Using ePortfolios to Assess Applied and Collaborative Learning and Academic Identity in a Summer Research Program for Community College Students

We evaluate the extent to which ePortfolios can be used to assess applied and collaborative learning and academic identity among community college students from underrepresented minority groups who participated in a summer research program. Thirty-eight students were evaluated by their research sponsor and two or three naïve faculty evaluators. Faculty sponsors evaluated students based on personal interactions and the students’ ePortfolios. Naïve faculty evaluated students using only the ePortfolios. We found: (1) The rubrics designed to assess applied and collaborative learning and academic identity had good internal consistency, (2) naïve evaluators found some evidence of all learning outcomes, (3) faculty sponsors found evidence of more learning outcomes than naïve evaluators, and (4) individual ePortfolios varied in the extent to which they documented learning outcomes. We conclude that ePortfolios can be used as a reliable means of documenting applied and collaborative learning and academic identity.