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As a result of suggestions from the American Library Association (ALA) the Division of Library and Information Science (DLIS) program at St. John's University implemented an end-of-program electronic portfolio (ePortfolio) requirement. The purpose of this ePortfolio is to provide information on student proficiency in the eight ALA core competencies to our external accrediting agency--the ALA Committee on Accreditation (CoA). This article will discuss how a Library and Information Studies (LIS) faculty member and a New Media and Communications Specialist worked together in developing the ePortfolio as an assessment tool for ALA reaccreditation within an online LIS program.

Finding innovative ways to deliver effective classroom instruction resulting in demonstration of student proficiency of the eight American Library Association core competencies within the online learning environment is challenging. While the use of technology is very important in the delivery of course content, focusing on the pedagogy of teaching online classes is paramount when constructing a comprehensive online teaching curriculum. This article describes how one professor integrates both theory and experience together within the online learning environment as a means for students to demonstrate proficiency of course concepts. Academic Service-Learning, construction of real-world collaborative projects and lessons learned are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if academic service-learning (AS-L) assessment activities are properly aligned with intended student learning outcomes (SLOs) and curriculum standards through the analysis of student post-reflections within one required online graduate course. Four coders analyzed postreflections from 77 students over a five-year period. The first goal was to determine the degree of alignment among assessment activities, SLOs, and curriculum standards. The second goal was to determine if students demonstrated differences in achievement when participating in online versus onsite AS-L projects. Results were mixed when determining the degree of alignment among assessments, SLOs, and curriculum standards. Students demonstrated comparable levels of achievement in learning outcomes when participating in both forms of AS-L. Implications of this study indicate that continuous self-assessment in aligning academic service-learning assessment activities to student learning outcomes and curriculum standards is necessary for successful demonstration of student achievement within today's standards-based curriculum of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]