the use of eportfolios for assessment in clinical practicum: opportunities and challenges dilani...

The use of ePortfolios for assessment in Clinical

Practicum: Opportunities and Challenges

Dilani Gedera (PhD) and Kyle Smith

OVERVIEW

• Case study

• Background

• Process and implementation

• Methodology

• Findings

• Suggestions for improvement

CASE STUDY

• Psychology - clinical practicum

• Second year graduate paper

• 2017 semester A

• 8 students

CASE STUDY

• Mature students

• Family and other commitments

• Lecturer and field clinical supervisor and

university supervisor

BACKGROUND

• Pen and paper version of portfolio

• Restrictions - flexibility in accessing, updating,

and searching for relevant documents

• Nature of hard-copy portfolio did not lend itself

to further use in their careers

THE STUDY

• ePortfolio

• action research

• Feedback from students using surveys

• Action plan

EPORTFOLIO CONTENT

ePortfolio content (work-integrated learning

documents

• contracts

• agency policies and legislation

• completed assessments

• documented activities on placement

• supervisor evaluations

• clinical logs

• Sample contextualised ePortfolio

• Introduction to ePortfolio workshop

• Ongoing support

PROCESS AND IMPLEMENTATION

• Technical difficulties at the beginning

(workshop)

• Log in issues

• Lecturer resigned

PROCESS AND IMPLEMENTATION

METHODOLOGY

• Online surveys

• Semi-Structured interviews

• ePortfolio analysis

• Document analysis (researchers observations/notes)

DATA ANALYSIS

• Nvivo

• Thematic analysis

• Themes:

access to ePortfolios

sharing their work

challenges of using ePortfolios

future use of ePortfolios

FINDINGS

Students’ experiences and challenges of using

ePortfolios

FINDINGS

Students’ experiences and challenges of using

ePortfolios

FINDINGS

Students’ experiences and challenges of using

ePortfolios

FINDINGS

Challenges

FINDINGS

Challenges

• Learning a new system

• Multiple guides – clinical guide, Mahara guide

• Technical difficulties at the beginning

“Just having to learn a new program whilst keeping on top

of everything else we have to do”

“It is not straight forward and using the help files is taking

time”

“the workshop didn’t run as planned, because the

computers weren’t working”

FINDINGS

Challenges

• Repetitive task – ePortfolio and emailing

• Delete comments

“we have to hand in and then have to email the

same stuff to an administrator”

“we could delete the feedback after you got it, but

the icon was still there and the message says the

comment was deleted by the owner”

FINDINGS

• Inadequate understanding of how ePortfolio is

used

• More time needed for familiarisation of software

• Varied levels of technical capabilities

FINDINGS

Students’ suggestions for improvement

• Timing – make resources available prior to

semester

• One place for all documents/guides (Moodle?)

• Avoidance of repetitive approach

FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

• ePortfolio hands-on workshops (2-3 sessions)

• Google docs for ongoing activity records

• Introduce ePortfolios in year one

Contact Details

Dilani Gedera, PhD

eLearning Designer

University of Waikato

Centre for Tertiary Teaching and Learning

dilani.gedera@waikato.ac.nz

http://www.waikato.ac.nz/staff-profiles/people/dgedera