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Community Colleges and Technology >> Getting the Edge on Institutional Goals
3/31/2005
www.blackboard.com). Students incorporate projects and class assignments into the ePortfolio, demonstrating their attainment of learning in an ongoing fashion. The model also provides students a means for documenting (for potential employers or four-year colleges) competencies and accomplishments acquired at Surry. Importantly, the Institutional Portfolio model provides an opportunity for students to engage in meaningful class projects while simultaneously providing assessment data for general education outcomes.Steve Atkins, VP and CAO, and Candace Ring, director of Distance Education, are overseeing the ePortfolio program at Surry. Atkins explains, “Interdisciplinary faculty teams review students’ ePortfolios and apply learning outcomes rubrics, created by SCC faculty, to evaluate students’ work. This data is then provided to the Office of Institutional Planning and Research for inclusion in an institutional portfolio, providing opportunities for development of strategies for improving students’ academic performance.” The assessment results are also reported for the college as a whole, he says, but may be disaggregated and analyzed by a number of demographic variables such as location, minority status, and so forth.
Integral, not tacked-on. The core feature of the Institutional Portfolio model is the true integration of performance-based assessment projects. Surry students are required to take what they have learned and apply their knowledge and skills to complex performances. In fact, one of the greatest benefits of the Institutional Portfolio, says Atkins, is that assessment is not “an add-on”— rather, classroom projects are used to provide ample evidence of student learning and success that evolves from an authentic context. The Blackboard content systems, he adds, provide Surry faculty assessment teams with the ability to easily manage, assess, and communicate student performance.
Moving forward, the Institutional Portfolio developed by Johnson Community College, coupled with a comprehensive Blackboard content system setup, will go a long way toward assuring that Surry Community College continues to build on its position as a true learning college.
Mel Witty is based in New England, and exclusively covers the higher education
technology sector.
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