4 Think Again: How Communication ePortfolios and Work-Based Learning Foster Resilience Through Double-Looping

Megan Mize, Alison Lietzenmayer, and Gary Beck
Old Dominion University, USA

ABSTRACT

In a changing professional landscape, students need more than disciplinary knowledge; they need tools for reflection, adaptability, and purpose-driven growth. At Old Dominion University (ODU), ePortfolios and work-based learning (WBL) are strategically embedded across the Communication curriculum to foster double-loop learning, a recursive, metacognitive process through which students not only reflect on outcomes but also interrogate the assumptions behind their choices. Drawing from a decade of institutional practice, course-based examples, and student reflections, this chapter illustrates how these high-impact practices (HIPs) help students connect coursework to career goals, revisit self-perceptions, and build resilience over time. By linking academic learning to applied experience through structured reflection and feedback, ePortfolios become more than showcases; they become developmental spaces for identity formation and career readiness. Together, ePortfolios and WBL offer a scalable model for supporting student success across diverse learning contexts.

Keywords: Communication ePortfolio, Double-Looping, Resilience

INTRODUCTION

Students often ask, “When will I use this in real life?” Work-based learning (WBL) and ePortfolios offer a powerful answer by connecting academic study with professional practices and encouraging students to apply classroom concepts, build career-relevant skills, and gain hands-on experience. Far from being an extracurricular add-on, WBL is recognized by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) as a high-impact practice (HIP) that integrates classroom knowledge and theory with practical application and skills development in a professional workplace setting (NACE, 2023). ePortfolios, digital, student-owned spaces for curating artifacts, reflecting over time, and narrating learning, complement work-based learning by helping students document their development, connect academic experiences to broader goals, and articulate an evolving sense of purpose (Watson, Kuh, Rhodes, Penny Light, & Chen, 2016).

At Old Dominion University (ODU), the expanded use of ePortfolios within WBL reflects a commitment to student-centered learning. These approaches allow students to take ownership of their education, make meaningful connections across experiences, and build a sense of identity over time. Recognizing the transformative potential of both WBL and reflective ePortfolio practice, Old Dominion University (ODU) has made them central pillars of its educational approach, embedding preparation, application, and reflection throughout the curriculum. ODU is a four-year public research institution in Norfolk, Virginia, serving more than 20,000 students across academic programs. Designated as a minority-serving institution (MSI), its student body includes first-generation students, adult learners, military-affiliated individuals, and working professionals. Many ODU students balance education with jobs, caregiving, or prior industry experience, making flexible, applied learning opportunities essential (ODU, 2025).

As an early leader in online learning, ODU was well-positioned to respond when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a rapid shift to remote learning and work-from-home models due to global restrictions and widespread health concerns. While coursework continued through synchronous formats like Zoom and asynchronous platforms, students faced new challenges such as reduced collaboration, time management issues, home-based distractions, and technological barriers (Di Pietro, 2023). Even with a strong digital infrastructure, the pandemic revealed the need for more intentional strategies to foster engagement, reflection, and resilience. During this period, ePortfolios provided students with a valuable space to document their experiences, make meaning of disruption, and integrate academic, personal, and professional dimensions of their learning. While this chapter does not present a formal quantitative analysis of student portfolios, it offers a historical overview, assignment design examples, and a conceptual framing of ePortfolio practice through the lens of double-loop learning.

While this chapter does not present a formal quantitative analysis of student portfolios, it provides institutional context, assignment design examples, and a conceptual framing of ePortfolio practice through the lens of double-loop learning (Argyris, 1977). Specifically, we examine how ePortfolios are used across three upper-level Communication courses (Research Methods, Internship, and Capstone) to support reflective practice, foster resilience, and prompt students to revisit assumptions, integrate experiences, and articulate evolving academic and professional identities.

In the years following the pandemic, as students increasingly seek a return on their educational investment in a transformed workforce, ODU has expanded its commitment to WBL. When paired with reflective ePortfolio practice, WBL offers not only hands-on experience but also the narrative tools students need to articulate their skills, growth, and career readiness. Together, these high-impact practices help students connect the dots between learning and application, fostering both adaptability and a sense of purpose in an uncertain professional landscape.

WBL and ePortfolio practice at ODU is perhaps most fully realized in the Communication program, where sustained integration across key courses supports student reflection, professional development, and long-term success. For Communication students, who must demonstrate a range of hard and soft skills to meet contemporary professional demands, developing a clear way to present their writing, speaking, and digital communication abilities is essential for staying competitive (Ward & Moser, 2008). Collections of writing samples and creative work serve as more than academic artifacts. They become assets students can carry beyond graduation, enhancing confidence, sense of purpose, and satisfaction with their educational experiences (Chau & Chang, 2010; Young, 2002). This process of collecting and curating work is not just a professional exercise; it is also deeply developmental. As students assemble evidence of their abilities, they are simultaneously making sense of who they are becoming.

The student experience is often regarded as one of profound growth: learners encounter personal, social, and educational challenges and draw upon resources from their histories and social ecosystems to navigate them (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). When resources outweigh challenges, students gain more than academic achievement: they open pathways to self-discovery, deeper learning, and even risk-taking. Developmental psychologists have explored this phenomenon through the lens of human development, identifying resilience as a key mechanism in this growth process (Luthar, 1998; Masten, 2001). Resilience can be understood as a dynamic process through which individuals interpret experiences, negotiate identity, and co-construct meaning between peers, faculty, and other audiences engaging with the ePortfolio in the face of disruption or transition.

Fostering resilience over time is largely iterative: students encounter challenges, respond, and adapt for the future (Beck, 2017; Rutter, 2007). A critical step in this cycle is reflection, not just on outcomes, but on the underlying assumptions that shape decision-making. This reflective practice is inherently metacognitive, yet it does not always occur naturally or thoroughly (Mann, 2016). To support more intentional reflection, this chapter turns to the concept of double-loop learning (Argyris, 1977), a framework that encourages learners not only to adjust strategies but also to interrogate and revise the beliefs, values, and mental models that inform those strategies.

Double-loop learning offers a productive lens through which to understand how students can build lasting resilience and adaptability, capacities that are essential in WBL contexts and reinforced through reflective ePortfolio practice. Together, these HIPs provide space for students to integrate experience, refine identity, and cultivate the habits of mind needed for success in an ever-changing professional world.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF RESILIENCE AND DOUBLE-LOOPING

Resilience and the growth it inspires are possible through challenging one’s assumptions about how the world works and what it takes to reach goals and revisiting beliefs with renewed vigor and understanding. The resources one needs to activate resilience can be found within oneself (i.e., assets: attitudes, beliefs, value systems, and prosocial behaviors), and in the social ecosystem surrounding the individual (e.g., resources: friends, family, community, and tangible benefits) (Zimmerman & Brenner, 2012). Each test becomes an opportunity to demonstrate resilience and reinforce positive adaptations, a process over time that has been referred to as ‘steeling’ (Rutter, 2007). Rather than avoiding adversity, students that encounter moderate challenges in a controlled manner can develop positive psychological habits that prepare them for future challenges.

