Source: Journal of Teaching in Marriage and Family: Innovations in Family Science Education, 2004, 4(1), 79-99.

Brenda L. Bass, Howard L. Barnes, Kyle L. Kostelecky, Wm. Michael Fleming

Drs. Bass, Barnes, Kostelecky, and Fleming teach family science in the Family Services Program in the Department of Design, Family & Consumer Sciences at the University of Northern Iowa.

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Abstract

Service learning provides students the opportunity to realistically assess the strengths of their professional knowledge and skills while contributing to services that address community needs. Process and product portfolios are proposed as tools for integration of thought and action as students analyze their service-learning experiences. Ernest Boyer's concepts of the scholarship of integration and application are presented as central to the portfolio development process. Data from students and faculty suggest portfolios are a compelling tool for encouraging professional reflection and integration of service-learning experiences. Three themes emerge from student and faculty evaluation data. First, completing the portfolio process improved students' integration of academic and service-learning experiences into a coherent professional identity that can inform their career goals. Second, the assignment facilitated students' understanding of the professional standards taken from a national organization to structure the portfolio (in this specific case, the Certified Family Life Educator competency areas from the National Council on Family relations). Finally, the students reported that the reflection process necessary for developing a portfolio helped them gain confidence in their professional skills. In sum, portfolios provide a vehicle for students to synthesize and reflect upon their service-learning projects, stimulating further development in their professionalism for the field as well as their individual professional identity. 

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