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JCPSLP
Volume 16, Number 3 2014
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
2. My development of competency – uploaded evidence
mapped against CBOS including a STAR-L (Situation,
Task, Assessment, Results, Learning) reflective
comment (AeP, 2009).
3. Record of clinical hours – records of hours, range of
experience and learning contracts.
Method
Participants
In total, 53 students enrolled in years 2–4 of the speech
pathology course at ECU were invited to participate in the
study by announcements in lectures and being sent an
email link to an anonymous online questionnaire.
Information about the project was given and e-mailed to
students. Consent was given by completing the
questionnaire. Repeat emails were sent out and the
questionnaires were open for two months. Ethics approval
was received from the University’s Research Ethics Office
(No: 8307).
The number of participants who responded in each
cohort, their ages and number of years at university are
shown in Table 1. The ePortfolio was used in the course for
18 months before the study commenced. Therefore, fourth
and third-year students had been using the ePortfolio for 18
months, and second-year students for one year.
(
process
) and a
product
for the assessment of learning
(Hallam & Creagh, 2010).
While research is limited, there have been studies
that show ePortfolios can be useful to support student
learning; develop reflection, self-awareness and IT skills
(Buckley et al., 2009); and foster increased responsibility
for learning (Tochel et al., 2009). However, students may
find an ePortfolio time-consuming and to ensure students’
engagement it must be aligned with course outcomes,
linked to future careers, have a clear purpose and have
clear guidelines (Buckley et al., 2009). Researchers have
suggested that embedding ePortfolios across a whole
course ensures the greatest benefits (Faulkner, Aziz, Waye,
& Smith, 2013; Woodley & Sims, 2011). Furthermore,
the ePortfolio platform needs to be user-friendly, flexible,
transferable and have easy access (Gordon & Campbell,
2013) as well as be well-designed and have good
organisational support (Tochel et al., 2009).
Student perspectives of ePortfolios have been reported
in United States and the United Kingdom but research is
limited and results are mixed (Buckley et al., 2009; Hallam
& Creagh, 2010). Exploring student perspectives of an
ePortfolio use across different cohorts is also relatively new
(Chambers & Wickersan, 2007). As student participation is
vital to the successful implementation of an ePortfolio, the
investigation of student perspectives is required. Yet there is
very little evidence of student perspectives of the ePortfolio
in Australia (Hallam & Creagh, 2010) and no reports of SP
students’ perspectives. Therefore, this project investigates
students perceptions across a course of the validity of
using an ePortfolio as a tool for learning and for showcasing
their skills to future employers.
ePortfolio implementation
In 2010, an ePortfolio was embedded across the newly
established four-year undergraduate SP course at Edith
Cowan University as a learning tool and assessment task.
The ePortfolio aimed to (a) engage students in collecting
evidence of clinical competencies; (b) reflect upon their
learning to strengthen the theory/clinical practicum links, (c)
develop reflective practice; (d) evaluate their own strengths
and weaknesses in order to set future clinical practicum
goals; and (e) map their own hours across the range of
practice.
The SP course used My Expo as the ePortfolio platform
as it was already in use by nursing and education courses
within the university. A template with detailed assignment
information and marking guides to cover all four years was
developed in MyExpo that students downloaded once in
the second semester of first year. The instructions were
collated into a manual and a frequently asked questions
document was available to students. The workload was
designed to increase in complexity and volume as the
student progressed through the course. Each semester
the assessment was carefully explained to students and an
opportunity to workshop the ePortfolio in a computer lab
was available. The template for the students consisted of
three parts:
1. Reflections on my learning – structured reflections about
their learning on their practicum and about themselves
as a speech pathologist.
Table 1. Number, age and years at university of
students
Student cohort
2nd
3rd
4th
Number of students
14 24
15
My age is:
18–20
1
3
2
21–25
3
3
4
26–30
1
2
0
31–40
0
1
2
above 40
1
2
0
Including this year I have studied at
university for:
2 years
3
0
0
3
2
7
0
4
0
2
8
5
0
1
0
6 +
1
1
0
Questionnaire
This project used a mixed methods approach. Data was
collected via a student questionnaire and additional
qualitative data (not reported) was also collected through
student focus groups. The questionnaire consisted of 4
forced choice questions, 30 statements and 3 free text
questions (see Appendix). The forced choice questions
gathered demographic data and elicited comfort and
confidence levels with technology. The statements were
rated using a 5-point Likert scale from
strongly disagree
(1)
to
strongly agree
(5). The statements related to topics such
as engagement with the portfolio, using the technology,
