and Nate Mickelson, “Doing Things Differently:
Scaling Up at Guttman Community College,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Research, January 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
14. Susan Kahn and Susan Scott, “Scaling Up ePortfolios at a Complex Urban Research
University: The IUPUI Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January
25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
15. Kahn and Scott, “Scaling Up ePortfolios.”
16. Ibid.
17. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Growth and Change at LaGuardia: Our Scaling Up Story,” Cata-
lyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/
scaling-story/
18. Kahn and Scott, “Scaling Up ePortfolios.”
19. San Francisco State University, “Scaling Up.”
20. Paul Arcario, Bret Eynon, and Louis Lucca, “The Power of Peers: New Ways for
Students to Support Students,” in Making Teaching and Learning Matter Tranformative Spaces
in Higher Education, eds. Judith Summerfeld and Cheryl C. Smith (Dordrecht, Netherlands:
Springer, 2011), 201.
21. Arcario et al., “The Power of Peers,” 201.
22. Ibid.
23. Amy Feest, George Sebastian-Coleman, Jen Wittke, and Marguerite Yawin, “Scaling
Up at Tunxis Community College,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
24. Feest et al., “Scaling Up at Tunxis Community College.”
25. Clark, “Growth and Change at LaGuardia.”
26. McKnight et al., “Our Scaling Up Story.”
27. Salt Lake Community College, “Hiking Over the Hump: SLCC’s Scaling Up Story,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://slcc.mcnrc
.org/scaling-story/
28. Lillian A. Rafeldt, Heather Jane Bader, Nancy Lesnick Czarzasty, Ellen Freeman,
Edith Ouellet, and Judith M. Snayd, “Reflection Builds 21st Century Professionals: ePort-
folio and Nursing Education at Three Rivers Community College,” Peer Review 16, no. 1
(Winter 2014), 19–23.
29. Pace University, “Scaling Up Story: Picking Up the Pace With ePortfolios.” Catalyst
for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc.org/scaling-
story/

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 FROM SCALING TO
T R A N S F O R M AT I O N
ePortfolio and the Rebundling of Higher Education
Randy Bass

S
caling ePortfolio initiatives from early implementation toward institutionaliza-
tion requires system-level strategies that connect individual practices (students
and faculty) to larger structures, frameworks, cultural practices and policies that
make up the institution. Connecting pedagogy to assessment (and assessment to
institutional outcomes), the necessity of effective professional development, and the
need to leverage cross-boundary programs such as advisement and first-year experi-
ences: these all speak to the interrelationship between scaling strategies and the insti-
tutional and cultural dimensions of high-impact ePortfolio practice.
As they scale in institutions, ePortfolio initiatives increasingly serve as a network
of connections among students and faculty and programs and majors. As they lev-
erage institutional initiatives, such as general education, outcomes assessment, and
other High-Impact Practices, they also serve to integrate often-marginalized centers
of innovation. Through such connections, ePortfolio initiatives inform and deepen
pedagogical practices campus-wide and introduce increasingly rich views of student
learning into the everyday flows of teaching, learning, assessment, and curriculum
design.
The very qualities of ePortfolio that both enable and demand such connections
are evidence of the ways that they straddle established and emerging paradigms of
learning for higher education; this is their unique power. This also poses a distinct
design challenge when understanding the nature of scaling and the relationship
between scaling and institutional transformation.
The two paradigms can be understood more or less in the same vein as Robert
Barr and John Tagg’s well-known framing in 1995 that higher education was shifting
from an “instructional paradigm” to a “learning paradigm.”1 The long-established
instructional paradigm focuses primarily on the formal curriculum, courses, pro-
grams and majors; it emphasizes knowledge transfer and cognition, delivered through

153

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 154 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

curricular design that is generally atomistic, linear, and built on inputs. Now growing
in strength and momentum, the emerging paradigm is an extension of what they
meant by the “learning paradigm.” It encompasses the importance of both curricu-
lum and co-curriculum, focuses on student learning as an outcome, and understands
learning to be fundamentally integrative and iterative.
The most powerful scaling practices will be informed by the ways ePortfolio
bridges the established instructional and the emergent learning paradigms—and the
way that such scaling can advance the emergence of a new vision for higher educa-
tion. In this deepening effect, the ePortfolio scaling process itself pulls institutions
toward the emergent, learning-centered paradigm. The third C2L value proposition,
detailed and documented in Chapter 8, addresses the difference ePortfolio can make
in catalyzing such institutional change:

Proposition 3: ePortfolio practice, done well, catalyzes learning-centered institutional

change. Focusing attention on student learning and prompting connection and coop-
eration across departments and divisions, ePortfolio initiatives can catalyze campus
cultural and structural change, helping colleges and universities develop as learning
organizations.

As catalysts for organizational change, ePortfolio initiatives can help institu-

tions meet the challenges of developing a learning culture and navigating a turbulent
higher education landscape. In this landscape there are two distinct expressions of the
learning paradigm—what we might call the integrative and the disintegrative. The
disintegrative forces of the emerging learning paradigm arise out of the explosion of
interest in massive online learning, adaptive learning systems, learning analytics, and
granular certification. These all reflect the paradigm shift that places value on access
to learning and personalization of learning and education. However, these forces
threaten to advance the paradigm in disintegrative ways, unbundling education into
a series of disparate and disconnected experiences; in turn, this unbundling creates
challenges for more integrative efforts to advance local institutional value, the impact
of community on learning, and the holistic dimensions of education.
It is in the landscape characterized by the tension between the integrative and
the disintegrative that strategies for scaling ePortfolio practice become particularly
salient. The capacity to bridge to a more integrative version of the emergent learning
paradigm significantly enhances the value of ePortfolio in catalyzing organizational
and institutional change.

Thinking in Ecosystems
Innovative ePortfolio practices can help solve problems and meet challenges that
institutions did not have 30 years ago. This is where the true power of ePortfolio may
lie—in its capacity to push toward new practices and a new paradigm, while at the
same time operating under the design constraints of current structures. ePortfolio

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 FROM SCALING TO TRANSFORMATION 155

leaders must see scaling strategies as opportunities to connect ePortfolio initiatives to

the core priorities for building a culture of learning in their institutions, which might
include:

• an increasingly robust vision of general education that goes beyond knowl-

edge areas to skills and dispositions;
• a vision of the first-year experience that looks very broadly at student success;
• a new priority on transparency and alignment of learning goals among
courses, programs, and the institution, also including (but not limited to) the
complementary pressures on assessment and accountability; and
• a growing appreciation for integrative learning experiences, including such
curricular and co-curricular opportunities as learning communities, service-
learning, community-based learning, and capstone experiences.

For the most part, these are new priorities for higher education, emerging in
recent decades as part of a broad shift to a paradigm that is learning-focused,
outcomes-driven, and student-centered. Co-evolving with these expanding prac-
tices, ePortfolios provide a context for bringing together stakeholders from across
boundaries, creating a network of connections that respond to the ecosystemic
nature of institutions.
By their integrative nature, ePortfolio initiatives foster collaborations across silos,
connecting faculty, academic staff, student affairs professionals, advising profession-
als, writing centers, technologists, librarians, employers, alumni, internship coordi-
nators, community partners, and many more. According to the Catalyst Framework,
successful initiatives also work in tandem with departments and programs, general
education, outcomes assessment, and High-Impact Practices, especially first-year and
capstone experiences, as well as service-learning, undergraduate research, and study
abroad (see Chapter 9).
Each of these connections is critical to the scaling and development of a high-
impact ePortfolio initiative. Moreover, the network quality, or interrelationship,
of these connections illustrate the intrinsic qualities of ePortfolio and the strate-
gic opportunities it offers. For example, there is a critical relationship between the
capacity of ePortfolio to enable students to more easily make connections among
the courses in a degree program (and between general education courses and pro-
gram courses), on the one hand, and on the other, for faculty, through their connec-
tion to ePortfolio initiatives, to think about the coherence of their programmatic
curriculum and its relationship to the broader curriculum.
Similarly, on some campuses, ePortfolio provides the apparatus that links first-
year experiences, general education programs, and outcomes assessment, efforts that
are all too often compartmentalized. ePortfolio initiatives can build connections
among such efforts and, by providing data and authentic evidence of student learn-
ing, help obtain support from allies in administration, faculty governance, or the
strategic planning process.

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 156 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

Co-evolving with the practices of the emerging learning paradigm, ePortfolio

initiatives strengthen a network of essential, reinforcing connections. Integrating
ePortfolio practice into institutional culture helps create and catalyze an institutional
ethos of learning.

ePortfolio as a Catalyst for Strategic Change

Perhaps the most fundamental connections forged by ePortfolios, as a student-
owned integrative learning space, are between institutionally defined experiences
(i.e., courses, assignments and goals as understood by faculty, programs, majors,
schools) and the lived experience of the student. That connection is the first premise
of ePortfolio’s capacity for being a catalyst for change because it provides a context for
working incrementally and transformatively at the same time.
What does it mean to be a catalyst for change? What’s the vision of change that
is prefigured by ePortfolio? There are at least three layers to this vision that have been
implied in the discussion so far.

1. Integrative learning culture: Shift to a student-organized view of learning, bridg-

ing curriculum and co-curriculum, where learners pull from knowledge resources
and offerings to construct an increasingly customized educational experience that
is professionally productive and personally meaningful
2. Integrative learning analytics: Development of an institutional conversation on
student learning that can provide a framework for integrating data on student
achievement and move the institution toward a learning-centered culture and
structure
3. Strategic change: Context for institutions to involve faculty and other stakehold-
ers in institutional change and to define and renew their local institutional value
and character

These all bear on scaling strategies for ePortfolio initiatives. For example, in the
sphere of professional development, ePortfolio practice invites faculty and staff to
understand the student learning space differently while at the same time anchoring
ePortfolio assignments and reflection practices in their course goals. By its integrative
nature, ePortfolio practice provides faculty with a way to think beyond their courses,
connect course goals to program goals, and potentially connect course content to
broader student experiences.
ePortfolio practice also provides a structured and concrete context for pro-
gram and department leaders to think about alignment of program goals, course
goals, course assignments, and student work. Faculty and staff engaged in ePort-
folio initiatives regularly address issues of alignment among course and program
goals, assignments and student work, assessment criteria, learning analytics,
and institutional outcomes. This is one of the ways ePortfolio practice nurtures

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 FROM SCALING TO TRANSFORMATION 157

learning cultures that grow organically from the ground up, from pilot to broader
implementation.
Through engagement with institutional planning and strategic initiatives, ePort-
folio practice can help institutions think about investments made in structures that
promote integrative experiences. Reflective social ePortfolio practice makes visible
dimensions of the educational experience that are often invisible or at best, marginal.
This visibility makes possible what has been called institutional learning, and it is crucial
to the process in which ePortfolio forms a bridge to the emergent learning paradigm.

Enabling a “Positive Restlessness” About Student Learning

George Kuh and colleagues identified the characteristics of schools that outperform
expectations with higher than predicted graduation rates and higher than predicted
National Survey of Student Engagement scores.2 Features that foster student engage-
ment and persistence include:

• a living mission and lived educational philosophy,

• an unshakeable focus on student learning,
• environments adapted for educational enrichment,
• clearly marked pathways for student success,
• an improvement-oriented ethos, and
• shared responsibility for educational quality and student success.

They found that these institutions share an

ethic that permeates the campuses—a tapestry of values and beliefs that reflect the
institutions’ willingness to take on matters of substance consistent with their priori-
ties. Indeed they exude a sense of “positive restlessness” in how they think about
themselves and what they aspire to be.3

In practice, an ethos of positive restlessness is difficult to mount and to sustain.

In most institutions, it is a challenge to weave cycles of systematic improvement,
based on rich evidence of student learning, into the fabric of everyday practice. This
is difficult enough to achieve in individual programs, let alone across boundaries of
all the areas of the institution that influence student learning. Although this kind of
focus is highly valued, it is often perceived as pressure to do assessment imposed from
the top down, adding to faculty work and therefore difficult to sustain.
ePortfolio can serve as a catalyst for change precisely by providing a set of prac-
tices and connections that enable an institution to carry out an unshakeable focus
on student learning and a shared responsibility for educational quality and student
success in ways that connect to faculty, students, and programs. This is illustrated
throughout C2L by campus efforts to closely tie ePortfolio to outcomes assessment
in ways that fit with faculty culture and can be sustained beyond periodic scrambles

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 158 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

for accreditation or pressures for accountability. Such efforts can serve to bridge, in
Helen Barrett’s distinction, “assessment of learning” with “assessment for learning,”
arriving at a new framing of what Darren Cambridge has called assessment for insti-
tutional learning.4
This is an especially valuable framework in the context of rising interest in learn-
ing analytics that can be harvested from virtual learning systems, such as LMS and
adaptive learning environments. As useful as these analytics can be in tracking stu-
dent activity and attainment in circumscribed contexts of instruction, they are insuf-
ficient by themselves for building a portrait of the whole learner and incorporating
learning that takes place in more diverse settings. Offering a different type of evi-
dence and a more holistic perspective, ePortfolios can serve as an integrative space for
drawing together learning analytics from multiple sources from the perspective of the
student (empowering learners to read and contextualize their own analytics) and of
the institution (enabling faculty to see alignment of parts to whole).
For this kind of integrative campus learning culture to thrive, it must function
coherently at multiple levels, from course improvement to program improvement
to institutional learning. This ecosystemic view of assessment can be significantly
enabled by ePortfolio, which can serve as a connector or circulatory system for giving
multiple stakeholders a continuous, structured flow of evidence (including student
work, student reflection, and faculty and staff reflection) on how students are achiev-
ing institutional goals.

From Scaling to Transformation

As we have seen across the C2L campuses, ePortfolio initiatives can help institutions
meet the challenges of building a culture of learning. ePortfolio practice prefigures an
important part of what a learning-centered institution would look like by offering an
integrative view of the student learning experience where learning goals are mapped
over time, across courses and diverse experiences, within and beyond the walls of
the classroom. This can serve as a critical bridge to a more integrative version of the
emerging learning paradigm.
An integrative ethos has long framed the most meaningful education in privi-
leged residential environments. Armed with new tools, knowledge about effective
learning and a stronger drive for equity, we now have the opportunity to offer an
integrative education to all students seeking any kind of college education.
The integrative version of the emergent learning paradigm is distinguished in part
by its emphasis on greater access and success, engaging the growing new majority of
low-income, minority, and first-generation students with the most powerful forms of
learning and intensive educational support. There are also more qualitative differences
to this integrative version of the emergent learning paradigm. In this version, insti-
tutions function more like integrative networks, with stronger internal connections
and more porous boundaries to connections beyond the institution; in this version,

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 FROM SCALING TO TRANSFORMATION 159

stakeholders within institutions start to restructure relationships among programs and

divisions that have typically been disconnected (e.g., student affairs and academic
affairs). In addition, in this version, educators create new programs and pathways that
facilitate the iterative opportunities for students to connect theory, practice and reflec-
tion, including ways to better integrate curricular and co-curricular learning.
The evolution of higher education in the next decade will be driven in no small
part by the tensions and divergent impulses visibly present in the changing ecology
of higher education. Changes in ecosystem are being driven by an intensive focus on
student success, completion, and employability; widespread emphasis on account-
ability, standardized testing, and easily obtained metrics of attainment; and an accel-
erating interest in modularizing education so that it is more portable, flexible, and
affordable. The explosion of digital learning environments is exponentially expand-
ing the options for online learning from non-traditional providers and driving tradi-
tional institutions toward more standardized, interchangeable curricula. The granular
qualities of many digital innovations, as discussed previously, have reinforced a decid-
edly disintegrative trend.
These impulses are set against other forces in the current ecosystem, including a
robust democratic vision of the values of a liberal education for all students and the
importance of higher order skills and dispositions for long-term success and personal
fulfillment. This more integrative vision also values outcomes assessment and analyt-
ics but takes account of the complexity of learning that involves cognitive, affective,
and metacognitive dimensions through iterative experience. It also takes note of the
growing evidence, found in the research literature on “guided pathways,” that new
majority students, in particular, are most likely to thrive in a context of curricular
coherence and sustained support.
ePortfolio practices can help institutions negotiate among these tensions and
catalyze change that is incremental and potentially transformative at the same time.
ePortfolio initiatives can do this in at least three ways:

• ePortfolio initiatives have demonstrated impact on retention and graduation

rates, serving the ends of completion and student success; yet ePortfolio also
serves to deepen the impact of learning by providing an integrative space
where students can reflect on the meaning of their learning and articulate a
sense of identity and purpose.
• ePortfolio initiatives can serve institutional priorities on assessment and
accountability, not by reduction of learning to simple metrics or testing,
but by making the richness of student work visible and engaging multiple
stakeholders in ongoing conversation about the evidence of student learning
calibrated to institutional and programmatic learning goals.
• ePortfolio can serve as an effective tool for connecting curricular parts to
wholes. Organized around the student experience, ePortfolios bring together
multiple stakeholders across silos to interrogate how often discrete components
of the educational experience reinforce each other.

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 160 ePORTFOLIO DONE WELL: THE CATALYST FRAMEWORK

In this regard, ePortfolio practice supports the emergence of a “third way,” an

alternative to the polarized tensions between “unbundling” on one hand and simply
staying the same, on the other. As Bass and Eynon argue in Open and Integrative:
Designing Liberal Education for the Digital Learning Ecosystem, the most promising
path for higher education is neither unbundling nor stasis, but rather rebundling—
combining the best traditions of higher education with the powers of granular digital
tools to offer more effective and integrative learning environments to all students.5
The role of ePortfolio practice in this vision anticipates the ways that institutions
will, increasingly and necessarily, need to become recentered around the kind of learn-
ing that is most distinctive to colleges and universities: the kind of learning associated
with High-Impact Practices, mentored inquiry, and integrative learning that links the-
ory with experience. In the swirl of competing forces and disruptive changes, ePortfo-
lio incorporates a set of powerful enabling practices for ensuring that institutions can
be recentered around a high-impact integrative curriculum. High-impact ePortfolio
practices draw on, connect, and intensify the rest of the curriculum, the modular,
foundational, and interchangeable building blocks of an education. And at the same
time, ePortfolio practices can take into account and spotlight the ways that individual
practices, programs and pathways can be combined or rebundled in new ways.
In this emerging context for higher education, ePortfolio practice has a central role
to play in bridging to this new world and in helping to make the argument that a high-
impact curricular core is possible in this new landscape. Connecting what is fragmented;
empowering students, faculty, and other stakeholders to transform learning, teaching
and institutional practice; creating opportunities for rebundling in new forms: high-
impact ePortfolio practice can help institutions shape a more intentional and integrative
strategy for navigating the on-going disruptions of the higher education landscape.

Notes
1. Robert B. Barr and John Tagg, “From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for
Undergraduate Education.” Change, November/December, 1995, 13–25.
2. George D. Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John H. Schuh, Elizabeth J. Whitt, and Associates,
Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (San Francisco, CA: Wiley, 2005).
3. George D. Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John H. Schuh, and Elizabeth J. Whitt, “Never Let
It Rest: Lessons About Student Success From High-Performing Colleges and Universities,”
Change 37, no. 4 (2005): 46.
4. Helen Barrett, “Balancing ‘ePortfolio as Test’ with ‘ePortfolio as Story’” (presenta-
tion, International Society for Technology in Education and University of Alaska Anchor-
age), accessed August 15, 2016, http://electronicportfolios.com/portfolios/njedgenet.pdf;
Bret Eynon, “‘The Future of ePortfolio’ Roundtable,” Academic Commons, accessed June
20, 2009, http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/future-eportfolio-roundtable
5. Randy Bass and Bret Eynon, Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Education for the
New Digital Ecosystem (Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges and Universities,
2016).

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 PA RT T H R E E

THE DIFFERENCE
e P O RT F O L I O M A K E S

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 162 12/20/2016 1:25:44 PM
 8
W H Y e P O RT F O L I O ?
The Impact of ePortfolio Done Well

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D
oes ePortfolio practice, done well, advance student learning? As we saw in
Chapters 2 through 7, the Catalyst Framework offers strategies colleges can
use to launch, develop, and sustain high-impact ePortfolio practice. With its
interlocking sectors—Pedagogy, Professional Development, Outcomes Assessment,
Technology, and Scaling Up—educators have a framework for effective ePortfolio
implementation. In this chapter we address the questions that clearly come next:
What difference does ePortfolio make? What is the impact of ePortfolio practice done
well on student, faculty, and institutional learning? What evidence did the Connect
to Learning (C2L) campuses generate? What does this evidence suggest?

This chapter is adapted from an article published in the International Journal of ePortfolio by Bret Eynon, Laura
M. Gambino, and Judit Torok: “What Difference Can ePortfolio Make? A Field Report from the Connect to
Learning Project.” Vol 4, no. 1, Spring 2014, http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP127.pdf

163

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 164 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

Educational practices are considered “high-impact” when they “appear to engage

students at levels that elevate their performance across multiple engagement and
desired outcomes measures such as persistence.”1 In this chapter, we share C2L data
that suggest that when “done well,” ePortfolio practice correlates with advances in
student engagement, learning, and success. We also find that sophisticated ePortfolio
projects can build connections and catalyze the development of colleges as adaptive
learning organizations.
These findings address an important need. Facing dwindling resources and new
pressures to improve student success, colleges must evaluate the value of ePortfolio
practice or any other innovation before mainstreaming it. Faculty and administra-
tors want to know why they should use ePortfolio: What difference can ePortfolio
make? Can ePortfolio practice help advance student learning? Is ePortfolio worth an
investment of institutional resources? What evidence demonstrates the value of an
ePortfolio initiative?
Recognizing this issue, C2L teams paid sustained attention to evidence. C2L
leaders encouraged campus leaders to develop evaluation plans and gather evidence
of ePortfolio’s impact. As data began to come in, we used the information to consider
the impact of ePortfolio on student, faculty, and institutional learning. Based on this
research, we developed the following interrelated value propositions:

• Proposition 1: ePortfolio practice done well advances student success;

• Proposition 2: Making student learning visible, ePortfolio practice done well
supports reflection, integration, and deep learning; and
• Proposition 3: ePortfolio practice done well catalyzes learning-centered
institutional change.

Sophisticated ePortfolio initiatives can help colleges and universities improve stu-
dent outcomes and engagement, addressing what some call the Completion Agenda.
When done well, ePortfolio practice also deepens student learning, which could be
called a Quality Agenda. C2L evidence suggests that the power of ePortfolio practice
emerges from its capacity to serve as a connector. High-impact ePortfolio practice can
help students link and make meaning of diverse learning experiences across time and
space; and an integrative campus ePortfolio initiative can spur collaboration across
departments and divisions, catalyzing the growth of institutional learning cultures,
which might be envisioned as a Change Agenda.

Proposition 1
ePortfolio practice done well advances student success. At a growing number of campuses
with sustained ePortfolio initiatives, student ePortfolio usage correlates with higher levels
of student success as measured by pass rates, GPA, and retention.
Colleges have long sought to improve student success. Now government and
funders are pressing higher education to demonstrate improved retention and

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 165

graduation rates. In this context, we examined the evidence of the relationship of

ePortfolio practice to student success. As we did so, we found that a constellation of
C2L campuses generated evidence showing that ePortfolio practices correlate with
substantially higher levels of student success as measured by widely recognized indi-
cators, including course pass rates, GPA, credit accumulation, retention across semes-
ters, and graduation.
An important caveat: Definitive proof of causality related to student learning is
always elusive. As discussed in Chapter 7, ePortfolio projects are rarely designed to
permit randomized control group studies or to isolate the impact of ePortfolio. In the
case of C2L, our network intentionally spanned diverse campus projects, marked by
differences in focus, purpose, and student population. A rigorous, tightly controlled
randomized controlled trial (RCT) study could not have easily accommodated this
diversity. And FIPSE funds were in no way sufficient to support customized RCTs,
individually administered on each campus. Consequently, campus data processes
were shaped by local conditions, goals, and needs, as well as the quality of campus
institutional research offices. The C2L data have limitations, yet they are nonetheless
suggestive and intriguing.

