Asynchronous Assessment: Using Electronic Portfolios To Assess Student Outcomes

Abstract

In Criteria 3 of ABET 2000, portfolios are identified as one method of documenting and assessing student outcomes.Portfolios offer several advantages in outcomes assessment( multiple samples of work over time, a view of learning and development, etc.), but their disadvantages (problems with storage and administration, security concerns, etc.) must be balanced against those benefits.In implementing the RoseE-Portfolio at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the faculty, administration, and students have confronted these issues; the result is a web-based portfolio system that focuses on a student's "best work" and requires a "reflective statement" in which a student demonstrates the relevance of the work to the learning outcomes objectives.This article outlines the stages of the RosE-Portfolio development from the initial concept to its testing through a Pilot Project and the current status of the plan.In offering the results of the project thus far, the authors offer suggestions on how other institutions may gauge the appropriateness of a portfolio system to their own student learning outcome goals.