Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 78 de 957
Sharing the past, sharing the future, and sharing oneself in portfolio studios
Deborah Kilgore
kilgored@u.washington.edu
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
United States of America
Brook Sattler
brook.sattler@gmail.com
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
United States of America
Jennifer Turns
jturns@u.washington.edu
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
United States of America
Abstract: Developing a professional portfolio through engagement in a portfolio
studio offers students an opportunity to look at their past experiences in a new
light, broadening their conception of what it means to prepare oneself for
engineering. It also presents an opportunity to reframe and/or refine
professional goals in the future. An outcome of shaping the past and future is
further development of a professional identity, here described in terms of
increased self-confidence in professional skills. In this mixed methods
examination of students enrolled in portfolio studio, we analysed both interview
and survey data to enhance our understanding of how students look to the past
and the future, while also looking inward.
Introduction
For more than a decade, U.S. engineering education policy has included lifelong learning as
an important professional competency (ABET, 1998-2009). Lifelong learning has been
characterized in a variety of ways; in nearly all conceptions, time is a central feature.
Whether they are learning from the past in a process of critical reflection (Brookfield,
1995) or preparing for the future by engaging in an on-going process of self-managing,
self-monitoring and self-modifying their learning (Candy, 1991), lifelong learners never
situate their learning solely in the present moment, but rather situate their learning in
their histories and/or visions for the future.
A portfolio is one intervention that can develop lifelong learning skills in engineering
students. Riley and Claris (2008) write, “Portfolios can be an important way to incorporate
lifelong learning skills, because, when implemented well, they embed self-directed
learning skills such as articulating learning objectives, assessing how and to what extent
those objectives have been met, and reflecting on how to improve targeted skills in the
future.” A portfolio may be characterized as a purposeful compilation of one‟s work,
typically in service of an implicit argument. Our implementation of the portfolio consists of
a professional statement in which the student makes claims about her preparation for an
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011