Thirteenth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

It is important to reimagine what equitable standards-based assessment means and how it is delivered, especially across diverse Pacific regions. In this era of imposed standardization, the use of ePortfolios is an inclusive practice that enables master-level graduate teacher candidates to have a voice and choice of how to integrate place-based and indigenous culturally responsive exemplars with newly developed national and state standards. University of Hawai`i instructors share self-study findings on the use of ePortfolios as the culminating capstone masterʻs degree assessment in the PACMED Program. PACMED is an award-winning program that facilitates a hybrid online masterʻs degree program for candidates across the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. A collaborative, multicultural program, PACMED was created on the foundational United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) that Pacific leaders are willing and able to solve Pacific problems. The ePortfolio involves a reflective practice where candidates are empowered to showcase their understanding of professional standards, cite relevant research literature to support the standards, contextualize examples of how they met the standards, and include a self-evaluation of the effects of their professional practice to prompt continuous improvement. ePortfolios give candidates ownership of artifacts, experiences, and learning while validating cultural intelligence (Kirkpatrick et al., 2007). Presenters discuss exploratory self-study findings of ePortfolio.