CAREER: Using Portfolios to Promote Knowledge Integration in Engineering Education

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

The central idea of the proposed work is to explore portfolio creation as a means of promoting (and studying) knowledge integration by engineering students. The portfolio activities will build on existing strengths of the engineering curriculum by providing students with opportunities to reflect on their accomplishments, see and articulate connections between engineering and their accomplishments, and develop more integrated conceptual structures associated with engineering. Three objectives are to (1) document the nature of engineering students' conceptual structures in their engineering discipline, with specific attention to how integrated the conceptual structures are, (2) use what is known about portfolios in education to develop an intervention that makes it possible for engineering students to document and refine their conceptual structures in engineering, and (3) identify the learning affordances and cognitive challenges associated with the intervention. The work will be accomplished through a longitudinal study and a series of classroom studies. In the longitudinal study, two student cohorts will be set up in which each student will develop one portfolio per year of participation. Longitudinal study participants will construct portfolios as part of participation in an extracurricular program. In the classroom studies, the effects of portfolio construction will be explored in the context of individual courses. The education plan builds on the portfolio and knowledge integration emphases of the work. The plan includes commitments to: a) continue using portfolio assignments in the PI's courses, b) support portfolio development by faculty and students interested in portfolios, c) provide mentoring/research experiences for undergraduates, and d) create teaching modules that build on the portfolios. In terms of the broader impacts of the project underrepresented minorities will be over-sampled from the available student populations. The portfolios will represent a unique and useful information source for employers, students, and others with interest in engineering education. Also, the impact of the work will be on the engineering graduates who are better prepared to contribute to the engineering profession. The Division of Engineering Education & Centers (ENG/EEC) has agreed to co-fund this project.