© 2003 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Supporting Individual Folio Learning: Folio Thinking in Practice Helen L. Chen, Ph.D. Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning NLII Annual Meeting, January 27, 2004

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University E-Folios in SCIL Informed by 2 projects: Learning Careers Folio Thinking The outcomes from our research have focused on the pedagogical implications and issues relating to the implementation of e-portfolios: –From the perspective of the student or learner –Emphasizing techniques and best practices to support reflective learning

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University The Problem Students’ intellectual experience of higher education is fragmented due to: Lack of curricular coherence Increasing demands of an information-rich environment Growing importance of out-of-class learning experiences

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Our Approach Provide structured opportunities to: 1.create learning portfolios 2.reflect on learning experiences Enable students to: integrate and synthesize learning enhance their self-understanding make deliberate choices in their learning career develop an intellectual identity

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Folio Thinking The reflective practice of creating learning portfolios for the purpose of creating coherence and making meaning Draws on:  experiential learning  metacognition  reflective thinking  critical thinking  mastery orientation to learning

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University What does Folio Thinking look like in practice? Extend Folio Thinking to a more specific context and application 2 research projects currently underway in Mechanical Engineering design RQ: How can we refine and tailor Folio Thinking practices and techniques so that it is appropriate for design engineering?

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Applying Folio Thinking to Design Engineering ME 013N: Designing the Human Experience: introductory freshman seminar ME 310: PBL-X: Team-Based Design Development with Corporate Partners Both courses: –Project-based with real clients –Team-oriented –Real subject of the course: design process, design thinking

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Study Objectives To explore the impact of Folio Thinking on a student’s level of self-confidence in her ability to be an engineer by: Increasing student self-awareness of knowledge & skills Helping the student make explicit connections among aptitudes, knowledge, skills, & the real work of engineering

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Blogs within a Tiki-Wiki Environment Informal, continuous, easy and low barriers to posting Students already potentially familiar with blogs Ability to link reflection to artifacts Individual commenting/feedback from coaches and others at a distance

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Implications & Issues

© 2004 Board of Trustees Leland Stanford Junior University Next Steps Examples and stories of Folio Thinking in practice – What does Folio Thinking look like? Collecting and sharing of assessment tools, instruments, techniques, best practices for evaluating Folio Thinking