ePortfolios: A 360-Degree Approach to Assessment in Teacher Education

Mphoentle Puleng Modise; Norm Vaughan

doi:10.21432/cjlt28579

Authors

Mphoentle Puleng Modise University of South Africa
Norm Vaughan Mount Royal College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21432/cjlt28579

Keywords:

ePortfolio, assessment, online learning, teacher education

Abstract

ePortfolios are increasingly being used for teaching, assessing, and supporting students’ learning in higher education. With COVID-19 having forced many higher education institutions to move their education services and teaching to online spaces, ePortfolios have become more relevant in the assessment process as they are web-based. This self-study examines how ePortfolios are being used to support assessment practices in a South African and a Canadian teacher education program. Data comprised critical dialogue, notes, reflections, and conversations with students enrolled in both teacher education programs. Findings suggest that students use ePortfolios to integrate self, peer, and teacher/ expert feedback, which results in a 360-degree approach to assessment.

Author Biographies

Mphoentle Puleng Modise, University of South Africa

Mpho-Entle Puleng Modise is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, College of Education at the University of South Africa. Her research areas include faculty and student support in higher education and distance education, open distance e-learning, academic and professional development, technology adoption, and the use of ePortfolios in teaching and learning. She also has an interest in MOOCs and OERs. She is a member of the South Africa Education Research Association executive committee.

Norm Vaughan, Mount Royal College

Norman Vaughan is a Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He has co-authored the books Principles of Blended Learning: Shared Metacognition and Communities of Inquiry (2023), Teaching in Blended Learning Environments: Creating and Sustaining Communities of Inquiry (2013), and Blended Learning in Higher Education (2008). In addition, he has published a series of articles on blended learning and teacher development.

References

Adams, S., & Linschinger, N. (2019). The “multiplier effect” student e-tutors have on course instructors to incorporate technology in classrooms. Hosted by UNED, Madrid (Spain), 346. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/304335206.pdf#page=358

Alharahsheh, H. H., & Pius, A. (2020). A review of key paradigms: Positivism VS interpretivism. Global Academic Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(3), 39–43. https://gajrc.com/media/articles/GAJHSS_23_39-43_VMGJbOK.pdf

Allen, C. (2016). Alverno College: Lessons from an assessment pioneer. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. https://www.learningoutcomesassessment.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AlvernoCaseStudy.pdf

Biggs, J. (1998). Assumptions underlying new approaches to assessment. In P. Stimson & P. Morris (Eds.), Curriculum and assessment in Hong Kong: Two components, one system (pp. 351–384). Open University of Hong Kong Press.

Bjerke, M. B., & Renger, R. (2017). Being smart about writing SMART objectives. Evaluation and Program Planning, 61, 125–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.12.009

Blair, K. L. (2017). ePortfolio artifacts as graduate student multimodal identity assemblages. In K. B. Yancey & S. J. McElroy (Eds.), Assembling composition (pp. 120–139). Conference on College Composition and Communication of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Bodle, K. A., Malin, M., & Wynhoven, A. (2017). Students' experience toward ePortfolios as a reflective assessment tool in a dual mode indigenous business course. Accounting Research Journal, 30(3), 333–350. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARJ-06-2015-0089

Boud, D. J. (2000). Sustainable assessment: Rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22(2), 151–167. https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/csce20

Buchholtz, N. F., Krosanke, N., Orschulik, A. B., & Vorhölter, K. (2018). Combining and integrating formative and summative assessment in mathematics teacher education. ZDM Mathematics Education, 50, 715–728. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-018-0948-y

Bullough, R. V., & Pinnegar, S. (2004). Thinking about the thinking about self-study: An analysis of eight chapters. In J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, and T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 313–342). Kluwer Academic.

