The BSPH Capstone e-Portfolio: Documenting Effective Communication and Critical Thinking Skills

The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) degree program in the Department of Public Health Sciences at The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Charlotte was established in 2007 and was accredited by CEPH in 2009. Since 2010, BSPH program faculty have participated in the university’s Communication Across the Curriculum Program, designed to facilitate discussion of degree programs among faculty to create a ‘communication enhanced curriculum.’  These activities are especially timely given recent mandates by UNC General Administration that all UNC graduates demonstrate not only effective communication but also critical thinking skills. In this regard, the department is also one of five units engaged in the university’s e-Portfolio pilot initiative, which is intended in part to assess student communication and critical thinking skills based on AAC&U’s Value Rubrics derived from the Liberal Education and America’s Promise initiative. The BSPH Capstone e-Portfolio in particular is structured to demonstrate individual accomplishments that meet the expectations for public health educators outlined by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing; and is largely organized around the 10 Essential Public Health Services and the program’s unique cross-cutting competencies (Frameworks of Public Health Practice, Communication in Public Health, Diversity and Culture, and Professionalism). In this poster, we outline expectations of student writing and critical thinking in the major; progress in implementing e-Portfolios using the Mahara platform; and preliminary assessment of student learning outcomes.