Interest Group.

A study researched the impact of the portfolio development process as an instructional strategy that promotes increased critical thinking, organization, communication, and self-reflection abilities. The inquiry began with a case study of eight adult learners representative of the student population of a nontraditional undergraduate program with a portfolio component. Of 1,227 students, 348 responded to a 24-question survey using a 4-part Likert-type scale to assess students ' portfolio experiences. Findings indicated, after developing a portfolio, adult students expressed a change in their understanding of their abilities and of themselves; gained learning competencies in enhancement of communication and organizational skills, a deeper reflective process, and greater understanding of how they accomplished what they did in their personal and professional lives; and better understood the role of work in their lives. Students valued the constructs of leadership /personal learning and of work-related learning, their respectiv