Many community college students experience barriers to success in first-year STEM courses. Open pedagogy practices can benefit these students, especially those who struggle as first-generation college students, encounter financial barriers, or experience cultural differences that contribute to opportunity gaps. By allowing students to demonstrate their learning in nontraditional ways, these students can be welcomed into higher education and take ownership of their educational experience. In conjunction with open pedagogy, e-portfolios allow students to showcase their work, reflect upon what they’ve learned, and create for an audience beyond their instructor. General Biology (BIOL-101) courses at Raritan Valley Community College combine a winning trifecta of open pedagogy, creative commons licensing instruction, and e-portfolio creation to give students agency over how they demonstrate their learning aligned with the course learning objectives.
Attendees of this session will be able to:- Understand how the synergy between open pedagogy, Creative Commons licensing, and ePortfolios supports student engagement.
- Collaborate with faculty, librarians, and career counselors to implement a comprehensive open pedagogy assessment.
