Using Blackboard to Develop an E-Learning Portfolios for Promoting Student-centered Learning and Facilitating Outcome Assessment of Associate Degree Students

Abstract

Practitioners of the visual arts, journalism, and architecture have long been used to document professional achievement using portfolios. In terms of engineering education, the use of portfolios as a learning tool for students has also been gaining popularity in recent years in various disciplines of engineering. A review of recent literatures indicates that not only do portfolios enhance student-centered learning by providing opportunity for reflection and encouraging students to take greater responsibility for their own learning, they are also a potentially rich source of information about how our educational program is or is not helping our students to achieve the intended learning outcomes. In addition, the portfolio method makes explicit the life-long nature of engineering education and facilitates students to better comprehend their future roles as practicing technologists and engineers. In view of the said advantages of using portfolio as a learning tool for students and the recent development and implementation of outcome-based learning approach at City University, our objective of this project is two-fold, namely (1) to develop a model of student portfolios for Associate Degree students in engineering on our University’s Blackboard system that simultaneously promotes student-centered learning, provides useful outcomes assessment data, and is logistically feasible. The model will be developed based on the program intended learning outcomes of our Associate Degree in Construction Engineering and Management, which takes into account, in addition to the course-based learning outcomes, the attributes of an ideal City University graduate, and various professional competence requirements and core objectives as laid down by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. Although the model is developed for the particular interest of engineering students, the format is generic enough so that it is equally applicable to other Associate Degree students with minor modification; (2) to evaluate the effectiveness of using portfolios for Associate Degree students in assessing the learning outcomes, facilitating their learning and making better planning for their own career and/or academic development by carrying out regular interviews and survey on a sample of students, which results will also direct the portfolio model towards refinement and further development.