Within educational contexts, resilience can be conceptualized across multiple levels of abstraction (Borazon & Chuang, 2023). In this chapter, resilience is framed as a developmental and educational process that seeks to bolster individuals capacity to react to challenges and serious incidents. It encourages adaptation through a process that involves internal assets and external resources coordinated through social processes and in dialogue (Buzzanell, 2019). Students face unique challenges as they navigate their worldview, develop strategies for academic success, engage in new social experiences, and shape an identity distinct from their parents. Studies of resilient children and students have identified key characteristics: active approach toward solving life’s problems, seeing experiences constructively, seeking positive attention, a sense of purpose, autonomy, and social competence (Bernard, 1993; Werner, 1984).

The broader developmental challenges that students encounter amount to a lifetime of learning: developmental lessons at different age periods call for competent responses from the individual and, by extension, their support system (Erikson, 1950). By the time students encounter higher education, most are in the 18-25 range (i.e., young adults), and given the rise of the nontraditional student, this has broadened to 18-29 and beyond (i.e., emerging adults and middle adults). College is conventionally seen as an opportunity for advanced learning and training, but also social development: demonstrating independence, continued identity formation, and managing instability and change (Arnett, 2000). These are important milestones to navigate effectively, especially considering that the implications of not doing so include developmental delays and potential cascades (as unresolved tests roll into the next lifespan period) (Erikson, 1950).

To support learners in navigating this complexity, educators must go beyond helping students meet specific learning outcomes; they must also cultivate reflective habits that enable students to interrogate the assumptions behind their thinking. This is where double-loop learning becomes essential. Distinct from single-loop learning, which focuses on solving problems within existing frameworks, double-loop learning encourages individuals to question those frameworks themselves (Argyris, 1977; Argyris, 2005; Smith, 2013). It invites learners to ask, Why do I value this particular outcome? Why do I interpret the problem this way? What assumptions am I bringing into this situation? This deeper reflection creates space for identity development, value clarification, and resilience-building, all of which are crucial for thriving in academic and professional environments.

In the sections that follow, this chapter explores how ODU has embraced this double-loop framework through the cross-disciplinary implementation of ePortfolio practice and its alignment with broader institutional goals (e.g., WBL).

Reflective ePortfolios as Resilience-Building Practice

When intentionally designed, work-based learning experiences (WBLE) that incorporate ePortfolio practice can foster double-loop thinking through components such as:

• Peer-to-peer portfolio engagement: Responding to classmates’ ePortfolios helps students reframe their own identities, shifting from “student” to “emerging professional.”
• Scaffolded assignments and revision: Layered feedback across time encourages students to revisit work, question assumptions, and refine their thinking.
• Regular faculty interaction: Iterative feedback and dialogue align students’ evolving understanding with disciplinary expectations while surfacing unexamined beliefs.
• End-of-semester reflection: Students synthesize learning, articulate growth, and ask forward-looking questions about their goals and development.

More than a one-time assignment, ePortfolio work supports iterative reflection, multimodal communication, and purposeful curation. When scaffolded across semesters, these recursive processes transform portfolios from showcases into developmental spaces where students actively shape and articulate their evolving identities. Through sustained engagement, students gain insight into how they think, what they value, and who they are becoming, key components of resilience, metacognitive awareness, and transferable habits of mind like curiosity, adaptability, and self-awareness (Kuh, 2008; CWPA, NCTE, & NWP, 2011).

Paired with guided reflection, ePortfolios prompt students to move from “What have I done?” to “Who am I becoming?” This shift supports identity development and clarifies values by connecting academic work to broader aspirations. Narrative construction and curation become tools for articulating growth, setting future goals, and navigating complexity with intention and confidence (Reich, Zautra, & Hall, 2012). As Buzzanell (2019) observes, resilience is often forged in moments of struggle. For emerging adults, ePortfolio reflection fosters meaning-making across academic and personal domains, cultivating agency and coherence. Rather than reacting to disruption, students build resilience as an ongoing practice, developing the capacity to adapt, reflect, and re-engage over time.

By revisiting earlier work, integrating feedback, and narrating development, students participate in experiential learning cycles (Kolb, 2014) that support both personal growth and professional formation. This reflective work also enables students to differentiate between externally imposed definitions of success and their own emerging sense of purpose. In doing so, they cultivate critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills that extend beyond the classroom and prepare them for the complex demands of life and work. These practices lay the groundwork for the deeper cognitive shifts that characterize double-loop learning.

The ePortfolio as a Site of Double-Loop Learning

While Kolb’s model emphasizes learning through concrete experience, reflection, and adaptation, Argyris (2005) and Tagg (2007) extend this framework by focusing on how learners challenge the assumptions and mental models underlying their behaviours. Double-loop learning within ePortfolio practice functions on three interrelated levels: looping in the present, looping back, and looping forward. While the term “double-loop” traditionally refers to the distinction between action-level and assumption-level learning, we use it here to describe a recursive reflective process that unfolds across time, requiring students to engage with their present needs, reframe their past experiences, and anticipate future contexts.

At the present-focused level, composing an ePortfolio prompts students to assess their current goals and gaps and assess their current skills and professional goals. They must evaluate what is needed to succeed now, from technical tools to rhetorical strategies, and determine how best to integrate those supports. For example, a student unsure about using digital platforms may seek guidance from peer mentors, faculty, or online resources. Another might seek feedback from multiple audiences to improve the clarity or impact of their message. When students are prompted to reflect formatively on these decisions, why they chose certain strategies, what worked, and what could be improved, they begin to internalize lessons about agency, problem-solving, and adaptive learning. This kind of real-time, reflective practice reinforces learning as an intentional, self-aware process grounded in awareness and choice.

At the past-focused level, ePortfolios invite students to revisit earlier experiences, treating both challenges and successes as sources of learning. A difficult group project that involved time constraints, unequal access to resources, or interpersonal conflict might initially feel like a failure. However, when students are prompted to reflect on what happened, why it happened, and what they learned, these moments become evidence of resilience and growth. Students begin to recognize emerging strengths in areas such as communication, leadership, or creative problem-solving (NACE, 2023). Reflection allows them not just to recall past events but to reinterpret them through the lens of development, transforming experience into meaning. In this way, reflection becomes a tool for reshaping how the past is understood and valued.

