Smith, Paula J W

Tufail-Hanif, Uzma

English

PURPOSE The ePortfolio is being increasingly utilised in medical school curricula and postgraduate training programmes to monitor the development and improvement of learners. Reflective ePortfolios have been used since 2013/14 in a two-year online part-time ChM in Urology programme, requiring postgraduate students to learn from professional experiences out with formal teaching. This year, we introduced a similar assessed ePortfolio to the new BMedSci Surgical Sciences course for undergraduate medical students. Here, we evaluate its perceived effectiveness in developing student autonomy and self-reflection skills.METHODS In 2017/18, students enrolled on the two courses (n=12 undergraduate and n=12 postgraduate) were asked to critically reflect on their experiences, actions and learning under the headings: Quality Improvement and Patient Care; Literature Evaluation Skills; Research and Experimental Design; Self-Learning Abilities and Habits; and, for ChM only, Teaching Skills. Anonymised, interim student feedback on the process has been gathered using online questionnaires.RESULTS Eleven students completed the questionnaire (46% response rate); undergraduate and postgraduate responses were essentially comparable. None of the respondents had any previous experience of keeping a portfolio; 11/11 indicated it is a new learning experience for them. Encouragingly, no-one declared an anxiety about revealing their weaknesses. The majority of respondents find the ePortfolio helps them reflect on their approach to study (82%) and identifies where they need to improve (55%). Two-thirds (7/11) rate the ePortfolio as “beneficial and challenging”. Whilst 27% indicated that they found it “difficult and confusing”, most described it as “valuable” (73%). CONCLUSION Reflective ePortfolios provide opportunities to give students autonomy, and develop their learning across and between different courses, which they can continue into their postgraduate training and beyond. To be effective, teaching staff need to provide detailed guidance on the assessment requirements, such as exemplars, given that ePortfolios are likely to be a novel endeavour for many students.<br/

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     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      The use of Reflective ePortfolios as an assessment tool oflearner development from undergraduate through topostgraduate studyCitation for published version:Smith, PJW & Tufail-Hanif, U 2019, 'The use of Reflective ePortfolios as an assessment tool of learnerdevelopment from undergraduate through to postgraduate study', Medical Science Educator, vol. 29, no.Suppl 1, pp. S21-S22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-019-00869-0Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1007/s40670-019-00869-0Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerDocument Version:Peer reviewed versionPublished In:Medical Science EducatorGeneral rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 27. Oct. 2022THE USE OF REFLECTIVE EPORTFOLIOS AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL OF LEARNER DEVELOPMENT FROM UNDERGRADUATE THROUGH TO POSTGRADUATE STUDY  Paula Smith and Uzma Tufail-Hanif, University of Edinburgh, Clinical Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, UK. EH16 4SA PURPOSE  The ePortfolio is being increasingly utilised in medical school curricula and postgraduate training programmes to monitor the development and improvement of learners. Reflective ePortfolios have been used since 2013/14 in a two-year online part-time ChM in Urology programme, requiring postgraduate students to learn from professional experiences out with formal teaching. This year, we introduced a similar assessed ePortfolio to the new BMedSci Surgical Sciences course for undergraduate medical students. Here, we evaluate its perceived effectiveness in developing student autonomy and self-reflection skills. METHODS   In 2017/18, students enrolled on the two courses (n=12 undergraduate and n=12 postgraduate) were asked to critically reflect on their experiences, actions and learning under the headings: Quality Improvement and Patient Care; Literature Evaluation Skills; Research and Experimental Design; Self-Learning Abilities and Habits; and, for ChM only, Teaching Skills. Anonymised, interim student feedback on the process has been gathered using online questionnaires. RESULTS  Eleven students completed the questionnaire (46% response rate); undergraduate and postgraduate responses were essentially comparable. None of the respondents had any previous experience of keeping a portfolio; 11/11 indicated it is a new learning experience for them. Encouragingly, no-one declared an anxiety about revealing their weaknesses. The majority of respondents find the ePortfolio helps them reflect on their approach to study (82%) and identifies where they need to improve (55%). Two-thirds (7/11) rate the ePortfolio as “beneficial and challenging”. Whilst 27% indicated that they found it “difficult and confusing”, most described it as “valuable” (73%).  CONCLUSION  Reflective ePortfolios provide opportunities to give students autonomy, and develop their learning across and between different courses, which they can continue into their postgraduate training and beyond. To be effective, teaching staff need to provide detailed guidance on the assessment requirements, such as exemplars, given that ePortfolios are likely to be a novel endeavour for many students. 300 words  

The use of Reflective ePortfolios as an assessment tool of learner development from undergraduate through to postgraduate study

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/files/280099269/Abstract_IAMSE_2019.pdf

The use of Reflective ePortfolios as an assessment tool of learner development from undergraduate through to postgraduate study

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