95 Focus group study | 4 In contrast, faculty of the training institutes did actively use the portfolio to interact with trainees. The faculty members described different ways of portfolio use: • Surveillance. The portfolio was used to check whether trainees were progressing as expected. In case observations during academic days and/or supervisor reports revealed potential problems with a trainee’s competency development, faculty increased the level of surveillance through the portfolio. M oderator: I hear you say: “I check if things are present”. Do you also check the content or only if everything is there? Faculty member 12: Honestly, that depends. So, for trainees that performwell, and I never hear strange things about, I just look at one thing and think ‘this more of less fits my perception’. But for trainees where it is a bit more complicated or when I have doubtsmyself, then I often look at more items. • Assessment. The portfolio was used to substantiate and communicate assessments. Faculty member 8: You can find everything there [the portfolio], so whether they completed tests, how their skills are evolving. And that is pretty useful when I assess their competencies, that I as a mentor can look at everything and then come to a proper assessment. • Guidance. The portfolio was used to guide the trainee during their learning process. Faculty presented trainees with portfolio fragments that raised questions and/or were considered remarkable, in order to challenge trainees to reflect and (re)consider their learning through discussion. Faculty member 2: That you encourage someone to think about the things you, as a teacher, can read or find in the portfolio. You notice something, or something stands out, and then you start a conversation about that with a trainee. In order to use portfolio documentation for surveillance and assessment, most faculty members preferred the portfolios to encompass a uniform and comprehensive overview of the activities that trainees perform at the workplace. Accordingly, faculty informally instructed trainees to deliver certain information: ‘could you add some feedback/reflection on… in your portfolio?’. Trainees explained that they felt pressured to deliver material that was requested by faculty. While respondents agreed that ownership of the portfolio should lie with the trainees, faculty members were thus often the ones who instigated when and what information got included in the portfolio. In other words, trainees checked off what was instructed by faculty.
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