At the future-focused level, students are encouraged to look ahead and imagine how their curated learning might support evolving goals. They reflect on how academic work translates beyond the university, how to present their story to new audiences, and how to create an intentional archive for their future selves. Through this process, they begin to articulate how coursework has contributed to their development as field practitioners or engaged community members. Future-oriented reflection also helps students identify remaining gaps, clarify what additional skills or experiences they need, and chart a path forward. By envisioning themselves as emerging professionals, students position the ePortfolio as a tool for strategic career planning, personal growth, and continued development.

ePortfolios support a guided process of reflection that helps students revisit past experiences, assess present choices, and envision future growth. When thoughtfully integrated into course or program design, they cultivate a resilient mindset by encouraging students to reconsider not only what they’ve learned, but also how and why they learn. The following section highlights how Old Dominion University has embraced this approach across disciplines, particularly within its broader commitment to work-based learning, by showcasing the Communication program’s sustained use of ePortfolios.

INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND AND EPORTFOLIO SUPPORT

Since 2013, ePortfolios at ODU have evolved from faculty-led projects across diverse disciplines into an institution-wide initiative supporting digital literacy, reflective habits, and workforce readiness. This growth reflects a combination of grassroots innovation and intentional institutional curricular development. Although ePortfolio adoption was not institutionally mandated, highly enrolled programs such as Communication, the Honors College, the Writing Program, the School of Nursing, and the Nuclear Medicine program voluntarily integrated them into courses and program-level assessment. Their sustained use across disciplines over nearly a decade reflects shared recognition of ePortfolios’ value in supporting student development and capturing program outcomes.

Institutional support soon followed. ODU’s 2014–2019 Strategic Plan identified ePortfolios as a key strategy to enhance engagement, expand high-impact practices, and support the success of students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds (ODU, 2014). These early efforts laid the groundwork for the deeper integration of ePortfolios and WBL now underway. The current 2023–2028 Strategic Plan reinforces this commitment, pledging that 100 percent of undergraduates will complete a WBL experience before graduation and aligning academic programs with evolving workforce needs (ODU, 2023). The Communication program exemplifies this vision, offering a scalable model of how sustained integration of ePortfolio and WBL practices can advance both institutional and programmatic goals.

While faculty across ODU were innovating with ePortfolios, the absence of centralized support made it difficult to sustain and scale these efforts beyond individual courses or programs. In response, ODU created a dedicated ePortfolio & Digital Initiatives team within the Office of Academic Success Initiatives (ASI) to support the integration of ePortfolio practice, a comprehensive unit with professional staff, student assistants, and a purpose-built studio space offering both in-person and virtual support. The team offers coordinated student support through one-on-one assistance, asynchronous tutorials, and in-class workshops, while also providing faculty development. These efforts and the resulting infrastructure normalized ePortfolio use as an accessible, adaptable practice across campus, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the flexibility of ePortfolios and the team’s continued support helped faculty sustain pedagogical momentum and provided students with structured guidance in navigating digital media at a time when other resources were unavailable.

Since the creation of the ePortfolio & Digital Initiatives team in 2015, ePortfolio practice has benefited from increased consistency, visibility, and faculty support. These factors likely played a key role in developing positive student perceptions. Between 2015 and 2021, the percentage of graduating seniors who said ePortfolios enhanced their learning “a lot” or “to a very great extent” rose from 22% to 32%, while those who said ePortfolios had no impact dropped from 52% to 35% (Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment, n.d.).

Reporting data also show consistently high levels of ePortfolio use during the years surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 20,000 portfolios submitted annually from 2019 to 2022, including 21,368 in 2020–2021, the first full year of remote instruction (Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment, n.d.). These sustained numbers during a period of massive disruption suggest that faculty perceived ePortfolios as offering an adaptable structure for student learning and reflection. As noted, this foundation of sustained use and faculty engagement helped pave the way for program-level adoptions, including the early and ongoing work in the Communication department.

CASE STUDIES FROM A COMMUNICATION PROGRAM

As part of its reaffirmation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), ODU developed a 2012–2022 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) focused on improving upper-division students’ disciplinary writing. The initiative supported faculty through extended development workshops and micro-grants to integrate writing-focused learning outcomes. According to the QEP website, the goal was to promote “writing that demonstrates a reasoning process supported by research and reflection on a problem, topic, or issue” through targeted faculty engagement.

With internal grant funding through the QEP, the Communication ePortfolio initiative launched in 2013 and focused on interdisciplinary writing and digital reflection as key moments of applied learning. Sustained through departmental investment, the initiative was developed by a cross-functional faculty team in the Department of Communication & Theatre Arts. Faculty leads understood Communication graduates must demonstrate not only strong public speaking and interpersonal skills but also analytical writing abilities and fluency across digital platforms.

Students entering the professional communication field are expected to demonstrate mastery of both “hard” and “soft” communication skills, including interpersonal interaction, group facilitation, public speaking, rhetorically effective writing, and proficiency in mediated communication such as social media, email, and professional correspondence (Robles, 2012). In the absence of a clear throughline across coursework, students have often struggled to articulate a cohesive academic or professional identity. Communication ePortfolios address this gap by providing a space for students to curate and communicate a personal brand, an exercise that not only reinforces core competencies but also fosters reflection on their growth and goals. The recursive processes of revision, self-presentation, and identity negotiation within the portfolio implicitly foster the resilience-building capacities associated with double-loop learning.

Between 2013 and 2022, more than 3,800 online Communication students engaged in ePortfolio-based assignments across 17 unique courses (Miller-Gordon, 2023). With class sizes typically ranging from 28 to 35 students, and with annual graduating cohorts of 150–250 students from a major averaging 600–700 students, this figure represents approximately 25% of all Communication majors over the period. The longevity and reach of this implementation, established before, sustained through, and expanded after the COVID-19 pandemic, underscore the Communication program’s commitment to formative reflection and identity development. These are treated as core components of student success, conceptualized here as students’ demonstration of learning outcomes, timely graduation, preparation for future careers, and the ability to integrate personal, academic, and professional development.

Student testimonials reinforce the value of this sustained engagement. One student shares:

I can’t say enough positive things about the dedication and technical skills you’ll learn creating an online portfolio. More than that, though, I think the lessons I’ve learned about personal branding are the most valuable. It’s so incredibly necessary in today’s current career market to set yourself apart and establish a clear, distinct, and relatable personal brand and maintain that consistently across your various media outlets.

This reflection captures the recursive meaning-making at the heart of double-loop learning. As the student reconsiders past experiences and projects them toward future goals, they demonstrate resilience: the ability to reflect, adapt, and grow in response to evolving personal and professional contexts.

Notably, Bolli, Caves, and Oswald-Egg (2021) argue that merely securing a work-based learning (WBL) opportunity no longer constitutes “active engagement.” Instead, students are expected to demonstrate intentional development throughout the experience. ePortfolios deepen the WBL experience by prompting students to revisit and reinterpret what they have learned, strengthening both retention and application of knowledge. This reflective process transforms passive experience into adaptive learning, supporting the development of resilience via the double-loop framework. By curating evidence, articulating growth, and linking academic work to professional goals, students not only signal career readiness, they internalize the habits of mind necessary to thrive in dynamic, real-world settings (Mackaway et al., 2022).

