A PORTFOLIO WITH A DIFFERENCE: Blending electronic and paper for personal and professional development Margaret Fisher (Senior Lecturer Midwifery) Stephen Hodge (Learning Technologist, Faculty of Health and Social Work)

Background: Triggers for change Re-validation of Midwifery curriculum Professional body requirements Anecdotal feedback Ceppl research: “Assessment of Practice” Literature evidence

Some key issues on portfolios from the literature Efforts to ‘measure’ competence and professional abilities have resulted in a wide variety of methods of assessment, including portfolios (Baume and Yorke 2002, McMullan et al 2003) Unless outcomes are clear, the result may be that the student focuses too heavily on completing the portfolio rather than learning from the experience itself (Scholes et al 2004)

Some key issues on portfolios from Ceppl research Purpose: Key issue: The actual reason for assessment and relevance to learning Purpose was clear to some students eg: “demonstration of achievement of learning”, “provides focus” Less positive issues: “jumping through hoops/ ticking the boxes”, “potential to twist the truth/ cheat the system”

Process: Key aspects: Methods used People involved Practice placements Important factors: Clarity/ confusion Consistency/ inconsistency Bulk/ workload of documentation and information

Preparation/ Guidance: Key to the students’ experience. Contributed to their understanding of both the ‘purpose’ and ‘process’ of practice assessment.

Positive aspects of portfolios: evidence of capability/ achievement provided encouragement to student as they could see their progress. self-directed fairly reliable and an effective record of discussions provided focus and made them think generally useful and effective tool

Negative aspects of portfolios:  Number-crunching/ ticking boxes  Potential to “blur the edges”  Bulk  Heavy workload  Lack of clarity  Poor level of guidance  Inconsistency in explanations  Mentor unfamiliarity with documentation

Midwifery team response  Portfolio work-party  Decision to develop part-paper (summative) and part-electronic (formative/ evidence learning) portfolio  Key element = hyperlinks to demonstrate learning process  Guidance evident throughout, including feedback

The time-line…  E-portfolio developed with Emily team → Wiki’s  Pilot study  Discussions with Ceppl, Emily team and Mandy Goss (UoP IT) regarding long-term options  Demonstration at University E-portfolio Showcase Event  Initial experimentation with Sharepoint  Experimentation with Pebblepad  Decision to go with Sharepoint version  Roll-out to Midwifery students 16 th Feb 09

The challenges…..