A Growing Body of Success Data

In its initial years, the ePortfolio field produced relatively little evidence that
focused on the relationship of ePortfolio and student success.2 But there were
some efforts to document this linkage. Two studies discussed data on ePortfolio’s
relationship to student success. Hakel and Smith noted that, at Bowling Green
State University, students who built ePortfolios demonstrated higher GPAs, credit
accumulation, and retention rates than control groups.3 And LaGuardia Commu-
nity College presented data showing that students in ePortfolio-intensive courses
across the campus had a course pass rate of 74.9%; for students in non-ePortfolio
sections of comparable courses, the pass rate was 69.1%. Comparison of next-
semester retention at LaGuardia showed that students enrolled in at least one
ePortfolio-intensive course had a return rate of 75.0%; for the comparison group,
the rate was 70.0%.4
LaGuardia has continued to regularly document and report on data from a wide
range of courses. An example is this summary from a recent report to the US Depart-
ment of Education:

Data provided by the Office of Institutional Research over a period of years sug-
gests that students building ePortfolio are substantially more likely to return the
following semester; and 2011–12 was no different. The composite one-semester
retention or graduate rate for student in impacted courses [in 2011–12] was
80.4%, versus 61.7% for students in comparison courses. . . . Likewise, students
enrolled in impacted courses had higher course completion (96.4%, +1.8 per-
centage points), course pass (79.7%, + 8.2 percentage points) and high pass–C
and above (77.7%, +9.9 percentage points)—rates than students in comparison
courses.5

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 166 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

Now other campuses have begun to examine the relationship of ePortfolio use
to student success. On the Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research site,
a constellation of C2L campuses, including the following, present ePortfolio-related
student success evidence:

• At Rutgers University, the Douglass Residential College began using ePortfo-

lio in 2008–2009 in a required first semester mission course. As described in
Chapter 3, it used an ePortfolio pedagogy designed to help students develop
a clearer sense of themselves and their direction. Data showed that student
performance substantially improved. The average grade point in the course for
the two semesters before ePortfolio was introduced was a B (3.213); in nine
semesters with the ePortfolio, students earned an average of a B plus (3.508).
In addition to the improved success in the course itself, the impact extended to
student success in other first-semester courses. Prior to integrating ePortfolio
pedagogy into the curriculum, the average student cumulative GPA was 2.933;
in the nine semesters since, students’ average cumulative GPA has been 3.095.6
• Since San Francisco State University (SFSU) integrated ePortfolio into the Metro
Health Academy, a learning community for high-risk students, the university
has closely tracked several indicators of success, including persistence, credits
taken and earned, GPA, completion of remediation, and graduation. Compared
to all first-time freshmen at SFSU, Metro Health students need remediation at a
higher percentage and are more likely to be low-income, first-generation, and/or
underrepresented (see Figure 8.1). As reported in their C2L ePortfolio,

Metro students are outperforming their more advantaged SFSU peers in

terms of retention and graduation. Metro students’ four-year graduation
rate is almost 10 percentage points higher than their SFSU peers. Metro
students persist at a 19 percentage point higher rate into their 7th semester
(senior year) compared to all first-time freshmen at SF State, when we take
an average of all cohorts.7

• IUPUI uses ePortfolio across the campus. In many sections of IUPUI’s

first-year seminar, students complete an ePortfolio-based ePDP “designed
to promote students’ understanding of their educational goals, strengths,
aspirations, and career. The reflective prompts also aid students in setting
self-concordant goals and feeling a greater sense of purpose in pursuing their
degrees.” Data from 2010, analyzed with a linear regression to account for
high school GPAs, SAT scores, and other variables, show that students in
first-year seminar sections that required an ePDP had significantly higher fall
cumulative GPAs (2.82) compared to students in sections that did not require
the ePDP (2.73). In 2013 the ePDP-enhanced sections of the first-year
seminar for exploratory students, those who enter IUPUI with an undeclared
major, had significantly higher fall GPAs and fall-to-spring retention rates
compared to exploratory nonparticipants. As the IUPUI C2L team reports,

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 167

Figure 8.1. San Francisco State University: Impact of ePortfolio Use on Student Success

Source. San Francisco State University, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25,
2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/

“It appears that the ePDP process is particularly helpful for students who
enter college as exploratory students.”8
• At Queensborough Community College, all incoming students were enrolled
in First-Year Academies, a set of thematic learning communities. One set of
Academies sections used ePortfolio; the others did not. Overall, compared to
college benchmarks, Academy courses showed improved course pass and next
semester retention rates. The improvements in the ePortfolio sections of the
Academy were larger still. The benchmark retention rate was 65%. First-Year
Academies that did not use ePortfolio had an 88% retention rate. Those Academy
sections that did use ePortfolio had a 97.8% retention rate (see Table 8.1).9
• At Connecticut’s Tunxis Community College, a year-long comparison
between ePortfolio and non-ePortfolio sections of developmental English
courses showed that ePortfolio sections had 3.5 percentage points higher pass
rates and an almost 6 percentage points higher retention rate. ePortfolio is
also integrated into a number of programs at the college including computer
information systems, dental hygiene, and business administration. Students
use ePortfolio repeatedly in these programs. Data showed that students across
the college who had taken multiple courses with ePortfolio, from first year to
capstone, were more likely to be retained than students who had less or no
ePortfolio exposure (see Figure 8.2).10

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 168 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

TABLE 8.1
Queensborough Community College

Retention Percent Intervention

Fall 2006–Spring 2007 Retention 65% Benchmark
Fall 2009–Spring 2010 Retention 88% Freshman Academy
Fall 2009–Spring 2010 Retention 97.8% Freshman Academies With ePortfolio

• ePortfolio leaders at Pace University compared the 2011 and 2012 retention
rates of ePortfolio and non-ePortfolio users across the university and “found
some very positive trends of higher retention rates among ePortfolio users”
across both years. For example, in the 2011 cohort, the overall university
retention rate was 73.5%, for ePortfolio users the retention rate was 87.1%.
Digging even deeper, they also identified a subgroup of ePortfolio users known
as “super users,” students who uploaded artifacts within their first academic
year and had a total of 11 or more artifacts by May 2013. The retention rate
of the 2011 ePortfolio super users group was 97.9%.11

Figure 8.2. Tunxis Community College: Impact of ePortfolio Use on Retention.

Tunxis Community College (CT)

Next Semester Retention Rates by Number of Exposures

80.00%

70.00% 71.40%
66.20%
60.00%
60.90%

50.00% 52.70%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
No ePortfolio 1 ePortfolio 2 ePortfolio 3 ePortfolio
Courses Course Courses Courses

Source. Tunxis Community College, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25,
2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 169

These and a range of other C2L campuses shared data correlating ePortfolio use
with positive gains in student outcomes. Only one C2L campus out of the entire
network shared data that failed to show gains. However, it should be noted that not
all C2L campuses were able to collect comparative outcomes data. Some campus
teams could not identify an appropriate comparison group. At Three Rivers, for
example, all nursing students have used ePortfolios for almost a decade. Prior out-
comes data were unavailable, and comparisons with non-nursing students were not
meaningful. At Guttman, all students use ePortfolio, so no comparison is possible.
Meanwhile, other C2L campuses were not able to effectively mobilize their campus
institutional research offices to conduct comparison studies. Some teams, such as
Salt Lake Community College, noted that they were moving toward gathering and
analyzing evidence on ePortfolio’s impact but were still in the early stages of that
effort.
Given these limitations, we recognize that the C2L data are not conclusive.
C2L was not a tightly focused research project, consistent in approach across cam-
puses. Joined in a flexible community of practice focused on improvement and
scaling, C2L partners represent the broad range of higher education sectors. They
served very different student populations, with sharply divergent educational needs
and trajectories, and their ePortfolio projects varied in breadth, depth, maturity,
and scope. The controlled focus needed for rigorous, single variable research that
spanned the entire network was far beyond the scope of the project. Consequently,
campus teams chose measures appropriate for their needs. Data collection and
analysis varied, given campus goals and institutional research capacities. Across the
board, analysis was based on available comparison groups, not randomized control
groups. Further research, funded and organized to address these issues, will be of
clear value to the field.
That said, we believe that the constellation of outcomes data shared by C2L
campuses represents an emergent pattern and compares well to the kinds of data
widely used for decision-making by state agencies, funders, and higher education
institutions. As such, we argue, it provides a suggestive body of evidence for the
proposition that sophisticated ePortfolio practice correlates with improved student
success, one of the performance indicators of a High-Impact Practice.
Specific aspects of these data are worth noting. One is that positive outcomes
are seen across institutional type. As this evidence demonstrates, improved outcomes
have been documented at community colleges, liberal arts colleges, urban public
comprehensives, and Research I universities. Across these lines, high-impact ePortfo-
lio practice correlates with elevated levels of student success and persistence, helping
students make timely progress toward degree completion.
The impact on student success at the community college level is particularly
notable. And the impact on high-need, first-generation students across institutional
types is also striking, particularly considering that we know that other High-Impact
Practices have been shown to have stronger benefits for high-risk students.12

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 170 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

It is notable that on many campuses, ePortfolio practice is linked to other High-

Impact Practices, such as first-year experience programs, learning communities, and
capstone courses.13 When sharing their data, SFSU leaders noted:

Our students are outperforming their more advantaged peers in terms of reten-
tion and graduation. It is, however, difficult to tease out the effect of each specific
intervention or service we provide. Our program offers several wrap-around services
including tutoring, academic advising, financial aid advising, and assistance with
the registration process. We also enroll students in a cohorted learning community
for two years while their instructors participate in a faculty learning community and
receive regular trainings in pedagogy.14

It is impossible to isolate the impact of ePortfolio on positive student outcomes

at SFSU, LaGuardia, Boston University, and other campuses. Because ePortfolio’s
value is rooted in connecting diverse learning experiences, examining it in isolation
is difficult and perhaps meaningless. The case of Guttman Community College is
revealing. At Guttman, ePortfolios are used with all students to intentionally link
an array of High-Impact Practices, also implemented at scale, including learning
communities, first-year seminars, service-learning, writing-intensive courses, col-
laborative projects, and common intellectual experiences. Early indicators of the
success of Guttman’s educational model are strong, including 49% and 45% three-
year graduation rates for the first two entering classes. Given the way Guttman
uses ePortfolio practice, there is no way to isolate the impact of that practice on
a student’s learning experience; Guttman leaders, however, argue that ePortfolio
practice plays a vital role. Through recursive use of ePortfolio across curricular and
co-curricular experiences, students connect their learning experiences into a cohe-
sive whole, communicating their learning to themselves and the larger Guttman
community.
Guttman’s transformative approach adds to its power as a model of ePortfolio
“done well;” however, it also eliminates the possibility of randomized, single variable
research. While illustrating the ways that ePortfolio’s value is rooted in its role as a
connector, this example also highlights the broader tensions inherent to applying
traditional education research models to integrative ePortfolio practice.
Some C2L teams were able to at least reduce the number of variables in play.
Queensborough Community College compared data from first-year learning com-
munities that used ePortfolio with those that did not and found that students in
the ePortfolio-enhanced learning communities did much better (Table 8.1). Rutgers
examined pre- and post-ePortfolio implementation data for comparison, and IUPUI
used a linear regression to compare ePortfolio and non-ePortfolio users exposed to
otherwise comparable learning experiences and saw statistically significant gains.
These examples underscore an interesting point. The fact that data were gathered
from multiple campuses with a variety of approaches may limit direct comparabil-
ity, but it also created a breadth and diversity of data that evaluation focused on one
campus rarely displays.

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 171

From another angle, it is interesting that much of the C2L data comes from
contexts where ePortfolio use was linked with first-year seminars, capstone courses,
and experiential learning. We suggest this supports an emergent proposition that
the ePortfolio practice can connect and enhance the impact of other High-Impact
Practices.15 We discuss this connection between ePortfolio and other High-Impact
Practices in Chapter 9.
Although these data are intriguing, it is worth noting what they do not show.
If the data suggest that ePortfolio practice can support improved student success, it
does not explain why or how it does so. How does ePortfolio use shape the student
learning experience? Does ePortfolio practice advance students’ sense of belonging
to the campus community? Their sense of educational self-efficacy? Their ownership
of their education? What kinds of ePortfolio pedagogies are effective? Success data
alone cannot answer these questions. Other kinds of data can, however, help us bet-
ter understand the ways ePortfolio practice affects the quality of the student learning
experience.

Proposition 2
Making student learning visible, ePortfolio practice done well supports reflection, inte-
gration, and deep learning. Helping students reflect on and connect their learning across
academic and co-curricular learning experiences, sophisticated ePortfolio practices trans-
form the student learning experience. Advancing higher order thinking and integrative
learning, the connective nature of ePortfolio helps students construct purposeful identities
as learners.
Although student success data are vital, they provide limited insight into the
ePortfolio learning experience. It might be tempting to leap from C2L data to a con-
clusion that ePortfolio practice automatically leads to improved student outcomes.
We found, however, that the value of the ePortfolio experience for students depends
on how it is implemented; that is, the pedagogy and practices of faculty and staff as
well as broader support structures.
With this in mind, C2L took two steps. First, C2L campuses documented the
practices shown to be the most powerful in enhancing student learning. Shared
on the Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research site and discussed in
Chapter 3, this documentation illuminates the integrative, social pedagogy used by
ePortfolio faculty across campuses. Second, C2L campuses also surveyed students,
seeking insight into the ways students understand their ePortfolio experience. As
discussed next, campus practices and the survey data suggest that the value of the
ePortfolio experience emerges from the ways it makes learning visible, facilitating
connective reflection; sharing; and deeper, more integrative learning.

Making Learning Visible: Reflection

What does it mean to make learning visible? Most obviously, ePortfolios can make
the learning process more visible to students themselves. Curating a body of their

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 172 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

own learning artifacts, collected over time and in different settings, provides students
with opportunities to examine and reflect on their learning. As experienced ePortfolio
practitioners know, however, meaningful reflection does not just happen. Skillful and
intentional pedagogy is required from faculty and staff.
As discussed in Chapter 3, Carol Rodgers’ framework for reflective thinking
serves as a way to consider the following different types of reflective practice:

• Reflection as connection
• Reflection as systematic and disciplined
• Reflection as social pedagogy
• Reflection as an attitude toward change16

C2L teams incorporated Rodgers’ insights into reflective pedagogy. The practices
in Chapter 3 show how faculty and staff took advantage of ePortfolio’s ability to make
student learning visible, prompting reflective processes and helping students inte-
grate their learning. In so doing, they engaged students in one or more key behaviors
that High-Impact Practices elicit, particularly periodic, structured opportunities to
reflect and integrate learning. Reflective strategies used by C2L campuses include
scaffolding designed to help students:

• Connect diverse course-based experiences and build reflective skills.

ePortfolio-based reflections at Pace University’s Media and Communication
Arts graduate program begin as “lower level reflection” on specific artifacts,
a reflective essay completed at semester’s end elicits “higher level reflection,”
asking students to examine their own strengths and weaknesses.17
• Link course-based learning to co-curricular learning and advisement. At
Rutgers University’s Douglass College, advisors structure ePortfolios to help
students connect academic pathways to co-curricular programs and service-
learning, building leadership skills.18
• Connect learning to academic competencies and professional standards.
Boston University’s College of General Studies uses ePortfolio to help students
understand, focus on, and document growth in key competencies.19

These strategies are not mutually exclusive, of course. At Virginia Tech’s College
of Natural Resources, students use their ePortfolios to deepen their understanding of
the discipline, connect with peer advisors, and think about their personal commit-
ment to sustainability and environmental protection.20 At Three Rivers Community
College, nursing students use ePortfolio in every course offered by the program. They
not only document competency-focused achievements also reflect on their clinical
experiences, examine their personal attitudes and biases toward different types of
patients, and work to develop their identities as nursing professionals.21
As C2L campuses integrated reflective strategies into their ePortfolio practices,
they gathered survey data on student experiences. C2L leaders developed the C2L

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 173

Core Survey, administering it over five semesters from 2011 to 2013. Based in part on
questions previously used at LaGuardia and other partner campuses, this instrument
was designed to capture the attitudes and perspectives of students taking ePortfolio
courses. Several additional items from the NSSE were also included (with permis-
sion) and slightly modified to fit the purpose of the C2L project. Student response
data (n = 10,170) have now been collected, aggregated, and analyzed from all 24 C2L
campuses.
The C2L Core Survey has three main goals: First, capturing student perspec-
tives on ePortfolio, the survey offers evidence that can deepen our understanding
of how ePortfolio usage affects the student learning experience. Second, survey evi-
dence contextualizes the individual student ePortfolios available on the Catalyst for
Learning site. Third, the large data set offered by this multi-campus implementation
creates analytical opportunities that go beyond smaller surveys done only at indi-
vidual schools and programs. The full C2L Core Survey is available at c2l.mcnrc.org.
Administered on campuses where faculty designed strategies based on Rodgers’
framework, some Core Survey data reveal the ways such ePortfolio practice shapes
student learning experiences (see Table 8.2). For example, students used a four-part
scale to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with the statement “Build-
ing my ePortfolio helped me succeed as a student.” Nearly two-thirds (62.5%) of
respondents Agreed or Strongly Agreed with this statement. Similarly, 68.6% Agreed
or Strongly Agreed that “Building my ePortfolio helped me to make connections
between ideas,” suggesting that ePortfolio practice advanced “reflection as con-
nection.” Addressing Rodgers’ understanding of “reflection as an attitude towards
change,” 66.0% Agreed or Strongly Agreed that “Using ePortfolio has allowed me to
be more aware of my growth and development as a learner.” This suggests that the
integrative ePortfolio experience helps students build a more holistic self-portrait, a
way of understanding themselves as learners.

TABLE 8.2
Student’s Integrative ePortfolio Experiences
C2L Core Survey Items % Agree or Strongly Agree
Building my ePortfolio helped me think more deeply 63.8
about the content of the course.
Building my ePortfolio helped me to make connections 68.6
between ideas.
Building my ePortfolio helped me succeed as a student. 62.5
Someday, I’d like to use my ePortfolio to show others, such 70.2
as potential employers or professors at another college,
what I’ve learned and what I can do.
Using ePortfolio has allowed me to be more aware of my 66.0
growth and development as a learner.

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 174 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

The C2L Core Survey includes open-ended questions about the ePortfolio expe-
rience, asking students how it shaped their learning. The replies create a rich body
of qualitative evidence, extending patterns demonstrated in the quantitative data.
Sample responses include the following:

• ePortfolio has supported my growth and learning because I was able to bring
my ideas together. I learned that I have accomplished a lot throughout my
college career.
• ePortfolio has introduced me to my hidden goals in my life. Jotting down my
goals in a place helped me work on them.
• I got to show who I was. While creating my ePortfolio, I learned more about
myself.
• The best part was to be able to apply my own work into it. . . . I love how it
links to assignments that you have done because these assignments can help
other students continue their education. I also enjoy that I grew as a learner,
and I developed skills that I didn’t know before. It helps me connect between
new ideas and old ones.

In the C2L Core Survey, these ePortfolio-specific questions were flanked by ques-
tions drawn from the NSSE (see Table 8.3). In 2011 the C2L Project received permission
from NSSE to adapt a set of NSSE questions for use as part of the survey. Asked how
much their ePortfolio-enhanced course work “contributed to [their] knowledge, skills,
and personal development in understanding [themselves],” 75.8% responded Quite a
Bit or Very Much, reinforcing the idea that reflective ePortfolio experiences supported
what Rodgers refers to as an “attitude towards change” as well as self-understanding, and
what Marcia Baxter Magolda has called “self-authorship.”22 Student responses were also

TABLE 8.3
Adapted Deep Learning Questions Drawn From the
National Survey of Student Engagement
C2L Core Survey Items
To what extent has your experience in this Students (%) Responding
ePortfolio-enhanced course… Quite a Bit or Very Much
Contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal 75.6
development in writing clearly and effectively?
Contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal 75.8
development in understanding yourself ?
Emphasized applying theories or concepts to 75.4
practical problems or in new situations?
Emphasized synthesizing and organizing ideas, 79.9
information, or experiences in new ways?

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 175

strong on questions related to integrative and higher order thinking. Drawing on the
work of Tagg and others, Laird, Shoup, and Kuh have linked these questions to what
they refer to as deep learning—reflection on the relationship between different pieces of
information; focusing on substance and underlying meaning—and personal commit-
ment to understanding.23 When asked, for example, about engagement in “synthesizing
and organizing ideas, information, or experiences in new ways,” 79.9% of C2L students
responded Quite a Bit or Very Much, again supporting the impact of what Rodgers
describes as “reflection as connection.”24
Although not conclusive, campus practices and the Core Survey data suggest that
ePortfolio practice helps students make meaning from specific learning experiences
and draw connections to other experiences. Integrative ePortfolio strategies prompt
students to connect learning in one course to learning in other courses, co-curricular
activities, and life experiences. Ultimately, students connect their learning to consid-
eration of goals and values, constructing an openness toward learning, an attitude
toward change, and a more purposeful sense of self.

Campus-Based Analysis of NSSE Data

The C2L Core Survey results from the NSSE questions we adapted are
intriguing, but they have some limitations. Comparisons to national
norms for these questions are not possible, because of the mix of insti-
tutions surveyed—community college and four year—and the range of
programs and types of courses where the survey was administered. How-
ever, direct comparison on a single campus is possible and relevant. Two
C2L campuses, Pace University and LaGuardia Community College, did
their own institutional comparisons, which yielded meaningful findings.
Pace University examined their 2013 NSSE results for first-year students,
comparing the responses of students who took courses using ePortfolio
with those who did not. The analysis revealed positive correlations to
ePortfolio in a number of areas. ePortfolio users were substantially more
likely than non-users to report that their coursework had emphasized
“solving complex real-world problems.” ePortfolio users were also sub-
stantially more likely to report that their courses had helped them develop
skills in “writing clearly and effectively” and “thinking critically and ana-
lytically.” And ePortfolio-users were also more likely than other students
to agree that technology contributed to “learning, studying, or completing
coursework with other students.”25
LaGuardia took a slightly different approach, using the Community
College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Some questions on
the Core Survey are found on both the NSSE and the CCSSE. Since
LaGuardia regularly administers the CCSSE, LaGuardia researchers

(Continues)

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 176 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

(Continued)

were able to use the two surveys to compare the responses of ePortfo-
lio users (who did the Core Survey) with the responses of the broader
LaGuardia population, as well as with national CCSSE means.
Community college students nationwide, at campuses using the CCSSE,
answered the question “How much has your work in this course empha-
sized synthesizing and organizing new ideas, information or experiences
in new ways:” 64% of national respondents responded Very Much or Quite
a Bit. In its campus-wide CCSSE survey, 73.4% of LaGuardia students
responded Very Much or Quite a Bit to this question. For LaGuardia’s
ePortfolio-using students in Fall 2015 who answered the question in the
C2L Core Survey, the comparable figure was 88.2%.
This pattern was repeated on question after question. For the question,
“How much has your work in this course emphasized applying theories
or concepts to practical problems or in new situations,” 59.9% of stu-
dents nation-wide answered Very Much or Quite a Bit. At LaGuardia, the
college-wide mean was 65.8%. For students using ePortfolio, asked the
question through the Core Survey, the comparable figure was 84.0%.
These responses underscore the power of the ePortfolio experience
to advance student engagement in deep and integrative learning pro-
cesses. On the question, “How much has your experience in this course
contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in
understanding yourself,” 58% of the community college students nation-
wide answered Very Much or Quite a Bit. The LaGuardia collegewide
figure was 66.9%. The figure for ePortfolio students at LaGuardia was
87.4%.26

Making Learning Visible: Social Pedagogy

While students’ individual reflections on their own learning are valuable, making learn-
ing visible can also have more collective aspects. Used with social pedagogy as described
in Chapter 3, ePortfolio practice can facilitate collaboration and exchange as well as
learning-centered connection with faculty, students, and other viewers outside the
campus. Bass and Elmendorf described social pedagogies as the following:

design approaches for teaching and learning that engage students in authentic tasks
that are communication-intensive, where the representation of knowledge for an
authentic audience is absolutely central to the construction of knowledge in a course.
. . . By extension, through the use of integrative strategies such as ePortfolios, social
pedagogies are also design approaches that help students deepen their reflections,
build links across courses and semesters, and bridge between formal curricular and
co-curricular learning.27

C2L faculty developed activities that used ePortfolio with social pedagogy and
shared them on the Catalyst site. Reviewing these practices, Bass found the following

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 177

ways campuses were using social pedagogy with ePortfolio (see Chapter 3 for a more
detailed discussion):

• Peer response and social interaction deepen individual work.

