RAPPORT
Volume 3 Issue 1 (2018)
The International Journal for
Recording Achievement,
Planning and Portfolios
Introducing e-portfolios as a method of assessment
Michele O’Sullivan, Dublin City University, Ireland
Geraldine Lavin, Maynooth University, Ireland
Abstract
In January 2018 e-portfolio reflective journals were introduced as a method of
assessment on an existing Creativity and Discovery module, part of the Marketing,
Innovation and New Technology (MINT) programme at DCU Business School. Our view
was that e-portfolios were potentially a good fit with the reflective journal exercises that
already formed part of the course assessment, and that they would also allow students to
express their learning and reflections more creatively through a wider range of media
than the current largely text-based format. This paper is focused on the research
question ‘Are e-portfolios an appropriate method of assessment for the module Creativity
and Discovery? and on assessment in the first cycle of this action research study.
Following Argyris and Schön’s characterisation of action research as involving
‘intervention experiments’ (1989, p. 613), our overall research objective was to introduce
e-portfolios as a method of assessment on the course Creativity and Discovery (Cycle 1 –
action and intervention experiment) and evaluate them as a mode of assessment using
action research reflective cycles (Cycle 1 – research – evaluate e-portfolios as a mode of
assessment).
This paper uses a 4 step cycle proposed by Coghlan and Brannick (2001) in their book
Doing Action Research in your own Organisation. The four steps of diagnose, plan, act,
and review are reflected on to address the research question. As a reflective tool to aid
professional practice, the review step (Coghlan & Brannick, 2014, 2001) includes an
evaluation of three aspects of assessment in learning, namely assessment OF learning
(summative), assessment FOR learning (formative), and assessment AS learning
(National Forum, 2017). Furthermore, as is always the case when introducing something
new, not everything goes strictly to plan, or smoothly, and some aspects emerged during
implementation that point to how the use of e-portfolios as a method of assessment might
be improved.
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For queries, please contact the authors at
[email protected] or [email protected]
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