(749)INVESTIGATING PORTFOLIO PRACTICE: SEARCHING FORCOMPETENCY THROUGH A REFLECTIVE LENS

摘要

The purpose of this pilot study stems from the need for occupational therapy educators tocritically evaluate the use of traditional and electronic portfolios as assessment methodsto provide evidence of student learning. The Accreditation Council of OccupationalTherapy Education (ACOTE) mandates that occupational therapy educators providedocumented evidence of student learning. Under increasing pressure of accountability,many occupational therapy educators have implemented student learning portfolios as aneffective way to document knowledge acquisition, clinical reasoning, skill competency,and student self assessment. Currently there is an insufficient amount of empiricalresearch on how occupational therapy students perceive the use and value of portfoliosfor reflective and professional development purposes (1). Even less research is availableon its value and ability to effectively assess student learning in occupational therapy (2).This pilot study seeks to: 1) examine how graduate occupational students and faculty atSalem State College perceive the electronic portfolio process and how it compares to thetraditional portfolio process in producing summative evidence-based learning outcomes;2) examine the extent of improvement in students’ perceived level of preparation in thesix student learning objective strands;;3) explore students’ perceptions of the reflectivelearning process and use of portfolios for professional development 4) investigate theTask Stream efolio software for utilization at Salem State College;;5) examine faculty’sperceptions of value of capstone portfolios for continued professional development . Theuse of portfolios for assessment purposes is evolving in occupational therapy education,and both traditional and electronic portfolio methods need further investigation. This studywill explore the effectiveness of both kinds of portfolios in providing evidence of studentlearning while examining student and faculty perceptions of the benefits of portfolio use.