• Team-based work creates a collectively produced artifact.
• External audiences raise the stakes on production.
• Forming students into an expertlike knowledge community of practice
engages students with their learning.

Based on his review, Bass argues in his earlier essay (see Chapter 3), that a
social pedagogy for ePortfolio—asking students to use ePortfolio to articulate their
insights into learning to authentic audiences—can help them engage more deeply
with content and concepts, integrate their understandings, and develop a more
purposeful approach to learning. Social pedagogies for ePortfolio can be seen to
directly align with three of Kuh and O’Donnell’s operational characteristics of
High-Impact Practices: (a) interactions with faculty and peers about substantive
matters; (b) frequent, timely, and constructive feedback; and (c) public demonstra-
tion of competence.28
Five semesters of C2L Core Survey data support the idea that social pedagogy
enhances the ePortfolio experience. Survey data examined interaction with two audi-
ences for ePortfolios: instructors and peers. The role of instructors in ePortfolio-based
interaction was analyzed based on students’ reports that instructors had reviewed,
discussed, and given feedback on their ePortfolios. (For a description of the analysis
process, see C2L Senior Scholar Helen L. Chen’s vignette, “Digging Deeper Into the
Core Survey Data: Faculty and Peer Interaction” in this chapter.)
Correlating instructor feedback with student engagement with ePortfolio, we
found a striking pattern. Students who reported instructor feedback as an important
component of their ePortfolio experience (high feedback) placed significantly higher
learning value on their ePortfolio experiences compared to their peers in the low feed-
back group. Across five semesters, 90.0% of students with high levels of instructor
feedback Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the statement “Using ePortfolio has allowed
me to be more aware of my growth and development as a learner.” For students with
low levels of instructor feedback, the comparable figure was 51.3%. This pattern was
repeated across multiple survey items.
Similarly, students who reported peer feedback as an important component of
their ePortfolio development (high feedback) reported significantly higher value
experiences compared to their peers in the low feedback group. The data reveal that
94.4% of students who reported high levels of student feedback Agreed or Strongly
Agreed with the statement “Using ePortfolio has allowed me to be more aware of my
growth and development as a learner.” The figure for students who received low levels
of student feedback was 32.0% (see Figure 8.3).
This pattern is found in other items, such as “Building my ePortfolio helped me
think more deeply about the content of this course,” “Building my ePortfolio helped
me succeed as a student,” and “Building my ePortfolio helped me make connections

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 178 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

Figure 8.3. The Impact of Social Pedagogy on Student Engagement

C2L Core Survey Social Pedagogy Results
100.0% 94.4% 94.4% 94.2%

75.0%

Low Peer
Interaction
50.0%
High Peer
39.0%
Interaction
32.0% 32.0%

25.0%

0.0%
Building my ePortfolio Using ePortfolio Building my ePortfolio
helped me to think has allowed me to be helped me to make
more deeply about more aware of my connections between
the content of growth and ideas.
this course. development as
a learner.

between ideas.” When students know someone, a faculty member or peer, is look-
ing at their ePortfolio, its value as a vehicle for deepening contextualized learning is
dramatically enhanced.
A similar pattern emerged with the questions drawn from the NSSE and asso-
ciated with higher order and integrative thinking. Asked how much their course
involved “applying theories or concepts to practical problems or in new situations,”
92.9% of students with high levels of instructor interaction reported Quite a Bit
or Very Much, for students with low levels of instructor interaction, the figure was
64.8%. On the same question, among students who reported high level of student
interaction around the ePortfolio, 92.1% Agreed or Strongly Agreed. Among stu-
dents who reported low levels of interaction, the figure was only 58.5%.
These data further suggest that a social pedagogy for ePortfolio practice enhances
the integration of academic learning with the processes of identity construction. Asked
how much their course “contributed to [their] knowledge, skills, and personal develop-
ment in understanding [themselves],” 93.0% of students who reported a high degree of
ePortfolio-based interaction with other students reported Quite a Bit or Very Much. Of
students who reported a low degree of interaction, the comparable figure was 57.9%.
Qualitative data from the Core Survey illustrated the value of interaction to the
portfolio experience. “ePortfolio has allowed me to receive feedback and criticism of
my work from fellow classmates. I have learned where my weaknesses and strengths
are as a designer,” commented one student. “The best part was seeing other students’

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 179

ePortfolios and getting to know them and their experiences,” noted a second, and
a third said, “The best part of working with ePortfolio is that I can share this with
people and they can see what I have done in school.”

Digging Deeper Into the Core Survey Data:

Faculty and Peer Interaction
Helen L. Chen, C2L senior scholar
In considering Randy Bass’ introduction of social pedagogies to the Con-
nect to Learning network and the subsequent implementation of prac-
tices integrating the use of social pedagogy, we decided to see what
impact, if any, the social pedagogy practices had on student engagement
with ePortfolio. In our operationalization of these practices, we focused
on the role of communication, interaction, and audience from two spe-
cific perspectives, instructors and peers. We created scales to explore
how instructor and peer feedback on ePortfolio activities might influence
student engagement outcomes across the six administrations of Core
Survey data collected over five semesters from fall 2011 to spring 2014.

Instructor Feedback and Recognition

This scale, representing student recognition of the usefulness of instruc-
tors as an audience and as guides for ePortfolio creation and devel-
opment, was created by taking the mean responses to the following
instructor-related items:

• “My instructor provided useful feedback on my ePortfolio.”

• “I know that my instructor looked at my ePortfolio.”
• “My instructor(s) discussed the ways ePortfolio helps students to
learn.”
The scale values were represented on the same range as the response
options for each individual item, from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly
Agree (4). Cronbach’s alpha, an estimated measure of internal consistency,
was .85.

Peer Feedback and Recognition

Similarly, a peer-oriented scale was created by taking the mean of two
peer-related items where respondents indicated agreement to the fol-
lowing statements on a four-point Likert scale ranging from Strongly
Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (4). The Cronbach’s alpha for these items
was .80.

• “My peers/classmates provided useful feedback on my ePortfolio.”

• “I know my peers/classmates looked at my ePortfolio.”

(Continues)

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 180 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

(Continued)

Discussion
Although the constructs of instructor and peer feedback and recogni-
tion and their corresponding scales require additional development and
refinement, preliminary analyses identify their important contribution
to providing a more nuanced understanding of feedback and guidance
from instructors and peers. For example, in Figure 8.4, students who
view instructors and peers as important sources of support in their
ePortfolio development process (high and medium recognition) also
reported stronger agreement (Agree/Strongly Agree) with the state-
ment “Using ePortfolio has allowed me to be more aware of my growth
and development as a learner” compared to students who did not rec-
ognize instructors and peers as important audiences (low recognition).
These trends demonstrate how feedback from peers and instructors
can potentially heighten student perceptions of ePortfolio on desired
learning outcomes.

Figure 8.4. C2L Core Survey: Peer and Faculty Feedback Results.
Using ePortfolio allowed me to be more aware of
my growth and development as a learner.
100%

80% 32.0%
51.3%
60% 75.3% 79.2%
90.0% 94.4%
40%
67.9%
48.7%
20%
24.7% 20.7%
10.0% 5.5%
0%
Low Faculty Medium High Low Peer Medium Peer High Peer
Recognition Faculty Faculty Recognition Recognition Recognition
Recognition Recognition

Disagree/Strongly Disagree Agree/Strongly Agree

Making Learning Visible: Connection and Identity Formation

The Connect to Learning data suggest that high-impact ePortfolio practice, shaped
by reflective and integrative social pedagogies, makes learning visible and helps stu-
dents link different parts of their learning. A large majority of students reported that
building an ePortfolio “helped . . . make connections between ideas” and “apply
theories or concepts to practical problems or in new situations.” This supports the
argument that ePortfolio’s value is rooted in its connective power, its ability to help
students link a range of experiences. In 2009, in “It Helped Me See a New Me,”
Eynon did a close reading of multiple ePortfolios and examined LaGuardia survey
data to argue that integrative ePortfolio practice engaged LaGuardia students in a

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 181

process of identity construction, helping them understand themselves as learners and

emerging professionals.29 The C2L data support this claim and further indicate that
interacting on ePortfolio helps students understand themselves as learners. This sug-
gests that ePortfolio experiences shaped by integrative social pedagogies help students
take ownership of their learning, building not only academic skills but also the more
affective understandings of self regarded by Keeling, Baxter Magolda, and others as
critical to student success and meaningful education.30
As researchers have redefined the dimensions of learning and development, the
AAC&U has led a broad movement, encouraging practices that engage students as
active learners, complex thinkers who connect learning in and beyond the classroom
to address new challenges in education, careers, and personal and community lives.
C2L findings suggest that ePortfolios “done well” can play a major role in helping
colleges and universities address not only completion but also quality, advancing and
supporting higher order thinking and integrative personal growth.
C2L evidence suggests that sophisticated ePortfolio pedagogies are more likely to
engage students in higher order thinking, integrative learning, and other high-impact
learning behaviors. These findings suggest that, by helping students integrate their
learning, an effective ePortfolio initiative can help institutions deepen and transform
multiple dimensions of the student learning experience.

Proposition 3
ePortfolio practice “done well” catalyzes learning-centered institutional change. Focusing
attention on student learning and prompting connection and cooperation across depart-
ments and divisions, ePortfolio initiatives can catalyze campus cultural and structural
change, helping colleges and universities develop as learning organizations.
As we have seen, C2L data show that ePortfolio practice, guided by a combi-
nation of reflective, integrative, and social pedagogies, supports improved student
learning, engagement, and success, key indicators of High-Impact Practice. On cam-
puses where ePortfolio is used effectively, however, the work of C2L teams extended
beyond pedagogy. Working with faculty, staff, and programs, C2L teams addressed
institutional structure and culture from multiple angles. C2L research suggests that
effective ePortfolio initiatives build vibrant programs with work that links Pedagogy
with the other sectors of the Catalyst Framework: Professional Development, Out-
comes Assessment, Technology, and Scaling Up.
Actively addressing all five sectors of the Catalyst Framework is demanding, but
it has a payoff. C2L teams that work effectively across the Framework build more
robust and sustainable ePortfolio initiatives. And there is an additional bonus.
Because an integrative ePortfolio initiative requires collaboration across multiple
sectors of the campus, it has the potential to engage diverse campus groups that
may otherwise rarely connect in a shared conversation about student learning. A
cohesive ePortfolio project can build an integrated learning culture and help an
institution develop as an adaptive learning organization.

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 182 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

As the higher education landscape becomes more complex, colleges must adapt
to a fast-changing environment. With the emergence of massive open online courses
(MOOCs) and other Web-based learning options, students can choose to learn eve-
rywhere. Facing calls to unbundle higher education, colleges must find ways to con-
nect learning, create coherent purpose, and become adaptive learning organizations.
Garvin describes a learning organization as one that is “skilled at creating, acquiring
and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge
and insights.”31 A learning college is, then, an institution able to use evidence of student
learning, engagement, and success in processes of institutional learning and change.
If C2L’s first and second propositions address what could be called the Com-
pletion and the Quality Agendas, the third addresses something equally important:
the Change Agenda. How can colleges build capacity to adapt to changing condi-
tions? How can administrators thoughtfully use faculty and staff expertise to advance
campus-wide innovation? How can they build learning cultures and become more
integrated and adaptive learning organizations? C2L’s findings suggest that ePortfolio
initiatives can help colleges address these increasingly pressing needs.
This third proposition is qualitatively different from the first two because it is
more sweeping and more difficult to assess. The evidence for this proposition is com-
plex, deriving primarily from the stories and practices shared by C2L teams. These
self-reported data do not support hard and fast conclusions. But they are fascinating
and, we believe, deserving of thoughtful consideration.
We use the Catalyst Framework to review our findings about the difference ePort-
folio practice can make in this regard. Having discussed the impact of Pedagogy ear-
lier in this chapter, here we focus on the Framework’s other four sectors. We seek here
to highlight the ways that ePortfolio practice in each sector prompts and supports the
development of a more cohesive and agile learning organization.

Professional Development
When campus ePortfolio leaders organize meaningful professional development, it
shapes a curricular and cultural context for student, faculty, and staff learning. The
stories of C2L teams indicate that the most vibrant ePortfolio campuses pay sus-
tained attention to professional development. Faculty development is key to ensuring
the quality of ePortfolio practice, helping faculty test and adapt integrative, social
pedagogy for ePortfolio. Professional development can extend beyond faculty, engag-
ing advisors and other key staff mem-
bers in integrating ePortfolio practice
Placing ePortfolios at the center in advising and co-curricular learning
of sustained professional devel-
experiences.
opment can encourage sophis-
Although critical to high-impact
ticated pedagogy, build student
achievement, and change cam- ePortfolio pedagogy, effective profes-
pus conversations about teach- sional development can also advance
ing and learning. faculty and institutional learning. As
discussed in Chapter 4, professional

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 183

development guided by the Catalyst design principles (Inquiry, Reflection, and Inte-
gration), can link faculty and staff to an engaging discovery process. Incorporating
student ePortfolios in this dynamic can transform the impact of professional devel-
opment. In examining students’ ePortfolios, faculty can not only view student work
but also student reflections on their learning and their lives. They can contextualize
student learning, comparing work done in current courses to work done earlier or in
different disciplines. They can consider the learning that takes place in co-curricular
experiences. Highlighting student learning across boundaries, professional develop-
ment can catalyze a powerful conversation that goes beyond courses and credits to
focus on students and the holistic student learning experience.
The C2L team at Manhattanville College, for example, brought together fac-
ulty from traditional departments (such as English, psychology, and fine arts) with
leaders of the Center for Career Development, the athletics department and others.
The “open and integrated nature” of the process, team members said, deepened its
impact:

In all of our professional development programs, we actively recruit faculty and staff
from across the disciplinary and programmatic spectrum. We work hard to disrupt
“one size fits all” conceptions of ePortfolio by asking these diverse groups to col-
laboratively investigate the ways in which ePortfolios can meet their individual and
collective goals for teaching, learning, programming and professionalism. In this
way, ePortfolio professional development has become a catalyst for bringing faculty
and staff who perform vastly different functions across our campus together to build
an understanding of ePortfolio as a . . . way of thinking that can serve a complex web
of interconnected goals and objectives.32

Through professional development, colleges build collaboration and identify strengths

and areas for improvement. Effective professional development supports faculty and
staff as they plan and integrate curricular and co-curricular improvements, helping
institutions adapt, learn, and grow.
Placing ePortfolios at the center of sustained professional development can not
only build ePortfolio initiatives and advance high-impact pedagogy but can also link
different institutional stakeholders to conversations about curricular and co-curricular
learning experiences. ePortfolio-related professional development can deepen campus
conversations about teaching and ways to improve the student learning experience,
contributing to institutional change.

Outcomes Assessment
Connecting ePortfolio to outcomes assessment can spur the growth of learning col-
leges. As discussed in Chapter 5, effective outcomes assessment begins with inquiry into
authentic student work connected to real classroom activity. Examining and reflecting
together on ePortfolios and student work, faculty and staff from across the college
can more easily identify realistic recommendations and then close the loop, integrat-
ing appropriate improvement to pedagogy and practice across the institution. An

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 184 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment

ePortfolio initiatives can move process that uses inquiry, reflection,
outcomes assessment beyond and integration promotes institutional
accountability by spotlighting learning and change.
student work, engaging faculty
At Guttman, for example, Assess-
and staff, and supporting student,
faculty, and institutional learning.
ment Days are built into the academic
calendar at the middle and end point of
each semester. Faculty and staff attend
these days and engage in a collective
conversation about student learning based on authentic work from student ePortfo-
lios. As Guttman’s C2L team explained:

We use these days to engage faculty in an inquiry and reflection process related to
student learning and then connect, or integrate, the results of that process into our
individual or collective practice. The use of ePortfolio during these activities allows
us to keep the focus of our work connected to and centered on students and student
learning.33

ePortfolio-based outcomes assessment processes such as these can spur a larger

conversation about student learning. Building assessment processes so they engage
faculty and staff in sustained and structured inquiry can help an entire institution
become more of a learning college, a place where the college itself is a learner, con-
tinuously discovering ways to deepen and advance student learning in every aspect
of its practice.

Technology
As discussed in Chapter 6, effective ePortfolio technology supports integrative stu-
dent learning and links it to professional development and outcomes assessment.
Making student learning visible and facilitating a campus-wide focus on pedagogy
and student success, ePortfolio technology also has the potential to support broader
institutional learning and change.
If sophisticated ePortfolio pedagogy asks students to document, reflect on, and
integrate their learning, the most effective ePortfolio technology supports this pro-
cess, helping students to (a) connect different elements of their learning, bringing
together curricular, co-curricular, and experiential learning; and (b) share their con-
textualized learning with students, faculty, and other authentic audiences. Moreover,
effective ePortfolio platforms also help faculty, staff, and other stakeholders connect
to and focus on student learning. Facilitating the integration of artifacts into profes-
sional development and outcomes assessment processes, quality ePortfolio platforms
help deepen faculty, staff, and institutional learning.
Linked to professional development and assessment, effective ePortfolio technol-
ogy helps faculty and staff examine student work in a more holistic context, support-
ing learning about students and the improvement of pedagogy. As C2L’s Northeastern

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 185

University team tells us, “When posi-

tioned properly within a conversation Effective ePortfolio technology can
about pedagogy, ‘ePortfolio as tool’ help catalyze change by making
can expand the dialogue about teach- student learning visible, facilitating
a campus-wide focus on peda-
ing and learning. . . . The conversation
gogy and student development.
shifts from ‘learning within courses’ to
‘learning across courses.’”34
Effective ePortfolio technology can
help deepen faculty, staff, and institutional learning by facilitating professional devel-
opment and outcomes assessment processes on a campus. Moreover, an ePortfolio
platform has the potential to support the scaling of ePortfolio initiatives; enhancing a
campus’ ability to make student learning visible across an entire institution, catalyz-
ing institutional learning and change.

Scaling Up
To build a successful initiative, ePortfolio leaders attend to a range of processes that
build campus engagement and institutional support. Instrumentally important for
building effective ePortfolio practice, these tasks inherently bring together diverse
campus constituencies for collaboration focused on student learning, creating oppor-
tunities for deeper systemic change.
Reviewing campus practices, C2L identified six Scaling Strategies teams use
to scale their initiatives. These demanding, recursive tasks, described in Chapter 7,
include engaging students as stakeholders; gathering, analyzing, and using evalua-
tion evidence; and building alliances with departments and programs. Northeastern’s
C2L team described the strategic value of building alliances with key programs. They
established strong relationships with the undergraduate writing program, the honors
program, and the Graduate School of Education. The team’s scaling up story explains
their approach:

When a school elects to institute ePortfolios program-wide, the initiative is more

likely to succeed during times of change and wavering support. Once one pro-
gram has an ePortfolio requirement, and the system of support is put into place,
it becomes easier for other programs to adapt the innovator’s materials and systems
for their own purposes. Diffusion of Innovations Theory predicts that successful
programs in one area of an institution will breed similar programs within other areas
of the institution.35

The Northeastern story highlights qualities that advance the scaling process:
vibrancy, stamina, and interpersonal relationship building. They stress the need for
bottom-up and top-down support. “Scale,” they write, “springs forth from growth
within the hearts and minds of many people within an organization, from intrinsic
motivation and consensus that change will be beneficial. Scale is a manifestation of
organizational learning.”36

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 186 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

Scaling Up and work on Pedagogy,

Scaling up refers to the strate- Technology, Professional Development,
gies for expanding ePortfolio and Outcomes Assessment together
initiatives that align with pro- demand sustained and intentional
grammatic and institutional
work. These efforts prompted C2L
priorities and share a continuous
focus on student success and
teams to build partnerships and facili-
learning. tate collaboration, bringing together
faculty from diverse disciplines, advi-
sors and co-curricular staff, IT staff and
professional development facilitators, and executives from multiple divisions. ePort-
folio leaders at Pace University addressed the need to bring these groups together
with an advisory board that included “members from each of our academic areas and
also the library; Information Technology Services; Center for Teaching, Learning,
and Technology; Office of Students Success; and Assessment Office.”37 For the Pace
team, this was part of a broader change effort:

One of our major goals has been to have ePortfolios permeate our Pace culture. . . .
Integrating learning and making connections have been our mantras. . . . We have
built partnerships with faculty, staff, and administrators from all schools, many dis-
ciplines, as well as Student Life, Office of Assessment, and Career Services. . . . ePort-
folios are now being used by Student Life on one campus as part of a new Leadership
Certificate Program; students in the program—first year and second year students,
and their upper class mentors, are using the ePortfolio to document and reflect on
their activities, workshops, and leadership development. . . . We are also using ePort-
folios for Tenure and Promotion review, which has been helpful in getting faculty
experienced with the platform.38

Successful ePortfolio leaders facilitate cross-campus collaboration, encouraging

systemic conversations about student learning. Such sustained efforts to build an
ePortfolio culture are critical to the ability to broaden and deepen ePortfolio initia-
tives. But such effort also yields dividends. The conversations required for ePortfolio
success illuminate the holistic nature of the student learning experience, sparking
structural change and building campus-wide commitment to learning-centered
processes.
Growing commitment to a learning culture and related changes in institutional
structure and culture were evident on many C2L campuses. As described earlier,
ePortfolio-based assessment in Northeastern’s education school has sparked deep cur-
riculum change focused on integrative learning.39 At Manhattanville, the ePortfolio
team initiated sustained professional development, “the first on our campus after a
long period of no professional development.”40 The ePortfolio-based process fed fac-
ulty interest in new opportunities for inquiry into teaching and learning, and this in
turn led to administrative support. In 2013 the college created a new campus-wide
Center for Teaching and Learning, responsible for ePortfolio and broader pedagogical
support.

