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Wentworth of TOMORRROW
Transformation For The Next Century
Improving Student Social Business Skill Sets Through ePortfolio Development and
Utilization
Cindy P. Stevens, Ph.D. Boston, MA
Management Department
• Bachelor's of Science (BSM)– Current total BSM students:
approximately 280
• Two concentrations:– Entrepreneurship– Technology Project
Management
• ePortfolio required– ICABE accreditation tool
Electronic Career PortfolioAssessment Tool and Requirement Report
• Core Required Items:– Professional Picture– Brief Student Summary– Professional Resume
• Design and Organization:– Organized– Working Links– Artifacts are Identifiable
• Process:– Freshman Year Developed– Activity Editing/Adding Content
Sophomore through Senior Year– Concentration Advisor Signs off Senior Year– Advisor Signs Off Senior Year– Students Issued an S or U. (will become
letter graded item 2016!)
• Six Proficiency Areas Required:– Writing and Research
• Example: Newspaper, Research paper– Professional Service
• Example: Student Organization, Committee
– Team Leadership• Example: Mentor, Conduct Meetings
– Consulting, Management Skill Development
• Example: Plan or Design a Project, Evaluator
– Career and Life Planning• Example: Resume, References, Co-op
– Communication• Example: Presentation, Speech
ePortfolio for Co-op• We encourage students
to submit eportfolio(s) along with resume to Co-op employers.
WIT Co-opCooperative education (Co-op) aims to provide practical experience while applying classroom
learning at a work site; to enhance professional skills; to experience personal growth. Co-op is a
full-time work experience. Enrollment in this course maintains full time student status.
Optional Co-op#1
(Sophomore)
Optional Co-op#1
(Sophomore)
Mandatory Co-op#2
(Senior)
Mandatory Co-op#2
(Senior)
Mandatory Co-op #1
(Junior)
Mandatory Co-op #1
(Junior)
Sample BSM Co-op Employers
• Akamai Technologies• American Fortune Real
Estate Corp. • Boston Engineering• Boston Red Sox• Intel Massachusetts,
Inc.• John Hancock• McGrath Companies• My Happy Planet
• Raytheon Technical Services
• Mission Hill Main Streets
• Sunguard Higher Education
• Trinity Properties• Uphams Corner Main
Street• Windsor Capital
Mortgage
What Platform?• Switched to WordPress.com for 2011 & 2012
Seniors. • Now allowing students to also use Weebly
2013.
Why Did We Switch?
• WordPress & Weebly more graphical and not just an online Resume.
• WordPress & Weebly easier to use.• Weebly easier to use than
WordPress.
Samples
Samples
Conducted a Survey!
– Were students more motivated?– Did they enjoy the experience more?– Where they more satisfied?– Did they learn anything new?
• About themselves?• Technical skills?• Organizational skills?• Time management?
– Where they able to reflect back over the last four years?
ePortfolio Skill Sets
Source: Stevens, Cindy. “Social Capital: Determining A Student’s E-Portfolio Net Worth" Volume 5 of The Journal of Human Capital Development. (June, 2012).
NegativeNegative
PositivePositive
Net Worth
• An assumption is that eportfolio net worth (NW) is:– The sum of human capital (HC) and social capital (SC)
*In other words, ePortfolio NW = HC + SC.
What Does That Mean?• Human capital represents technological skills,
organizational skills, writing skills, critical thinking skills, and self-knowledge skills. – These skills are either utilized or gained during the eportfolio process
from freshman to senior year. • Social capital represents the ability of students to
communicate, work with others, including faculty members, and create and maintain networks as a result of their eportfolio. – Social capital is also considered a non-cognitive trait development
and that these social capital skills are transferable skills in the workplace, in school, and personally.
Are Social Business Skill Sets Similar?
Social Business Skills Sets
• Interpersonal Communication (Burrus; Pereira, Vera, Miller; Foux)
• Collaboration (Burrus; Pereira, Vera, Miller)
• Group Learning (Pereira, Vera, Miller)
• Creative Problem Solving (Pereira, Vera, Miller; Foux)
• Analyzing Complex Processes (Pereira, Vera, Miller; Foux)
• Vast Technology Skills (Pereira, Vera and Miller)
• People Skills (Foux)• Leadership (Golla)• Ethical Decision Making
(Golla) • Knowledge Building
(Burrus; Golla)• Knowledge Management
(Burrus; Golla)
Making A Connection: Social Business
• Another assumption is:– Social Business (SB) Skill Sets = Net worth of the
eportfolio• Or, in other words: NW ± SB
• The lower net worth of a student’s eportfolio the lower his/her reflected social business skills sets.
• The higher net worth of a student’s eportfolio the higher his/her reflected social business skills sets.
What’s Next
• A grading rubric that measures the NW of an eportfolio.
• The rubric will correlate to several, if not all the BSM/IACBE program learning outcomes.
• The learning outcomes will in turn assess: NW ± SB.
