Student experiences of ePortfolios as assessment and learning

An expectancy-value theory perspective

Abstract

ePortfolios are increasingly recognised as a high-impact practice for both assessment and learning. They can enhance students’ critical thinking and reflective abilities, while also contributing to improved success outcomes in higher education. (Eynon et al., 2017). This is due to their ability to be a useful framework for organising learning, their varied and complex pedagogical uses, and promoting high learner engagement (Hallam & Creagh, 2010; Watson et al., 2016).

Yet there is scant high quality empirical research on ePortfolio implementation. In particular, there is little research on how higher education learners experience ePortfolio tasks and how these experiences intersect with student motivation, a key element of self-regulated learning (SRL). Effective self-regulation depends on learners' motivation to actively control their learning through goal setting, progress monitoring, and strategy adjustment (Zimmerman, 2002). Motivational elements, including self-efficacy and perceived value of learning and assessment tasks are key factors in fostering academically successful independent self-regulated learners in higher education (Pintrich, 1999; Lim & Yeo, 2021). However, students are expected to view ePortfolios as both an assessment by the institution of their work and a space for authentic learning agency, often creating a tension between the two (Van der Gulden et al., 2023). This tension may undermine student motivation by reducing perceived value of the learning process while increasing the perceived burden, particularly given that ePortfolios are frequently reported as time-intensive and demanding tasks (Jansenns et al., 2022). Additionally, the dual assessment-learning function may create challenges for how students construct their academic and professional identities while managing the significant labour involved in portfolio creation and maintenance. As such, a deeper understanding of students' experiences of ePortfolio may shed more light on how ePortfolios can function as effective assessment and learning tools.

This poster showcases current findings from an ongoing PhD thesis project. Results from 40 semi-structured interviews with undergraduate speech pathology students at an Australian and a UK university were analysed using expectancy-value theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) as a framework to uncover motivational influences towards engaging with ePortfolio tasks. The analysis explores how ePortfolio experiences intersect with assessment, learning, identity development, and academic labour to help create a motivation-informed framework for ePortfolio design, providing practical design principles for educators seeking to enhance student engagement with ePortfolio tasks.