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 187

At San Francisco State University, the success of the integrative Metro Health
Academies and the work of the ePortfolio team encouraged SFSU to rethink the way
it supports entering students. In fall 2013 an ePortfolio-based learning community
approach was expanded to serve 40% of the incoming student population.41 The
provost of Boston University recently called the ePortfolio initiative of the College
of General Studies an assessment model for other BU Colleges.42 Similarly, the suc-
cessful effort to build ePortfolio culture in Three Rivers Community College’s nurs-
ing program led to broad campus changes. As Three Rivers Community College
ePortfolio leaders note, the successful integration of ePortfolio pedagogy and practice
in nursing

has catalyzed broader institution-wide change, helping us progress as a learning-

centered college . . . through an open dialogue with faculty, administrators, and
students, we have reached a consensus: ePortfolios will now be used college-wide for
general education and programmatic assessment of student learning.43

At LaGuardia, the ePortfolio effort has long advanced the importance of inte-
grative learning, addressing the whole student. In 2012 the college announced “a
sweeping institutional change effort” reflecting a similar perspective, “aligning student
affairs and academic affairs, rethinking advisement and rebuilding our First Year Expe-
rience.”44 The capacity of ePortfolio practice to support educational planning and
identity development and link curricular to co-curricular experiences can help support
bridges between academic and student affairs. These two areas worked in tandem to
collaborate with academic departments and in spring 2014 launched a new discipline-
based, credit-bearing first-year seminar, incorporating ePortfolio as a required and
central element. That program has been very successful and is quickly scaling; in the
2015 to 2016 school year, LaGuardia offered nearly 300 sections enrolling 6,500 stu-
dents. Early data show impressive gains in student learning and retention.45
Observing campus developments across C2L, particularly those related to
scaling up processes, we see that the growth of an ePortfolio initiative requires and
spurs broader changes in institutional culture and structure. In Chapter 7, Bass argues
that ePortfolio initiatives grow and deepen most successfully when they are aligned
with efforts to build a campus-wide culture of learning. He suggests that integrative
ePortfolio initiatives can serve as a catalyst for positive change and identifies the fol-
lowing layers or dimensions of such a change:

1. Shift to a student-organized view of learning, bridging curriculum and cocurriculum,

where learners pull from knowledge resources and offerings to construct an increas-
ingly customized educational experience that is professionally productive and per-
sonally meaningful.
2. Development of an institutional conversation on student learning, moving toward
a learning-centered culture and structure.
3. Shift in decision-making, investment, and allocation of resources and energy that
optimizes the institution to be responsive to high-impact learning.

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 188 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

C2L evidence suggests that ePortfolio practice promotes learning-centered con-

nection, making student learning visible to faculty and staff across institutional
boundaries. Requiring and facilitating campus-wide collaboration, ePortfolio initia-
tives help break down traditional institutional silos. Supporting a richer, more holis-
tic view of learning, encouraging a learning-centered institutional conversation, and
catalyzing broad institutional change in structure and culture, ePortfolios can help
colleges become more adaptive learning organizations.

Conclusion
Our work with C2L campuses allowed us to gather an array of evidence that supports
three Catalyst value propositions: Integrative ePortfolio initiatives can build student
success, deepen student learning, and catalyze institutional change. These findings
add to our collective understanding of the power of integrative ePortfolio practice.
They underscore the value of thoughtful investment in the development of sustained
and sophisticated ePortfolio initiatives in collaborative communities of practice and
exchange. Moreover, they suggest a host of promising avenues for further research,
analysis, and theory building. We believe these three value propositions and their
supporting evidence show that ePortfolio practice, done well, can and should play a
vital role in the evolution of higher education.

Notes
1. George Kuh, High Impact Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and
Why They Matter (Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges and Universities,
2008), p. 14.
2. Lauren H. Bryant and Jessica R. Chittum, “ePortfolio Effectiveness: A(n Ill-Fated)
Search for Empirical Support,” International Journal of ePortfolio 3, no. 2 (2013): 189–198,
http://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP108.pdf
3. Milton D. Hakel and Erin N. Smith, “Documenting the Outcomes of Learning,”
in Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Research on Implementation and Impact, eds. Darren
Cambridge, Barbara Cambridge, and Kathleen Blake Yancey (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2009),
133–136.
4. Bret Eynon, “Making Connections,” in Electronic Portfolios 2.0: Emergent Research on
Implementation and Impact, eds. Darren Cambridge, Barbara Cambridge, and Kathleen Blake
Yancey (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2009).
5. LaGuardia Community College, Title V. Annual Report (unpublished report, 2012).
6. Rebecca Reynolds, “Connect to Learning” (annual report, Rutgers University, 2014).
7. San Francisco State University, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/
8. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Program Review and Assess-
ment Committee Annual Report 2013–2014, accessed August 20, 2015, http://irds.iupui.edu/
Portals/SDAE/Files/Documents/2013-14%20UCOL%20PRAC%20Final.pdf

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 WHY ePORTFOLIO? 189

9. Queensborough Community College, “What We’ve Learned,” Catalyst for Learn-

ing: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://qbcc.mcnrc.org/what-weve-
learned/
10. Tunxis Community College, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/
11. Pace University, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/
12. Kuh, High Impact Practices, 19.
13. Ibid.
14. San Francisco State University, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/
15. Susan Kahn and Susan Scott, “Scaling Up ePortfolios at a Complex, Urban Research
University: The IUPUI Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January
25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
16. Carol Rodgers, “Defining Reflection: Another Look at John Dewey and Reflective
Thinking,” Teachers College Record 1, no. 4 (2002): 842–866.
17. Linda Anstendig, “Reflective Thinking and Writing as Systematic Practice at Pace
University,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
pu.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
18. Rebecca Reynolds, “Rutgers University—I Got It Covered: Reflection as Integrative,
Social Pedagogy,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://c2l.mcnrc.org/ru-ref-practice/
19. Gillian Pierce, Natalie McKnight, John Regan, and Amod Lele, “Reflection as Inte-
grative, Social Pedagogy: The College of General Studies’ Freshman End-of-Year Reflection,”
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://bu.mcnrc
.org/bu-ref-practice/
20. Marc Zaldivar, “Connect to Learning Annual Report: Virginia Tech” (annual report,
2014).
21. Three Rivers Community College. “Campus ePortfolio,” Catalyst for Learning: ePort-
folio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://trcc.mcnrc.org
22. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection”; David C. Hodge, Marcia Baxter Magolda, and
Carolyn A. Haynes, Engaged Learning: Enabling Self-Authorship and Effective Practice, 2009,
http://www.clarku.edu/aboutclark/pdfs/Hodge%20et%20al.pdf
23. Thomas F. Nelson Laird, Rick Shoup, and George D. Kuh, “Measuring Deep
Approaches to Learning Using the National Survey of Student Engagement” (paper, Annual
Meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, San Diego, May 14–18, 2005).
24. Rodgers, “Defining Reflection.”
25. Pace University, “Correlations Between ePortfolio Use and NSSE Results 2011
Through 2013,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://pu.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/
26. “Fall 2015 Survey Analysis” (Institutional Research Report, LaGuardia Community
College, 2016).
27. Randy Bass and Heidi Elmendorf, “Designing for Difficulty: Social Pedagogies as
a Framework for Course Design,” https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/bassr/social-
pedagogies/
28. Kuh, High Impact Practices.

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 190 THE DIFFERENCE ePORTFOLIO MAKES

29. Bret Eynon, “‘It Helped Me See a New Me’: ePortfolio, Learning and Change at
LaGuardia Community College,” 2009, accessed August 20, 2015, https://blogs.commons
.georgetown.edu/vkp/files/2009/03/eynon-revised.pdf
30. Richard P. Keeling, MD, ed., Learning Reconsidered 2: Implementing a Campus-Wide
Focus on the Student Experience, 2006, accessed August 21, 2015, https://www.nirsa.org/docs/
Discover/Publications/LearningReconsidered2.pdf; Hodge et al., Engaged Learning ; John D.
Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Expe-
rience, and School (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2000); Kuh, High Impact
Practices.
31. David A. Garvin, “Building a Learning Organization,” Harvard Business Review,
accessed August 21, 2015, https://hbr.org/1993/07/building-a-learning-organization
32. Sherie McClam, “Faculty Development Offered With a lot of ‘TLC’,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://mville.mcnrc.org/pd-
story/
33. Laura M. Gambino, Chet Jordan, and Nate Mickelson, “Outcomes Assessment:
Making Student Learning Visible,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://gcc.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
34. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “The Ecology of Support,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/tech-story/
35. Laurie Poklop and Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Ingredients for Scale,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/scaling-
story/
36. Poklop and Matthews-DeNatale, “Ingredients for Scale.”
37. Pace University, “Scaling Up Story: Picking Up the Pace With ePortfolios,” Catalyst
for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://pu.mcnrc.org/scaling-
story/
38. Pace University, “Scaling Up Story.”
39. Gail Matthews-DeNatale, “Are We Who We Think We Are?” Catalyst for Learning:
ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://neu.mcnrc.org/oa-story/
40. McClam, “Faculty Development.”
41. San Francisco State University, “Scaling Up While Drilling Down: How an Expand-
ing ePortfolio Initiative Dives Into the First-Year Experience,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
42. Natalie McKnight, Gillian Pierce, Amod Lele, and John Regan, “Our Scaling Up
Story, Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
bu.mcnrc.org/bu-scaling-story/
43. Lillian A. Rafeldt, Heather Jane Bader, Nancy Lesnick Czarzasty, Ellen Freeman,
Edith Ouellet, and Judith M. Snayd, “Reflection Builds Twenty-First Century Profession-
als,” Peer Review, 16, no. 1 (2014), 19–23, http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2014/winter/
reflection-builds-twenty-first-century-professionals
44. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Growth and Change at LaGuardia: Our Scaling Up Story,” Cata-
lyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/
category/scaling-up/
45. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Growth and Change at LaGuardia.”

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 PA RT F O U R

e P O RT F O L I O A S
C O N N E C TO R A N D C ATA LY S T

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 9
J O I N E D AT T H E H I P

I
n previous chapters we traced the link between ePortfolio practice and the HIP
framework identified by Kuh, O’Donnell, AAC&U, and others.1 We demon-
strated that, done well, ePortfolio practice improves student learning and success,
and it deepens the student learning experience, increasing engagement as well as
higher order thinking skills. We outlined criteria for ePortfolio “done well”, reviewing
each sector of the Catalyst Framework: Pedagogy, Professional Development, Out-
comes Assessment, Technology, and Scaling Up. We showed how ePortfolio practice
“done well” elicits underlying behaviors common to HIPs, including public dem-
onstration of competence, regular opportunities to reflect on and integrate learning
experiences, and frequent peer and faculty feedback.
In this chapter, we examine the relationship of ePortfolio and HIPs from
another angle. Shifting from the overarching HIP framework, here we spotlight
dynamic linkages between ePortfolio and specific High-Impact Practices. Our Con-
nect to Learning (C2L) research reveals that ePortfolio practices are well positioned
to work in tandem with other HIPs, and to help integrate student learning across
multiple high-impact learning experiences. We found that the connective capacities
of ePortfolio practice supported key goals and outcomes of HIPs such as first-year
experiences, internships, and capstone courses. In this chapter, we explore the ways
ePortfolio practice supports these and other HIPs and examine the idea of ePortfolio
as a meta High-Impact Practice.
Earlier chapters provided examples of the ways C2L campuses use ePortfolio
in conjunction with HIPs. Across the C2L network, we saw example after example
where ePortfolio practice was designed to work with one or more HIPs. Later in this
chapter we delve into the details of such partnerships. Before we do, we want to ask:
On a broad scale, what could explain this recurring linkage between ePortfolio and
other HIPs? Why is this partnership so common? We see several possible reasons.
First, like ePortfolios, most HIPs inherently include a focus on the whole student
as a human being, not just an academic unit. Attention is paid to identity devel-
opment in many HIPs. First-year programs, capstones, service-learning, and study
abroad all go beyond cognitive knowledge and skill acquisition. They also address
affective learning, personal growth, and identity development. In this way, HIPs reso-
nate with the deepest chords of ePortfolio pedagogy and practice, the ways ePortfolio

193

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 194 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

can help students grow and change, become more aware of who they are, and draw
on their curricular, co-curricular and lived experiences to purposefully shape new
identities as learners.
Second, we consider that the reason may be more contextual than conceptual.
Working with HIPs can be challenging; they require educators to think in new ways
about teaching and learning. Consequently, HIPs tend to attract more adventurous
faculty and staff. Those interested in teaching in such areas are almost by definition
risk takers, willing to step outside the routine and try new approaches. Implementing
a HIP is best suited for faculty or staff open to learning from disruption; ePortfolio
practice can be similarly disruptive, spurring changes in the classroom and beyond.
Faculty accustomed to the challenges of High-Impact Practices may be more open to
the risks and challenges of ePortfolio practice and vice versa.
Third, many High-Impact Practices are intentionally integrative, and so is ePort-
folio practice. Bass argued that most HIPs exist on the margin of traditional cur-
ricular disciplines and departments.2 Faculty and staff who engage with HIPs must
establish links to the institutional mainstream. For example, the faculty and staff of a
high-impact service-learning program carefully help students see links between their
field experience and the curricula of their disciplinary major. Similarly, in a capstone
course, faculty help students draw on prior learning to complete a summative cap-
stone project. Nurturing such relationships, HIP faculty and staff develop integrative
strategies that resonate with high-impact ePortfolio practice.
If all HIPs are in some way integrative, high-impact ePortfolios are essentially
integrative—integration stands at the core of ePortfolio practice. In the predigital
context, a portfolio signified a curated and connected collection of artistic work, for
example, or architectural drawings. The emphasis is on curated connection, the crea-
tion of unity from multiplicity. In today’s higher education world, ePortfolios live in
a unique institutional space, creating connections that extend vertically across semes-
ters and horizontally across disciplines as well as co-curricular and life experiences.
This enables ePortfolio practice to uniquely support or embody integrative learning.
ePortfolio’s essential connective quality allows it to support deeper and more far-
reaching kinds of integration. In this sense, ePortfolio practice can link a range of
high-impact learning experiences into a cohesive whole, becoming in the process a
unique demonstration of signature learning.

Joined at the HIP

Across the C2L network, we often found ePortfolio practice linked with other
HIPs, including first-year experiences, learning communities, capstone courses,
service- and community-based learning opportunities, and undergraduate research.
These connections have potential value; research has shown a cumulative positive
effect of multiple HIPs on student learning and success. Students who participate
in multiple HIPs demonstrate levels of engagement and deep learning higher than
those of their peers who do not participate in a high-impact experience.3 With this

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 195

in mind, let’s examine the ways C2L teams linked ePortfolio with specific High-
Impact Practices, starting with the first-year experience (FYE).

First-year experience. FYE programs introduce students to college and help them
develop skills needed for success. In 1992 Barefoot and Fidler described six catego-
ries of first-year seminars: extended orientation seminars, academic seminars with
uniform content across sections, academic seminars with variable content, pre-
professional or discipline-linked seminars, basic study skills seminars, and hybrid
models.4 Across categories, FYE seminars tend to emphasize critical inquiry, writing,
and collaborative learning activities that develop students’ intellectual and practical
competencies, building dispositions essential for student success.5 FYE programs help
students make the transition to college, develop an educational plan, and discover
who they are as learners and scholars.
When first-year experience programs incorporate high-impact ePortfolio prac-
tice, it helps students achieve each of these goals. Integrated into the FYE, ePortfolio
practice helps new students identify strengths and growth areas and develop an aca-
demic plan. High-impact ePortfolio work uses peer reviewing, a powerful activity for
entering college students, engaging them in the practice of learning with and from
peers. Most important, ePortfolio practice helps new students advance a process of
identity development, using reflection to articulate who they are and who they want
to be. Incorporating all these processes, high-impact ePortfolio practice can deepen
the impact of an FYE program.
In C2L, we saw ePortfolio practice incorporated into FYE programs and semi-
nars across institutional type, from community colleges such as Tunxis Community
College to liberal arts colleges such as Manhattanville College and universities such
as Virginia Tech and Rutgers. In each case, ePortfolio practice was used to deepen the
first-year experience, helping build engagement and support the transition to college.
At Manhattanville, for example, ePortfolio pedagogy is integrated into a first-year
seminar titled “Sustainability: Creating a Future We Can Live With,” in which stu-
dents undertake two interrelated ePortfolio-based projects:

In the first, entitled “Learning for a Sustainable Future,” students use ePortfolios as
spaces for reflecting on, integrating and representing their learning about sustain-
ability and for engaging seminar peers in a collaborative process of learning from
each other. In the second, titled “Social Media for Social Change/Action,” teams of
first-year students work together to use ePortfolio as a social media platform through
which they seek to convince peers outside of their seminar to reflect and take action
on an issue that is affecting the Manhattanville community’s capacity for living sus-
tainably and contributing to a sustainable future.6

In this example, ePortfolio practice supported students’ collaborative research as

they learned to work together to address a real-world issue. As a vehicle to present
their learning to external audiences, ePortfolio helped students value their research
and see connections between what they learned at college and the world beyond the
campus walls.

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 196 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

At Guttman Community College, ePortfolio is integrated into every aspect of the

FYE, including its first step. A mandatory Bridge Program focuses on introducing new
students to Guttman and facilitating the transition from high school to college. At the
conclusion of the Bridge Program, students use ePortfolio to reflect on this experience
and their transition in the following exercise and to envision next steps in the process.

Before you started Bridge, how did you imagine your college experience? In what
ways did the Bridge program reinforce or change your ideas about college?
What did you learn about yourself during Bridge? What did you learn about
Guttman and the Guttman Community?
Please describe a Bridge activity or other experience that you believe helped
prepare you for the transition to college and explain how it helped. If you still feel a
bit unprepared for college, describe the ways in which you feel unprepared and any
steps you can take to support your transition.7

FYE programs often focus on educational planning and the development of

an academic identity. As we saw in Chapter 3, ePortfolio practice and its capacity
for making learning visible can help students examine their growth processes over
time, grounding and extending the planning process, deepening the process of self-
authorship. At IUPUI, for example, the use of the ePersonal Development Plan
(ePDP) in the first-year seminar addresses the FYE goals of educational planning and
identity development:

As students complete the ePDP, reflective prompts assist them in bringing narrative
to their lives and aspirations. The content of the ePDP is, in essence, the student’s
self and understanding of self. Sections of the ePDP are ordered so as to help stu-
dents build their reflective narrative. The About Me section provides the foundation
for Educational Goals and Plans, which in turn leads the student to development of
Career Goals. The student is firmly at the center of this narrative, thereby embed-
ding the learning around critical thinking, reflection, and integration of experiences
within the student’s sense of self and lived experience.8

At LaGuardia, after studying the ePDP, the ePortfolio team created a similar
planning module called the LaGuardia Graduation Plan. In 2014, they embedded
the plan in the ePortfolio—and integrated ePortfolio into the college’s redesigned
first-year-seminar (FYS). Since that time, thousands of LaGuardia students have
completed the Graduation Plan and shared it with faculty and advisors. Data reveal
that this developmental process is making a difference. Next-semester retention is
rising dramatically. Survey data are also revealing. More than 2,500 FYS students were
asked “how much did the FYS contribute to [your] knowledge, skills, and personal
development in understanding [yourself ],” and 89.3% responded Very Much or A
Lot. Similarly, 88% of FYS students Agreed or Strongly Agreed that “building [my]
ePortfolio helped . . . focus on planning [my] education.”9
As these examples illustrate, effective ePortfolio practice can enhance the FYE’s
overarching goals: making the transition to college, developing an educational plan,

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 197

and learning to collaborate with peers. FYE programs and ePortfolio form a high-
impact partnership that advances students’ identity development as they make the
transition to college.

Learning communities. We saw a similar partnership emerge on C2L campuses

between ePortfolio practice and learning communities. According to the literature,
learning communities “encourage integration of learning across courses. . . . Students
take two or more linked courses as a group and work closely with one another and with
their professors.”10 Implemented well, learning communities help students develop
relationships with peers and consider issues from multiple perspectives. Juxtaposing
disciplines, learning communities introduce the habits of mind of specific disciplines
and the importance of diverse disciplinary perspectives, preparing students to more
effectively consider choices of major. According to the National Resource Center for
Learning Communities, “learning communities—done well—create a collaborative
environment where students thrive, faculty and staff do their best work, and learning
fosters the habits of mind and skills to tackle complex real-world issues.”11
As part of a learning community, ePortfolio practice offers students a reflective
space to examine and make explicit connections among the community’s different
courses and disciplines. Using ePortfolio as a collaborative space for the construction
of knowledge helps students develop academic identities in a community of scholars,
building engagement and shared purpose. ePortfolio has an added benefit for faculty,
making learning in each course visible to all faculty in the community and offering
a holistic picture of their students, extending beyond his or her individual course.
Several C2L campuses linked ePortfolio with learning communities. At Tunxis
Community College (see Figure 9.1), learning communities joined FYE courses with
either a developmental English course or an Introduction to Business course. Integrated
across courses, ePortfolio practice helped students connect and apply learning from one
course to another:

In FYE, students complete Academic Skills Plans (ASP) in their ePortfolio where
they read about and choose strategies for: reading, taking notes, organizing study
materials, rehearsing and memorizing, and taking tests. Students then use and
apply their plans in corresponding assignments in their English or business course
and then reflect on what they learned from this process in their FYE course. All
courses use ePortfolio extensively for assignments and peer and instructor feedback.
In Introduction to Business, instructors are looking to have either advisory board
members or students in the capstone business course read and comment on these
student portfolios. In a fall-to-fall retention comparison, students in the learning
community have repeatedly had a higher retention rate than students who did not
participate in a learning community.12

Using their ePortfolios, Tunxis students apply the note-taking strategies learned
in FYE to readings in their Introduction to Business course. Connecting the courses,
students consider the value of different disciplinary perspectives. At Tunxis and

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 198 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

Figure 9.1. Tunxis Community College: Learning Communities and Retention.

Learning Community: First Year Experience and Developmental English

Retention Rates: Fall to Fall

Learning Community Students Compared to Other Developmental English
Students were placed into the course based on their English placement scores.
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 2011 Fall 2012
LC Other Dev. Eng.
Note. Students enrolled in the learning community, which used ePortfolio, had consistently had higher retention rates
than a comparison group of developmental English students.
Source. Tunxis Community College, “Evidence,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25,
2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/what-weve-learned/evidence/

elsewhere, ePortfolio practice provides learning community students with opportuni-

ties to reflect and develop higher order thinking skills associated with deep learning.
Using ePortfolios for communicating knowledge to peers supports the identity devel-
opment process, as students develop a sense of academic purpose and an awareness of
their place in a community of scholars.

