Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
gains”. Dibiase has taken his e-portfolio rationale and fosters it through the E-
Education Institute which performs research on student Web portfolio usage
throughout Penn State University. Because of the large number of Earth and
Mineral Sciences (EMS) Student Web portfolios, the recently published
quantitative research on undergraduate Web space usage published by the
institute provided findings on EMS and non-EMS student within the Penn State
undergraduate population.
In the 9
th
Survey of Undergraduate Student use of Penn State Web space
accounts, the researchers created a survey instrument consisting of a content
database which recorded the presence or absence of evidence of different Web
site characteristics. The list of characteristics was updated from a 2000 survey
to reflect a simpler, academic-focused Web portfolio content structure. The
2005 survey categories included academic content which provides the student
a place to reflect on formal and tangible learning and project experiences. The
academic content section included course projects and assignments completed
by students in formal coursework. The following section in the survey was
supporting content. This section contained work that was not specifically
targeted solely to academic experience or work within a specific discipline.
Supporting content subcategories included résumés, personal information, and
co-curricular information. A third and final category within the 2005 Penn State
Web usage survey was reflection. This third section was previously defined in
the 2000 survey instrument as a list of portfolio assets. That changed in 2005
with the goal of providing a space for publishing reflective thoughts and
commentary throughout the life of the portfolio. Reflections in the study were
defined as “activity that occurs within a comprehensive approach” and consid-
ered reflections or reflective evidence as important when focusing on direction
within specific course outcomes. An example of this might be a daily journal
compiled by an elementary schoolteacher which could be included in a Web
portfolio reflection category.
Survey data collection was carried out on both EMS and non-EMS students
from the undergraduate population. Results were divided up to list survey data
that showed a higher number of EMS students activating Web space and more
importantly using it for academic content. The study explained that this is very
possible due to the fact that many EM courses require students to publish work
online. Of the non-EMS students, only half of the population activated Web
space accounts and at the time of the 2005 survey, less than half had used the
Webspace to publish some form of academic work online. However, the study
did show that non-EMS students' content increased in the quantity of reflective
