03 December 2025, 7:17

Hello everyone,

For the penultimate episode for 2025, I had the opportunity to talk with Associate Prof Dr Amy Cicchino (University of Central Florida) and Brandi Gilbert, MPH (Indiana University Indianapolis) whose work I have been following for many years as they are active members of the AAEEBL community and advocate for portfolio practices.

In 2016, portfolios were added as 11th high-impact practice by American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), which Amy and Brandi say, had a positive impact on portfolios becoming more recognised and established at institutions of higher learning.

High-impact practices have the following 10 characteristics:

• Performance expectations set at appropriately high levels
• Significant investment of concentrated effort by students over an extended period
• Interactions with faculty and peers about substantive matters
• Experiences with diversity, wherein students are exposed to and must contend with people and circumstances that differ from those with which students are familiar
• Frequent, timely, and constructive feedback
• Opportunities to discover relevance of learning through real-world applications
• Public demonstration of competence
• Periodic, structured opportunities to reflect and integrate learning
• Making a Difference for Others
• Agency and Accomplishment

Listen to Amy and Brandi's episode on the web or in your favourite podcast player.

Have a great day

Kristina