Capstone courses. Students often encounter learning communities and FYE pro-
grams early in their academic journeys. At the end of their journeys, capstone courses
serve as a culminating High-Impact Practice. According to Cuseo, capstone courses
have three key purposes:

(1) to bring integration and closure to the undergraduate experience, (2) to provide
students with an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of their college experience,
and (3) to facilitate graduating students’ transition to postcollege life.13

The integrative, reflective nature of capstone courses aligns well with ePortfolio
pedagogy. Used in a capstone, ePortfolio practice can help each student integrate his
or her learning journey and reflect on the ways it has changed him or her. Moreover,

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 199

ePortfolio’s ability to make learning visible enables students to showcase their accom-
plishments to broader audiences: peers, potential employers, and transfer institutions.
ePortfolio is used in the capstone course in art history at IUPUI. According to
the C2L team, the course goals are

developing metacognition focused specifically on the art history major and integrat-
ing learning from prior courses and experiences; developing complementary profes-
sional personas as “reviewed academic researcher” and “peer reviewer of academic
writing;” and deepening learners’ understanding of writing as a way of thinking.14

Guided by reflective social pedagogy, students in this capstone use ePortfolio

to participate in a writing and peer review process. IUPUI faculty report that this
recursive, interactive, ePortfolio-enhanced process strengthens “students’ professional
identities by helping them learn to be peer reviewers of others’ writing about art. The
other students in the course constitute an intermediate yet authentic audience for
efforts aimed at professional- or graduate school-level writing.”15
LaGuardia Community College has offered professional development seminars
to help faculty redesign capstone courses, using ePortfolio to support integration,
reflection, and transition. One Liberal Arts Capstone course taught by Max Rodri-
guez exemplifies a process of intentional redesign:

I have worked very hard to reposition assignments in the course to help students make
critical connections looking back at the work they have done during their careers at
LaGuardia and forward towards the work they want to do after they graduate.
My favorite addition to students’ ePortfolios was an assignment asking them to
create a digital story of their journey through LaGuardia as they reflected on what
they have learned. I have also worked to help students understand the difference
between an ePortfolio they created earlier in their careers and the capstone ePortfolio
at the end of their career at LaGuardia.16

At LaGuardia and other C2L campuses, a capstone ePortfolio provides stu-

dents with the opportunity to look back and reflect on their college experience,
integrate their learning over time and across boundaries, and consider their upcom-
ing transitions. Capstone portfolios help students move to the next stages of iden-
tity development as they envision themselves as lifelong learners and emerging
professionals.
The connections between ePortfolio and learning communities, first-year experi-
ences, and capstone experiences are particularly strong; many additional examples
can be found on the C2L website. We now shift our attention to other linkages
we saw, including global learning and study abroad, service-learning, undergraduate
research, and internships.

Diversity and global learning. Global learning experiences “help students explore cul-
tures, life experiences, and worldviews different from their own.”17 Study abroad is one

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 200 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

of the most common global learning experiences. Because ePortfolio is accessible from
anywhere with Internet access, it can help students studying abroad to document,
reflect on, and share the cultural and educational experiences offered by study abroad.
When done well, students use the ePortfolio to connect their classroom learning with
their study abroad activities, applying that learning to their expanded experiences.
Salt Lake Community College, Guttman, IUPUI, and Boston University all
use ePortfolio in study abroad experiences. At Salt Lake Community College, for
example, ePortfolio leader David Hubert has his students document and reflect on
their experiences in London. Each student creates an ePortfolio for the trip, gathers
multimedia artifacts from each of his or her cultural experiences, and responds in
writing to a series of reflective prompts. These prompts help students apply classroom
learning as they explore new places and cultures. For example, students are asked to

describe the domestic impact of World War II and the immediate postwar years in
Britain. In a reflective piece, tell the reader what it was like and put yourself in the
place of the typical Londoner during those times. Rely on your readings and what you
learn from venues such as the Museum of London and the Imperial War Museum.18

Returning home, students share their ePortfolios and analyze their study abroad
experiences in a showcase for faculty, staff, family, and friends.

Undergraduate research. We also observed ePortfolio use in conjunction with under-

graduate research. At Pace University, LaGuardia, Virginia Tech, IUPUI, and the
University of Delaware, ePortfolio offers students a space to document and reflect
on the research process as well as a vehicle for sharing research findings with exter-
nal audiences. At Delaware, for example, ePortfolio is used in the Undergraduate
Research Summer Scholars Program. As part of this program,

Students use an ePortfolio to share their research with their research team, which is
comprised of undergraduates of unrelated disciplinary areas. By continually discuss-
ing their research with students both within and outside of their subject area over
the course of ten weeks, students gain the ability to communicate their research to
multiple and diverse audiences.19

Through scaffolded reflection, University of Delaware students also connect their

learning from the program to general education or program competencies.

Service-learning and community-based learning. Service-learning and community-

based learning programs are increasingly common in higher education. As HIPs,
“these programs model the idea that giving something back to the community is
an important college outcome, and that working with community partners is good
preparation for citizenship, work, and life.”20 These experiential activities can help
students think in new ways about their course work, and apply problem-solving skills
in real-world settings. Reflecting on their learning, ePortfolio helps students to make
meaning of their experience as citizen scholars.

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 201

At Virginia Tech (VT), ePortfolio leaders became partners with VT’s Students
Engaging and Responding Through Volunteer Experiences (SERVE) Living Learn-
ing Community program. Students in SERVE use the ePortfolio to document a year-
long journey and write a series of reflective essays. In one piece, students describe
their “Personal Call to Service,” and in another they identify personal strengths
before and after their service-learning experience. Prior to their service, students
complete a reflection titled, “What I Bring to the Table,” where they consider their
strengths and potential areas for growth. After they complete their service experi-
ence, students write a second essay, “What I Bring to the Table—Revisited,” reflect-
ing on their growth and reconsidering their strengths and weaknesses. The SERVE
ePortfolio is a space for students to develop academic and civic identity and connect
service-learning experiences to academic and career plans.21

Internships. Similar in some ways to service-learning, internship experiences pro-

vide students with the opportunity to apply their learning in a professional setting for
an extended period of time. The term internship can apply to a range of experiences:
working in a business or other work environment, clinical practica in a health-care
setting, or a student-teaching experience. When done well, ePortfolio helps students
make meaning from their internship experiences, considering the ways they are grow-
ing and developing as professionals. The following are among the many examples of
internship-related ePortfolio practices documented on the C2L site:

• Three Rivers Community College nursing students use ePortfolio through-

out their coursework. In Family Health Nursing, one of the required clinical
experience courses, students use their ePortfolio to compose a reflection that
describes the clinical issue/problem related to care of their patient, include an
assessment and analysis with viewpoints from two scholarly resources, analyze
any assumptions presented by themselves or others, and include a nursing care
plan to address the issue.22
• At IUPUI, “the Life-Health Sciences Internship [LHSI] Program is exploring
how the ePDP can help deepen students’ learning through their year-long
mentored research internships. Through regular in-person and online
discussions facilitated by peer mentors, LHSI aims to help interns—usually
sophomores and juniors—develop professionalism, connect their research
with other curricular and co-curricular learning, and prepare for future job
and internship searches.”23
• In St. John’s University’s Teacher Preparation Program in the School of
Education, students use ePortfolio throughout the program. During their
student teaching experience, “Students are asked to collect artifacts from
lessons they’ve taught along with samples of student work which are captured
in the ePortfolio. Students are then asked to reflect on the related tools to
assess the quality of teaching and learning. They are guided through a series of
questions that lead them to question if this lesson was stellar or [if there] were
ways that it could have been improved.”24

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 202 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

From the FYE to capstone, undergraduate research to internships, ePortfolio

practice helps deepen the impact of High-Impact Practices. The integrative quali-
ties of reflection, with the connective capacities of ePortfolio technology, can help
faculty, staff, and students make HIPs more meaningful. While providing a valuable
space for collaboration and making learning visible to external audiences, ePortfolio
practice most importantly helps students make connections that deepen their learn-
ing. Whether connecting prior learning to a new experience, as in FYE programs and
capstones; bridging disciplines; or connecting classroom learning to the real-world
problems encountered in undergraduate research, internships, and service-learning,
ePortfolio practice can facilitate the connective process so essential to the impact of
High-Impact Practices on students’ deep learning and success.

ePortfolio as a Meta High-Impact Practice

One of the unique characteristics of ePortfolio practice done well is its longitudinal
quality, its ability to “exist” across an entire student learning experience, from course
to co-curricular, spanning semesters and helping students connect what would oth-
erwise be seemingly disparate experiences into a cohesive whole. This longitudinal
quality of effective ePortfolio practice can facilitate the integration of multiple HIPs
across a student’s academic trajectory. In this way, ePortfolio practice can, to borrow
a phrase from IUPUI’s Susan Kahn and Susan Scott, serve as a “meta” HIP, creating a
unique and transformative learning experience for students.25
As a meta High-Impact Practice, ePortfolio provides a space between and among
other HIPs for students to see the linkages among practices and create their own role
in those relations. HIPs’ reflective ePortfolio pedagogy helps students draw lessons
from the other HIPs, make connections between the disciplines represented in the
HIPs, and make connections between HIPs and their own experiences outside higher
education. Additionally, ePortfolios are ideal for showcasing the powerful work stu-
dents do in High-Impact Practices to authentic audiences.
In a recent article in Peer Review, Hubert, Pickavance, and Hyberger suggested,
somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that ePortfolio can be seen as Tolkien’s ring of power, “the
high-impact practice that unites and connects all the other HIPs.”26 They ask readers
to imagine a student who takes part in a series of HIPs—Summer Bridge, FYE, a learn-
ing community, undergraduate research, and a capstone course in the student’s major.
In each, they suggest, students would use ePortfolio to document and reflect on their
learning. “Over time,” they write, “the e-portfolio would become signature work itself,
as it documented the student’s engaged learning arc, growing sophistication and emer-
gence as a reflective practitioner.”27 The ePortfolio is uniquely qualified for this task:

Curated [ePortfolios] are ideal venues in which to showcase the work that results
from student engagement with HIPs. They allow for text to be combined with
multimedia representations to create shareable representations that transcend time
and distance. As such, they allow student work to escape the confines of a discrete

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 203

educational event and formally intersect with the broader range of curricular, co-
curricular and life experiences that define what it means to be liberally educated.28

This Peer Review piece spotlights the work done at Salt Lake Community College,
a C2L campus that uses ePortfolio to connect a series of HIPs. Other C2L campuses
are moving in similar directions. At Guttman Community College for example, where
ePortfolio is used at scale, the curriculum was intentionally designed to provide every
student with access to an array of HIPs, carefully scaffolded across the two-year learning
sequence. All students participate in a required Bridge Program where they are intro-
duced to their learning community cohort. They remain with their learning community
throughout the entire first year of coursework. The First-Year Experience extends to a
required two-semester curriculum, including an advisor-led seminar, “Learning About
Being a Successful Student,” focusing on identity development and educational plan-
ning. At the midpoint of the fall and spring semesters, two Community Days provide
students with the opportunity to participate in service- and community-based learning
experiences connected to their first year of coursework. Intentionally designed group
projects in the first year provide common intellectual experiences for students. In the
second year of coursework, students have at least two required writing intensive courses
in their program of study, and most programs have a capstone course (see Figure 9.2).

Figure 9.2. Guttman Community College’s Guided Pathway.

The Guttman Student Learning

Experience

Programs of
Study

First-Year • Writing Intensive

Experience Courses
• Service-Learning
• Learning Community and Internships
• Collaborative Projects • Capstone Courses
• Community and Service-
Bridge Based Learning
• Learning Community • Common Intellectual
Experiences
• Collaborative Projects
• Undergraduate Research
• Common Intellectual
Experiences
Note. At Guttman Community College, ePortfolio helps students connect and integrate multiple HIPs and serves as
a signature student learning experience. Created by Laura M. Gambino.

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 204 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

ePortfolio practice is integrated across each of these High-Impact Practices,

thereby creating a cohesive signature learning experience where students connect
and deepen knowledge and understanding gained at each step of their learning
journey. During the Bridge Program, students create a learning ePortfolio to be
used across their academic trajectory. As students advance through their studies,
scaffolded assignments leverage ePortfolio’s reflective capacities to prompt them to
examine their learning processes and their educational plans and goals. For exam-
ple, students reflect on the ways they were able to apply classroom-based learning
to their Community Days activities. Students recursively revise their educational
goals and plans, helping them prepare for their major or program of study and
consider post-Guttman plans. At multiple points, reflective prompts ask students
to explicitly identify and make integrative meaning across diverse experiences and
to connect their learning to Guttman’s institutional student Learning Outcomes,
or GLOs. For example, at the end of their first year, students are asked to recon-
sider their experience beginning in the Bridge Program and its impact on their
learning:

How have you changed as a student since you started at Guttman? In what ways did
this first year of college at Guttman affect who you are as a student? Tell us where
you began as a learner. What skills and aptitudes did you possess at the beginning of
the semester? Where are you now? What skills did you acquire and hone? Is there a
particular posting or page in your ePortfolio that highlights these changes?29

Similarly, at the conclusion of their program of study, all students complete

a capstone reflection describing in their own words the role these High-Impact
Practices played in their success as a Guttman student as well as the ways their
learning demonstrates each of the Guttman Learning Outcomes.

Guttman Community College Capstone Reflection Prompt

Before you begin writing this reflection, please review your ePortfolio,
including the reflections you wrote at the end of the Bridge program and
your First Year Experience. Think about what you’ve accomplished and
the ways in which you have grown and evolved as a learner and scholar.
How Do You GLO?
Broad, Integrative Knowledge: General Education: Your first year expe-
rience focused on general education. Describe the ways you built on
that learning through your programs of study courses. Please provide a
specific example (or two) that highlights this.
Applied Learning: In what ways did the knowledge you gained in your
First-Year Experience courses help you in your major-specific courses?
What connections can you make between what you learned in your
courses and your life outside the classroom?

(Continues)

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 JOINED AT THE HIP 205

(Continued)

Looking Back/Looking Forward

What did you initially anticipate about your experience as a Guttman
student? In what ways did your experience align with your expecta-
tions? In what ways did it surprise you?
What have you learned about yourself as a learner and scholar? How
have you grown academically? Socially?
What are your future goals? Who do you want to be in two to three
years? In what ways has Guttman helped prepare you to achieve these
goals and become the person you want to be?30

Although there is much analysis to be done on Guttman’s ePortfolio–enhanced

educational model, early evidence points to a positive impact on student learning
and success. The two-year graduation rates for the first three cohorts of students were
28%, 29%, and 31%, respectively, and the three-year graduation rate for the first
two cohorts was 49% and 45%, far above the national three-year community college
graduation rate, which is typically around 20%.31
Other campuses in the C2L network are also using ePortfolio as a meta HIP. At
LaGuardia, some majors scaffold ePortfolio practice into the first-year seminar, advis-
ing, internships, and capstone courses. Majors such as biology and environmental sci-
ence, integrate ePortfolio practice into undergraduate research as well. At SFSU, the
Metro Health Academies build a number of HIPs into the student learning experi-
ence: learning communities, first-year experience, and writing intensive courses.32 At
Boston University, ePortfolio connects a first-year seminar, writing-intensive courses,
and study abroad.33 At all three, ePortfolio practice is designed to help students link
these experiences and understand them as a cohesive whole.
ePortfolio practice has a unique capacity to serve as a cohesive, signature learn-
ing experience for students. Its longitudinal and integrative capacities provide students
with a powerful opportunity to link what would otherwise be disparate course, co-
curricular, and lived experiences, melding them into a cohesive whole. And, at the same
time, it provides a means for campus faculty and administrators to see and consider the
student learning experience in new ways. ePortfolio practice can do this with any set
of diverse learning experiences. But the potential value is higher when the experiences
being linked are those generated by High-Impact Practices. Building on, connecting,
and ultimately multiplying the impact of those experiences, the high-impact ePortfolio
can, by design, become the signature work for a truly transformative college experience.

Conclusion
ePortfolio works well with many, if not all, of the other High-Impact Practices. Its
longitudinal capacity and its ability to exist outside traditional course boundaries
uniquely position it to transform the student learning experience and to transform
institutional learning as well. We know HIPS are, according to Kuh, “developmentally

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 206 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

powerful.”34 But we also know that we have yet to realize the full potential of ePort-
folio as a High-Impact or meta High-Impact Practice. We must not only broaden
student access to ePortfolio practices but also ensure they are implemented effectively
as described in the Catalyst Framework because it is “only when they are implemented
well and continually evaluated to be sure they are accessible to and reaching all stu-
dents will we realize their considerable potential.”35

Notes
1. George Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to
Them, and Why They Matter (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universi-
ties, 2008); George Kuh and Ken O’Donnell, Ensuring Quality & Taking High Impact Prac-
tices to Scale (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2013); Jayne
E. Brownell and Lynn E. Swaner, Five High-Impact Practices: Research on Learning Outcomes,
Completion, and Quality (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities,
2010); Ashley Finley and Tia McNair, Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-
Impact Practices (Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges & Universities: 2013).
2. Randall Bass, “Disrupting Ourselves: The Problem of Learning in Higher Educa-
tion,” Educause Review 47, no. 2, (2012): 23–32.
3. Finley and McNair, Assessing Underserved Students’ Engagement in High-Impact
Practices.
4. Betsy O. Barefoot and Paul P. Fidler, National Survey of Freshman Seminar Program-
ming, 1991. Helping First Year College Students Climb the Academic Ladder (Columbia, SC:
National Resource Center for the Freshman Year Experience, 1992): 2.
5. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices.
6. Sherie McClam, “Learning for a Sustainable Future and Using Social Media for
Social Change,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Reseearch, January 25, 2014,
http://mville.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
7. Guttman Community College, Milestone Reflection Prompts (internal document, 2016).
8. Catherine A. Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year: A Foundation for Identity and
Meaning Making,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://iupui.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
9. LaGuardia Community College, “First in the World Evaluation Report,” (unpub-
lished document, 2016).
10. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices.
11. National Resource Center for Learning Communities, “Learning Communities at
Evergreen,” accessed August 24, 2015, http://www.evergreen.edu/washingtoncenter/
12. Jen Wittke, Marguerite Yawin, and Amy Feest, “Social Pedagogy Practice for Learn-
ing Communities: Developmental English-FYE & Introduction to Business-FYE,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://tcc.mcnrc.org/soc-practice/
13. Joseph Cuseo, “Objectives and Benefits of Senior Year Programs,” in The Senior Year
Experience: Facilitating Reflection, Integration, Closure and Transition, ed. John N. Gardner,
Gretchen Van der Veer, and Associates (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998), 22.
14. R. Patrick Kinsman, Susan Kahn, and Susan Scott, “Social Pedagogy: Working
Together to Develop Metacognition and Professional Identity,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/soc-practice-2/

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 206 12/20/2016 1:25:52 PM

 JOINED AT THE HIP 207

15. Kinsman et al., “Social Pedagogy.”

16. J. Elizabeth Clark, “Faculty Development Practices at LaGuardia: Capstone Courses,
ePortfolios, and Integrative Learning,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://lagcc.mcnrc.org/faculty-development-practices-laguardia-rethinking
-the-capstone-experience-seminar/
17. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices.
18. David Hubert, “Mixed Media Reflection: ePortfolios in an SLCC Study Abroad
Program,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
slcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-1/
19. Lynnette Overby and Meg Meiman, “Assessing Student Learning in Undergraduate
Research,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
ud.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
20. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices.
21. Virginia Tech, “ePortfolio Initiatives at Virginia Tech: SERVE: Students Engaging and
Responding Through Volunteer Experiences,” accessed August 24, 2015, https://eportfolio
.vt.edu/gallery/DeptsProgs/serve.html
22. Three Rivers Community College ePortfolio Team, “Connecting Theory to Practice
in Gerontology-Reflective Practice,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research,
January 25, 2014, http://trcc.mcnrc.org/ref-practice-4/
23. Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, “Our Project,” Catalyst for
Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/who-
we-are/our-project/
24. St. John’s University, “St. John’s University—Reflective Pedagogy Practice—Reflec-
tive Practices in Student Teaching With ePortfolios,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
and Research, January 25, 2014, http://c2l.mcnrc.org/sju-ref-practice/
25. Susan Kahn and Susan Scott, “Scaling Up ePortfolios at a Complex Urban Research
University: The IUPUI Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January
25, 2014, http://iupui.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
26. David Hubert, Jason Pickavance, and Amanda Hyberger, “Reflective E-Portfolios:
One HIP to Rule Them All,” Peer Review 17, no. 4 (2015), accessed February 20, 2016,
https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2015/fall/hubert
27. Hubert et al., “Reflective E-Portfolios.”
28. Ibid.
29. Guttman Community College, Milestone Reflection Prompts (internal document,
2016).
30. Guttman Community College, Milestone Reflection Prompts.
31. Elisa Hertz, Data Snapshot (unpublished report, 2015).
32. San Francisco State University, “Scaling Up While Drilling Down: How an Expand-
ing ePortfolio Initiative Dives Into the First-Year Experience,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio
Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://sfsu.mcnrc.org/scaling-story/
33. Natalie McKnight, Gillian Pierce, Amod Lele, and John Regan, “Our Scaling Up
Story,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014, http://
bu.mcnrc.org/bu-scaling-story/
34. Kuh, High-Impact Educational Practices.
35. Ibid.

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 10
N E X T- G E N E R A T I O N
e P O RT F O L I O P R AC T I C E

H
igher education is in the midst of rapid and tumultuous change, prompted
in part by the emergence of a new digital learning ecosystem. High-impact
ePortfolio practice can help students, faculty, and institutions successfully
adapt to and take advantage of these changes. To accomplish this, thoughtful educators
must engage in sustained examination of the emerging ecosystem and work together
to develop next-generation ePortfolio practices and platforms. This chapter introduces
some key questions, concepts, and examples that can help educators in this process.
The media frenzy around massive open online courses (MOOCs) has passed, but
more substantial developments in digital learning continue to advance. The bound-
aries of traditional classroom learning are yielding to environments that are more
porous and connected. According to a recent report from the Alliance for Excellent
Education:

In the twenty-first century, learning takes place almost everywhere, at all times, on
all kinds of paths and at all kinds of paces. With a click of a mouse or the touch of a
screen, young people and adults can access a wealth of information, analyze it, and
produce new knowledge at any time.1

The result, the report concludes, has broad implications for all educational insti-
tutions. “These learning opportunities break wide open the traditional confines of
school walls and school days.”2
In a 2016 essay, Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Education for the New Dig-
ital Ecosystem, Bass and Eynon argue that two key features define the new digital world
in and beyond education: the multiplying capacities of networked information systems
and the proliferation of highly sophisticated, algorithmically driven systems that track,
analyze, and respond to user actions. Driven by these forces, a new educational land-
scape is taking shape, characterized by digital badges, learning analytics, Internet-based
learning resources such as Khan Academy, and adaptive learning systems, such as those
developed by the Open Learning Initiative.3 As a result, students are learning in new
ways, and universities no longer have the exclusive franchise on advanced learning.

208

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 209

Other factors also contribute to the turbulence of this moment in higher edu-
cation history. For-profit colleges run aggressive recruitment campaigns, distracting
attention from their often dismal track records. Widespread cutbacks in state funding
for public higher education have forced many traditional colleges to place an unsus-
tainable tuition burden on students, generating student debt and public dissatisfac-
tion. This adds to growing pressure on colleges and universities to more explicitly
document their outcomes and demonstrate the value of a college education.
The student body itself is also in flux, marked by the emergence of a new major-
ity of previously underrepresented groups, including growing numbers of Black and
Hispanic students. More college students than ever before are first generation, coming
from low-income families and communities. These “new majority” students bring
invaluable energy, perspective, intellectual capacity and cultural capital to higher edu-
cation. Our society needs these students as the leaders of the future, equipped with
the skills and knowledge required to deal with looming environmental, economic,
political, and cultural challenges. But students who come from communities and edu-
cation systems scarred by poverty and discrimination often bring uneven educational
preparation and require new levels of remediation and support. Meanwhile, across all
demographics, the new generation of college students is shaped in complex ways by
the increasing prevalence of advanced technology and social media in everyday life.
These and other factors all combine and interact, contributing to the complexity
of the challenges facing higher education. Many factors are important, but the digital
revolution is a salient touchstone, the starting place for many of those who say that
higher education must be radically changed if not eliminated.
The rapid development of adaptive digital tools and networked systems contrib-
utes to a powerful narrative, focused on the need to “unbundle” higher education.
Online courses, badging, nano degrees, and other developments, according to this
narrative, create opportunities for the market to provide advanced training and edu-
cation in structures more flexible and efficient than traditional colleges. An argument
that has become familiar is expressed in a 2015 Newsweek article:

Technology tends to unbundle stuff. Look how it’s unbundling television, or how
it unbundled the music album. The college degree is a bundle that doesn’t work for
everybody and creates unnatural market conditions. . . . The next generation will
be able to pull apart the college bundle the way people today are pulling the plug
on cable.4

More serious observers have struck similar notes. Chronicle of Higher Educa-
tion editor Jeff Selingo advocates for unbundling, arguing that “the real unbundling
opportunities surround the content and delivery functions of a university . . . quickly
remaking the idea that a college education must be delivered at one physical location
by professors who create and curate their own courses.”5 Others go further, calling
for an à la carte system where students pay for each service they need, ranging from
digital advisement to online tutorials and office hours.

