Campus News
Westminster Implements New E-portfolio Graduation Requirement
Westminster President Michael Bassis Unveils His Own E-portfolio
SALT LAKE CITY – Westminster now requires all undergraduate students, beginning with the class of 2015, to complete an e-portfolio that documents their mastery of Westminster’s college-wide learning goals. To illustrate its value, Westminster President Michael Bassis created his own e-portfolio covering his tenure at the college. It is the first known e-portfolio by a college president and Westminster is the first college to merge the e-portfolio system with its learning goals.
Bassis unveiled his e-portfolio during the Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning (AAEEBL) 2012 E-portfolio conference held in February on Westminster’s campus. Bassis spent several months incorporating artifacts and reflections into his e-portfolio and building it, just as students are, around the college-wide learning goals:
- Critical, analytical and integrative thinking
- Creative and reflective capacities
- Leadership, collaboration, and teamwork
- Writing and other communication skills
- Global consciousness, social responsibility, and ethical awareness
The e-portfolio students are beginning to include artifacts of their work related to each learning goal, as well as reflective essays explaining how the artifacts constitute evidence of their achievement of the goals. Using rubrics, faculty can assess both a student’s development over the course of their studies at Westminster, as well as their mastery of those goals prior to graduation.
“Creating an e-portfolio helped me gain some new insights into how I learn, how I apply what I learn, and how both are shaped by my experiences and values,” said Bassis. “It has allowed me to better understand what worked well, and not so well, during my tenure at Westminster. It has made me a bit more confident about my strengths, a lot more cognizant of my weaknesses, and hopefully better able to continue to learn as I move into retirement.
President Bassis encourages others to view his e-portfolio and, if they chose, to use the rubrics to evaluate his work. President Bassis’s portfolio can be viewed online at http://michael_bassis_eportfolio.foliotek.me/
Media Contacts: Krista DeAngelis and Arikka Von (801) 832-2682
About Westminster:
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information, visit www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC on Twitter.
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