Throwing a pebble into the pond: e-portfolios and student engagement Hazel Willis Phil Gravestock Martin Jenkins University of Gloucestershire, UK

Overview Introduce Personal Development Planning and PebblePad The pilot study Lessons learned and building on the pilot study

The starting point Personal Development Planning Encourage reflective practice and critical thinking Government requirement Introduction embedded into Learning and Personal Development ‘module’ (unit) Need to engage students in the process

PebblePad Encouraged reflection Appropriate use for different audiences Flexibility Support ‘embedding’ the process Why PebblePad?

The Pilot First Year students for PDP Small sample Students interviewed by 2nd year students Monitored usage Final year dissertation students Small sample Record of dissertation meetings Monitored usage Interviewed by academic staff

Encouraging engagement Greater engagement with final year students Final year students good initial engagement then a decline But no completed ‘e’ portfolios …

Reflections ‘Use vulnerable to external pressures’ (Pearson and Hayward, 2004) Resort to tools that are familiar Revert to automatic rather than controlled processes Not sufficiently ‘embedded’ Need for clearer justification Process not product Learning support Timing of training Closer link between support and learning task

Moving forward? Psychology - not being used this academic year Staff flexibility Environment - process focus PebblePad used as delivery tool ‘institutionalise’ use so taken for granted (O’Keefe & Zehender, 2004) Requirement for 120 students

Contact details Hazel Willis Department of Natural and Social Sciences Phil Gravestock Centre for Learning and Teaching Martin Jenkins Centre for Active Learning