The following section highlights three Communication courses at Old Dominion University where WBL is intentionally embedded and further supported through ePortfolio practice. Students begin with COMM 302: Communication Research Methods, a foundational course that includes reflective, applied learning. After completing COMM 302, they may enroll in either COMM 368: Internship or COMM 433: Capstone. These courses were selected to showcase two types of WBL: direct placements in professional settings (e.g., internships) and applied learning within traditional coursework. The use of ePortfolios in both formats enables WBL to extend across the curriculum rather than remain isolated, while also making it easier to integrate WBL principles into existing course structures.

Table 1
Communication course case studies (created by Authors)

COMM 302: Communication Research Methods

As a required course in the communication curriculum at ODU, Introduction to Communication Research Methods is not typically regarded as an exciting subject matter. Many students have tentative, superficial beliefs about course content, assuming that they will be learning to write research papers and conduct studies far from what they would like to get out of the degree. In practice, the course is framed differently and very much in line with WBL: higher education needs to prepare students to be competent communicators, critical thinkers, and creative problem solvers. Much of their day-to-day navigation of their lives is based on a foundation laid by their family of origin, stacked with expectations and belief systems, filtered through perceptual lenses and biases that they use to make sense of their social world and achieve goals. All of that may be fairly common or relatable across a population, but their unique perspective is their own. A class like Intro to Communication Research Methods asks them to take inventory of those perspectives, identify unique social problems in the world around them, and consider how we could investigate those problems towards identifying solutions.

The class achieves this through research-focused course content that runs parallel to a scaffolded research proposal paper, assigned in stages throughout the semester. The five main stages integrate ePortfolio in a way that serves to personalize the paper: 1) ePortfolio Creation or updating, 2) Problem posing – Literature review, 3) Problem solving – Research proposal, 4) Public Presentation: Mediated talk, 5) Reflective writing. Due to the ongoing nature of the semester-long project, students receive guidance each step along the way, many times prompting a return to earlier understandings and revision toward an improved understanding of the process. Each student had unique needs throughout this experience, from content direction and process refinement to attention on basic writing, formatting, and organization decisions.

Throughout a given semester, students in Communication Research Methods have double-loop learning activated through a number of interventions. Regular interaction through peer and professor feedback not only confirms the emerging professional identity they are forging through their ePortfolio but also helps to shape their thinking throughout the stages of their semester research proposal. This guided WBL process mimics the collaborative experience the majority of professionals experience across a variety of industries. As opposed to last minute procrastination, having students work through a 10-12 page paper in stages throughout a 16-week semester models accountability and openness to feedback. If resilience means adaptability and responding to challenges with competence, this learning experience helps encourage a more deliberate practice in a safe learning environment.

COMM 368: Internship

The Internship course is designed to help students acquire new experiential skills while applying classroom knowledge, receive training and development in the workplace under professional guidance and supervision, garner hands-on work experience while developing professional work habits and skills, identify or clarify their career interests, and develop a network of job contacts for future employment. The course requires an Internship ePortfolio Final Project that follows the Create or Curate approach designed by the authors and outlined in Appendix C. In addition to including specific sections such as a homepage, course projects, resume, and blog, for their internship, students are required to document and reflect on their WBLE through a curated digital ePortfolio.

At the start of their WBLE, students are required to articulate SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), prompting reflection across past, present, and future experiences to support the recursive thinking and resilience-building central to double-loop learning (ODU, n.d.). This practice serves as a bridge into the reflective framework that follows, where students examine their learning and growth across time, revisiting the past, evaluating the present, and anticipating the future, thereby reinforcing the developmental arc of the ePortfolio process.

The Internship ePortfolio Final Project is divided into two parts: internship archive & reflection and reflecting on NACE Career-Readiness Competencies. For part one of the Internship project, students collect artifacts (e.g., images, videos, sample work) to visually represent their internship experience. Students then respond to a minimum of five guided reflection questions through blog posts, videos, or other creative formats. The questions encourage analysis of organizational support, goal progress, connections between coursework and practice, skill development, and career direction. Sample questions ask, how has your internship experience shaped your views of your major and/or your career aspirations or plans? And another: What skills or experiences from your internship do you think will be most valuable in your future career? A full list of prompts can be found in Appendix A.

In part two, students identify and reflect on at least three NACE Career Readiness Competencies they developed during their internship. NACE Career Readiness Competencies offer a nationally recognized framework that defines what employers across industries seek in new graduates. By using NACE, this project aligns its efforts with a shared language of career preparation. NACE Career Readiness Competencies are Career & Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Professionalism, Teamwork, and Technology. They should provide concrete examples and articulate how these experiences have prepared them for future careers and how they plan to continue developing these competencies. In blog posts, students examine the thought processes, expectations, and beliefs that shaped their actions. This metacognitive practice is the core of double-loop learning, where students question and potentially revise their internal frameworks.

By aligning internship experiences with NACE career-readiness competencies and drawing connections to classroom learning, students reassess not only what they learned but also how they learn and grow across these unique contexts. Prompting students to reflect deeply on their goals (whether met or unmet) and organizational challenges encourages them to process WBLE constructively. By encouraging students to document new skills and envision future steps, faculty help them move beyond task completion and develop the capacity to manage ambiguity. Students can build emotional resilience by reframing setbacks as learning opportunities and recognizing personal achievements as steps toward productive action (Buzzanell, 2019). The following student testimonial illustrates this process in action:

I see the benefits the ePortfolio can bring in furthering my career goals. Prior to taking the Internship course, I really had no exposure to an ePortfolio. Now I completely understand how it is essential to have as an undergraduate seeking employment. I like the flexibility it offers and the ability to highlight accomplishments and skills, which is limited with a resume only. I continue to see areas where I can make adjustments or improvements, as it continues to be a work in progress for me.

This reflection signals double-loop learning by illustrating a shift in the student’s understanding of the purpose and value of the ePortfolio and their WBLE. Rather than seeing it as a task to complete, they now view the ePortfolio as a flexible, evolving platform for self-presentation and professional development and evidence of deeper learning prompted by a work-based context.

Coursework challenges students not only to gain knowledge and academic skills but also to examine how they learn, recognize personal limitations, manage competing demands, and engage with feedback. Through guided reflection in the ePortfolio, students in WBL reexamine assumptions about their abilities, their field, and their professional identity. These moments offer moderate adversity (Rutter, 2007), serving as microcosms of the larger, more complex challenges they will encounter post-graduation amid the competing demands of adulthood (Beck, 2017). By documenting both performance and reflection, the Internship ePortfolio Final Project makes double-loop learning intentional, helping students cultivate the self-awareness and adaptability essential for long-term resilience. One student remarks:

Over the course of 16 weeks, I learned how to set objectives for myself, write a blog, create a functional website, and have professionals take a look into who I was and what I have to offer. I am grateful for being exposed to this resource, and it is awesome that the Communication department is looking to make this a part of more courses.