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 210 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

“There will always be a market for

At a time when a range of forces the elite bundled college experience,”
are driving a fragmentation of predicts Jose Ferreira, chief executive
the educational experience, next- officer of EdX. But Ferreira suggests
generation ePortfolio practice
that for less elite students, the tradi-
can create opportunities for
maintaining and even strength-
tional college experience will increas-
ening connection and meaningful ingly be replaced by more discrete or
integration. disconnected pay-as-you-go structures.
“New unbundled or partially bundled
alternatives will emerge, and eventually
they will dominate the industry,” he said.6
Ironically, this discourse has emerged at the same time as an increased awareness
of the importance of integrative learning. Surveys show that employers are highly
interested in students’ abilities to transfer skills and knowledge from one setting and
apply it to another, a key facet of integrative learning.7 As discussed earlier, a growing
body of research, including much of the research on High-Impact Practices, empha-
sizes the critical processes of human connection, intellectual synthesis, and holistic
education that address students’ developmental and affective needs as well as their
cognitive growth. New majority students, in particular, have been shown to benefit
from educational approaches that bundle academic courses with advisement and other
support services, creating a more cohesive learning environment. The growing litera-
ture on guided learning pathways further underscores the importance of thoughtful
and cohesive integrative learning design across the entire student learning experience.8
This moment is thus marked by tension between themes of integration and dis-
integration. Although new technologies and market pressures push toward “unbun-
dling,” the needs of students suggest a need for “rebundling” in new forms. As detailed
in Open and Integrative, the point is not to choose between digital technology and
integration but rather to look for opportunities for synthesis, for using the capacities
of the latest digital technologies to help address what we know about the real needs
of students for integrative learning and support.9
In this context, we suggest that ePortfolio practice can play a uniquely valu-
able role. To the extent that unbundling moves forward, that learning increasingly
takes place in and beyond the walls of the traditional college classroom, ePortfolio
practice can help students connect learning experiences across diverse settings, sup-
porting more integrative processes of reflection and assessment. Connecting the
granular capacities of emerging digital environments to support more dynamic
learning processes, ePortfolios can provide a cohesive foundation that links digital
badges, learning analytics, and online learning to broader structures for student,
faculty, and institutional learning. New forms of ePortfolios can provide a location
for connecting students with advisors, faculty, and peer mentors, and for integrating
academic learning with developmental support. At a time when a range of forces are
driving a fragmentation of the educational experience, next-generation ePortfolio
practice can create opportunities for maintaining and even strengthening meaning-
ful integration.

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 211

To be effective in the new learning ecosystem, the next-generation ePortfolio

practice must begin to integrate the functions of the newest digital learning spaces.
It must become more interactive and expressive, promoting feedback and fluency. It
must build in the strengths of new analytics and the flexibility of digital badging. But
it must do so with a clear sense of purpose. Thinking about ePortfolios in the context
of High-Impact Practices can be helpful in this regard.
The sections that follow briefly sketch some of the ways we believe ePortfolio
practice must evolve in the years to come. Running across these distinct areas of
innovation are threads of common purpose, suggested by the High-Impact Practice
framework. Next-generation ePortfolio practice needs to mobilize new technical pos-
sibilities in ways that promote not only improved student outcomes but also the
underlying behaviors that characterize all HIPs, including: interactions with faculty
and peers about substantive matters; opportunities to discover relevance of learn-
ing through real-world application; frequent, timely, and constructive feedback; and
periodic and structured opportunities to reflect on and integrate learning. Next-
generation ePortfolio practice must also intentionally strengthen its capacity to link
with and deepen the impact of other HIPs, such as learning communities and service-
learning opportunities. Next-generation ePortfolio practice must deepen the power
of ePortfolio as a meta HIP, as discussed in Chapter 9, broadening and deepening the
integrative aspects of learning for students, faculty, and institutions. Keeping these
priorities in mind will be important as the field considers opportunities and chal-
lenges offered by the new digital learning ecosystem.

Digital Badging
Digital badges are an interesting and potentially meaningful vehicle for adapting to
the “learning everywhere” aspect of the new ecosystem, and they could become more
effective when integrated into next-generation ePortfolio practice.
Based on analysis of digital gaming and learning theory that emphasizes rec-
ognition of incremental accomplishment, digital badges spotlight discrete learn-
ing experiences. In 7 Things You Should Know About Badges, EDUCAUSE defines
badges as

digital tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue.
Awarded by institutions, organizations, groups, or individuals, badges signify accom-
plishments such as completion of a project, mastery of a skill, or marks of experience.10

An influential report suggests that the badging process involves three groups:
badge issuers, badge earners, and badge consumers.

• Badge issuers are “individuals, schools, employers, institutions, communities,

or groups that create credentials to demonstrate mastery of skills and achieve-
ments that are of particular value to the issuer.” Of particular importance,
the badge issuer must identify the criteria for the badge, and what evidence

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 212 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

Digital Badging and ePortfolio: A Promising Opportunity

G. Alex Ambrose, University of Notre Dame
Digital badges are visual representations of accomplishments that make
claims of what an individual knows or can do particularly in informal
learning experiences. They are validated by embedded metadata such
as issuer, criteria, and evidence.
The University of Notre Dame started a badging pilot project in the
summer of 2012 with the 21st Century DaVinci ePortfolio Award badge.
Students who earned this badge developed a website showcasing their
diverse talents, interests, and a passionate drive for knowledge. Win-
ners were able to share this badge in their ePortfolio. The badge image
was linked (via image caption) to the university’s ePortfolio directory
to provide verification and evidence. Three and half years later, Notre
Dame has developed 17 different ePortfolio badges that have been cer-
tified and issued to 226 students on campus. What began as an experi-
ment has evolved into an award-winning initiative. In 2015, Campus
Technology honored our ePortfolio-badging work with an Innovator’s
Award.
Notre Dame’s badges recognize informal learning that takes place
in co-curricular spaces—undergraduate research, service-learning,
and peer advising. ePortfolios house the badges and the required evi-
dence: research proposals or posters, photographs, videos, and journal
reflections.
Notre Dame formed a partnership with an ePortfolio vendor, Digica-
tion, and a digital badge platform, Credly, to support a back-end integra-
tion where badges in Credly can be linked to evidence in a student’s
Digication ePortfolio. These badges can also be imported and displayed
easily in the ePortfolio with metadata and a link back to Credly for veri-
fication (see Figure 10.1).
This next-generation mashup between digital portfolios and badges
has revealed three promising implications. First, it demonstrates why
ePortfolios need digital badges: If we want to keep the ePortfolio
pulse alive across classes and after a course concludes, and if we
want to connect employers to ePortfolios that communicate specific
competencies, digital badges provide the motivation and opportu-
nity for the students to make their learning visible. Second, it dem-
onstrates why digital badges also need ePortfolios: If digital badges
are going to be evidence-based and transferable, then the ePortfo-
lio platform is best optimized to deliver that evidence and provide a
logical space to showcase the badge. Third, together digital portfolios
and badges provide a way to incentivize, make visible, and recognize
competencies gained from informal learning on a residential tradi-
tional campus.

(Continues)

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 213

(Continued)
Figure 10.1. Notre Dame’s Badge Directory.

Source. “ePortfolio@ND: E2B2 Badge Directory,” http://eportfolio.nd.edu/directory/badge-directory/

Copyright 2015 by University of Notre Dame. Reprinted with permission of G. Alex Ambrose.

of learning must be demonstrated. “A badge is hyperlinked to something that

demonstrates the criteria for the badge and evidence such as an artifact, testi-
monial or document.”11
• Badge earners are learners who want to demonstrate their skills and
accomplishments to various audiences. “For example, individuals could
demonstrate, to teachers, employers or others, knowledge and skills learned
outside of school or skills that cannot necessarily be communicated by a
standardized test, a resume, or a college application.”12
• Badge consumers are a broad category, including “formal and informal
education providers, individuals, employers, communities, or other groups
that have a need for or interest in people with the skills and achievements
symbolized by a badge.”13

A range of institutions are experimenting with badges, from Notre Dame,

Harvard, and the University of California, Davis to the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the Smithsonian, and Khan Academy. A 2016 article in Inside
Higher Education suggests that one in five colleges are now using badging in some
form.14 The badge system is “a way to structure the process of education itself,”15
argues Kevin Carey:

Students will be able to customize learning goals within the larger curricular frame-
work, integrate continuing peer and faculty feedback about their progress towards
achieving those goals, and tailor the way badges and the metadata within them are
displayed to the outside world.16

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 214 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

Trent Batson, one of the founders of the ePortfolio movement and the director of
the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL),
has for several years argued that badges and ePortfolios have a natural affinity. Badges
need a home base, according to Batson, a place where the learner can collect and
display them. ePortfolios are an ideal home for badges, situating the specificity of the
badge with the broader and more integrative capacities of the ePortfolio.17
Notre Dame uses badging to recognize co-curricular learning, including intern-
ships, study abroad, research assistantships, and service-learning activities, and links
the badges to students’ ePortfolios. In an interview with Campus Technology, Notre
Dame’s G. Alex Ambrose said, “I see the digital badge, displayed and supported in
the ePortfolio, as a supplement to the transcript and the resume.”18 In a keynote
speech to AAEEBL’s international ePortfolio conference, Ambrose explained why
badges benefit from being paired with ePortfolios. The ePortfolio provides not only a
platform but also a context, the ability to connect specific achievement to a broader
pattern of growth and change. “If digital badges are going to be evidence-based,
stackable, and transferable, the ePortfolio platform is best optimized to deliver that
evidence and provide a logical space to showcase the badge.”19
If ePortfolio practice can enhance the value of badges, the reverse may also be true.
Ambrose suggested that the specific and visual qualities of badges could invigorate the
ePortfolio experience. Badges can help employers find the particular pieces of the ePort-
folio they wish to examine, eliminating the need to search the entire portfolio, an obsta-
cle to employer interest in portfolios. And for students, the ability to showcase specific
achievements and the inherent motivation of winning badges can make the process of
updating the ePortfolio more attractive. “If we want to . . . connect employers to ePort-
folios that communicate specific competencies,” Ambrose argued, “digital badges pro-
vide the motivation and the opportunity for students to make their learning visible.”20
Integrating badging into next-generation ePortfolio practice can also strengthen
the emergent work on developing a comprehensive student record, which expands
the traditional student transcript to include recognition of co-curricular and
competency-based learning and will be linked to evidence, such as a student ePortfolio.
ePortfolio and badging can provide that evidence and link needed to create a compre-
hensive student record of learning.
Pairing badges and ePortfolios represents a key opportunity to use the strengths
of high-impact ePortfolio practice to take better advantage of the new learning ecosys-
tem. Accomplishing this requires ePortfolio vendors to develop the technical capacity
to host and display badges and connect the accompanying evidence to the rest of the
ePortfolio. More important, making this marriage a success will require educators to
adapt their practice to more clearly address co-curricular learning and the off-campus
educational opportunities that are rapidly emerging in the new learning ecosystem.
As educators work to integrate badging into ePortfolio practice, it will be helpful
to keep in mind the strategies that make ePortfolio a High-Impact Practice. Clear
criteria, designed to help students reach high expectations; public demonstration of
competence, demonstrating achievements that matter to authentic audiences; fre-
quent feedback connecting students with faculty and peers; and thoughtful peda-
gogy, incorporating Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration, will all be important. Taking

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 215

advantage of the ways ePortfolio practice functions as a meta HIP, combining reflec-
tion and networked technology to connect one powerful learning experience to oth-
ers, can make badges more meaningful (see Chapter 9 for a discussion of ePortfolio
as a meta-HIP). Meanwhile, an integrative focus that spans the five sectors identified
in the Catalyst Framework (Pedagogy, Professional Development, Assessment, Tech-
nology, and Scaling Up) will make a crucial difference in realizing the potential of a
practice that joins badging with ePortfolio.

ePortfolio and Comprehensive Student Records

Helen L. Chen, C2L Senior Scholar
In a 2014 survey of 400 employers conducted by the AAC&U, just under
half (45%) of the employers said they thought a college transcript would
be useful in helping them determine prospective applicants’ potential to
succeed at their company. In contrast, a majority (80%) reported that an
ePortfolio of student work would be a useful resource.
The limited usefulness of the traditional academic transcript has been
acknowledged by employers, students, admissions committees, faculty,
and staff as well as registrars themselves whose primary responsibility
is to maintain the integrity of institutional student educational records.
The contributions of extra- and co-curricular opportunities to learning,
particularly those related to High-Impact Practices, are significant and
often transformative to student growth and development.
The ideas behind the “enhanced” or “extended” transcript reflect
how the traditional transcript is evolving in its purpose, audience,
content, and in particular, the format and mode of delivery because
of advances in technology standards for secure and trustworthy data
transfer and acceptance of digital credentials. In fall 2015 the Ameri-
can Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers and
NASPA: Student Affairs Professionals in Higher Education, with sup-
port from the Lumina Foundation, selected 12 institutions, including
LaGuardia, to develop models of “comprehensive student records”
that document and validate student learning through more expansive
means other than course titles, grades, and units. These prototypes
range from the University of Maryland’s competency-based transcripts
for nontraditional students to LaGuardia’s digital badging project and
Stanford’s certified electronic certificates mapped to learning outcomes
and student work.
Diverse academic records (and not a singular transcript) can support
students as they prepare to communicate what they have learned to
external stakeholders. The pairing of formal academic transcripts with
evidence, contextualized in a learner-created ePortfolio, highlights the
potential benefits of an inclusive and meaningful record that has ongo-
ing value, not only at the time of transfer or graduation but also, ideally,
throughout students’ postgraduate careers.

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 216 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

Social Pedagogy
As discussed earlier, C2L research indicates the value of using ePortfolios with a social
pedagogy, involving interaction, collaboration, peer review, and feedback. Faculty
interested in incorporating social pedagogy into their ePortfolio practice face a chal-
lenge, however. In this area, ePortfolio pedagogy has advanced more quickly than
ePortfolio technology. Next-generation ePortfolio platforms must adapt to make
social pedagogy easier and more effective for students and faculty.
Whether they use Twitter, Pinterest, Snapchat, or Instagram, today’s students
arrive on campus with extended experience using social media. Contemporary social
media is increasingly sophisticated and fluid, allowing for a range of connections and
interactions. Experiences in these environments create user expectations that shape
the ways students perceive ePortfolios. High production values, fluidity, capacities
for visual expression, and the capacity for personal customization all help signify
to students that they are working on an exciting, up-to-date digital platform. Most
important is the need for pervasive, nimble, and nuanced interaction. ePortfolio ven-
dors ignore these issues at their peril.
At this writing, the most widely used ePortfolio platforms still appear to be func-
tionally rooted in the idea of ePortfolios as primarily private spaces; most platforms
support one-sided “showcasing,” but not fluid interaction or collaboration. Despite
sincere efforts on the part of developers, interaction and dialogue are difficult on
most platforms. Commenting features are often stiff and clumsy. Conversation and
exchange are often isolated, separate from and hard to link to the core processes of
documentation, reflection, and integration. For ePortfolio to thrive in the new learn-
ing ecosystem, cutting-edge platforms must catch up to practice and facilitate fluid
exchange, grounded in the portfolio itself. These features can enhance the behaviors
that characterize HIPs, particularly regular feedback from faculty and peers, leading
to increased engagement, more meaningful learning, and higher levels of educational
success.

ePortfolios for Advisement

Advisement is widely recognized as a key to student success, particularly for first-
generation and other new majority students. But less affluent colleges, particularly
community colleges, struggle to provide advisement that meets students’ needs. A
range of digital systems hold promise for supporting advisement. Connecting ePort-
folio with these systems can build on the work already under way, using ePortfolio to
support meaningful advisement, as discussed in Chapter 3.
Across higher education, there is growing interest in digital advisement systems,
sometimes called e-Advisement tools or Integrated Planning and Advisement for Stu-
dent Success systems (iPASS). Austin Peay’s Degree Compass and Penn State’s eQuad
are among the campus-developed platforms; meanwhile, vendors have developed Star-
fish, Simplicity, and Inside Track.21 The details of iPASS systems vary from platform to

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 217

platform, but functions often include some combination of the following: updateable
and shareable degree planning and course scheduling; degree auditing and progress
tracking; course recommendations; early alert systems and other tools for identifying
at-risk students; and tools for communication among students, faculty, and advis-
ing staff, including e-mail, texting, and video chat. Often the purpose of iPASS is
to enhance the ability of faculty and staff advisors to work together to help students
develop and follow a guided pathway through the curriculum (see Figure 10.2). Auto-
mated communication tools that provide “nudges,” “high fives,” and other formatted
“touch points” make it easier for advisors to not only follow student progress but also
communicate quickly and easily to encourage students to stay on track.22
iPASS systems, according to the Community College Research Center (CCRC),
“provide an array of student support-focused functions, including course manage-
ment, degree planning and early alerts.” Interestingly, CCRC researchers point out
that, much like ePortfolios, iPASS implementation requires thinking well beyond
the nature of the technology; and the impact of iPASS goes beyond the functions it
provides:

Ideally, it motivates a college to rethink its advising system and, in particular, the
ways advisors do their jobs, thus encouraging and enabling large-scale and fun-
damental reform—reform that restructures college processes and that alters the
attitudes and behaviors of college staff and students.23

Figure 10.2. The Next Generation Learning Challenge’s Vision of an iPASS.

Source. Nancy Millichap, “Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success: Focus on the Transformation
of Advising,” September 13, 2015, http://er.educause.edu/blogs/2015/9/integrated-planning-and-advising-for-
student-success-focus-on-the-transformation-of-advising; Copyright 2015 EDUCAUSE, CC-BY 4.0. Reprinted
with permission of EDUCAUSE.

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 218 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

We believe the next-generation ePortfolio practice must build on and link to

iPASS systems. Some campuses have laid important groundwork for this effort.
The ePersonal Development Plan (ePDP) developed at Indiana University–Purdue
University Indianapolis (IUPUI) is particularly significant in demonstrating ways
to use the ePortfolio to support advisement, connecting educational planning with
reflection and feedback from advisors, faculty, and peers.24
As explained in Chapter 3, the ePDP is part of the IUPUI ePortfolio; embed-
ded in the ePortfolio, ePDP prompts help students engage in structured processes of
thoughtful self-assessment, goal development, and education and career planning.
Initially built by IUPUI students as part of their first-year experience, the ePDP is
then used longitudinally as an advisement tool. Faculty and staff advisors review the
ePDP, and students update it throughout the student’s career. The process builds
intentionality for students and helps advisors see students’ plans in the context of
their entire educational experience, documented in the rest of the ePortfolio.
Incorporating planning with regular reflection and recurring feedback, the ePDP
addresses the heart of the advisement process, helping students develop a stronger
sense of themselves as learners and their relationship to the curriculum they are pur-
suing. ePortfolio practitioners and vendors can learn from the ePDP and high-impact
ePortfolio practice and from the host of new iPASS systems now available. Guttman
Community College is one year into their iPASS initiative, linking ePortfolio with
Starfish by Hobsons, a student success software system, connecting the feedback and
collaborative tools in Starfish with the reflective processes and integrative capaci-
ties of ePortfolio practice. Such a synthesis seems highly promising. Next-generation
ePortfolio platforms can facilitate such efforts by finding ways to incorporate and link
to e-advisement tools. Next-generation ePortfolio practice must increasingly partner
faculty with advisors and peer mentors, helping them join forces to support students’
progress and development.

Big Data and Formative Learning Analytics

Closely linked with e-advisement and iPASS systems is another major trend in digital
learning. The tools to analyze so-called big data, also commonly known as analytics,
are emerging as an important force in the new learning ecosystem. According to the
International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, learning analytics is
“the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their
contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments
in which it occurs.”25 Next-generation ePortfolios could play an important role in mak-
ing learning analytics more nuanced, more revealing, and more effective for students.
Analytics emerged in the business sector as Google, Amazon, and Netflix tracked
and analyzed consumers’ online behaviors to develop personalized marketing strate-
gies. In recent years, colleges have recognized that they possess vast amounts of data
on students, including application information, student profiles, course selection and
completion information, and data generated by online course participation.

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 219

Analytics applications can mine at least some of this data, subject it to statistical anal-
ysis, and prepare reports or data visualizations to reveal patterns, trends, and excep-
tions. . . . Colleges and universities can harness the power of analytics to develop
student recruitment policies, adjust course catalog offerings, determine hiring needs,
or make financial decisions. In a teaching and learning context, data . . . can be used
to build academic analytics programs that use algorithms to construct predictive
models that can identify students at risk for not succeeding academically.26

The computing power of today’s systems creates the possibility for analytics that
are both fine-grained and sweeping. According to a 2015 New Media Classroom
Horizon report:

The types of student data being analyzed vary, but include institutional information
such as student profile information (age, address, and ethnicity), course selections,
and pace of program completion; engagement data such as number of page views,
contributions by students to discussion threads, percentage of students completing
assignments, and number of logins; and learning analytics such as which concepts
were mastered and which concepts were particularly difficult for a student. . . . The
emerging science of learning analytics is providing the statistical and data mining
tools to recognize challenges early, improve student outcomes, and personalize the
learning experience.27

Next-generation ePortfolio practice can connect to the growing energy around

analytics in at least two ways: as a potential source for additional data and as a site
for students’ own usage of analytics. On the first count, ePortfolios, particularly stu-
dent reflections and their educational plans, could provide a rich source of unique
data about students’ actions and perceptions related to learning and change. Using
sophisticated text scanning software, it is now possible to read the text that students
post in their ePortfolios to look for key words and phrases related to progress, set-
backs, attitudes, and plans. Simon Buckingham Shum, a leader in analytics design,
has tested this process and uncovered possibilities for identifying students’ develop-
ment of the dispositions or habits of mind needed for college success.28 Moving
past simply tracking clicks to a richer data source can help analytics provide more
powerful and perhaps more actionable insights into student experience of the learn-
ing process.
Analytics are widely understood to be particularly useful to advisors and faculty,
as well as university administrators. One area that is only beginning to be explored is
how analytics could be useful to students themselves, shifting the focus from learning
analytics to learner analytics. The University of Michigan has pioneered the explo-
ration of ways to help students use analytics to examine their own behaviors and
compare them to models for success.29 Now in the early stages of conceptualization
and design, student-focused analytics dashboards could be embedded in ePortfolios,
energizing the portfolio experience and creating a context for connecting the exami-
nation of analytics data to the reflective processes needed to move from inquiry to
informed and sustained action. Building on high-impact ePortfolio practices, the

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 220 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

Catalyst Framework and ePortfolio’s role as a student-centered, meta-HIP can deepen

the power and value of analytics to students.
Analytics are still in their infancy, and the use of student data has its controver-
sial side, generating concerns about privacy and profiling. Next-generation ePortfolio
practitioners, with substantial experience grappling with issues of student visibility
and protection, can play an important role in advancing the sophistication of analyt-
ics systems and the thoughtful use of analytics to support student success.

