Implementation of an ePortfolioand its challenges

February 20th, 2018 - Karolien Decamps

Overview

Overview

• Our programme

• The ePortfolio

• Challenges

• Pilot

• Questions

Our programme

Our programme

• UC Leuven-Limburg = merge of KHLeuven + KHLimburg + Group T

Our programme

• UC Leuven-Limburg: Facts and figures

15000 students

1700 employees

300 researchers

10 campuses

30 professional bachelor programmes

Our programme

• Biomedical laboratory technology (= BLT)

Professional bachelor degree

3 years

Profession: analyst (broad employment opportunities)

Our programme

• BLT: Facts and figures

2 campuses (Leuven and Diepenbeek)

550 students

50% female students

36 employees

2 specializations

• Farmaceutical and biological laboratory technology (FBT)

• Medical laboratory technology (MLT)

The ePortfolio

The ePortfolio: Why?

• Growing interest to work with portfolio in STEM educational

programs, such as BLT

• Visualization of learning outcomes in the curriculum as stated by

the ‘Domain specific learning outcomes’ (DLRs)

• Emphasize competences of the 21st century (lifelong learning,

independency,…)

The ePortfolio: Why?

• Students want to be acknowledged for their engagement and

competences. Sometimes students do (extracurricular) activities

which get none or not enough recognition

• Teachers work on a lot of competences that aren’t visible or

transparent in the educational programme

• ePortfolio is a suitable interactive communication and reporting

tool for internship mentoring

The ePortfolio: When?

• Up till now: no use of a portfolio in the curriculum

• From September 2018: start of a new curriculum

From semesters to periods (in the three years)

More biomedical content from the start

Semester 1 Semester 2

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4

The ePortfolio: When?

• Introduction of the ePortfolio

From the first year

During three years

Total: 3 ECTS credits

Supportive and linked to courses

Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4

Portfolio

The ePortfolio: What?

• Structure of the ePortfolio

Lifelonglearning

My (study) career

Socialresponsibility

My personal growth

The ePortfolio: What?

• Structure of the ePortfolio

Four parts

Each part

• Include tasks, most of them already existing in the current curriculum but now linked

to courses and just-in-time

• Visualize competences, linked to DLR’s

Competences of 21st century ~ ‘Next generation’ students

Lifelonglearning

My (study) career

Socialresponsibility

My personal growth

The ePortfolio: What?

• Lifelong learning

Students need to attend three internal and two external seminars

Seminar content may be

• Biomedical context

• Supportive (how to work in a team, how to be a good leader,…)

At least one seminar needs to have an international character

Students write a short report of one internal, one external and one

international seminar

The ePortfolio: What?

• My (study) career

Self-reflection at fixed moments, such as

• Intake meeting between student and his/her student coach

• Choice between specialization FBT and MLT

• Pilot March 2018

• Preparation for job interviews / training

The ePortfolio: What?

• Social responsibility

Registration of activities with social responsibility

Total of 12 hours during 3 years

Linked to school

Motivation and performed hours need to be registered

Examples

• Helping during the information day

• Giving a presentation for secondary school leavers

The ePortfolio: What?

• My personal growth

Generic competences such as

• Teamwork

• Presentation skills

• Reporting skills

Link between generic competences and courses

Stimulation of self-reflection of students

• Peer and self-assessment

The ePortfolio: What?

• Students’ opinion

All students agreed that a digital platform will be useful for communication

during internship

Most students agreed that an ePortfolio can visualize certain competences

However, they added that face-to-face feedback is indispensable

Challenges

Challenges

• Challenges to overcome upon implementation of the ePortfolio

Input

Evaluation

Exemptions

Wider-access entrants

Internship

As a team leader

Challenges

• The connection between courses and ePortfolio requires a lot of

input from all kind of stakeholders

Teachers

Students

Internship coordinator

Internship mentor

Challenges

• How to evaluate?

Ways to evaluate

• Pass/Fail? Score?

• What if students fail for one or more tasks?

Who will evaluate?

Challenges

• Students with exemptions

What if students have a credit for a course which is linked to the

ePortfolio?

Challenges

• Wider-access entrants

What if students start in year 2 and therefore ‘missed’ the tasks from

year 1?

Challenges

• Internship

How to involve internship mentors?

Can the ePortfolio replace the SIS?

Challenges

• Challenges as a team leader

An ePortfolio requires input from teachers of different courses

• How to involve each lector?

How to keep the helicopter view?

Pilot

Pilot

• March 2018: Pilot

Choice between FBT and MLT

Before: use of Tolinto

Now: ePortfolio tool in which students need to document why they

haven chosen a certain specialization

Questions

Questions?

Thank your for listening and for your cooperation

Karolien Devaere

Wendy Fransen

Implementation of an ePortfolioand its challenges

February 20th, 2018 - Karolien Decamps