This reflection shows resilience-building in action through reflective identity work and openness to feedback. Further demonstrating resilience, the student’s growth in confidence and adaptability suggests they are better equipped to navigate future academic and professional challenges.

COMM 433: Capstone

The Capstone course offers another high-impact learning opportunity, emphasizing the integration of students’ accumulated disciplinary knowledge as emerging experts. With a stronger focus on research than external work experience, students use the Capstone Project and subsequent ePortfolio to highlight their critical thinking as essential components of their major coursework. Designed in five scaffolded phases, the Capstone Project asks students to synthesize disciplinary knowledge while reflecting on personal and professional growth.

In Phase 1, the Capstone Pitch, students identify their intended project within the framework of their academic major (e.g., Communication Studies, Media Studies, Strategic Communication) and align it with three of the eight NACE Career Readiness Competencies. This early phase of the ePortfolio-supported Capstone process prompts students to engage in double-loop learning, revisiting previous experiences, interrogating assumptions about their skills and interests, and refining their academic identity in light of future goals.

Faculty feedback in this stage emphasizes clear, scaffolded guidance to help students move from broad concepts to focused, researchable projects. Through individual customized instructor feedback, faculty encourage alignment with NACE Career Readiness Competencies, emphasizing the importance of combining personal experience with scholarly research, and reinforce the value of unbiased, evidence-based inquiry. Feedback is personalized, strengths-based, and often includes technical suggestions (e.g., methodology, scope, tools), modelling reflective practice and metacognitive engagement consistent with double-loop learning. This goes beyond surface-level reflection; students are challenged to examine the underlying influences on their development and consider how their experiences have contributed to who they are becoming professionally. That critical examination aligns with the deep reflection central to double-loop learning. Specific assignment parameters and prompts for all five phases of the Capstone project are shared in Appendix B.

In Phase 2, the Capstone Proposal Instructor feedback not only addresses clarity and argumentation but also challenges students to reconsider underlying assumptions about their topic, audience, or disciplinary framing (this direction to unpack these assumptions being a core feature of double-loop learning). Phase 2 faculty feedback directs alignment between student projects and real-world applicability, with encouragement to clarify target audiences if necessary, and the integration of NACE competencies. At this phase students are again asked to narrow their focus, deepen their research rationale, and, if needed, address ethical, practical, or technological considerations relevant to their topic. Feedback is constructive, highly individualized, and framed to help students shift from idea to execution, modelling the reflective rigour associated with double-loop learning.

In Phase 3, the Research Report, students conduct in-depth investigations to strengthen their understanding of the topic they identified in earlier stages. This phase invites students to reassess assumptions about their field, skills, and future professional roles. Faculty feedback emphasizes not only the quality of the research findings but also the rationale behind students’ methodological and design choices, encouraging them to reflect on how and why their decisions shape their project. This guidance fosters metacognitive engagement by prompting students to clarify theoretical frameworks, refine methods, and evaluate their own thinking. Such recursive reflection encourages double-loop learning, as students revisit and revise underlying assumptions, leading to stronger projects and, ideally, a more articulated academic and professional identity.

Phase 4, the Research Coding & Presentation Plan, asks students to continue their research and to evaluate and organize their latest sources through a dialectical coding system. Students draw personal and analytical connections between lived experiences and academic content. This phase also requires students to share how they will present their research, assertions, and learning for the final phase (reinforcing resilience through ownership of both the process and the product). It also prompts students to reflect on how source material connects to both their Capstone project design and their own learning process. This metacognitive work again encourages students to evaluate the assumptions guiding their research choices, making it an example of double-loop learning in action. Faculty feedback in Phase 4 guides students from research collection to applied analysis, encouraging them to connect methods, frameworks, and coding choices to their core argument ahead of the final project submission (Phase 5). This continues to demonstrate double-loop learning and prepares students to communicate the significance of their work with clarity and professionalism in their final deliverables.

In Phase 5, the Final Capstone Project and Reflection Blog, the scaffolded components come together. Final project reflection questions ask students to revisit earlier drafts and project decisions, prompting them to identify how their thinking has evolved, what assumptions shifted, and what that means for their future professional goals. By publishing their Capstone Project through a curated ePortfolio, students showcase their best work, with an intentional articulation of career readiness. The multi-phase scaffolded structure (including built-in feedback loops, edits, and a final public-facing ePortfolio) trains students to respond constructively to critique. As students revise their ideas based on instructor or peer input, adapt their scope, or change their presentation approach, they practice adaptability, a key component of resilience-building.

The Capstone Project integrates WBL and academic learning and promotes double-loop reflection while equipping students with a compelling professional narrative they can carry into their careers. Double-loop learning and resilience are not incidental outcomes of the Capstone model; they are deliberately embedded through its iterative, inquiry-based design. By requiring students to revisit and refine their assumptions about professional identity and disciplinary knowledge across scaffolded project phases, the Capstone course offers students the chance to build a mindset of critical engagement.

Students are not only applying learning; they are evaluating (or re-evaluating) their frameworks of thinking in response to instructor or peer feedback. The Capstone Project serves as an opportunity to practice reflective and strategic thinking needed in modern workplaces, and the ePortfolio itself becomes evidence for career viability. A student testimonial demonstrates this further:

My experience in the Department of Communication & Theatre Arts has immensely improved my critical thinking, communication, media production, and literacy skills to a point that I feel very confident about entering the job market upon graduation. The preparation of my capstone project has contributed greatly to my personal and professional growth. Completing this project urged me to think deeper and more critically about this topic and to consider the implications that it could have on society.

This quote shows evidence of early double-loop learning, as the student demonstrates a move beyond task completion toward critical reflection on the broader societal impact of their work, a sign of evolving understanding and purpose. By articulating both personal and professional growth and showing the capacity to think critically about the societal relevance of their work, the student exemplifies a resilient mindset, one that is adaptive, reflective, and future-oriented.

THE IMPACT OF EPORTFOLIOS ON STUDENT SUCCESS

Across more than a decade of implementation, data from ODU’s Communication ePortfolio initiative reveal a compelling pattern: students who engage with ePortfolio work are more likely to persist, progress, and graduate. Among these majors, students with more than five ePortfolio contacts were 111 percent more likely to graduate than peers with no ePortfolio contact. In addition, Pell-eligible and first-generation students in ePortfolio-enriched courses earned more credits and had lower DFWI (drop, fail, withdrawal, incomplete) rates. This suggests that reflective, scaffolded digital work is not only academically beneficial but also plays an important role in advancing equity. These outcomes reflect more than a correlation; they point to a meaningful link between metacognitive learning and student success, where ePortfolios provide structured opportunities for students to reflect, revise, and take ownership of their academic and professional growth (Miller-Gordon, 2023).

