Produced for the Canadian Engineering Education Association Conference June 19, 2012

1. ePortfolios
to Build, Demonstrate and
Maintain Professional
Competence
Canadian Engineering Education
Association Conference
June 19, 2012
Don Presant

2. The Burning Platform
Outcomes Based Learning by 2014
CEAB Graduate Attributes
1. A knowledge base for engineering
2. Problem Analysis
3. Investigation
4. Design
5. Use of engineering tools
6. Individual and team work
7. Communication skills
8. Professionalism
9. Impact of engineering on society & the environment
10. Ethics and equity
11. Economics and project management
12. Life-long learning

3. Issues to Resolve
• Perception of graduates
• Reality of graduates
• Changing world, changing needs
• The Internet, Web 2.0 (“read/write web”)

4. The Global Engineer
Engineers Without Borders
A. Understanding of the big picture context
B. Field specific and interdisciplinary expertise
C. Creative problem solving
D. Collaboration
E. Communication
F. Understanding of
sustainability
G. Awareness of current
world issues and trends
H. Social responsibility and
ethics
I. Entrepreneurial adaptability
http://www.cden2009.org/Docs/All-CDEN-C2E2-papers.pdf

5. What is ePortfolio?
http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/infokits/e-portfolios

6. Video
ePortfolio at LaGuardia

7. ePortfolios & Engineering
Points of Convergence
• Program admission
• Undergraduate
– Course specific/program wide
– Work experience, internships
• Capstone
– Preparedness Portfolios
• Professional admission
• Continuing Professional Development
• Personal Learning Environment

8. Selected Examples
See others at bit.ly/ep4engineering
• Rebecca Samuelson
– Virginia Tech
• Michael Kopera
– Warwick University, UK
• Michelle Fuhrman
– Notre Dame - Google site, well organized - PDFs
• Noah's Humanitarian Engineering ePortfolio
– Penn State graduate
• Engineer Edgar
– Curtin University fictional exemplar - incomplete
• Rommuel Paragas
– Career Portfolio Manitoba - fictional exemplar

9. Benefits
• Supports undergraduate learning
– Embedded learning activities
• Holistic view of the graduate
– Diverse evidence aligned to graduate outcomes
– Interdisciplinary, lifewide
• Supports professional identity development
– Scaffolded reflection
• Ongoing professional development tool
– Personal Learning Environment

10. But do it right…
Recent tales from the trenches

11. Success Factors
Student perspective
• Watch the frame of reference
– Emphasize “internal” (personal values & interests) over “external”
(expectations of employers & recruiters)
• Focus on learning, not just assessment
– PLE, lifelong companion
– Private, shared and public space
• Start early and monitor progress
• Emphasize content over technology
• Opportunities for peer interaction
– Peer review, brainstorming, portfolio buddies, presenting portfolios
• Take small steps with lots of scaffolding
– Simple tasks to begin, provide examples
– Provide technical and content support and feedback
• Eat your own dog food (i.e. build your own eportfolio)

12. Success Factors
Organizational perspective
• Burning platform
– Program outcomes, impact on accreditation
• Principles of change management
– Accelerating vs. accepting the maxim: “change
happens one retirement at a time”
• Faculty portfolios (“eportfolio is good for you”)
– Graduate portfolios
– Hiring Portfolios
– Continuing Professional Development
• Department portfolio to support accreditation

13. Link to the support page
for this presentation:
bit.ly/ep4engineering
Don Presant
don@learningagents.ca
careerportfolio.mb.ca