144 | Chapter 7 Concerns regarding portfolio research In Chapter 6 the comprehensiveness and complexity of (the support of ) SRL was discussed. It is therefore troublesome that SRL (constructs) were often limitedly conceptualised, defined and/or operationalised within portfolio studies that included this concept. These problems showed especially during the different phases of the realist review (Chapter 2). Problems with conceptualisation surfaced for example during the formulation of the programme theory, that described how portfolio use is expected to support SRL during clinical WPL. While a scoping search resulted in the inclusion of 45 papers, there were only fourteen papers useful for the programme theory, as the other 31 papers only mentioned a (causal) relationship between portfolio use and SRL (constructs) without explaining how this relationship was supposed to come about. The problems with defining SRL (constructs) can be exemplified by the fact that thirteen out of the sixteen included studies referred to reflection without providing a definition.6,15,22-32 Considering that reflection is an ill-defined concept that can encompass a variety of ideas and practices, one cannot be certain what these studies actually measured without information regarding the authors’ understanding of reflection.33,34 Conway, Chang and Jackson also discussed the implications of differences in the interpretation and application of words, and thereby underlined the importance of precision in the use of terminology concerning SRL, self-directed learning and lifelong learning.35 In concern to the operationalisation of SRL, it is of interest that portfolio studies often included two to four SRL constructs (mostly reflection, feedback related topics and self- assessment), while Chapter 1 already described that a meta-analysis of SRL theories identified sixteen SRL constructs. This can partly be explained by the fact that portfolio research often used rather broad constructs (e.g. reflection), while most SRL theories break larger processes down into more specific constructs (e.g. self-evaluation, attributions, selfefficacy).36 It is probably more difficult to do justice to the intricacies of SRL when including broad constructs, as one can easily oversee aspects and nuances that are part of such an elaborate construct. Another explanation for the limited number of SRL constructs included in portfolio studies is the focus on constructs related tometacognition (e.g. reflection and self-assessment). Other domains of SRL theory were often underrepresented, e.g. motivation and emotion.37 The importance of motivation within SRL was perceptively formulated by Dent and Koenka: ‘While metacognitive processes explain how students self-regulate their learning, motivation tells us why they do so’.38(p428) The role of emotions within SRL is less distinctly described, as there is still discussion whether emotions directly affect learning or through interaction with motivation.39 However, it is a shared belief among SRL theories that emotions impact current and future learning activities.39 So, where establishing the presence of metacognitive constructs during portfolio use provides insight in the occurrence of SRL, more
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