Making Reflective Practice More Explicit in ePortfolios
The Power of ePortfolio
Through participating in the ePortfolio as a High Impact Practice FLC, I’ve discovered how ePortfolios offer a powerful and creative way for students to express their learning and make connections among their academic/clinical/life experiences. Using an ePortfolio over time and across courses helps both students and faculty to see evolution of skills and understanding. Reflection is the heart of ePortfolio work, and this FLC project has allowed me to delve into reflective practice specifically. Because reflective assignments can be general in how they ask students to express their thinking, my question at the beginning of this project was, “How do we make the reflection process more explicit to students so they can reflect more deeply in assignments and ePortfolios?”
Description of Project and Process:
In the early stages of the project, I explored various reflection models and identified a few important steps they shared. I began to notice how research articles related to reflective practice consistently acknowledged the challenges of defining, encouraging and assessing reflective practice (see my Reflective Practice Resources post, which has been updated and annotated throughout the fall). As I created an introductory reflection video script for a Nutrition course in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, I saw the clear connection to ePortfolio; the project then began to focus on a rewarding collaboration with Debra Kramlich, Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the ABSN Program in the School of Nursing.
Deb and I decided to work together to help students in her Evidenced-Based Practice I course reflect more deeply about their learning process. Deb’s previous interest in and use of ePortfolio reflective writing allowed us to jump right into looking at her existing course assignments. Her previous experience in using reflective writing assignments in her courses also gave us an opportunity to compare student responses from the spring semester and the fall semester after introducing information and resources. We met several times over the summer and fall to plan and discuss different stages of the project.
First, we decided what introduction to reflective practice resources would be most helpful to her students. Deb shared the previously mentioned video and script with students in the first week of the course. Next, we met to discuss how assignment prompts could be revised to match the “describe, analyze, reflect” steps in the video; changes were made to make the language and steps more explicit. Here’s an example of a model commonly used in the health professions:
As I continued my research, I found articles about studies assessing reflection in different ways. We met mid semester and reviewed one framework as a starting point: Kember et al’s (2008, 2010) four levels (non-reflection /habitual response, understanding, reflection, and critical reflection). At the end of the semester, we reviewed the impact of the resources and assignment revisions and continued a conversation about developing rubrics to assess levels of reflection more clearly. We compared Kemper et al.’s (2008, 2010) levels with Ryan’s (2013) scaffolding framework (Report/Respond; Relate; Reason; Reconstruct). During our last meeting, we revisited how to evaluate the impact of resources and assignment revision.
One other unexpected outcome of my resource development work was having a FLC member use the Introduction to Reflection video and other information I shared in a redesigned ePortfolio Education program course.
Because I am not currently working with students in a course, I would summarize my project as more as an investigation into reflective practice and the beginning of developing resources to clarify what it means.
Project Assessment:
Initially, we planned to evaluate through a pre-post survey and Deb noting changes in the development, detail, and clarity of student responses compared to the previous semester. The students were surveyed early in the course (documented in Deb’s final report – her ePortfolio is linked with mine). However, with her students facing a number of pandemic-related challenges at the end of this semester, Deb was concerned about the timing of an end of semester survey and feedback requests. She did request feedback from 18 of her students and received one response back, which demonstrated an awareness of deeper reflection:
Q. How did you feel ePortfolio reflections supported achievement of course outcomes, making connections between courses, personal growth, or any other activities this semester? Please provide examples.
I like the concept of seeing all the courses we have completed on a single website. I also found that writing reflections for courses such as pharmacology and mental health deepen my understanding of the material and find overlaps. This semester pharmacology, mental health, and adult health all focused on some of the same medications/drugs. Sitting down to write about them only reviewed the material once again to my benefit.
As an alternative to student feedback, we discussed shifting the assessment focus to her evaluating reflection levels by using the distinction between two levels: describing/ demonstrating “understanding” of concepts and a more sophisticated discussion of making connections, synthesizing ideas, and articulating new learning or perceptions.
We identified types of few words and phrases in student examples that indicated reflective thinking. After reading final student reflection papers and comparing them to last spring, Deb reported the fall semester’s examples show more developed and detailed reflection responses to their experiences. In her final project reflection video (posted in her ePortfolio), Deb has included a summary of student example work that includes highlights of thinking she was looking for.
My initial project research question was, “How do we make the reflection process more explicit to students so they can reflect more deeply in assignments and ePortfolios?” My response to this question, based on my research so far, is by providing more instruction on the reflection process, creating more detailed assessment tools, and clarifying assignment descriptions to guide students in reaching desired outcomes.
Next Steps:
One of the exciting results of participating in this FLC and project is the inspiration to continue this work on making reflective practice more explicit. Deb and I have proposed a 2021 FLC to build on our learning with others at UNE. I will also be presenting my project to my SASC colleagues at a future staff meeting. A future FLC on Reflective Practice can support faculty who wish to examine and revise assignment prompts and use ePortfolio for improved reflection outcomes as well as more effectively teach and assess reflective process. A continued conversation will help develop a shared language about reflective practice and promote ePortfolio as an effective reflection tool.
Creating a culture of reflective practice through use of ePortfolio also has implications for how UNE could grow as a learning organization. In High Impact ePortfolio Practice, Eynon and Gambino (2017) offer Proposition 3: ePortfolio reflective practice done well can “catalyze campus cultural and structural change” as well as help universities “build their capacity to respond and adapt to changing conditions and new possibilities” (p. 17). This ePortfolio FLC, through bringing faculty and professional staff together to learn, has provided a strong foundation for future work at the institutional level as well.
FLC Participation:
Along with enjoying learning about effective ePortfolios and reflective practice, I found being a member of this community particularly fulfilling. I see even more clearly how developing relationships and collaborations with others across the university creates better learning opportunities – and good role-modeling — for students. Jen Gennaco kept us connected and engaged despite the shift to online meetings; I greatly appreciated her thoughtful feedback and facilitation over the past year.
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