Cahill, A. S., Nelson, R. M, Strawhecker, J., & Vu, P. (2022). School administrators’ perceptions of electronic portfolios and the hiring of K-12 teachers. International Journal of ePortfolio, 12(1), 47–58. https://dgmg81phhvh63.cloudfront.net/content/user-photos/IJEP/Article-PDFs/Vol-12-1/IJEP378_12-1_47-58.pdf

Calgary Board of Education. (2023). Iris: My learning plan. https://cbe.ab.ca/programs/technology-for-learning/Pages/default.aspx

Celik, B., & Yildiz, Y. (2017). Commitment to the teaching profession. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 4(2), 93–97. https://ijsses.tiu.edu.iq/index.php/volume-4-issue-2-article-11/

Claypool, T. R., & Preston, J. P. (2011). Redefining learning and assessment practices impacting Aboriginal students: Considering Aboriginal priorities via Aboriginal and Western worldviews. Education, 17(3), 84–95. https://doi.org/10.1037/e683152011-019

Conrad, D., & Openo, J. (2018). Assessment strategies for online learning. Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120279-assessment-strategies-for-online-learning/

Corley, C. R., & Zubizarreta, J. (2012). The power and utility of reflective learning portfolios in honors. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, 13(1), 63–76.

Costa, A. L. (1985). Developing minds. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED262968.pdf

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (1993). Through the lens of a critical friend. Educational Leadership, 51(2), 49–51. https://ascd.org/el

Dinkelman, T. (2003). Self-study in teacher education: A means and ends tool for promoting reflective teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 54(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487102238654

EUfolio. (2015). EU classroom ePortfolios: Pilot evaluation results. http://eufolio.eu/docs/PilotEvaluationResults.pdf.

Farrell, O. (2020). (e)Portfolio: A history. ASCILITE Publications, 289–294. https://publications.ascilite.org/index.php/APUB/article/view/440/413

Farrell, O., Buckley, K., Donaldson, L., & Farrelly, T. (2021). Eportfolio in Ireland: A landscape snapshot of current practice. Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(1), 89–109. https://doi.org/10.22554/ijtel.v6i1.99

Farrell, O., & Seery, A. (2019). I am not simply learning and regurgitating information, I am also learning about myself: Learning portfolio practice and online distance students. Distance Education, 40(1), 76–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2018.1553565

Fletcher, T., Nί Chrόinίn, D., & O’Sullivan, M. (2016). Multiple layers of interactivity in self-study of practice research: An empirically-based exploration of methodological issues. In D. Garbett, & A. Ovens, (Eds.), Enacting self-study as methodology for professional inquiry (pp. 19–25). Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices.

Foundation Coalition. (2002). Peer assessment and peer evaluation. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/37465138/peer-assessment-and-peer-evaluation-foundation-coalition

Garrison, D. R. (2017). E-learning in the 21st century: A community of inquiry framework for research and practice (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315667263

Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2001). Critical thinking, cognitive presence, and computer conferencing in distance education. American Journal of Distance Education, 15, 7–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08923640109527071

Garrison, D. R., Cleveland-Innes, M., & Vaughan, N. D. (2024). Community of inquiry framework. Community of Inquiry. https://coi.athabascau.ca/coi-model/

Garrison, D. R., & Vaughan, N. D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education. Jossey-Bass.

Gee, J. (2014). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (5th ed.). Routledge.

Goldkuhl, G. (2012). Pragmatism vs interpretivism in qualitative information systems research. European Journal of Information Systems, 21, 135–146. https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2011.54

Google. (2023). Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/

Guilfoyle, K., Hamilton, M. L., Pinnegar, S., & Placier, P. (2004). The epistemological dimensions and dynamics of professional dialogue in self-study. In J. J. Loughran, M.L. Hallam, G. C., Harper, W. E., McCowan, C. R., Hauville, K. L., McAllister, L. M., & Creagh, T. A. (2008). ePortfolio use by university students in Australia: Informing excellence in policy and practice. Queensland University of Technology ePrints. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/216079/

Haralabous, A., & Darra, M. (2018). Eportfolio, alternative assessment and student self-assessment: Exploration of the correlation in primary education. International Journal of Learning and Development, 8(2), 80–101. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v8i2.13097

Harver, A., Zuber, P. D., & Bastian, H. (2019). The capstone ePortfolio in an undergraduate public health program: Accreditation, assessment, and audience. Frontiers in Public Health, 7, 125. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00125

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.

