Students perceived the intended purpose of the electronic portfolio differently than its actual use. They felt it was intended to provide feedback and monitor progress, but it actually served as a logbook and way to practice clinical skills. Students saw little improvement in feedback from the portfolio and felt it did not help monitor their progress as intended. They suggested improvements like a mobile app to allow clinicians to provide contemporaneous feedback.

1. Students’ perceptions of the purpose and use of
an electronic portfolio
Rosie Belcher
Laura-Jane Smith
Sindhu Bhaarrati Naidu
Deborah Gill
UCL Medical School, London
Slides can be found at http://www.slideshare.net/rosiebelcher

2. Background
• Collaborative project between
– NHS Education for Scotland (NES)
– Brighton and Sussex Medical School
– University of Bristol Medical School
– University of Glasgow Medical School
– UCL Medical School
• Aim
– Prepare students for using the ePortfolio in Foundation Programme
– Use workplace based assessments (WPBAs) to facilitate and
record feedback for students
– Collate other evidence of learning
– Encourage reflection

4. Evaluation
• 3 focus groups
• 15 participants
• How do students perceive the purpose of the
ePortfolio?
• How could the ePortfolio be improved for
students?

5. Students’ perception of intended purpose
Feedback
Minimum
standards
Monitoring
progress
Logbook/
record

6. Students’ perception of intended purpose
I think the idea is that it
helps you get feedback
on your progress ... I
really don’t think it does.Feedback
Minimum
standards
Monitoring
progress
Logbook/
record

7. Students’ perception of intended purpose
I think most of the
time most people
are doing fine, so
they don’t really
help ... but they
might flag up if you
weren’t doing fine.
Feedback
Minimum
standards
Monitoring
progress
Logbook/
record

8. Students’ perception of intended purpose
Feedback
Minimum
standards
Monitoring
progress
Logbook/
record
We go round so
many
departments, it’s
hard to have a
central
[overview]... It’s a
good way of
keeping track of
what we’re doing.

9. Students’ perception of intended purpose
Feedback
Minimum
standards
Monitoring
progress
Logbook/
record
To sort of correlate
everything
together in one
place for easy
access later on...
records of
practicals that you
do.

10. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills

11. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills
Because this one
is I guess more
clinics-focused
and you have to
get it done by
clinicians, I do feel
it keeps you on
your toes a bit
more...

12. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills
Because this one
is I guess more
clinics focussed
and you have to
get it done by
clinicians, I do feel
it keeps you on
your toes a bit
more...
And if they’ve had two
supervised
examinations and two
history presentations ..
it’s good, because in
the process they’ve
done that and had the
practice.

13. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills
I think at first a lot of
students just thought this
is something that the
med school is doing ..
once you actually start
speaking to junior
doctors and you hear that
this is what they’re
doing, [it]… it does make
you feel ... it’s not kind of
a lost cause.

14. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills
Although some might
argue that it’s just... a
paper pushing
exercise... to show that
you have been
attending things.

15. Students’ perception of actual purpose
Tick-box
Self-
monitoring
Way of life
Practice
clinical
skills
...they can’t be bothered
typing you know more than
a few words really in their
evaluation there. So I think
the idea that it helps you get
feedback on your
progress... I don’t really
think it does.

16. Future developments
• Professional log
• Better aesthetics
and functionality
• Mobile access
It would be nice if there
was like an iPhone
app..with the kind of
accessibility of paper, you
could have something you
could literally give to your
consultant.
I think the feedback is often a bit
weaker when they do it at a later
date as well. If you get the feedback
there and then, they’re more likely to
remember what you did …

17. Feedback and portfolios
• Evidence of mixed effects
• BEME review examined 69 papers1
– Higher quality studies suggested improved feedback to
students
• Other studies have demonstrated no improvement
in feedback2
• None have found the negative effects perceived
by students in this situation

18. In summary
• Students perceptions of the intended purpose and
actual use of an ePortfolio were significantly different
• Feedback felt to be worsened by the use of an
electronic format with delayed entry of assessments
• An app has been released, although it doesn’t yet
allow contemporaneous recording of assessments
• Important to monitor or investigate for unexpected
effects of innovations

19. References
1. Buckley S, Coleman J, Davison I, Khan KS, Zamora J, Malick S, et al.
The educational effects of portfolios on undergraduate student learning: a
Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic review. BEME
Guide No. 11. Medical Teacher. 2009 Apr;31(4):282–98.
2. Vernazza C, Durham J, Ellis J, Teasdale D, Cotterill S, Scott L, et al.
Introduction of an e-portfolio in clinical dentistry: staff and student views.
European journal of dental education. 2011 Feb;15(1):36–41.