As noted through qualitative student feedback shared above, ePortfolios help students build career confidence and a sense of career readiness. Students are encouraged to curate their work, identify transferable skills, and revise their narratives in response to real-world experiences and both peer and instructor feedback while demonstrating emerging expertise in their chosen course artifacts and guided reflection and career-aligned frameworks such as the NACE Career Readiness Competencies. Their ePortfolios function as evidence for professional identity formation, purpose articulation, and resilience-building, leading to long-term personal development.

The process of creating and maintaining an ePortfolio encourages resilience-building by giving students the time to confront challenges, reflect on their development, and make meaning throughout their disciplinary curriculum. In courses like Internship, Capstone, and Communication Research Methods, students begin to see how their academic work connects to broader professional goals. This is where the Communication ePortfolio at ODU aligns with double-loop learning; instead of asking only whether they completed a task correctly, students are invited to consider whether they are approaching it in the right way and to question the assumptions behind their choices.

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The findings presented in this chapter underscore the powerful intersection of WBL, ePortfolio pedagogy, and reflective practice in fostering resilience and preparing students for success in a complex, evolving professional landscape. The disruptions of COVID-19 highlighted the urgency of embedding resilience not only in students but also across higher education. At Old Dominion University, the integration of ePortfolios into high-impact courses such as Internship, Capstone, and Communication Research Methods promotes academic persistence, identity formation, and career readiness.

COVID-19 served as a stress test for these practices. Even amid disruption, ePortfolios remained spaces for students to adapt, reflect, and make meaning. This continuity of this initiative through the pandemic highlights how reflective tools like ePortfolios support resilient behaviours, suggesting that resilience can be intentionally cultivated through practice. Developed over more than a decade of intentional practice and refinement, the Communication ePortfolio model at ODU offers a replicable framework for double-loop learning. These courses support students in revisiting assumptions, revising self-perceptions, and reframing challenges as opportunities for growth, ultimately serving as a mechanism for building resilience.

Faculty should intentionally embed resilience-building strategies into ePortfolio assignments. Prompts that invite students to reexamine their beliefs, values, and choices, paired with timely, reflective feedback, help them connect academic work to evolving personal and professional goals. To foster this kind of recursive reflection, faculty can incorporate small prompts aligned with the three dimensions of double-loop learning. These efforts do not have to be labour-intensive. Brief, well-placed moments for reflection can be highly impactful, especially when followed by conversation or constructive feedback. For example, to support present-focused looping, faculty might ask, “What challenges are you currently facing, and how are you adapting?” For past-focused looping, they might ask, “What assumptions did you hold during a previous experience, and how has your perspective changed?” For future-focused looping, a question might be, “What strategies or skills do you want to carry forward into future academic or professional contexts?” These are a few sample prompts that can help students treat learning as personalized and evolving. When used intentionally across a course, especially one with a WBL focus, such reflections build resilience and professional identity through small but meaningful interventions.

Future research could more systematically analyze student reflections to assess how ePortfolios contribute to resilience-building and related developmental outcomes. Longitudinal studies are also needed to examine the sustained impact of scaffolded ePortfolio engagement, including outcomes beyond graduation and into early career development across disciplines. Expanding high-impact practices such as work-based learning and ePortfolios has the potential to amplify these effects by aligning reflective practice with workplace expectations and supporting authentic, applied learning.

Rather than an outlier, the transformation prompted by COVID-19 underscores the need for resilience-promoting educational practices: anticipatory, collaborative, adaptive, and critically reflective. When embedded in high-impact practices like iterative ePortfolios and reinforced through integration with WBL, double-loop learning amplifies student resilience and supports long-term success.

REFERENCES

Argyris, C. (1977). Double-loop learning in organizations. Harvard Business Review, 55(5), 115–125.

Argyris, C. (2005). Double-loop learning in organizations: A theory of action perspective. In K.G. Smith & M. A. Hitt (Eds.), Great minds in management: The process of theory development (pp. 261–279). Oxford University Press.https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199276813.003.0013

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through
the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.5.469

Beck, G. A. (2017). Theorizing relational resilience at midlife. In V. Waldron (Ed.), The middle years of marriage: Challenge, change, and growth (pp. 143–164). Peter Lang.

Bernard, B. (1993). Fostering resiliency in kids. Educational Leadership, 51(3), 44-48.

Bolli, T., Caves, K., & Oswald-Egg, M. E. (2021). Valuable experience: How university internships affect graduates’ income. Research in Higher Education, 62(8), 1198–1247.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-021-09637-9

Borazon, E. Q., & Chuang, H. (2023). Resilience in educational system: A systematic review and directions for future research. International Journal of Educational Development, 99, 102761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102761

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Harvard University Press.

Buzzanell, P. M. (2019). Communication theory of resilience in everyday talk, interactions, and network structures. In S. R. Wilson & S. W. Smith (Eds.), Reflections on interpersonal communication research (pp. 65–88). Cognella.

Chau, J., & Cheng, G. (2010). Toward understanding the potential of e-portfolios for independent learning: A qualitative study. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(7), 932–950.

Council of Writing Program Administrators, National Council of Teachers of English, & National Writing Project. (2011). Framework for success in postsecondary writing.
http://wpacouncil.org/aws/CWPA/asset_manager/get_file/350201

Di Pietro, G. (2023). The impact of COVID-19 on student achievement: Evidence from a recent meta-analysis. Educational Research Review, 39, 100530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2023.100530

Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. Norton.

Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Mackaway, J., Chalkley, T., Ferns, S. J., Zegwaard, K. E., & Rowe, A. D. (2022). Student access and equity in work-integrated learning: A work in progress. In S. J. Ferns, K. E. Zegwaard, & D. Rowe (Eds.), Advances in research, theory and practice in work-integrated learning (pp. 227–238). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003021049-25

Mann, K. V. (2016). Reflection’s role in learning: Increasing engagement and deepening participation. Perspectives on Medical Education, 5(5), 259–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-016-0296-y

Miller-Gordon, T. (2023). ePortfolios promote student success: Study of satisfaction & impact on grades and graduation in online communications courses [Unpublished internal report]. Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment, Old Dominion University.

National Association of Colleges and Employers. (n.d.). Career readiness defined. https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined

Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment. (n.d.). Old Dominion University experiential learning dashboard. Old Dominion University. https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/oduiea/viz/OldDominionUniversityExperientialLearningDashboard_17410285827590/HighImpactPracticeSummary

Old Dominion University. (n.d.). Academic tips & resources: SMART goals. https://www.odu.edu/ails/academic-tips-resources

Old Dominion University. (2014). 2014–2019 strategic plan.

Old Dominion University. (2023). Forward-focused: Where innovation meets possibilities: 2023–2028 strategic plan. https://www.odu.edu/sites/default/files/2023/documents/strategic-plan-final_1.pdf

Old Dominion University. (2025, January 8). University facts & figures.
https://www.odu.edu/about/facts-and-figures

Old Dominion University. (2025, July 26). Quality Enhancement Plan.
https://improvingwriting.wixsite.com/oduqep

Reich, J. W., Zautra, A. J., & Hall, J. S. (2012). Handbook of adult resilience. Guilford Press.

