Implementation of an ePortfolio Requirement and Professional Development Seminar Series for an ET Program

The University of Delaware’s Department of Bioresources Engineering offers a B.S. degree in Engineering Technology (ET), which has been a TAC of ABET accredited general ET program since 1988. The program typically graduates about 20 majors per year. Recent revisions of the ET program that include the addition of a four-year seminar series focusing on professional development and documentation of student workplace competencies / program outcomes went into effect for students entering fall semester 2010. Students, as a requirement for graduation, must individually submit integrative and reflective ePortfolios to document with direct evidence their intellectual growth and mastery of the ET program’s workplace competencies. Compilation of the ePortfolio contributes to the students’ professional development, and its completion and submittal for summative evaluation in the senior seminar is considered a fundamental component of the capstone experience. The four-year seminar series provides an opportunity for formative assessment and regular systematic feedback to the students for continuing improvements to their ePortfolios throughout the students’ academic careers. Evaluation rubrics are used to determine acceptability of the submitted ePortfolios and to help pinpoint components that require revision and resubmission. Student ePortfolios will be routinely evaluated as part of the department’s continuous quality improvement plan for the ET program and as a direct measure of the TAC of ABET general criteria a through k outcomes for accreditation.