Hauge, K. (2021). Self-study research: Challenges and opportunities in teacher education. In M. J. Hernandez-Serrano (Ed.), Teacher education in the 21st century - Emerging skills for a changing world (pp. 139–156). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96252

Hedberg, J., & Corrent-Agostinho, S. (1999). Creating a postgraduate virtual community: Assessment drives learning. In B. Collis & R. Oliver (Eds.), Proceedings of World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp. 1093–1098). Association for the Advancement of Computers in Education. http://www.editlib.org/p/7040

Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277–1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/104973230527668

International Commission on the Futures of Education. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379707

Johnsen, H. L. (2012). Making learning visible with eportfolios: Coupling the right pedagogy with the right technology. International Journal of ePortfolio, 2(2), 139–148. http://www.theijep.com/articleView.cfm?id=84

Kalmbach, J. (2017). Beyond the object to the making of the object: Understanding the process of multimodal composition as assemblage. In K. B. Yancey & S. J. McElroy (Eds.), Assembling composition (pp. 60–77). Conference on College Composition and Communication.

LaBoskey, V. K. (2004). The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 817–869). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6545-3_21

Lambrev, V. S., & Cruz, B. C. (2021). Becoming scholarly practitioners: Creating community in online professional doctoral education. Distance Education, 42(2), 561–581. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2021.1986374

Lyons, N., & LaBoskey, V. K. (2002). Why narrative inquiry or exemplars for a scholarship of teaching? In N. Lyons & V. K. LaBoskey (Eds.), Narrative inquiry in practice: Advancing the knowledge of teaching (pp. 11–27). Teachers College Press.

Marton, F., & Saljo, R. (1984). Approaches to learning. In F. Marton, D. Hounsell, & N. Entwistle (Eds.), The experience of learning (pp. 39–58). Scottish Academic Press.

Marule, T. O. (2012). Niitsitapi relational and experiential theories in education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 35(1), 131–143. https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/CJNE

McLoughlin, C., & Lee, M. J. (2009). Personalised learning spaces and self-regulated learning: Global examples of effective pedagogy. Same places, different spaces: Proceedings of Ascilite Auckland 2009, 639–645. https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/88953/personalised-learning-spaces-and-self-regulated-learning-global-examples-of-effective-pedagogy

Modise, M. P. (2021). Postgraduate students’ perception of the use of e-portfolios as a teaching tool to support learning in an open and distance education institution. Journal of Learning for Development, 8(2), 283–297. https://doi.org/10.56059/jl4d.v8i2.508

Modise, M. P., & Mudau, P. K. (2023). Using ePortfolios for meaningful teaching and learning in distance education in developing countries: A systematic review. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 71(3), 286–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/07377363.2022.2067731

Molotsi, A. R., & Goosen, L. (2019). E-tutors’ perspectives on the collaborative learning approach as a means to support students of computing matters of course. In Proceedings of the 48th Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association (SACLA) (pp. 37–54). http://sacla2019.unisa.ac.za/Preprints/FP_Molotsi_e-Tutors'%20Perspectives.pdf

Mudau, P. K., & Modise, M. P. (2022). Using ePortfolios for active student engagement in the ODeL environment. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 21, 425–438. https://doi.org/10.28945/5012

Muzari, T., Shava, G. N., & Shonhiwa, S. (2022). Qualitative research paradigm, a key research design for educational researchers, processes and procedures: A theoretical overview. Indiana Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 14–20. https://indianapublications.com/articles/IJHSS_3(1)_14-20_61f38990115064.95135470.pdf

Ng'ambi, D., Brown, C., Bozalek, V., Gachago, D., & Wood, D. (2016). Technology-enhanced teaching and learning in South African higher education – A rear view of a 20-year journey. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(5), 843–858. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12485

Penny Light, T. (2016). Empowering learners with eportfolios: Harnessing the “evidence of experience” for authentic records of achievement. The AAEEBL ePortfolio Review (AePR), 1(1), 5–11.

