Toward Collaboration and Inclusion: The Electronic Portfolio and Outcomes Assessment

The need to move away from autonomous academic endeavors toward a more inclusive process involving all stakeholders in higher education provides the backdrop for this article. The introduction of the Paradigm of Autonomy and arguments for moving away from this view to one of collaboration and inclusion is framed within the context of educational outcomes and assessment. Research has shown that limited work has been done across institutions in developing “shared” outcomes and assessment across curriculum and “values.” The Electronic Portfolio (utilization of the Internet as a platform for wide distribution and discussion of materials) is introduced as a mechanism to harness information technology for achieving the objectives of developing discourse on achieving acceptance of wide-ranging outcomes and assessment measures. The involvement of all stakeholders in the process, particularly those beyond the academy, is seen as an integral part of building an emerging paradigm of collaboration and inclusion in the development of shared outcomes and assessment metrics. The use of the Electronic Portfolio as the information technology vehicle is described in some detail.