April 2005 AGADEMICS

FCS students showcase class work, resumes with ePortfolios

By Robert Waggener, Editor

Office of Communications and Technology

Students in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences are utilizing computer technology to bolster their portfolios.
They are using electronic portfolios (ePortfolios) in addition to traditional cloth or leather ones to showcase class projects and resumes in addition to tracking their progress this semester.

Ashley Cariveau, a senior dietetics major from Rapid City, South Dakota, says she plans to make her ePortfolio available to prospective employers when searching for her first job out of college. “I’m sure they would look at this in addition to the standard written resume,” she notes.

            At first, Cariveau says, creating an electronic portfolio challenged her computer knowledge. “But once I got the hang of it, the electronic portfolio was easy to develop.”

            Cariveau and other FCS students are required to personally assess their progress in six areas including written communication, oral communication, critical thinking, professional development, computer literacy, and cross-cultural and global diversity.

“We felt those six competency areas best represented student outcomes that were desirable across the disciplines in our department,” says Associate Professor and Department Head Karen Williams. “They give us the opportunity to both assess student progress in those areas as well as assess our curriculum so that we know whether we are producing the kinds of students at the appropriate competency level that we want.”

The FCS teaching faculty spent more than two years developing the competency areas and identifying skill levels, which were implemented last fall. In addition, they brought alums and other outside experts in the field to review student work in August to help determine if the skill levels were clear and appropriate.

Associate Professor Sonya Meyer says, “An electronic portfolio gives students more than a resume. It gives them proof of their abilities. It also helps build confidence in the students. It helps them to realize their own preparation for the real world.”

She adds, “I am really finding how the teaching I have done with the students relates to the career paths they are taking. The ePortfolios are also a ‘feel-good’ tool for faculty members. They are an affirmation of what we are teaching.”

CAPTION – Senior dietetics major Ashley Cariveau, of Rapid City, South Dakota, right, shows her electronic portfolio to family and consumer sciences Associate Professor Sonya Meyer.