Pervin, N., & Mokhtar, M. (2022). The interpretivist research paradigm: A subjective notion of a social context. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(2), 419–428. http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v11-i2/12938

Poole, P., Brown, M., McNamara, G., O'Hara, J., O'Brien, S., & Burns, D. (2018). Challenges and supports towards the integration of ePortfolios in education. Lessons to be learned from Ireland. Heliyon, 4(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00899

Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Rhodes, T., Chen, H. L., Watson, C. E., & Garrison, W. (2014). Editorial: A call for more rigorous ePortfolio research. International Journal of ePortfolio, 4(1), 1–5. https://www.theijep.com/pdf/IJEP144.pdf

Samaras, A. P., & Freese, A. R. (2009). Looking back and looking forward: A historical overview of the self-study school. In C. A. Lassonde, S. Galman, & C. Kosnik (Eds.), Self-study research methodologies for teacher educators (pp. 3–19). Sense Publishers.

Shea, P., Vickers, J., & Hayes, S. (2010). Online instructional effort measured through the lens of teaching presence in the community of inquiry framework: A re-examination of measures and approach. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 11(3),127–154. https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v11i3.915

Slepcevic-Zach, P., & Stock, M. (2018). ePortfolio as a tool for reflection and self-reflection. Reflective Practice, 19(3), 291–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2018.1437399

Sobko, T., & Brown, G. (2019). Reflecting on personal data in a health course: Integrating wearable technology and ePortfolio for eHealth. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 35(3). https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4027

Thanh, N. C., & Thanh, T. T. (2015). The interconnection between interpretivist paradigm and qualitative methods in education. American Journal of Educational Science, 1(2), 24–27.

Thistlethwaite, J. (2006). More thoughts on “assessment drives learning.” Medical Education, 40(11), 1149–1150.

Torras, M. E., & Mayordomo, R. (2011). Teaching presence and regulation in an electronic portfolio. Computers in Human Behavior, 27, 2284–2291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2011.07.007

Torres, J. J., & McKinley, M. (2023). From review to practice: Implementing ePortfolio Research in professional identity formation. International Journal of ePortfolio, 13(1), 1–9. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1407254.pdf

University of South Africa. (2023). About the college. https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/About

Van Wyk, M. M. (2017). An e-portfolio as empowering tool to enhance students’ self-directed learning in a teacher education course: A case of a South African university. South African Journal of Higher Education, 31(3), 274–291. https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-80865509f

Vanassche, E., & Keltcherman, G. (2015). The state of art in self-study of teacher education Practices: A systematic review. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 47(4), 508–528. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2014.995712

Vaughan, N. D. (2013). Investigating how digital technologies can support a triad-approach to assessment in higher education. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 39(3), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.21432/T2RG6X

Vaughan N. D. (2014). Student engagement and blended learning: Making the assessment connection. Education Sciences, 4(4), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci4040247

Vaughan, N. D., Dell, D., Garrison, D. R., & Cleveland-Innes, M. (2023). Principles of blended learning: Shared metacognition and communities of inquiry. Athabasca University Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120324-principles-of-blended-learning/

Yancey, K. B., Robertson, L., & Taczak. K. (2014). Writing across contexts: Transfer, composition, and sites of writing. University Press of Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt6wrr95

Yang, M., Tai, M., & Lim, C. (2015). The role of e‐portfolios in supporting productive learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 47(6), 1276–1286. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12316

Yeh, S. S. (2009). The cost-effectiveness of raising teacher quality. Educational Research Review, 4(3), 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2008.06.002

Zhang, H., Lin, L., Zhan, Y., & Ren, Y. (2016). The impact of teaching presence on online engagement behaviors. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 54(7), 887–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633116648171

Zhao, H., & Sullivan, K. P. H. (2017). Teaching presence in computer conferencing learning environments: Effects on interaction, cognition and learning uptake. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(2), 538–551. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12383

Zhang, Y., & Wildemuth, B. M. (2009). Qualitative analysis of content. In B.M. Wildemuth (Ed.), Applications of social research methods to questions in information and library science (pp. 318-329). https://www.drghazi.net/media/drghazi/documentary8.pdf#page=329