Everyday Project Management Products Archived As E Portfolio: Evidence Of Social Learning In An Engineering Design Curriculum

Electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) have steadily increased in popularity in recent years as a platform for students, teachers and programs to collect, reflect on and revise their work. EPortfolios in education are ideally student-centered and outcomes-based, i.e. students use eportfolios to evidence learning that showcases authentic work, connections between ideas and courses over time, and culminating achievements. However, on-the-ground implementation of eportfolios poses some practical challenges in meeting these goals. First, introducing e-portfolio typically means introducing a new platform into the curriculum. This requires new technology skills and training for students and faculty. Second, e-portfolio platforms that emphasize student learning, reflection, and assessment often marginally support the actual work of producing artifacts. The added workload and technical learning curve students and faculty face in bridging the portfolio-work tool gap can be a significant barrier to adopting new, innovative e-portfolio platforms. The purpose of this study is to determine how student learning can be evidenced using the project management (PM) and knowledge management (KM) platforms already used in a capstone engineering design course as e-portfolio archives. Specifically, we look at the artifacts, reflections and revisions produced during the regular course of business using PM software and a group wiki for KM. We want to know how KM and PM tools perform as e-portfolios and how to improve the methods and instruments we use to assess student learning by integrating what we know from e-portfolio research with existing data from student and industrial partner assessments. In order to accomplish this, we first identify major themes in the e-portfolio literature. Next, we use a backward-design approach to analyze existing course assessment data according to these themes. Finally, we identify the strengths, areas for improvement and future research using e-portfolios in engineering design.