The Impact of ePortfolios on Students’ Learning

Abstract

LeBow College of Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA, a private higher educational institution with an emphasis on technology and co-operative education, first implemented an ePortfolio program to undergraduate business students during the academic year of 2006-2007, which occurred after a prior one-year development and pilot program. The introduction of the ePortfolio was in conjunction with a major curriculum revision across the College. Although electronic portfolios had been used in various academic disciplines such as education, nursing and graphic design for several years, its application with students of business was relatively new. A number of researchers have found a positive impact of portfolios (Campbell, 2000; Baume and Yorke, 2003; Reese and Levy, 2009) but few have researched the impact on learning, in particular the students’ perceptions of learning, in a business curriculum. Based on five years of data, our study suggests that the use of ePortfolios across and through the business curriculum may have a positive effect on students’ perception of learning.