ePortfolios for the Metro
Academies of Health:
Using high impact practices
to improve student transfer
Kevin Kelly and Savita Malik
Metro Academies and
eFolio
A Partnership for College Success
An Approach for Reform of the
First Two Years of College
Funding by
The James Irvine Foundation &
Fund for Improvement of Postsecondary Education--U.S. Department of Education
Presentation Topics
 Needs and drivers behind the project
 About the Metro Health Academies
 MHA High Impact Practices
 Use of ePortfolios
Addressing Educational Inequity
California has the most diverse population in the country,
yet we rank behind the rest of the country in percentage of
students age 25 and older who have a bachelor’s degree,
within 5 years (PPIC report, 2009).
California is ranked 50th in percent of college graduates who
are African American and Latino/a who complete a
certificate, degree or transfer to university within six years
(Shulock et al., 2008).
California Needs More College Graduates
By 2020, California is expected to have:
•too many workers without a college education
Percentage
•too few with a college degree
--PPIC 2008: “California’s Future Workforce: Will
There Be Enough College Graduates?“
Deeper Educational Inequity
Nationwide, only 66 percent of four-year college students
complete a baccalaureate degree within six years
(Kirsch et al., 2007).
First-generation students who attended any nationwide
postsecondary institution, were more than twice as likely to
leave without earning a degree (Chen, 2005).
Among entering freshman students the more economically
privileged student was more likely to graduate within six
years (Bowen et al., 2009).
The Harsh Truth
Student Pipeline
Transition and Completion Rates from
High School to College, 2006
For every 100 Graduate
9th graders,
high
the number
school
that:
California
65.8
Nation
68.6
Directly
Still
Graduate
enter
enroll their
within
college sophomore
150%
year
time
36.7
25.5
20.1
42.3
28.4
19.6
Note. Adapted from “Progress and Completion: Retention Rates—First-Time College Freshmen Returning
Their Second Year,” from the NCHEMS Information Center for Higher Education Policymaking and
Analysis [Data Set]. Retrieved from http://www.higheredinfo.org.
For low-income, first-generation college students, lack of engagement
leads to a much higher drop out rate between year one and year two as
well as a lower graduation rate overall
(Bowen, Chingos & McPherson, 2009).
“Commitment to expanded
college access must be
anchored in an equally strong
commitment to educational
excellence.”
--College Learning & the Global Century, 2007
Addressing Health Inequity
“Our life expectancy is among the
worst compared to other rich
countries.”
--Dr. Stephan Bezruchka, University of
Washington
“[There is] a 20-year gap in life
expectancy between the most
and least advantaged populations
in the USA.”
--Harvard Center for Population and
Development Studies
Educating new community leaders who
work upstream
Social
Inequalities
• Class
• Race/ethnicity
• Level of
education
Institutional
Power
• Government
agencies
• Schools
Neighborhood
Conditions
• Environment
• Social,
residential
segregation
Socio-Ecological Model
Risk Behaviors
• Smoking
• Nutrition
• Physical
Activity
• Violence
Disease &
Injury
• Infectious
disease
• Chronic
disease
• Injury
(intentional &
unintentional)
Mortality
• Infant
mortality
• Life
expectancy
Medical Model
Adapted from Dr. Tony Iton’s model of socio-ecological change
Challenges of
health and educational inequity
require innovative and systematic
approaches.
Think outside the 3-unit box!
Metro Program:
Developed from Evidence-Based Research
in Higher-Education
College Learning for the New Global Century
Liberal Education & America’s Promise (LEAP)
American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)
High-Impact Education Practices:
What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter
By George D. Kuh (AAC&U)
Opening Doors
Two-Year Effects of a Freshmen Learning Community Program at Kingsborough
Community College, conducted by MDRC
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
I.
Early Childhood and Equity/Social Justice Focus:
•
Engaging the “Big Questions” that matter beyond the
classroom
•
Contextualized, engaged learning using repeated practice of
foundation skills
Critical
Thinking
Writing &
Reading
Health
Content
Academic
Success
Skills
Oral
Communication
Information
Literacy
Quantitative
Reasoning
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
II. Student Learning Community
•
Randomized Controlled results showed students LC
had:
•
Higher academic achievement
•
Better Retention
•
Greater Satisfaction with College Life
•
Improved quality of thinking and communication
•
Better understanding of self and others
•
Greater ability to bridge the gap between academic
and social worlds
*Results from the MDRC & Kingsborough Community College Opening Doors Study
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
III. Repeated Practice in Foundation Skills of Academic
Success
COMM 150/
ETHS 110
English 214
Health 120
Health 221
Health 231
• First Year
Experience
• Education
Equity and
Health Justice
• Health and
Social Justice
• Health and
Social Policy
Math 124
Three GE courses (writing, critical thinking or oral communication and
quantitative reasoning) linked and integrated with three Metro
courses for repeated practice and contextualization in health and
social justice content.
