A Methodology to Analyze Self-Reflection in E-Portfolios

This Research to Practice Work-In-Progress offers an approach toward assessing self-reflections in e-portfolios written by undergraduate student-Scholars in a Grand Challenge Scholars Program within the College of Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The proposed approach applies two existing frameworks - Robert Grossman's levels of reflection and the Reflection and Self-Assessment criterion in AAC&U's Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric - to develop a methodology that could facilitate the assessment of self-reflections as instruments of students' learning. Preliminary analysis of portions of the e-portfolios submitted by Scholars in the first two cohorts to complete the program shows that the Scholars did not reach high levels of self-reflection when guided only by a generic prompt that asked them what they learned about themselves and how it changed or broadened their perspectives. Our analysis of portfolios is ongoing as additional Scholars graduate from the program, and we expect to see evidence of deeper levels of self-reflection and greater transformation in these newer portfolios as a result of the changes in expectations and prompts.