Call for Applications: Cohort VII of the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research

[Allison Miller]

Cohort VII of the Inter/National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio
Research will focus on assessment through the lens of four
propositions. Those propositions center on the interaction of pieces
of evidence, the relationship of evidence and reflection, material
practices, and meaningful comparison without standardization.

The propositions are:

• For meaningful assessment, interaction of pieces of evidence within
an eportfolio is more important than single pieces of evidence.
• Reflection on pieces of evidence within an eportfolio and on the
eportfolio as a whole provides information for assessment that is not
available by other means.
• The material practice of eportfolio composition generates
distinctive knowledge about learning.
• Eportfolios enable meaningful comparison of student learning across
institutions (and other contexts) without standardization.

If your institution is interested in exploring these ideas in a
systematic way to influence the direction of assessment of learning
and in conducting research on your own eportfolio practices or
programs, you are invited to apply for participation in Cohort VII.

The cohort will constitute from Fall 2012 through Spring 2015 (for the
northern hemisphere). Building on the findings of Cohort VI and other
research, cohort members will examine their own practices in the
context of other Cohort VII
institutions. They will also test propositions that have significant
ramifications for assessment in general.
Institutions with current eportfolio practices or programs, including
those who have participated in earlier cohorts, are invited to apply
for participation in this cohort. Institutions will meet twice a year
for a total of six face-to-face meetings at which they report on and
advance their own work, provide feedback to other institutions, and
advance the knowledge base of the cohort.

Institutions selected for the cohort commit to:
• Creating a research team that is committed to use of eportfolios for
assessment and that will engage in research for the three years of
cohort membership
• Supporting their researchers through recognition and dissemination
of their work on their own campus
• Funding a membership fee of $6,000 to be paid upon acceptance and
the participation expenses of the research team in six face-to-face
meetings

Each research team will include at least two members with:
• Knowledge of and access to eportfolios in use on campus
• Commitment to learning through designed inquiry how portfolios can
be assessed according to the evidence they contain, the audiences they
address, and the learning that they foster
• Allotted time for full participation in the cohort, which includes
conducting the inquiry, preparing for and participating in face-to-
face meetings, and collaborating to disseminate the cohort’s findings
in such venues as conference presentations, print and/or web-based
publications, and applications to practice and to other research

To apply for Cohort VII participation, submit the application form to
the Coalition directors:
Darren Cambridge at dcamb...@air.org,
Kathleen Yancey at kya...@fsu.ed; and
Barbara Cambridge at bcamb...@ncte.org

More information and downloadable PDF available here:
http://ncepr.org/cohort7application.pdf

Applications are due January 13, 2012. Selected teams will be notified
by January 30, 2012.