Making Twenty-First-Century Learning Visible

These four examples of next-generation ePortfolio practice are more suggestive than
definitive. The new digital learning ecosystem is evolving rapidly, as is the broader
higher education environment. Each day, new applications and trends emerge. Edu-
cators must be alert and agile to identify the kinds of possibilities that have the great-
est promise.
It is already clear, however, that next-generation ePortfolio practice can play a
vital role in the emerging educational environment. As the learning ecosystem evolves
and the settings for learning multiply, reflective and connective ePortfolio practice
can help students integrate learning experiences across boundaries. Connecting the
discrete experiences offered by emerging digital environments, ePortfolios can pro-
vide a more cohesive foundation for new tools such as digital badges and learning
analytics. Next-generation ePortfolios can help connect students with advisors, fac-
ulty, and peer mentors, integrating academic learning with developmental support.
As the forces of technology and the market fragment the educational experience,
next-generation ePortfolio practice can create opportunities for strengthening con-
nection and meaningful integration.
Moreover, in this fast-changing context, it will be increasingly important for offi-
cials at colleges and universities to become more agile and adaptive, learning about
their students and what helps them learn and succeed. In this regard, the demonstrated
capacity of high-impact ePortfolio practice to support boundary-crossing professional
development and assessment processes that effectively close the loop, guiding changes
that improve student learning, can be crucial. Colleges must develop their capacities
as learning organizations, and ePortfolio can play a critical role in this process.
From this perspective, the ongoing spread of the digital revolution not only
adds functionalities and enhances the ePortfolio experience but also underscores the
critical role that integrative ePortfolio practice can play in helping higher educa-
tion to move beyond “unbundling,” shifting to a more productive effort to shape a
“rebundled” future. In high-impact ePortfolio practice, colleges and universities have
an opportunity to better navigate the changing learning ecosystem and more inten-
tionally design a transformed twenty-first-century university.
To be effective in the years to come, next-generation ePortfolio practice must
take advantage of the exciting capacities of new digital learning spaces. ePortfolio
platforms must build capacity for interaction and expression, feedback and fluency.

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 221

Platforms and practice must be redesigned to address the strengths of new analytics
and the flexibility of digital badging. Vendors and practitioners must be well informed
and guided by a clear vision. Understanding ePortfolio’s potential as a High-Impact
Practice must be part of this vision.
We have briefly sketched some specific examples of the paths ePortfolio prac-
titioners must explore. Exploring these and other innovations, practitioners should
bear in mind the themes suggested by the High-Impact Practice framework. Next-
generation ePortfolio practice must incorporate new technical possibilities in ways
that support the underlying behaviors that characterize all HIPs: frequent and con-
structive feedback, deepening classroom learning with real-world application, public
demonstration of competence, and recursive opportunities to reflect on and integrate
learning. Next-generation ePortfolio practice must link and support other HIPs,
drawing on ePortfolio as a meta-HIP to deepen the integrative aspects of learning for
students, faculty, and institutions.
As innovators work on next-generation ePortfolio practice, they will be well
advised to draw on the Catalyst Framework as a guide. Simply coming up with
new bells and whistles is not sufficient; innovations must embody well-crafted inte-
grative social pedagogy and be supported with sustained and well-designed pro-
fessional development for faculty and staff. Linkages with outcomes assessment
informed by the Catalyst design principles—Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration—
will strengthen the value of innovations such as badging and analytics. In addition,
pursuing effective strategies for scaling innovations will continue to be of crucial
importance.
The new ecosystem puts a priority on sustained, recursive, and integrative learning
not only for students but also for practitioners and educational institutions. Increased
focus on learning about students and learning about learning will help institutions
become more agile and adaptive, two key survival skills in the decades to come.
Guided by the design principles of Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration, high-impact
ePortfolio practice can play a unique and invaluable role in helping students, faculty,
and their colleges and universities survive and thrive in the twenty-first century.

Notes
1. The Alliance for Excellent Education, “Expanding Education and Workforce
Opportunities Through Digital Badging,” August 28, 2013, http://all4ed.org/wp-content/
uploads/2013/09/DigitalBadges.pdf
2. The Alliance for Excellent Education, “Expanding Education and Workforce Oppor-
tunities Through Digital Badging.”
3. Randy Bass and Bret Eynon, Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Education for the
New Digital Ecosystem (Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges and Universities,
2016).
4. Kevin Maney, “Cheaper and Smarter: Blowing Up College With Nanodegrees,”
Newsweek, October 16, 2015, http://www.newsweek.com/2015/10/16/college-nanodegrees
-379542.html

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 222 ePORTFOLIO AS CONNECTOR AND CATALYST

5. Jeff Selingo, College (Un)bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means
for Students (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013).
6. Jose Ferreira, “The Unbundling of Higher Education,” Knewton Blog, February
26, 2014, https://www.knewton.com/resources/blog/ceo-jose-ferreira/unbundling-higher-
education/
7. Hart Research Associates, “Falling Short? College Learning and Career Success,”
accessed February 21, 2016, https://www.aacu.org/leap/public-opinion-research/2015-
survey-results
8. Susan Scrivener, Michael J. Weiss, Alyssa Ratledge, Timothy Rudd, Colleen
Sommo, and Hannah Fresques, “Doubling Graduation Rates: Three-Year Effects of CUNY’s
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students”
(New York, NY: MDRC, 2015), http://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/doubling_graduation
_rates_fr.pdf; Thomas R. Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars, and Davis Jenkins, Redesigning
America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 2015).
9. Bass and Eynon, Open and Integrative.
10. “7 Things You Should Know About Badges,” June 11, 2012, accessed February 22,
2016, https://library.educase.edu/resources/2012/6/7-things-you-should-know-about-badges
11. “Expanding Education and Workforce Opportunities Through Digital Badg-
ing,” Alliance for Excellent Education, August 2013, accessed February 22, 2016,
http://10mbetterfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Expanding-Workforce-and-
Education-Opportunities-through-digital-badges.pdf
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Paul Fain, “Digital, Verified, and Less Open,” Inside Higher Education, August 9,
2016, accessed August 9, 2016, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/09/digital-
badging-spreads-more-colleges-use-vendors-create-alternative-credentials
15. Kevin Carey, “A Future Full of Badges,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 8, 2012,
http://chronicle.com/article/A-Future-Full-of-Badges/131455/
16. Carey, “A Future Full of Badges.”
17. Trent Batson, “12 Important Trends in the ePortfolio Industry for Education and
for Learning,” Campus Technology, September 19, 2012, https://campustechnology.com/
articles/2012/09/19/12-important-trends-in-the-eportfolio-industry.aspx
18. Mary Grush, “Showcasing the Co-Curricular: ePortfolios and Digital Badges: A Q&A
With Alex Ambrose,” Campus Technology, January 27, 2015, https://campustechnology.com/
articles/2015/01/27/showcasing-the-co-curricular-with-eportfolios-and-digital-badges.aspx
19. G. Alex Ambrose, “ePortfolios @ Scale and Beyond With Badges & Analytics”
(closing keynote, Association of Authentic, Experiential Evidence-Based Learning Annual
Conference, Boston, MA, July 30, 2015).
20. Ambrose, “ePortfolios @ Scale and Beyond.”
21. “7 Things You Should Know about . . . IPAS,” November 2014, accessed February
21, 2016, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7114.pdf
22. Hoori S. Kalamkarian and Melinda Mechur Karp, Student Attitudes Toward
Technology-Mediated Advising Systems, accessed February 21, 2016, http://ccrc.tc.columbia
.edu/media/k2/attachments/student-attitudes-toward-technology-mediated-advising-systems
.pdf

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 NEXT-GENERATION ePORTFOLIO PRACTICE 223

23. Jeffrey Fletcher and Melinda Mechur Karp, Using Technology to Reform Advising,
accessed February 21, 2016, http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/UsingTech-
Insights-WEB.pdf
24. Catherine Buyarski, “Reflection in the First Year: A Foundation for Identity and
Meaning Making,” Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and Research, January 25, 2014,
http://iupui.mcnrc.org/ref-practice/
25. Phil Long and George Siemens, “Penetrating the Fog: Analytics in Learning and
Education,” accessed February 21, 2016, http://er.educause.edu/articles/2011/9/penetrating-
the-fog-analytics-in-learning-and-education
26. “7 Things You Should Know,” 1.
27. “NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K–12 Edition,” accessed February 21, 2016, http://
cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf, 12
28. Simon Buckingham Shum, “Reflective Writing Analytics,” YouTube video, 28.03.
posted June 20, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gom1wNZm1Bc
29. Steven Aguilar, Steven Lonn, and Stephanie D. Teasley, “Perceptions and Use of an
Early Warning System During a Higher Education Transition Program,” in Proceedings of the
Fourth International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (New York, NY: Asso-
ciation for Computing Machinery, 2014): 113–117; “E2Coach: Tailoring Support for Stu-
dents in Introductory STEM Courses,” Educause Review, accessed February 22, 2016, http://
er.educause.edu/articles/2013/12/e2coach-tailoring-support-for-students-in-introductory
-stem-courses

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9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 224 12/20/2016 1:25:54 PM
 ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

Authors
Bret Eynon is a historian and associate provost at LaGuardia Community College
(CUNY), where he guides collegewide educational change initiatives related to learn-
ing, teaching, curriculum, advisement, technology, and assessment. The founder of
LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and Learning and its internationally-known ePortfo-
lio project, Eynon’s many articles and books include Freedom’s Unfinished Revolution:
An Inquiry Into the Civil War and Reconstruction (The New Press, 1996); and 1968: An
International Student Generation in Revolt (Pantheon, 1988); as well as Who Built Amer-
ica? an award-winning series of textbooks, films, and CD-ROMs. A senior national
faculty member with the Association of American Colleges & Universities, Eynon’s
most recent book, with Randy Bass, is Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal Educa-
tion for the New Digital Ecosystem (AAC&U, 2016). The national Community College
Humanities Association has recognized him as a Distinguished Humanities Educator.

Laura M. Gambino is the associate dean for assessment and technology and profes-
sor of information technology at Guttman Community College (CUNY). In her role
as associate dean, Gambino oversees the college’s institution-wide ePortfolio program
and the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative. She
serves as principal investigator for Guttman’s EDUCAUSE/Achieving the Dream
iPASS and GradNYC College Completion Innovation Fund grants. She also leads
the assessment of Guttman’s institutional student learning outcomes; her work in
this area focuses on the intersection of assessment, pedagogy, and assignment design.
Gambino, a leading ePortfolio and assessment practitioner and researcher, serves as
a Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP)/Tuning Coach for the National Institute for
Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA).

C2L Senior Scholars

Randy Bass is vice provost for education and professor of English at Georgetown
University, where he leads the Designing the Future(s) initiative and the Red House
incubator for curricular transformation. The author of numerous books, articles, and
electronic projects, he has been honored with the EDUCAUSE Medal for Outstand-
ing Achievement in Technology and Undergraduate Education. A consulting scholar
at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, from 2003 to 2009,
Bass is currently senior scholar at the Association of American Colleges & Universities.

225

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 226 CONTRIBUTORS

Helen L. Chen is director of ePortfolio initiatives in the Office of the Registrar and a
research scientist in the Designing Education Lab in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering at Stanford University. She is a co-founder of Electronic Portfolio
Action & Communication (EPAC), an ePortfolio community of practice, and serves
as a board member for the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-
Based Learning and as a co-executive editor for the International Journal of ePortfolio.

Foreword Author
George D. Kuh is adjunct research professor at the University of Illinois and
Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education Emeritus at Indiana University. He is
a senior scholar and founding director of the National Institute for Learning Out-
comes Assessment (NILOA) as well as the founding director of Indiana University’s
Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE). Among his recent books are Using Evidence of Student Learning to Improve
Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2015); Ensuring Quality and Taking High-Impact Prac-
tices to Scale (AAC&U, 2013); High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are,
Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter (AAC&U, 2008); and Student Success
in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (Jossey-Bass, 2005, 2010).

Vignette Authors
G. Alex Ambrose, Associate Program Director of ePortfolio Assessment, University
of Notre Dame

Susan Kahn, Director, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Director, IUPUI ePort-

folio Initiative, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis

Kati Lewis, Assistant Professor, Salt Lake Community College

Gail Matthews-DeNatale, Associate Director, Center for Advancing Teaching &

Learning Through Research, Northeastern University

Terrel Rhodes, Vice President, Office of Quality, Curriculum, and Assessment and
Executive Director of VALUE, Association of American Colleges & Universities

Susan Scott, Coordinator, ePortfolio Initiative, Assistant Director, Office of Institu-

tional Effectiveness, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 226 12/20/2016 1:25:55 PM

 INDEX

AAC&U. See Association of American inquiry and, 101–3

Colleges & Universities institutional change and, 183–84
AAEEBL. See Association for Authentic, integration and, 106–11
Experiential and Evidence-Based IRI and, 95, 100–109
Learning for learning, 97
Academic Skills Plans (ASP), 197 mechanisms, 105
academic transcripts, 214–15 nursing program, 106–7, 137
accountability, assessment, institutional pedagogy connection to, 109–12
learning and, 96–100 pilot process, 106
advisement, digital, 216–18 plan and timeline, 112
aggregating credits, ix professional development and, 91,
Alliance for Excellent Education, 208 112
Ambrose, Alex, 214 reflection and, 103–6
American Association of Collegiate resistance to, 97, 100
Registrars and Admissions Officers, rubrics, 102
215 scaling up and, 113, 150
analysis of experience, 49 standards, 50
analytics, formative learning analytics, steps to effective ePortfolio-based, 97
218–20 success showcase, 107
Angelo, Thomas, 76–77 technology and, 112–13
Anstendig, Linda, 44–45 Assessment Days, 103–4, 138
“Arts in NYC,” 68–69 Association for Authentic, Experiential and
ASP. See Academic Skills Plans Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL),
assessment, outcomes, viii, 30–31, 34 122, 123, 214
AAC&U president on, 104 movement led by, 181
accountability, institutional learning and, Association of American Colleges &
96–100 Universities (AAC&U), 3, 11
authentic, 97–98, 140 on integrative learning, 35, 39
C2L and, 100–101 list of HIPs, vii, viii, x, 21
Catalyst Framework connections, 60, president on assessment, 104
109–13 audience
challenges of ePortfolio-based, 99–100 authentic, 65–66, 68
cycle of, 100–101 external, 69
different meaning from usual, 96 process and, 68–70
ePortfolio platforms and, 129 authentic assessment, 97–98, 140
faculty involvement in, 91, 96, 97–98, authentic audience, 65–66, 68
106
history of ePortfolio and, 10 badges, digital, 211–15
identifying, 99 consumers and earners, 213

227

9781620365052_Eynon_High-Impact ePortfolio Practice.indb 227 12/20/2016 1:25:55 PM

 228 INDEX

issuers, 211, 213 professional development and, 74–75

Banta, Trudy, 106 Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources and
Barefoot, Betsy, 195 Research
Barr, Robert, 153 student success data on website, 166
Barrett, Helen, 40 website, 1, 2, 5, 14
Bass, Randy, 27, 36, 117, 177 Catalyst Framework, 4, 27–36
on institutional change, 187 assessment connection to, 60, 109–13
rebundling concept, 160 assessment sector, 95–113
social pedagogies defined by, 52, 65, 176 connections created by, 155–56
Batson, Trent, 10–11, 117, 214 design principles, 20, 32–36
Baxter Magolda, Marcia, 39, 59 interlocking sectors of, 18–19, 29–32
Benchmark Readings, 105 learning core, 28
big data. See analytics, formative learning need addressed by, 28
analytics professional development as HIP, 74–92
Blake Yancey, Kathleen, 34, 40 professional development connection to,
Boston University (BU), 101–2 60
College of General Studies assessment scaling up connection to, 60–61, 91,
results, 108–9 149–51
funding sources, 148 scope of, 18
scaling, 137 technology connections to, 60, 124–31
Bowling Green State University, 165 CCRC. See Community College Research
Bransford, John, 40 Center
Bridge Program, 203 CCSSE. See Community College Survey of
Brookfield, Stephen, 59 Student Engagement
BU. See Boston University Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs),
Buyarski, Cathy, 57 18, 79
LaGuardia’s, 81–83
C2L. See Connect to Learning Mini-Grants, 84
C2L campuses. See also specific colleges and scaling team effectiveness and, 142
universities Central Piedmont Community College, 98
campus culture and structure, 28 CGS. See College of General Studies
developing ePortfolio teams, 141–42 Chen, Helen, 17, 53, 177
levels addressed in Catalyst Framework, Core Survey analysis by, 179–80
28 Chronicle of Higher Education, 209
NSSE data analysis based on, 175–76 City University of New York (CUNY), 125
scaling strategies, 136, 141–49 funding sources, 148
scaling up success stories, 137–41 peer mentorship program, 128–29
visible learning and, 171–81 collaboration, 125–26
Campus Technology, 214 collaborative self-authorship, 53, 55
capstone courses, 198–99 learning communities as, 197
Capstone Experience, 82–83 need for ePortfolio, 216
Capstone Reflection Prompt, 204–5 in platform selection, 119–20
Carey, Kevin, 213 in process and audience heading, 69
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement reflection and, 51–53, 55
of Teaching, 35 social media and, 216
Catalyst for Learning collective inquiry, 86
design principles and, 33 College of General Studies (CGS)

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 INDEX 229

assessment results at BU, 108–9 network, 2

scaling success story, 137 partner institutions, 14
colleges and universities. See also C2L professional development and, 77
campuses project funding, 13
with digital advisement tools, 216–17 research findings summary, 3
enrollment patterns, ix social pedagogies and, 67–71
ePortfolio use in, vii, 1 social pedagogies evidence from, 181
first ePortfolio, 138 summary of assessment results and
first to use ePortfolio, 11 practices, 113
involved in C2L project, 13–14 survey instrument, 15
learning colleges, 95, 99 technology effectiveness and, 124–27
pressure on, 209 visible learning steps taken, 171
communicating understanding, 65–66, constructing understanding, 65, 70–71
70–71 Core Survey, 15, 48
communities Chen’s analysis of, 179–80
community-based learning, 200–201 on feedback, 177–80
knowledge, 69–70 qualitative evidence from, 174
learning, 76–77, 197–98 social pedagogy data from, 177
Community College Research Center Social Pedagogy results, 178
(CCRC), 217 website, 173
Community College Survey of Student courses
Engagement (CCSSE), 175–76 capstone, 198–99
Completion Agenda, 182 collaborative writing, 53, 55
connections. See also Catalyst Framework connecting across, 43–46, 117–18
Catalyst Framework creating, 155–56 massive open online courses, 11, 182
connecting course experiences, 43–45 student numbers by year in ePortfolio,
across courses, 43–46, 117–18 140
across departments, 85 survey on digital courseware, 75
identity formation and, 180–81 credits
integrative learning and, 186 aggregating, ix
in and out of classroom, 46–48 expanded system of, ix–x
prompts for, 44–45 Credly (digital badge platform), 212
reflection as, 41–48 Cronon, William, 39
to specific HIPs, 195–205 CTLs. See Centers for Teaching and
Connect to Learning (C2L), viii, 1. See Learning
also C2L campuses; colleges and culture
universities; Core Survey; teams, C2L; campus, 28
specific campuses; specific topics of evidence, 91
assessment and, 100–101 learning, 71, 155–56
collaboration and reflection, 51–53, 55 CUNY. See City University of New York
connection practices in, 43–44
fundamental premise, 67 Dastrup, Adam, 43
inquiry and project of, 13–14 Dawson, Debra, 78
internship-related ePortfolio practices, Department of Education, US, 165
201 description of experience, 49
limited data caveat, 16 Dewey, John, 40, 42, 48, 55
model, 14 Rodgers synthesis of, 68

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 230 INDEX

diffusion, innovation, 135 assessment challenges, 99–100

digital technology C2L site internship-related, 201
advisement systems, 216–18 as catalyst for strategic change, 156–57
digication, 127, 212 college and university use of, vii, 1
digital badging, 211–15 comprehensive student records, 215
digital learning ecosystem, 220 customizing, 126–27
ePortfolio as, 116–32 definition of, 1, 11, 12
revolution, 10, 220 digital badging and, 212, 214–15
survey on digital courseware, 75 as digital technology, 116–32
Digitective virtual scavenger hunt, 80 done well, 9, 12, 16–21, 38
disciplines, connecting across courses, “e” in, 31, 131–32
semesters and, 45–46 faculty comfort with technology of, 91
diversity, 199–200 as first-year seminar, 140
Douglass Women’s College, 58–59 funding, 147–48
guidance required for meaningful, 39–40
ecosystems higher education transformation and,
digital learning, 220 153–60
new higher education, 208–11, 216, 221 as HIP, 20–22
thinking in, 154–56 history and spread of practice, 10–12
Editor’s Note, eZine, 54 how technology shapes, 117–18
education. See colleges and universities; impact of done well, 163–88
higher education implementation, 125, 137
EDUCAUSE, 1, 211 interlocking sectors defined by Catalyst
EdX, 210 Framework, 18–19, 29–32
electric student portfolios. See ePortfolios labs, 131
Elmendorf, Heidi, 52, 176 learning college and, 98–99
employers, survey of, 215 limited understanding of, 12–13
enrollment patterns, contemporary link with HIPs, 193–206
university, ix LMS and, 118, 119
ePersonal Development Plan (ePDP), meaningful practice of, 1
56–57, 126–27, 218 as meta HIP, viii–x, 202–5
student success data and, 166–67 “My Path,” 58–59
ePortfolio platforms next generation, 208–21
assessment and, 129 ongoing development, 5
design and configuration, 121 power of, 154
external resources for, 123–24 professional, 129
LMS integrated with, 129–30 reflective practice of, 40–59
pilot testing, 125 social media linked with, 126
scaling up linked to, 129–31 social pedagogies in context of, 65–72
selection of, 119–24 sophistication since 1990s, 116–17
workability steps, 118 SoTL linking with, 87
ePortfolios (electronic student portfolios). structures for professional development
See also Catalyst Framework; initiatives, based on, 79–84
ePortfolio; specific topics student mentors, 88, 129–30, 144
on AAC&U list, x students and faculty engagement and, 28
AAC&U president on, 11 student success advancement through,
for advisement, 216–18 16, 164–71

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 INDEX 231

technological evolution of, 118–19 first-year experience (FYE), 195–96, 203

tips for professional development based learning communities and, 197–98
on, 76 first-year seminar (FYS), 140
as tool for leaders, 36 formative learning analytics, 218–20
unrealized promise of, 12–13 funding, 13, 147–48
evaluation, technology goal setting and, future, ePortfolio practices in
120–23 academic transcripts, 214–15
evidence advisement systems, 216–18
Core Survey qualitative, 174 analytics in, 218–20
culture of, 91 digital badging, 211–15
scaling up use of, 145–47 higher education new ecosystem and,
sharing and analysis, 147 208–11, 216, 221
student success, 165–71 iPASS tool, 216–18
value propositions based on, 164 social pedagogy and, 216
experience visible learning in, 220–21
connections across courses and, 45–46, FYE. See first-year experience
117–18 FYS. See first-year seminar
first-year, 195–97
presence in, 49, 88 Geary Schneider, Carol, 39
in reflective cycle, 49, 88 General Education Core Values, 107
students’ integrative, 173 geriatric care, reflective journal on, 47
experimentation, in reflective cycle, 49 Global Guttman, 47
exploratory students, 166 global learning, 199–200
external audiences, 69 goal setting, technology evaluation and,
Eynon, Bret, 160 120–23
eZine, 54 Google, 218
government approval, 148
faculty GPAs, 165, 166
adventurous and open-minded, 194 grants, 148
assessment involvement of, 91, 96, mini-, 84
97–98, 106 Guided Pathway, Guttman Community
engagement of students and, 28 College, 203
ePortfolio technology comfort of, 91 Guttman, Charles, 138
feedback by, 68–69, 125 Guttman, Stella, 138
leadership building, 81 Guttman Community College, 47, 68–69
professional development and, 76–78, 86 Assessment Days, 103–4, 138
recognition, 86 Capstone Reflection Prompt, 204–5
sustained pedagogy seminars, 81–83 on collective reflection, 89
workshops and institutes for staff and, FYE programs, 196
79–80 Guided Pathway, 203
feedback scaling success story, 138–39
Chen’s Core Survey on, 177–80 student success indicators, 170
faculty and peer, 68–69, 125
social pedagogy and, 70–71 higher education, 108. See also colleges and
Feest, Amy, 46 universities
Ferreira, Jose, 210 accountability pressure in, 96
Fidler, Paul P., 195 changes from initiatives in, 159–60

