The Problem I teach in a program that is, like other engineering programs, designed to build students' skills and knowledge gradually throughout their education. Their ability to work with content in a course depends strongly on their mastery of prerequisite course material. Unfortunately, students have difficulty transferring knowledge from prerequisite courses into subsequent courses. This "transfer of learning" or "knowledge transfer", in which one uses information and skills learned in another venue on a current task, has been widely studied, but is not well understood. The goal of my project is to determine how effective the construction of an electronic portfolio might be in helping students to achieve this "knowledge transfer" in our program. Summer 2007

Methodologies & Types of Evidence of Student Learning Gathered Spring 2008 Plans for data collection remain. Faculty have agreed to include portfolio assignments in their courses. Learning outcomes have been shared with students in the context of our ABET accreditation effort. Fall 2007 The test scores will provide data for analysis. All department faculty will include requirements for portfolio items as part of their normal course assignments. The learning outcomes for the major must be shared with the students so that they can see the purpose and importance of this activity.

Project Summary My plan is to have students construct an electronic learning portfolio. The portfolio will have both required and student-selected items included to display student mastery of learning outcomes. I will test students' level of prerequisite knowledge at the beginning of each semester. My colleagues will give these tests in their courses as well. The hope is that, as the portfolios develop, these test scores will rise.

Annotated List of Helpful Resources & References I will add the information I have gathered about knowledge transfer, learning and memory shortly.

Preliminary Findings, Results, Conclusions, & Implications Spring 2008 E-portfolio software should be installed and ready for use this summer. I will create prototype documents for students to use, and recruit students to participate in this project in the fall. Fall 2008 I have no findings to share yet. The creation of electronic portfolios is currently impossible since we have no system available, and teaching students to create good web pages for this would be very time-consuming. I am currently looking for an alternative medium for student collection and reflection. We may have to resort to paper-based portfolios!! Status: Ongoing

Career Relevance & Impact Developing this system for documentation of student learning will provide evidence for accreditation examiners and for student use, especially in creating their resumes. As a faculty, we will also gain insight into how our students perceive their learning, and have some great points for discussion during advising sessions. This project has also received attention from campus administrators. All are eager to see how effective the portfolios can be.