The role of e-portfolios in higher education : the experience of pre-service teachers

The term e-portfolio refers to a portfolio in electronic format that allows users to collect evidence of learning in several media types (e.g., audio, video, text, and graphics) and to organise these using hypertext links (Barrett, 2001). E-portfolios have been introduced into teacher education programs internationally to help pre-service teachers (PST) build records of their learning and reflections, and allow them to assemble collections of evidence of their achievements against graduate standards. These e-portfolios may function as digital CVs; and also support lifelong learning after graduation (Oakley, Pegrum, & Johnston, 2014). Through investigating the experience of e-portfolio use by PSTs, this thesis provides significant evidence about the high quality implementation of e-portfolios in higher education. The thesis explores the reasons behind the participants' success in an e-portfolio-based unit. In particular, the research explores the reasons why a number of the participants were more successful than others when using e-portfolios. This is the first research which has examined PSTs perspectives on e-portfolio-based learning within constructivism, students' approach to learning (SAL), the 3P model (presage, process, and product) of learning, and self-regulated learning (SRL). An e-portfolio-based unit in the Faculty of Education in an Australian University was investigated using a mixed methods research design to analyse the data gathered through conducting pre-unit and post-unit interviews. The qualitative analysis examines the participants' conceptions of e-portfolios, their perceptions of the teaching and learning context, and the effect of these on their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes. A questionnaire was distributed at week 11 to measure how they conceived e-portfolios, how they perceived the quality of the teaching, the clarity of the goals, and the appropriateness of the assessment and workload. This research showed that there was variation in the academic achievements of the PSTs when using e-portfolios and the results of the analysis confirmed that the learning outcomes at the surface or deep approach to learning were affected by the participants' conceptions of the e-portfolios, their perceived role, and the perceptions of their lecturers' role. In particular, their experience in the course depended on their perception of good teaching, clarity of their goals, and appropriate workload and assessment in the unit. Therefore, these factors seemed to be significantly related to what they did, and the strategies they used when using the e-portfolio. The implications of the results of this thesis are relevant for educators responsible for designing new e-portfolio-based units or courses, and improving the teaching and learning outcomes of existing e-portfolio-based learning.