e-Portfolio Way: Career Advising at Ritsumeikan University

Abstract

This paper discusses the effectiveness of employing an e-Portfolio system for career advising at the university level, making reference to the case in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Ritsumeikan University in Japan. The e-Portfolio was mainly used for archiving information about students’ attributes collected through online surveys and the students’ reflections from learning through their academic as well as extra-curricular activities. The e-Portfolio further tracked the students’ motivation and affecting factors to it. In addition, in order to foster the growth of the students, the academic advising was enriched with the concepts of self-actualization to develop autonomy, reflection to look back and plan for the next step, and proactive attitude to take part in the academic and the extra-curricular activities. It is reported that the new strategies to nurture the career-awareness in the academic life worked effectively.