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 232 INDEX

changing landscape of, 208–11 implementation, ePortfolio

learning paradigm emerging in, 153–54, cross-campus, 137
158–60 pilot testing, 125
new ecosystem in, 208–11, 216, 221 Indiana University-Purdue University
new priorities for, 155 Indianapolis (IUPUI), 49–50, 59, 69
old and new paradigms, 153–54 ePDP tool developed by, 56–57, 126–27,
organizational learning applied to, 98 218
rebundling, 160, 210, 220 ePersonal Development Plan, 56–57,
tensions in, 159 126–27, 218
transformation of, 153–60 ePortfolio initiative, 139
unbundling, 11–12, 154, 209, 220 internship-related ePortfolio practices,
High-Impact Practices (HIPs) 201
AAC&U list of, vii, viii, x, 21 platform selection at, 122–23
benefits of, 21 social pedagogy and peer feedback in,
C2L connections to other, 143 70–71
concept and definition, 20–21 student success data, 166–67
ePortfolio as, 20–22 team effectiveness, 142
ePortfolio as 11th, x information technology (IT), 18
feedback characteristic of, 125 initiatives, ePortfolio, 134–51. See also
first-year experience, 195–97 scaling strategies; specific colleges
meta, viii–x, 202–5 higher education tensions relieved by,
professional development for, 74–92 159–60
quality implementation of, 21 how scaling looks, 136–41
requirements in order to benefit from, 3–4 innovation diffusion and, 135
research on, 3 institutional change resulting from,
High-Impact Practices (HIPs), ePortfolio 153–54
link with, 193–206 list of scaling strategies, 136
capstone courses, 198–99 network created by, 153
connecting to specific, 195–205 scaling as essential to, 135
diversity and global learning, 199–200 scaling strategies, 136, 141–49
FYEs, 195–97 stories of successful scaling and, 137–41
internships, 201–2 innovation diffusion, 135
learning communities, 197–98 inquiry
service- and community-based learning, assessment and, 101–3
200–201 collective, 86
undergraduate research, 200 learning design principle, 20, 33–34
Hill, Phil, 74, 134–35 professional development and, 84–87
HIPs. See High-Impact Practices reflection as systematic and scaffolded,
Huber, Mary, 39 48–51
Hubert, David, 148, 200, 202–3 Inquiry, Reflection, and Integration (I-R-I),
Hunter College, 79–80 5, 35–36, 91
Hutchings, Pat, 39, 77 assessment and, 95, 100–109
Hyberger, Amanda, 202–3 in learning colleges, 99
recursive cycles of, 99
identity, purpose and, 70–71 institutional change, 181–82
identity formation, visible learning and, assessment and, 183–84
180–81 Bass on, 187

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 INDEX 233

emerging paradigms for, 153–54, 158–60 iPASS. See Integrated Planning and
positive restlessness for learning in Advisement for Student Success
students, 157–58 systems
professional development factor, I-R-I. See Inquiry, Reflection, and
182–83 Integration
scaling up and, 185–88 IT. See information technology
technology and, 184–85 IUPUI. See Indiana University-Purdue
value proposition on learning-centered, University Indianapolis
17–18
institutional planning, 148–49 journals, reflective, 47, 89
institutions
faculty and staff professional Kahn, Susan, 202
development, 79–80 Keeling, Richard, 59
institutional learning, 96–100, 157, Khan Academy, 208
182 “Knowledge and Power: Issues in Women’s
learning-centered, 158 Leadership,” 58
NILOA, viii, 34, 96 knowledge communities, 69–70
qualities shared by ePortfolio, 157 Kuh, George D., 9, 21, 22, 40, 177
INTASC. See Interstate Teacher Assessment integrative learning and, 39
Support Consortium
Integrated Planning and Advisement for
labs, ePortfolio, 131
Student Success systems (iPASS),
LaGuardia Community College, 71
216–18
capstone courses, 199
integration and integrative learning, 20,
CCSSE analysis, 175–76
34–36, 160, 210
commendation of, 108
analytics, 156
CTL, 81–83
assessment and, 106–11
on digication, 127
connections, 186
ePortfolio defined by, 12
ePortfolio with HIPs, 204
ePortfolio imitative, 139–40
guidance necessary for, 39–40
first-year programs, 196
importance and recognition of, 38–39
pedagogy and assessment, 111–12
iPASS tool for planning, 216–18
professional development seminars of,
LMS and, 129–30
90, 199
professional development and, 89–90,
social media linked with ePortfolio, 126
183
student mentors, 144
scaling up and, 35
student success, 165, 175–76
strategic change and, 156–57
use by year, 140
student experience and, 173
learning. See also integration and integrative
integrative social pedagogy, 18, 29–30, 84
learning; visible learning
C2L and, 61
assessment for, 97
as core of “done well” structure, 38
colleges, 95, 98–99
key ideas, 65–67
communities, 76–77, 197–98
learning culture and, 71
community-based, 200–201
interlocking sectors, 18–19, 29–32
connections across courses and
internships, 201–2
experiences of, 45–46, 117–18
Interstate Teacher Assessment Support
culture, 71, 155–56
Consortium (INTASC), 50
Dewey theory of, 42, 55

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 234 INDEX

digital, 220 Metro Health Academies, SFSU, 137–38,

formative learning analytics, 218–20 166, 205
global, 199–200 Metro STEM Academy program, 137–38
inquiry, 20, 33–34 Middle States Commission for Higher
institutional, 96–100, 157, 182 Education, 108
institutions centered on, 158 mini-grants, professional development, 84
organizational, 98 “The Mistress of Vision” (Thompson), 58
paradigm, 153–54 MOOCs. See massive open online courses
positive restlessness about, 157–58 “My Path,” 58–59
purpose and identity through, 70–71
reflective, 20, 29, 33, 34 NASPA, 215
science, 19 National Council of State Legislatures, 96
sense of self and, 59 National Institute for Learning Outcomes
service, 49–50, 200–201 Assessment (NILOA), viii, 34, 96
learning-centered institutional change, National Resource Center for Learning
17–18 Communities, 197
learning core, Catalyst Framework, 28 National Survey of Student Engagement
learning management system (LMS), 118, (NSSE), 15, 17, 173, 174
119, 125 campus-based analysis of data from,
ePortfolio platforms integrated with, 175–76
129–30 on social pedagogy, 178
Lehman College, 50, 69 New Media Classroom Horizon report, 219
“Letter to a Future Self,” 45–46 New York City, “Arts in NYC,” 68–69
Lewis, Kati, 53 NILOA. See National Institute for Learning
Liberal Arts Capstone, 199 Outcomes Assessment
LMS. See learning management system Northeastern University, 69–70, 83, 105
on integrative assessment, 107, 110–11
Maki, Peggy, 98 master’s program assessment at, 107
Manhattanville College, 43–44, 70, 80 scaling up story of, 185
ePortfolio platform selection at, 120 on technology, 185
first-year programs, 195 Norwalk Community College, 80
inquiry in TLCs of, 86 Notre Dame University, 212–13, 214
integrative learning practices, 89–90 NSSE. See National Survey of Student
professional development programs, 183 Engagement
massive open online courses (MOOCs), 11, nursing program, Three Rivers, 106–7, 137
182
Matthews-DeNatale, Gail, 107, 110–11 O’Donnell, Ken, 21, 22, 39, 40
on privacy and sharing, 127 social pedagogies and, 177
McClam, Sherie, 43–44, 70 online training, hybrid professional
Meizrow, Jack, 59 development, 83–84
mentors, students as, 130, 144 Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal
mentorship, peer, 88, 128–30, 144 Education for the Digital Learning
metacognition, 199 Ecosystem (Bass and Eynon), 160
meta High-Impact Practices, viii–x, 202–5 “Open and Integrative: Designing Liberal
Metro Academies Program, SFSU, 137–38, Education for the New Digital
143 Ecosystem” (Bass and Eynon), 208
Metro Academy, 137–38, 143, 167 Open Learning Initiative, 208

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 INDEX 235

organizational learning, 98 collaborative work, 69

organizational units, 28 faculty and peer feedback, 68–69
outcomes, learning. See also assessment, knowledge communities in, 69–70
outcomes professional development, 18, 30
Social Pedagogy Model with associated, assessment and, 91, 112
67 C2L and, 77
Catalyst Framework connection to, 60
Pace Community College, 56 definition of, 75
Pace University, 80, 88–89, 186 ePortfolio technology link with, 127–29
institutional planning, 148–49 faculty engagement in, 76–78, 86
NSSE analysis, 175 as HIP, 74–92
platform selection at, 120 hybrid/online, 83–84
student success, 168 inquiry and, 84–87
PDP. See personal development plan institutional change and, 182–83
Peay, Austin, 216–17 integrative learning for, 89–90, 183
pedagogy. See also integrative social literature on, 76–78
pedagogy; social pedagogies mini-grants, 84
assessment connection to, 109–12 open and integrated programs of, 183
professional development focus on, 78, pedagogy focus for, 78, 90–91
90–91 reflective practices for, 87–89
professional development seminars, scaling up and, 91, 150
81–83 seminars, 90, 199
reflection as social, 42, 51–55 structures for ePortfolio-based, 79–84
reflective learning and, 19, 30, 33, 34 technology focus for, 91
scaling up connection with, 149–50 tips for effective ePortfolio-based, 76
technology and, 31, 124–28 professional ePortfolios, 129
peer feedback, 70–71 psychology, IUPUI service learning
Core Survey data on, 177–80 reflection in, 49–50
faculty and, 68–69, 125 purpose, sense of, 70–71
peer mentorship, 88, 128–30, 144
Peer Review, 202–3 Quality Agenda, 182
Peet, Melissa, 28 Queensborough Community College, 167,
Periodic Program Reviews, 105 168
personal development plan (PDP), 124
Pickavance, Jason, 202–3 rebundling, higher education, 160, 210, 220
planning records, comprehensive student, 215
alignment with institutional, 148–49 reflection
assessment timeline and, 112 as affective, 42
ePDP tool for, 56–57, 126–27, 166–67, assessment and, 103–6
218 as attitude toward change, 42, 55–59
iPASS tool for integrated, 216–18 Capstone Reflection Prompt, 204–5
PDP, 124 collaborative, 51–53, 55
reflection role in, 56 as connection, 41–48
platforms. See ePortfolio platforms definitions of, 34, 48
presence in experience, 49, 88 in ePortfolio practice, 40–59
process and audience, social pedagogies journaling as, 47, 89
heading of planning and, 56

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 236 INDEX

principles of meaningful, 41–55 Metro Academy, 137–38, 143, 167

for professional development, 87–89 Metro Health Academies, 137–38, 166,
reflective writing, 45–46 205
retreat on, 105 platform selection process, 120–21, 123
Rodgers on, 41–55, 87–88, 103, 172 scaling success story of, 137–38
scaffolding, 87 student success data, 166
as social pedagogy, 42, 51–55 SAT scores, 166
student success and, 172 scaffolding
as systematic and scaffolded inquiry, inquiry, 48–51
48–51 reflection, 87
theorists on, 40–41 scaling strategies, 136
tips for designing, 41 connecting to departments and programs,
visible learning and, 171–76 142–44
reflective learning, pedagogy and, 20, 30, institutional planning alignment, 148–49
33, 34, 172 making use of evidence, 145–47
research resource leveraging, 147–48
C2L findings summary, 3 strategic change and, 156–57
Catalyst for Learning website on, 1, 2, 5, student engagement, 144–45
14 team development, 141–42
on HIPs, 3 scaling up, 19, 29, 32
student success data issues with, 169 assessment and, 113
undergraduate, 200 Catalyst Framework connections for,
resources, leveraging, 147–48 60–61, 91, 149–51
retention, 167, 168, 198 college stories of successful, 137–41
retreat, reflective, 105 definition, 134
reverse transfer, ix ePortfolio initiatives, 135–51
Reynolds, Rebecca, 59 ePortfolio platforms and, 129–31
Rhodes, Terry, 11, 104 funding for, 147–48
Rodgers, Carol, 40, 68, 172 how scaling looks, 136–41
reflection principles defined by, 41–55 institutional change from, 153–54,
reflective cycle of, 48–49, 87–88, 103 185–88
Rodriguez, Max, 199 integration and, 35
Rogers, Everett, 135 professional development and, 91
Ross, Alexandria, 50–51 transformation from, 158–60
rubrics as unique to each college, 140–41
assessment, 102 scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL),
VALUE, 104 87
Rutgers University, 58, 166 science, technology, engineering,
mathematics (STEM)
Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), 43 SFSU Metro, 137–38
assessment and ePortfolio of, 112 Scott, Susan, 202
collaborative self-authorship writing class, self, learning and sense of, 59
53, 55 Selingo, Jeff, 209
global learning and diversity, 200 semesters, connecting across, 45–46
institutional alignment, 148 seminars
San Francisco State University (SFSU) faculty recognition at end of, 86
HIP connecting building, 143 first-year, 195

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 INDEX 237

LaGuardia’s ePortfolio first-year, 196 STM. See Student Technology Mentor

LaGuardia’s professional development, strategic change, catalyst for, 156–57
90, 199 student learning outcomes (SLOs), viii
professional development, 90, 199 students
sustained pedagogy, 81–83 comprehensive records of, 215
Senge, Peter, 98 engagement, 28, 175–76
sense of self, 59 ePortfolio course numbers by year, 140
service learning, 49–50, 200–201 ePortfolio use percentages, 1
SFSU. See San Francisco State University exploratory, 166
Shum, Simon Buckingham, 219 integrative experiences of, 173
SLCC. See Salt Lake Community College as mentors, 88, 129–30, 144
SLOs. See student learning outcomes positive restlessness in, 157–58
social media, 126, 216 retention, 167, 168, 198
social pedagogies. See also integrative social scaling strategy for engagement of,
pedagogy 144–45
C2L summary of evidence on, 181 value proposition on success of, 16,
Core survey data on, 177 164–71
definition of, 52, 65, 176 student success
as ePortfolio growth area, 72 data on, 165–71
external audiences for, 69 ePDP and, 166–67
key ideas, 65–67 feedback importance to, 177–80
NSSE on, 178 NSSE data on, 173–76
reflection as, 42, 51–55 research issues, 169
social media and, 216 Rodgers’ insights on reflection and, 172
technology and, 66 social pedagogies and, 176–80
visible learning and, 176–80 visible learning indicator of, 171–81
social pedagogies, in ePortfolio contexts, Student Success in College, viii
65–72 Student Technology Mentor (STM), 130
design and impact principles, 67–71 surveys. See also Core Survey; National
learning culture and, 71 Survey of Student Engagement
process and audience, 68–70 C2L survey instrument, 15
purpose and identity fostered by, 70–71 digital courseware, 75
Social Pedagogy Model, with associated of employers, 215
outcomes, 67 NILOA, 96
Sorcinelli, Mary Deane, 78 Suskie, Linda, 97
SoTL. See scholarship of teaching and “Sustainability: Creating a Future We Can
learning Live With,” 195
Spellings Commission, 96 swirl, viii–ix
staff
assessment pilot process for, 106 Tagg, John, 153, 175
workshops and institutes for, 79–80 teaching and learning circle (TLC), 80–81
stakeholders, 119, 125 collective inquiry approach in, 86
standards, INTASC, 50 reflection aspect of, 88
STEM. See science, technology, engineering, teams, C2L, 9
mathematics connecting to HIPs, 143
St. John’s University, internship-related data analysis, 147
ePortfolio practices, 201 effective scaling, 141–42

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 238 INDEX

evidence sharing and analysis, 147 student success, 167, 168

identifying measures, 146 21st Century DaVinci ePortfolio Award
most effective, 18, 145 Badge, 212
project goal articulation, 145 Tyton Group, 75
technology, 18, 214. See also digital
technology UITS. See University Information
assessment and, 112–13 Technology Services unit
Catalyst Framework connections to, 60, unbundling, higher education, 11–12, 154,
124–31 209, 220
as Catalyst Framework sector, 19 undergraduate research, 200
concerns over role of, 35–36 understanding
connection to Catalyst Framework, 60 communicating, 65–66, 70–71
customizing ePortfolio, 126–27 constructing, 65, 70–71
ePortfolio as digital, 116–32 universities. See colleges and universities
ePortfolio platform selection, 119–24 University Information Technology Services
ePortfolio shaped by, 117–18 unit (UITS), 122
evolution of ePortfolio, 118–19 University of Delaware, 200
faculty comfort with ePortfolio, 91
goal setting and evaluation, 120–23 Valid Assessment of Learning in
implementation pilot testing, 125 Undergraduate Education (VALUE)
institutional change and, 184–85 rubrics, 104
pedagogy and, 31, 124–28 VALUE. See Valid Assessment of Learning
professional development focus on, 91 in Undergraduate Education
professional development linked to value propositions, 3, 9, 38
ePortfolio, 127–29 evidence basis of, 164
scaling up connection with, 151 institutional change, 17–18,
social pedagogies and, 66 181–88
Student Technology Mentor program, institutional change and, 154
130 student success, 16, 164–71
theories, Dewey learning theory, 42, 55 on visible learning, 16–17, 117, 118,
theorists, on reflection, 40–41 171–81
Thompson, Francis, 58 Virginia Tech (VT), 70, 80, 201
Three Rivers Community College (TRCC), ZipLine to Success Program, 126
71, 102, 187 visible learning, 16–17, 117, 118
institutional planning and, 148–49 connection and identity formation,
internship-related ePortfolio practices, 180–81
201 reflection in, 171–76
nursing program assessment, 106–7, 137 social pedagogy and, 176–80
scaling success story of, 137 student success and, 171–81
Title V grants, 148 twenty-first-century, 220–21
TLC. See teaching and learning circle volunteer programs, 201
transcripts, academic, 214–15 VT. See Virginia Tech
transfer, reverse, ix
TRCC. See Three Rivers Community
Web 2.0 functionality, 118
College
websites
Tunxis Community College, 120, 146,
Catalyst for Learning: ePortfolio Resources
198
and Research, 1, 2, 5, 14

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 INDEX 239

Core Survey, 173 Peer Mentor/Grad Coordinator

Wilson, Katie, 47 Bootcamp, 128–29
workshops writing courses, collaborative self-authorship
faculty and staff professional in sophomore, 53, 55
development, 79–80
beyond one-shot, 82 ZipLine to Success Program, 126

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 This book—by presenting principles that teachers in higher education can put into
practice in their own classrooms—explains how to lay the ground for this engage-
ment and help students become self-regulated learners actively employing meta-
cognitive and reflective strategies in their education.

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 Also available from Stylus Publishing
Leveraging the ePortfolio for Integrative Learning
A Faculty Guide to Classroom Practices for Transform-
ing Student Learning
Candyce Reynolds and Judith Patton
Foreword by Terry Rhodes
“Candyce Reynolds and Judith Patton’s Leveraging the
ePortfolio for Integrative Learning is the most accessi-
ble book I have seen about using ePortfolios in higher
education. They write this book as if it is their own
ePortfolio, providing personal stories and many exam-
ples of faculty uses of ePortfolios. This book keeps you
reading as if you are listening to the authors tell you
all you want to hear [about ePortfolios]. . . from every
aspect of defining your ePortfolio’s campus purpose to
choosing a platform to the structure of a showcase ePortfolio to tips and cautions. I
was impressed with their thoroughness and lucidity. Thanks to Reynolds and Patton
for this significant contribution to the field of ePortfolio studies.”—Trent Batson,
President, The Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning

“Integrative learning is often seen as the Holy Grail for various learning contexts,
such as general education and lifelong learning. It’s believed to exist, but it’s often
unclear how to foster such learning in meaningful ways. Destined to be a seminal
text, what Reynolds and Patton provide here is a map to integrative learning through
ePortfolios with practical advice leading to real outcomes. I will be providing this
book as a manual for those who teach using ePortfolios.”—C. Edward Watson,
Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Georgia; and Executive Editor,
International Journal of ePortfolio

Using Reflection and Metacognition to Improve

Student Learning

Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy

Edited by Matthew Kaplan, Naomi Silver, Danielle
LaVaque-Manty, and Deborah Meizlish
Foreword by James Rhem
Research has identified the importance of helping
students develop the ability to monitor their own
comprehension, and to make their thinking processes
explicit. Indeed, literature demonstrates that meta-
cognitive teaching strategies greatly improve student
engagement with course material.
(Continues on previous page)

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 HIGHER EDUCATION / COLLEGE TEACHING

“This timely volume shows that ePortfolio is a powerful pedagogical framework at any type of
institution, benefitting all participating students in desirable ways, as with other High-Impact
Practices. Happily, Eynon and Gambino explain how and why, by illustrating the requisite steps
and conditions to do ePortfolio well, in the classroom and beyond.”—GEORGE D. KUH, Senior Scholar,
National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

“The Eynon and Gambino book will become an instant classic, readable, authoritative, reflecting the
experience of many diverse institutions, and finally settling the question, ‘What is an ePortfolio?’
I recommend this book to anyone in higher education.”—TRENT BATSON, Founder of the Association for
Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL, the international ePortfolio organization)

“At a time when preparing students to address complex, real-world problems is more critical than
ever, Eynon and Gambino offer a compelling case for ePortfolios as essential to student success.”
—LYNN PASQUERELLA, President, Association of American Colleges & Universities

“This book is the perfect mix of practical examples and research pointing to the many ways that
ePortfolio can transform student learning, how we work as teachers, and the character of our
institutions.”—PAT HUTCHINGS, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment

“A call to arms for thoughtful and effective educational reform and renewal.”—STEVE BRIER, Founder,
Interactive Technology & Pedagogy program, CUNY Graduate Center

“Eynon and Gambino give us a detailed guidebook, down to step-by-step diagrams and first-hand
case studies, all grounded in the best current thinking about learning, cognition, and the crucial
role of student intentionality.”—KEN O’DONNELL, Associate Vice President, California State University,
Dominguez Hills

“I salute Eynon and Gambino for synthesizing research on authentic assessment and productively
connecting pedagogy that works, professional development, and outcomes assessment.”
—TRUDY W. BANTA, Professor, Vice Chancellor Emerita, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis

“This book is not just a blueprint for excellent ePortfolios; it offers an inspiring vision for learning
and change in higher education.”—PETER FELTEN, Assistant Provost, Elon University

A t a moment when over half of U.S. colleges are employing ePortfolios, the time is ripe to
develop their full potential to advance integrative learning and broad institutional change.
This book presents a comprehensive research-based framework, along with practical examples and
strategies for implementation. The authors identify how ePortfolios, now recognized as a High-
Impact Practice (HIP) in their own right, enhance other HIPs by creating unique opportunities for
connection and synthesis across courses, semesters, and co-curricular experiences.

THE AUTHORS
Bret Eynon, a historian, is Associate Provost at LaGuardia Community College (CUNY).
Laura M. Gambino, a computer scientist, is Associate Dean at Guttman Community College (CUNY).

Published in association with

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