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
IV. High and Clear Expectations and
Strong Academic Counseling
•Rigorous coursework articulated
between CSU and community college
•Individual education plans developed
with academic counselor
•Increased academic counseling with early intervention
•Shared classroom management agreements with clear
expectations
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
V. Writing-Intensive Courses with
Tutorial Support
Scaffolded writing assignments with
repeated practice across the
curriculum and systematically
reinforced skills
Technical writing,
persuasive
essays,
proofreading,
peer review
Thesis statement, supporting an
argument, complex sentence structure,
transitions, APA style and citations
Grammar, spelling, verb tense, sentence and paragraph structure,
understanding the writing process and strategies
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
High-Impact Educational Practices
Tailored to Metro Curriculum
VI. Faculty Learning Community to Enhance Instruction
Learn effective pedagogical techniques to deepen students level of
inquiry, reading comprehension, and writing skills.
Skills
Content
Context
MHA Theory of Change
Short-Term Outcome:
Improved College Skills
and Greater Social Support
Long-Term Outcomes:
Greater College Success
1.Strong Identity as a Motivated Student
1.Retention
2.Improved Critical Thinking, Oral
Communication, Reading and Writing,
Quantitative Reasoning
2.Grades
3.Advancement in chosen
field of study
3.Growing Understanding of – Sensitivity to –
Social Inequality
4.Degree completion
4.Growing Interest in Applied Learning
5.Moving toward career Goals
5.Feeling Connected College to Life (“I belong
here.”; “I feel I am a part of things here.”)
6.Commitment to civic
engagement and social
justice
6.Greater Sense of Community: Supportive
Relationships with Students, Faculty, and Staff
Positive
Social
Change:
1) Stronger
community
leadership
2) More
effective
college
graduates in
the workplace
Some educational activities are more
effective than others
“Historically underserved students tend to benefit more from
engaging educational purposeful activities than majority students.”
-- Kuh, George D., “High-Impact Educational Practices,” LEAP & AAC&U
“American education calls for a
far-reaching shift in the focus of
schooling from accumulating course
credits to building real-world
capabilities.”
-- College Learning for the New Global Century, 2007
ePortfolio linking
Meaning making and ePortfolios
• "Important to the act of meaning making is the
documentation of a student’s learning path and
process and the formation of rich, sustained
relationships created through reflection upon the
documentation. In this sense, the documentation
process does not create a definitive end product but
leads to a portfolio that is open to continual reflection
and re-examination."
Smits, H., et al. (2005, Fall). Deepening Understanding of Inquiry
Teaching and Learning with E-Portfolios in a Teacher Preparation
Program. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 31(3). Retrieved
on 01 July 2008 from CJLT website:
http://www.cjlt.ca/content/vol31.3/smits.html
Meaning making and ePortfolios
• Penny Light < Rodgers < Dewey on "[r]eflection as a
meaning-making process":
"… how learners move from one experience to the
next and how they make connections between and
among those experiences."
Penny Light, T. (2008, Spring). Making Connections: Developing
Students' Historical Thinking with Electronic Portfolios. Academic
Intersections, 2. Retrieved on 02 July 2008 from Apple Learning
Interchange website:
http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=14182&version=36
39&pageID=9015
The ePortfolio process
 Collect
 Select
 Reflect
 Build
 Publish
 Connect, link
& share
Collect work
 Students collect digital Files/Artifacts including:
• Assignments, Course Projects
•
•
•
•
•
& Reflective Writing
PPT Presentations & Recordings
Images/Visuals/Videos
Internships, Community Service
Co-Curricular Activities
Professional Development
Select
Students select examples of work that best meet the
learning objectives outlined in portfolio or that show
the strongest connections with a specific audience.
 Use different tags to match artifacts with different
objectives or audiences
Reflect
For each artifact students include, they will also include
a reflective statement or description--to articulate a
rationale for your choice.
 How does each artifact demonstrate a proficiency,
meet a particular objective, etc.
Build
MHA students will use eFolio to build and maintain
ePortfolios throughout the program, no matter where
they start.
Publish and share
 Beyond academic requirement(s), students may
choose how widely you want to share your
ePortfolio.
 Many employers and graduate programs are now
welcoming digital portfolios. Students often include a
link to their ePortfolio on resumes, applications, or
introductory emails.
Mapping ePortfolio artifacts
GE
Objectives:
A
B
C
Program
Objectives:
A
B
C
Our contact info goes here
Kevin Kelly
kkelly@sfsu.edu
Savita Malik
smalik@sfsu.edu