GUIDELINES FOR E-PORTFOLIO PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION
S. 2021, #01
I. RATIONALE
The e-portfolio is a requirement for graduation. Every student who belongs in the Academic Bulletin 2018-2020 and 2020-2022 must “develop an e-portfolio to showcase his/her work in meeting the professional competencies” (Academic Bulletin, 2018-2020, p. 97) of his/her program, either master’s or doctoral level, and present it to the Education Department faculty and students and other invitees.
II. DATE OF PRESENTATION
The date of the e-portfolio presentation, which is done after the student has passed the comprehensive exam and/or successfully defended his/her project/thesis/dissertation, is planned by the student with his/her academic advisor. The availability of the Education Department faculty and students is also considered.
III. MODE OF PRESENTATION
The e-portfolio presentation can be done in an on-site face-to-face meeting or through zoom or other virtual modalities.
IV. E-PORTFOLIO PLATFORM
Students are encouraged to use OneNote as a platform where they will upload their e-portfolio. They are allowed, however, to use other platforms in consultation with their academic advisor.
V. ATTENDEES
The Education Department faculty, full time and part time, are required to attend e-portfolio presentations. The attendance of Education Department students is encouraged but not required. Invitations will be sent to other departments and to persons whom the student will identify (e.g., family members, friends, mentors).
VI. PROGRAM
The program for the e-portfolio presentation will have the following parts and suggested time:
- Welcome Remarks – Presider* (2 minutes)
- Opening Prayer – (2 minutes)
- Introduction of the presenter – Academic Advisor (2 minutes)
- Presentation – Student (25-30 minutes)
- Question and Answer – Panelists** (15 minutes); students (10 minutes)
- Closing Prayer – (2 minutes
- Executive Session - Panelists (5 minutes)
- Pronouncement – Presider (2 minutes)
- *The Education Department chair serves as the presider. If, however, he/she is the academic adviser, he/she will appoint one of the Education Department faculty to serve as the presider.
- **The panelists are composed of the presider, the academic adviser, and two Education Department faculty
- (Total of more or less one hour and 15 minutes)
VII. FRAMEWORK
In the preparation of their e-portfolios, students are guided by the seven essential learning points of the Education Department, which are (a) service, (b) leadership, (c) scholarship, (d) global perspective, (e) thinking, (f) communication, and (g) spirituality (see Academic Bulletin 2020-2022, p. 95). As they go through their program, they intentionally plan how to meet their program competencies. It is a good practice for them to sit down with their academic advisor and seek his/her guidance what programs or activities are available at AIIAS which they can engage in to equip themselves with the needed knowledge, attitudes, skills, and habits. While the Education Department has been intentional in its curriculum such as in the choice of courses, in the preparation and delivery of the course content, and other co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, students may engage in other activities such as those they may initiate or initiated by other departments.
VIII. PARTS OF THE E-PORTFOLIO
The e-portfolio is organized according to the seven essential learning points. For each essential learning point (e.g., leadership), the student presents four parts:
(a) introduction, (b) matrix, (c) artifacts, and (d) reflections.
The introduction contains the following: (a) definitions of the concept (e.g., leadership), (b) why is it important for the student to develop the essential learning point and the program competencies (e.g., leadership), and (c) what are the different ways a student (e.g., a PhD Ed Admin) can develop the program competencies under the essential learning point. The introduction is 1-2 pages and supported with literature both theoretical and empirical from credible and recent sources.
The matrix contains the following columns: (a) program competencies, (b) action taken or activities, (c) date of the activity, (d) venue of the activity, (e) beneficiaries, and (f) artifacts.
The artifacts such as certificates, pictures, documents (e.g., research paper, lesson plan, etc.), videos, and others are uploaded in the platform. Students are advised to observe privacy laws pertinent to pictures and documents which are co-authored.
Reflections include (a) what best practices did the student adapt to develop the program competencies, (b) what challenges did the student encounter and how he/she resolved them, and (c) what insights did the student gain.
IX. PROCESS
The student may adapt the following steps in preparing the e-portfolio:
- Collect – The student collects every possible artifact. He/She takes pictures of activities and files and organizes outputs in classes and activities he/she engages in. He/She can be guided by the required artifacts identified by the Education Department. (See Appendix A).
- Select – From his/her collection of artifacts, the student selects what is most appropriate and convincing evidence of him/her having met the program competencies.
- Reflect – The student engages in reflections not only at the end of his/her program but periodically. Among the best times are at the beginning of the program, in the middle, and at the end. For each course, best reflecting moments are at the beginning of the course, in the middle, and at the end. To reflect, the student may ask the following questions: (a) In the beginning – What are my goals? How will I meet them? What resources do I need? How can I get those resources? (b) In the middle – In what areas am I doing well? Why am I doing well in those areas? In what areas do I need to do better? What do I need to do better? (c) At the end – How well did I meet my goals? Which of my goals have I not fully met? What do I need to do?
- Connect – The student connects what he/she has learned in a particular activity or course with prior learning, with the literature, and with life.
- Present – The final step is to present the e-portfolio in a public forum and to make the e-portfolio available for the reading public.
X. EVALUATION
With the use of a rubric, the e-portfolio, both the content and the presentation, is evaluated by a team of panelists. At the end of the e-portfolio presentation the presider pronounces the result of the evaluation, which is either Pass or Fail.
The student also does a self-evaluation based on the seven essential learning points. He/She rates himself/herself using the scale 1-3 (1 for introduced, 2 for developing, and 3 for mastery).
RUBRICS
Service Learning Requirement
Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Service Learning basically links the learning in the classroom to the activity in the community and vice versa. The mission of AIIAS is to develop leaders who are of service to their workplace, the Adventist Church and to the community at large. Because purely academic work does not always integrate leadership or
community service opportunities the Graduate School has included a Service Learning component as a graduation requirement for all students.
The Service Learning component does not require registration or tuition fees, however, it must be completed, as any other course, before graduation requirements are considered met. The Service Learning requirement consists of 100 hours (40 hours for graduate certificate programs in Business, Education, and Public Health departments) spent in service to community bodies, church related organizations, schools, health related institutions, business firms, governmental or nongovernmental entities, and the general public at large. The 100 (40) hours may be made up of several activities, or a single activity that is continued over a long period of time. As the Service Learning requirement is student initiated and coordinated, each student may select or design activities that will contribute toward their professional/personal development in consultation with their academic advisor.
Service Learning activities should begin early in a student’s AIIAS career, and need to be documented at/near the time of occurrence, including the signature/date of a professor or another individual (not another student) and a short comment from them about the student’s presence and participation in the said activity. The documentation required includes the running list of activities, comments/signatures and time spent, and an electronic portfolio. The e-portfolio includes pictures, activities, and personal comments/reflections. The comments show why the student chose these activities, what was learned from them, how classroom learning was linked to the service activity, and how they have grown professionally through those experiences. The portfolio ends with a 1-page reflective essay about the student’s professional and personal learning and growth through the Service Learning activities. Students should be prepared to
share their experiences with others in periodic seminars which may be held for such purposes.
When the Service Learning activity is completed, the portfolio and signature page are sent to the academic advisor, who will present it to the department and department chair to record the completion of the activity. Once it is approved, the academic advisor may enter the completion into the academic record system.