Robles, M. (2012). Executives’ perceptions of the top 10 soft skills in today’s workplace.Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453–465.

Rutter, M. (2007). Resilience, competence, and coping. Child Abuse & Neglect, 31(3), 205–209.

Tagg, J. (2007). Double-loop learning in higher education. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 39(4), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.3200/CHNG.39.4.36-41

Ward, C., & Moser, C. (2008). E-portfolios as a hiring tool: Do employers really care? EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 31(4).

Watson, C. E., Kuh, G. D., Rhodes, T., Penny Light, T., & Chen, H. L. (2016). Catalyst in action: Case studies of high-impact ePortfolio practice. Stylus Publishing.

Werner, E. E. (1984). Resilient children. Young Children, 40(1), 68–72.

APPENDIX A

COMM 302: Communication Research Methods

Part 1: Create or Curate

Directions: Complete either Option A or Option B.
Option A: Create
Required Sections on your Wix page. (Use this as your checklist, and use the samples as inspiration!

• Homepage: welcomes readers to your page, and directs them to the information available within the subpages
• Course Projects Page: you will have 2 from this class, (ePortfolio requirements 2 and 3), you may wish to set up ‘placeholders’ at this stage, or you may add them later
• Resume: you should have a basic resume included, highlighting your education, current work experience or relevant academic endeavors at this stage
• NOTE: You will receive feedback on how to better update your resume.
• Linking to a hard copy of your resume is optional for this ePortfolio.
• Links to Social Media: (optional at this stage but you may choose to include social media that highlights your ability to professionally engage with a potential or current industry (LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr, etc)).
• About You Page: 1-2 paragraphs about major, current/former coursework or professional interests
• Blog: Reflection Post. A blog post should be included on your Wix page at the time of submission:
  • If you are “creating” for the first time, this should emphasize a) how you picked your template and what you were going with for design, b) what info a visitor might be most interested in, and c) what areas do you think need the most improvement going forward.
  • If you are “curating” (updating your previous ePortfolio), add pictures of your ePortfolio before and after your updates, along with a paragraph on what you did and what you wanted to accomplish with your updates.
• Contact Page

Option B: Curate (or Update) (this is the option for people who already have a WIX ePortfolio and may just need to edit to include the above sections).

• Make sure to screenshot before you make any major style, layout, or content changes to get credit if you already have a Wix account previously designed for another course, update all sections to meet the requirements listed in Option A.
• Update your ePortfolio! Some common ways to do this include:
  • Add new, updated professional photos where appropriate
  • Add a project section to feature projects from another class

Rubric

1. All required sections are set up & published (i.e., visible to web/instructor) (or updated

2. All required sections are complete for this stage (i.e., they are present, have placeholders ready, includes a basic resume, About Me information, and Contact page included)

Please direct your questions to the instructor sooner rather than later if you need assistance in completing this assignment.

Part 2, 3, & 4: Problem Posing, Problem Solution, Public Presentation

Note: For each of these assignments, students are directed to upload their assignments to our grading platform (Canvas) and then also add the assignment to their ePortfolio. Adding the assignment to the ePortfolio connects the work to their emerging professional identity, is visible for other classmates, and allows students to consider how the assignment will serve as a writing example or artifact demonstrating their academic and professional skills.

Part 5: Reflection Assignment

Purpose: To provide an opportunity to pull together the most meaningful take-aways from the course.

Directions

The final reflection paper is a short 3-4 paragraph blog post meant to represent a final connection of student knowledge in the course as it relates to their own experiences and potential career direction. Students are asked to identify at least 3 lessons that stood out to them and expand upon what meaning they held for the student’s life, how it challenged their initial previous or real world understandings of the ideas, as well as provide a final paragraph conveying what ideas are most useful for moving forward in their college and professional experiences.

Grading Evaluation Criteria

Students will be assessed by a) Accurate representation of course content, b) Effective application to one’s life, and c) Professional writing/organization.

Points will be taken off for not following assignment instructions, length, and proofreading.

APPENDIX B
COMM 368: Internship Reflection Prompts

• Share an analysis of what the organization did well to support your internship and how the organization could improve the experience for future interns.
• What SMART goals were met, and which weren’t?
• How has your internship experience shaped your views of your major and/or your career aspirations or plans?
  • What aspects of your internship helped you to clarify your career goals?
• What new career paths or roles have you discovered through your internship experience?
• How well did your coursework prepare you for your internship experience?
  • In what ways did your internship experiences connect to your classroom learning? Provide specific examples.
• What new knowledge, skills, and abilities did you gain by completing this experience? Provide specific examples and demonstrations of your work.
• What skills or experiences from your internship do you think will be most valuable in your future career?
• What’s next for you professionally?
• How will you prepare/take action based on what you’ve learned during this internship?
• What advice would you offer future interns working at the same location?

APPENDIX C

COMM 433: Capstone Assignment Phases 1-5

Phase 1: Capstone Project Pitch

Complete your Capstone Project Pitch to share your project concept or topic, target audiences, subject matter expertise from your major, and questions. In 350-500 words, complete your Capstone Project Pitch.

• Project Concept: Your project pitch must…
  • Complete, well-written by you (NOT AI, all materials will be reviewed);
  • Clearly positioned as a question of study or topic to explore that relates to your major (COMM, Strat COMM, FILM, etc.).
  • Directly connected to NACE Career Ready Competencies
  • While all 8 are relevant to professional development, you are required to directly connect to three NACE Career Ready Competencies.
    • This means that you should indicate how your project is demonstrating these competencies.
    • In other words, how are you going to share these capabilities within your Capstone project?
      • Or ‘how would someone reviewing your project know that you are finishing your college education and have become a subject matter expert on the topic you are proposing, and can demonstrate these capabilities you’ve identified as most relevant to your intended professional career path?’
• Questions
  • Include any questions about the Capstone Proposal or Capstone Project
  • Students will have multiple chances for additional questions throughout the semester. This pitch is to prepare you to write your proposal with confidence and so you are immediately meeting the expectations of a Capstone level senior project.

Phase 2: Capstone Project Proposal

Use these directions as an outline to complete your Capstone Project Proposal by answering each question. Expectations: 4 pages minimum, 7 pages max. You do not need to submit a Title page or Abstract for this proposal.

