Transformation Rubric for Engaged Learning: A Tool and Method for Measuring Life-Changing Experience

Abstract: ePortfolios and other engaged learning experiences can have extensive impact on students in many facets of their lives, such as subject-area learning, skill and competence development, perspectives on “how the world works,” and even students’ own identities, confidence, and needs. Assessing these various impacts can be a challenge for faculty and program developers. Existing methods can determine students’ attainment of competence, but very little guidance exists to help leaders determine the impact of their programs on the affective aspects of learning, such as changes in perspective and identity. This paper describes the Transformation Rubric for Engaged Learning, a tool and methodology for examining a program’s impact beyond competency attainment in a systematic, replicable manner. The Rubric can be used in addition to existing program assessment methods to give a more complete assessment of a variety of programs, from reflective ePortfolios to community service projects to degree-granting programs.