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Case Study M: Could ePortfolios be an Effective Capstone? A

Student-Centered Approach to Programme Assessment

The Trinity Education Project (TEP) (see Case Study B for more information) has approved a common

architecture in which a capstone project/dissertation/experience will be a common feature across all

programmes (Healey, 2017). This will be an independent piece of work completed by undergraduate

students in the final two years, providing an integrative exercise which allows students to showcase

the skills and knowledge they have developed across a range of subject areas and across their four

years of study.

For disciplines that are more writing- and research-focused, the “capstone” is often synonymous with

a “dissertation”, a long research paper that investigates a specific area of scholarship in-depth. For

disciplines that develop learning through multiple modes — perhaps including field work and

placements, laboratory experiments, or independent creative projects — writing may be only a

component of the capstone. Depending on the ‘programme’, the requirement for a capstone can

stimulate the generation of new and creative ways of assessing beyond module boundaries. A

capstone might be considered a catalyst to enable students to reflect on their learning from their

programme as a whole.

Additional challenges arise when a student undertakes, for example, a joint honours route. Each

subject may consider itself an ‘integrated programme’ – but, from the student’s perspective, each is

only part of his/her ‘degree’. While a student may choose to pursue a ‘capstone’ related to one or

other of the individual subjects, this example proposes consideration of an alternate approach.

The proposal under consideration is that the student would integrate demonstration of learning

related to subject expertise and a range of graduate attributes in an ePortfolio – content for which

might derive from across the core curriculum, electives and co-curricular activities (Crowther & Hill,

2012; Mossa, 2014). Specific criteria (Jasper and Fulton, 2005) for evaluation of the ePortfolio

capstone might be agreed at an institutional level (e.g., to include institution-prioritised graduate

attributes), or be determined at programme level, or be a mixture of institutional and programme

expectations. It would, however, be up to the student to identify, develop, integrate and highlight

relevance of the artefacts presented in the ePortfolio. It is likely that the ePortfolio would include a

reflection on the process – enabling the student to articulate understanding of the relationship

between the artefacts in the ePortfolio and the criteria deemed appropriate to a capstone. While

some artefacts relevant to the capstone might be physical (e.g. a sculpture), the structure of the

online hosting, rather than ‘paper-based’ portfolio, should additionally:

• enable capstone ‘learning outcomes’ to be demonstrated in a manner that can be objectively

assessed, e.g., evidence of ‘independent thinking’ and ‘effective communication’ can be

incorporated into the criteria;

Cicely Roche

Associate Professor, Trinity College Dublin

Email: rocheci@tcd.ie

ENHANCING PROGRAMME APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT

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• provide a means by which students might be supported on an ongoing basis, regardless of

location;

• enable evidence of continuous development over a given period of time; and

• be consistent with the expectation that all graduate should be committed to continuous

development and lifelong learning.

Support for ePortfolio development would be required across the programme. Digital badges could

be integrated to the initiative. A requirement might be to provide a reflective ‘piece’ (written, visual,

auditory, other) that links the relevance of inclusions in the ePortfolio to the degree being awarded,

and to the graduate attributes prioritised by the institution.

Challenges, enablers and suggestions for this approach This approach accommodates the general acceptance that student preparation of a major project or

capstone in the closing stages of a degree programme is desirable (Healey, 2017).

Demonstration and assessment of ‘troublesome’ graduate attributes (e.g., to ‘think independently,

communicate effectively, develop continuously, act responsibly’) may be effectively addressed at

programme, and/or extra/co-curricular level … and this student-led approach has the potential to

facilitate emphasis on whatever attributes an institution values.

The approach may also align with developments with respect to ePortfolios across disciplines and the

expectation that all graduates will have developed the competencies to commit to lifelong learning.

Capstones have the potential to be particularly problematic for some students undertaking joint

honours and programme directors of joint or multiple subject degrees may be particularly interested

in exploring options that accommodate these contexts.

A range of supports would be required if this approach was to be piloted, to include the following:

a) Support for students developing reflective ePortfolios early in and throughout the higher

education experience, i.e., introduce students to the process of reflection and the use of an

online portfolio as a vehicle

b) Support for academics seeking to identify appropriate methods of demonstration and

assessment of graduate attributes – and access to specific expertise when creative forms of

demonstration are introduced by students in their ePortfolios

c) Quality assurance of assessment where presentation of ePortfolios could (legitimately) vary

widely to include, e.g., images, photographs, videoclips, interviews, poetry, prose, academic

writing, reflective writing, peer review, critique, playwriting, gaming, cartoons

References Crowther, P., & Hill, R. (2012). Dissertation by portfolio - An alternative to the traditional thesis.

Student Engagement and Experience Journal, 1(2)

Healey, M. (2017). Dissertations and capstone projects: A selected bibliography. Retrieved from:

www.mickhealey.co.uk/resources.

Jasper, M. & Fulton, J. (2005). Marking criteria for assessing practice-based portfolios at masters’

level. Nurse Education Today, 25, 377-389.

Mossa, J. (2014). Capstone portfolios and geography student learning outcomes. Journal of

Geography in Higher Education, 38(4), 571-581

doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.5140030