E-portfolios as tools for programmatic and student based assessment in health education

Recently, the areas of responsibility and competency for entry-level health educators were updated. These competencies are intended to guide the preparation of health education students at the undergraduate level. However, too often, individual courses are not developed or assessed in the broad context of overall student development. This project was based on the notion that an e-portfolio could shatter the idea of courses being individual, stand alone entities and promote more competency based evaluation of student progress, as well as overall programmatic assessment.

In the fall of 2007, thirty-seven upperclassmen in the Community Health Education program were invited to partake in this e-portfolio project.

Students were introduced to the TaskStream system and trained on its use. They were able to upload the relevant assignments and projects into the most appropriate Area of Responsibility and provide annotations describing the work. Next, students reflected on the artifacts produced for a particular area of responsibility and provide a statement as to how those artifacts along with other experiences, not easily uploaded in the form of a document or audio file, contributed to the student's development of competency in each area of responsibility.

Evaluation of the project used the perspectives of students, faculty, and potential employers. Student perspectives were critical in assessing its future use on a broader level. Faculty evaluation of the e-portfolio allowed for the discussion of more strategic programmatic assessment, and the employers provided a level assessment which spoke to the role of an e-portfolio in career development.