Making Connections Across a Four-Year Project-Based Curriculum: ePortfolios as a Space for Reflection and Integrative Learning

The systematic use of reflection and integrative learning across experiences in the curriculum and co-curriculum has often been neglected in engineering education, yet these processes are essential for deep and transferable learning. This paper reports on the use of ePortfolios to provide a mechanism for reflection and integrative learning in a four-year, project-based curriculum. Student use of ePortfolios was introduced in the context of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program. As a pilot in the program’s first year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 15 seniors created showcase ePortfolios as an ungraded activity, using a retrospective approach to gather evidence from both academic and extracurricular experiences to demonstrate five competencies. Student interviews revealed that they valued creating ePortfolios and that the process was inherently reflective and created opportunities for integrative learning. However, evidence of integrative learning and reflection in the content of the ePortfolios was inconsistent, ranging from very little to significant. Student learning—and skill at communicating understanding of their learning—could be enhanced by ensuring a scaffolded and recursive process for ePortfolio creation that incorporates ongoing dialogue with mentors and peers.