57 Content analysis | 3 Introduction It is assumed that portfolios can contribute to self-regulated learning (SRL).1-5 SRL refers to ‘the degree to which students are metacognitively, motivationally, and behavio[u]rally active participants in their own learning process’.6(p167) It can be seen as an umbrella term that covers a multitude of processes that supposedly influence learning, including skills (e.g. time management), affective constructs (e.g. self-efficacy) and metacognitive processes (e.g. reflection).7 Portfolios, ‘the collection of evidence that learning has taken place’,8 are used to support and document some of these SRL processes. The health professions education literature generally reports the following SRL processes to be supported by portfolios: self-assessment, which can be informed internally via reflection and externally via feedback, goal-setting and planning, and monitoring.9-11 The supposed value of portfolios for SRL is one factor explaining the widespread implementation of portfolios in medical training institutes,12 as SRL is considered an essential skill for medical students and physicians.13-15 Working and learning in the clinical workplace can be unpredictable and sometimes chaotic,16 and it is expected that only those who regulate their learning well are able to keep track of individual educational needs in such a hectic environment.14 SRL proficiency is thus expected to be of eminence during workplace learning (WPL).14 Medical educators are therefore trying to identify and optimise tools and procedures that foster SRL during this type of education. While educators see in portfolios the potential to function as such a SRL fostering tool, users are more sceptical about the educational value of portfolios. The results of studies that rely on user experiences and perceptions show that opinions of learners concerning the support of their portfolio for SRL are mixed at best.17-24 In some studies, users indicated that their learning is supported by the portfolio.19-21. However, other studies showed that users experience limited value of portfolios for feedback, reflection, and in achieving learning goals.17,18,22-24 Users indicated, for example, that reflecting via the portfolio is too restrictive and face-to-face feedback gets neglected or compromised by the portfolio.22,23 The negative appraisals of users might be prompted by unfavourable experiences with portfolios, that can be accounted for by factors other than SRL, such as the burden and time needed to complete a portfolio.12,22 Likewise, unclarity about the purpose of the portfolio can add to negative user perceptions.25 Trainees have stated that they experience the portfolio as a way to provide evidence of learning to faculty instead of a tool for self-development.23 On the other hand, considering the comprehensiveness of SRL and the complexities associated with supporting and/or scaffolding SRL.26,27, it is also possible that portfolios do not contribute to the SRL processes for which they are deployed within health profession education. Studies looking into user experiences and perspectives cannot quantify the extent to which SRL processes are taking place, therefore also other data sources and methods are required when aiming to establish if and how portfolios contribute to SRL processes.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjY0ODMw