What students value in ePortfolios Lizzie Vickers Charlotte Breckles Sarah King

The context The changing face of legal education: The Legal Education and Training Review, 2013. An opportunity for law schools to develop their curriculum and prepare students for practice.

The land law module A review of a core module on the LLB. An opportunity to move away from the traditional end of year exam to a form of assessment that focussed on the process of learning and not just the product.

The ePortfolio Aimed to ensure that we were embedding core skills of legal research and written communication into the curriculum and assessing these appropriately. Focussed on writing for different audiences. Developed professional reflective practice.

The assessment The ePortfolio has three elements: A reflective piece An annotated bibliography A memorandum of advice to a training supervisor Assessment criteria that are clearly aligned to learning outcomes and give credit for reflective practice, acting on feedback, using a range of resources to undertake research and critical analysis of the results and apply knowledge acquired to answering a problem question in an appropriate style of writing.

But how did our students find it?

ePortfolio Bingo Use the grid you have been given as a Bingo card. Fill in three of the boxes with what you perceive students thought were the positives of using ePortfolios. Do the same again using three negatives. Cross off the boxes when Lizzie and Charlotte cover that point. Shout “Bingo!” when you have crossed them all off!

The Negatives We don’t know what the point is, even after the lecturer has explained. Reflection is repetitive. Why do we have to use technology? What if the systems go down? It creates more work. We don’t feel like we have gained any skills. We’re unlikely to share Mahara with employers.

Negatives continued We wouldn’t continue ePortfolio use after University. Why can’t we have exams, that’s what we’re used to? It’s supposed to be year round but is not really year round. We’re not sure that employers value this as much as we might think. There was no foundation in the first year.

The positives Better than exams – process rather than product. More interesting than traditional assessment methods. Covers a wide range of understanding and skills. Allows creativity and more freedom. Workload spread throughout the year so less stress. Only reflecting on a set amount allows more concentration on those topics.

Positives continued Of future benefit – legal careers, assessed as a professional. Engagement with different forms of writing. Engaging with technology. Ability to obtain feedback. Personal development and reflective learning. Step ahead of other universities. More chance of passing the module.

Student suggestions to add value Specific questions might help prompt reflection. Use of other platforms. Time built into classes to allow reflection. Don’t overdo it. Add credibility by inviting the profession in. Use staggered approach for hand in. Create a stronger foundation in the first year. Needs to have more structured organisation and guidance.

Lizzie and Charlotte’s top tips! Engage with students during the design process. Allow class time to support development. Give the process credibility by involving employers. Support the development of reflective skills through staggered assessment and feedback deadlines. Be responsive and flexible.

ePortfolios are the way forward!! Any questions?