Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
At the forefront of organizational performance are organizations which recognise that information,
knowledge and their intelligent application are the essential factors of success. The know-how to promote these
activities must now become a part of the “skills and abilities armoury” acquired by graduates in the domain of
“Information Systems” and “Information Management”.
This paper will address the use of “individual reflective portfolios” (IRP), either as “learning” or as “learning and
assessment” tools in modules of the “Knowledge Management” course taught at two Portuguese Universities -
Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Universidade de Coimbra.
This learning and assessment approach is aimed primarily at developing students; it enables them to reflect and
make a meta-analysis of their learning process. At the same time, it gives students an opportunity to integrate
their learning across subjects that are relevant to knowledge-based management. In one of the case studies
described, it also provides an opportunity to expose them to a wide literature base, where several approaches to
the use of knowledge in organizations are discussed. Results show that, in the initial stages, students do not see
this methodology as useful (only time-wasting) but by the end of the course they recognise that it helps them to
reflect on their learning processes, deepens their learning and helps keep up-to-date with the course content.
This paper introduces best practices for this teaching and learning approach and includes an evaluation of the
methodology by a student sample.
Description
Paper presented at the 8th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Barcelona, 6-7 Sep. 2008 URL: http://www.academic-conferences.org/eckm/eckm2007/eckm07-home.htm
Keywords
Portfolio Teaching Assessment Higher education Knowledge management Case study