Using Electronic Portfolios to Assess Student Learning as a Result of Undergraduate Research

心理学-认知(73)，科学和技术评估(91)完成一项本科生研究项目的个人和专业利益是多种多样的，也是复杂的。与没有研究经验的学生相比，参与本科生研究的学生更有可能完成本科教育并进入研究生院；他们还会自我报告自己的智力成果。该项目通过记录学生在参与指导研究中所经历的智力收获，并通过探索指导关系的相对重要性及其对学生智力收获的影响，将本科生研究中的学生学习评估提升到一个新的水平。到底是研究环境的哪些组成部分以及这些不同组成部分在多大程度上促进了智力增长--是回答一个独特问题的过程，还是学生在进行项目时得到的指导？该项目使用了印第安纳大学-普渡大学印第安纳波利斯分校(IUPUI)的电子文件夹工具ePortfolio，从19个不同校区的学生和教职员工那里收集数据。项目成员正在测试学生在研究前后的智力技能，本科学习的三个关键原则：核心沟通和量化技能，批判性思维，以及知识的整合和应用。学生构建一个电子学习档案，记录本科生研究的证据，将他们的证据与选定的原则联系起来，并与教师导师合作，评估和了解他们因参与研究而获得的智力增长。学生还完成关于指导环境和人口统计信息的在线问卷调查。该项目的最终结果将是创建一个评估平台，以记录学生在指导下的本科生研究计划的结果，该计划将向全国学术界广泛提供。

Psychology - Cognitive (73), Science and Technology Assessments (91)The personal and professional benefits of completing an undergraduate research project are varied and complex. Students involved in undergraduate research are more likely to complete their undergraduate education and go on to graduate school than students who did not have a research experience; they also self-report intellectual gains. This project is taking the assessment of student learning in undergraduate research to the next level by documenting the intellectual gains experienced by students as a result of participating in mentored research, and by exploring the relative importance of the mentoring relationship and its effect on student intellectual gain. Exactly which components and to what extent do these different components of the research environment bring about intellectual growth--is it the process of answering a unique question or the mentoring that students receive as they undertake their projects?Using an electronic portfolio tool, ePortfolio, from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), the project is collecting data from students and faculty members at 19 different campuses. Project members are examining student intellectual skills before and after the research experience in three key principles of undergraduate learning: core communication and quantitative skills, critical thinking, and integration and the application of knowledge. Students construct an electronic learning portfolio to document evidence from undergraduate research, connect their evidence to the selected principles, and collaborate with faculty mentors to assess and understand their own intellectual growth as a result of participation in research. Students also complete on-line questionnaires about the mentoring environment, and demographic information. The final result of this project will be the creation of an assessment platform to document student learning as a result of a mentored undergraduate research program that will be widely available to the academic community across the nation.