Project Title proposed at this time:

• What feedback did you receive from your Project Pitch:
  • (copy/paste it here)
• What did you do to address that feedback? How is that evident in the proposal below?
• Concept & Rationale:
  • What issue/topic do you want to focus on for your Capstone project?
    • Be VERY clear in this next part: how does the issue/topic relate to your Major? (COMM- Lifespan, Strat COMM, Film, etc.)
  • Explain the target audience(s) for your project beyond our class cohort.
    • In other words, answer the ‘so what’ question—why is your project useful to your education, progress, and beyond your own interests?
  • Any other brief rationale you’d like to share at this stage is welcome.
• Career-Readiness Competencies
  • Expand upon your Pitch to articulate how this topic will allow you to display and demonstrate your chosen 3 career-readiness competencies.
• Research & Rationale:
  • Compile a minimum of five (and a maximum of seven) APA formatted references at this stage. See ODU COMM LibGuide for assistance
  • At least 3 references should be from scholarly sources (and ideally from disciplinary focused publications related to your area of study/Major).
    • See the Library Guide in Canvas for details.
  • Provide a summary (up to 1 page) of the resources.
    • What information is most significant?
    • What areas are still unclear?
    • What have you learned so far from these materials?
• Personal Statement:
  • Use any remaining space to share your personal statement on what you want to do within this Capstone project. This might include methodology or how you will create a way to share your information during your presentation at the end of the semester. You can also list what questions you have at this stage, or if you need advice for narrowing your project’s focus.

The instructor will take a holistic approach to assessing your Capstone Project Proposal. The instructor expects Capstone students to be emerging experts in their majors, and anything that does not meet expectations or is incomplete (C or below) will be returned to you to be re-done to meet expectations (C).

Phase 3: Project Research Report
Use these directions as an outline to complete your Project Research Report by answering each question. You do not need to submit a Title page or Abstract for this assignment.

1. Find at least FIVE more scholarly or disciplinary/trade publication resources and include the citations below in APA format. For each source, write 4-5 sentences briefly summarizing the resource, and what about it is useful to your project.

• Source 1:
  • Summary:
• Source 2:
  • Summary:
• Source 3:
  • Summary:
• Source 4:
  • Summary:
• Source 5:
  • Summary:

2. In 150-200 words, explain how you have moved your project forward utilizing this new research.

• This might be identifying & clarifying how you are narrowing your work since the proposal and feedback, descriptions about the goals of the project, how things have evolved based on your research, how you might share this information to meet the presentation requirement of the project, etc.
• 3. Please share any questions you would like to clarify from the instructor at this phase of the project.

Phase 3: Project Research Report Rubric

Phase 4: Capstone Research Coding & Presentation Plan
Use these directions as an outline to complete your Research Coding & Presentation Plan by answering each question. You do not need to submit a Title page or Abstract for this assignment.

In this assignment we will practice dialectical reading through a coding practice. “Dialectical Reading enables readers to recognize diverse dialectical approaches to understanding—their own as well as those of others—in a way that provides new and helpful insights into a wide variety of subjects in which conflicting interpretations abound”, (Dunning, 1997).

For each of your NEW five sources, you will design your own code (or use the one offered below) and provide rationale for this analysis. The instructor will review this research and coding to offer feedback to your Capstone project and see how the pieces are coming together at this stage of the project.

1. Find at least FIVE more scholarly or disciplinary/trade publication resources and include the citations below in APA format. For each source, share your coding choice, and write 4-5 sentences briefly rationalizing this analysis (including textual citations as needed), and how this will be incorporated to expand your project.

• Repeat for each source:
  • Coding:
  • Rationale:

2. Your final project plan is also due at this phase. If you have an outline, a Powerpoint started, etc. this is the time to share that work. After reviewing Phase 5 and the overall expectations of the Capstone project, explain your approach to how you will share your project and how your approach meets the class expectations. This can be written in 1-2 paragraphs, linked as a separate draft document, and remember- you are explaining how you will put all of this work together to present your final Capstone project.

Phase 4: Project Research Coding Rubric

Phase 5: Capstone Project
The Capstone Course is an advanced-level project course that requires students to apply and demonstrate the knowledge and skills gained in their academic coursework and is developed from guidance on the National Communication Association’s Learning Objectives.

Capstone projects provide breadth and integration of knowledge that students gain through applying what has been learned through the course of their degree program. At the completion of this course, students will demonstrate the ability to communicate their knowledge and emerging expertise effectively. This will be directly tied to NACE Career-Ready Competencies to demonstrate your technical and disciplinary knowledge.

Expected Outcomes for the Capstone Project: Students will be able to identify a project problem and describe the goals of the project. Students will be able to describe the target audiences or impacted communities. Students will be able to identify the unique objectives and features of their project. Students will demonstrate mastery of the software/tools necessary to create, complete, and publish the project. Students will work respectfully with their classmates and instructor, communicate effectively, and complete their assigned work in a timely manner.

Minimum Project Requirements:

• Capstone Project:
  • This will be unique to your project (and supported with feedback from the pitch, to the proposal, the research review, a project update, and now, the final Capstone Project).
  • Skillfully demonstrate your focused 3 NACE Career-Ready Competencies throughout your project.
• Project Reflection Blog post:
  • On your WIX (or Adobe) ePortfolio, in 250-300 words, succinctly reflect (in your own words) on how the theories, skills, and experiences you’ve gained throughout your degree of study in the Department of Communication Arts have prepared you for your goals after graduation. How have these courses, topics, and experiences shaped your understanding? Finally, discuss how your capstone project has contributed to your professional or personal growth and how you plan to apply these insights in your future career.
    • You will need to submit your published link here along with other Capstone project materials.
• APA formatted Annotated Bibliography:
  • Minimum 15 references (10 scholarly, remember to focus on COMM or relevant discipline scholarship and supplement with trade publications or popular press research as it relates to your issue/topic)

Your project will be assessed on the following deliverables and based on your proposed method of presenting this work:

• Details and depth of content
• Professional aesthetics
• Web Accessibility standards met
  • Graphic design best practices
  • A/V design best practices
• Minimal to no errors in spelling or grammar
• Logically organized
• Coherent presentation
• Skillfully incorporated disciplinary and interdisciplinary research
• Clearly-defined key messages and takeaway lessons for audience
• Demonstration of unique thinking and creativity BY the student
  • Students found utilizing external support beyond what is approved by the instructor, utilizing artificial intelligence beyond the scope of what is allowed for brainstorming, or other mis-use of personnel or technology will fail the project and be submitted to ODU Honor Council for review.

Rubric:

A+: All deliverables are professional quality and are media-ready

A: All deliverables are professional quality and most are media-ready

A-: Some deliverables are not quite professional quality

B+: All deliverables are ePortfolio quality and media-ready

B: All deliverables are ePortfolio quality

B-: Some deliverables are not quite ePortfolio quality

C+: Average quality work; many deliverables are not quite of advanced quality

C: Meets average expectations. Basic project requirements have been completed

C-: One or more deliverables were poorly constructed, impacting the overall quality of the project.

F: Not passable; deliverables do not meet acceptable C standards

F: Not passable because of apparent unethical behavior such as cheating, plagiarism, etc.

The project work demonstrates competence in effective communication. Quality work demonstrates the student’s ability to apply relevant knowledge and skills and meet established project goals, professional standards, within aesthetically efficient design choices.

AUTHORS