Professional development to support the embedding of eportfolios in higher education programs

Abstract

The documentation of achievement in program outcomes is important in higher education and often occurs in upper year courses through capstone and/or work-integrated learning projects. There is growing recognition that ePortfolios can be used in this process. Embedding ePortfolios across the curriculum offers a framework for student learning, increases student satisfaction, and provides a mechanism to demonstrate standards and professional competencies. However, if ePortfolios have not been embedded across a program, evidence for outcomes and the student experience can be disjointed or unclear, and can exclude important elements of the learning journey. This chapter uses case studies of professional development workshops to assist higher education curriculum leaders, academic developers and teaching staff to identify and develop methods for building a structured program that embeds ePortfolios from first to final year within tertiary and industry contexts. The process includes understanding and mapping program learning outcomes, scaffolding course learning outcomes, and addressing and assessing these outcomes to ensure that holistic program design provides evidence to meet quality standards and competencies. Higher education teaching staff often design and deliver courses individually, without considering implications of assessment design and learning outcomes for a program as a whole. The aim of the professional development workshop was to simulate authentic, collaborative planning activities where participants worked in small groups to plan the integration of ePortfolios across a program. Utilising self-completed questionnaire data gathered through end-of-workshop evaluations, this chapter discusses the pedagogical design, content and considerations addressed by the professional development workshop, as well as implications for its use to support higher education teaching staff.